Station foyer emojis
A recent news story that became popular was about the Taiwan Railways Administration’s decision to adorn the floor of Taipei Railway Station’s main hall with big smiling and laughing emojis (“Taipei Railway Station calls off ban on sitting,” July 13, page 1).
This choice of design is both puzzling and regrettable. Can Taiwanese culture really be so lacking in aesthetic sense?
Alongside the emojis are the words for “smile” in 10 different languages. This is the sort of design you might expect to find on a backpack or T-shirt.
What is the point of it? Besides, if they want to use emojis, why are there only smiling and laughing faces? Why no sad or crying ones? Do our lives only consist of joy and amusement?
The truth is that you can find plenty of homeless people clustered around Taipei Railway Station. Is that not a rather ironic contrast with the smiley emojis on the station floor?
There is some merit in the idea that land and objects should be used to the best effect, but it does not apply to each and every situation. If we use up everything we have, including every inch of space, it will actually make us feel oppressed. The sense of oppression cannot be seen, but it is still there.
Taipei’s living space is getting ever more crowded. The buildings that line the city streets keep getting taller and so tightly squeezed together that a feeling of claustrophobia starts to set in.
The notion of using land and objects to the best effect applies when things are undeveloped. In this age of overdevelopment, we should try to keep things plain and simple instead of striving for excess functions that are actually burdens.
It would be better to return the floor of Taipei Railway Station’s main hall to its original purpose as a space in a station, rather than trying to use it to the utmost, which actually means overusing it.
The floor actually looked better the way it used to be. It would be more attractive without the emojis.
If anything, it could do with a few seats for travelers to rest their weary limbs. If there are no seats, it is no problem if people sit on the floor instead. Adding the emojis is worse than useless.
The broad and open hall of a station can have a plain and simple floor. Its unadorned spaciousness is beautiful in itself.
Shen Tzu-chieh
Taoyuan
The first Donald Trump term was a boon for Taiwan. The administration regularized the arms sales process and enhanced bilateral ties. Taipei will not be so fortunate the second time around. Given recent events, Taiwan must proceed with the assumption that it cannot count on the United States to defend it — diplomatically or militarily — during the next four years. Early indications suggested otherwise. The nomination of Marco Rubio as US Secretary of State and the appointment of Mike Waltz as the national security advisor, both of whom have expressed full-throated support for Taiwan in the past, raised hopes that
There is nothing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could do to stop the tsunami-like mass recall campaign. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reportedly said the party does not exclude the option of conditionally proposing a no-confidence vote against the premier, which the party later denied. Did an “actuary” like Chu finally come around to thinking it should get tough with the ruling party? The KMT says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading a minority government with only a 40 percent share of the vote. It has said that the DPP is out of touch with the electorate, has proposed a bloated
In an eloquently written piece published on Sunday, French-Taiwanese education and policy consultant Ninon Godefroy presents an interesting take on the Taiwanese character, as viewed from the eyes of an — at least partial — outsider. She muses that the non-assuming and quiet efficiency of a particularly Taiwanese approach to life and work is behind the global success stories of two very different Taiwanese institutions: Din Tai Fung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). Godefroy said that it is this “humble” approach that endears the nation to visitors, over and above any big ticket attractions that other countries may have
A media report has suggested that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) was considering initiating a vote of no confidence in Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) in a bid to “bring down the Cabinet.” The KMT has denied that this topic was ever discussed. Why might such a move have even be considered? It would have been absurd if it had seen the light of day — potentially leading to a mass loss of legislative seats for the KMT even without the recall petitions already under way. Today the second phase of the recall movement is to begin — which has
RSS