On Saturday, at least 156 people were killed and scores more were injured in a stampede at a Halloween celebration in Seoul.
In view of the tragedy, critics are questioning the safety and emergency response plan of the Taipei Dome, a project which has been caught in controversy, and is unfinished due to a halt in construction due to years of legal wrangling. Former Taipei Department of Urban Development commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) posted “An open letter to the Taipei mayoral candidates” on Facebook, revealing that the Taipei City Government has “rigged” the simulation system to pass a security review.
In the letter, Lin explained two glaring loopholes in the dome’s computer simulation and modeling of a disaster scenario. One, regarding emergency exits, showed that the “local familiarity” parameter should have been set to “off” instead of “on,” as most people pay little attention to exit routes when they enter a building. Second, for setting an emergency context, the “impatient” signal should have been set to “on” not “off,” as people usually panic when disaster strikes. Despite the city government’s claims that the dome is safe, they have been made based on manipulated simulations.
In response to the letter, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that he has “complete confidence” in the Taipei Dome, but added that the dome would follow standard operating procedures (SOP) and would undergo pressure tests during its trial runs.
Although the dome has a different context to that of Seoul’s Halloween tragedy, the events in South Korea provided an opportunity for Taiwan to conduct a thorough review of its public facilities.
The Taipei Dome needs to be capable of withstanding various disasters, as well as ensuring the safety of its visitors. As the purpose of the computer simulation is to hypothesize worst-case scenarios, to “rig” the system is to overlook extreme possibilities rather than preparing for potential dangers.
As the Taipei Dome has been under construction for a decade and undergone several reviews, this kind of tampering could not have been a mistake, but a deliberate effort to make things easier for the project’s contractor, Farglory Group. Other scandals such as replacing “difficult” review members have shown that the Taipei City Government has been playing with people’s lives, while acting in Farglory’s favor when dealing with bureaucratic frustrations.
Taiwan has seen its fair share of accidents over the past few years. In 2020, a fire broke out at Cashbox Partyworld KTV in Taipei, leaving five dead and 44 injured, which led to the requirement that karaoke venues have fire protection systems. This year, Hsinchu Baseball Stadium was closed indefinitely after complaints that its infield soil was too soft and had caused several injuries during games. Negligence of safety precautions and sloppy reviews can have dire consequences.
Ko, who evaded responsibility by claiming that the government has been “following the SOP,” should stop hiding behind his catchphrase, respond to Lin’s allegations or provide the public with concrete evidence of the dome’s safety.
No one wants to see a replay of the tragedy in South Korea. It is up to the elected Taipei mayor to ensure that the dome meets every requirement before it is officially opened.
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