After hosting a haunted-house party for Halloween on Thursday, a dozen students from Tainan’s Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science experienced acute discomfort that some attributed to possession by malicious spirits, and the students were subsequently rushed to a nearby temple to undergo a mass exorcism.
In response to speculation on social media, Chia Nan University secretary-general Wan Meng-wei (萬孟瑋) on Saturday said that the afflicted students were members of the Chia Nan University Student Association who were working as staff at the haunted-house party, and no other participant at the event reported any symptoms.
According to the student association, its members prepared for one month for Thursday’s event and many staff members dressed up as ghosts and vampires.
Acknowledging the air at the venue “was a bit stifling,” the association said that screens put up to give the venue a gloomy effect might have obstructed the free flow of air in the building.
After the event concluded, 12 association members reported feeling nausea, vertigo and weakness as well as tightness in their chests, the association said.
As it was late, the association said it could not find a clinic for the students, adding that some members voiced concerns that their discomfort might have been caused by malicious spirits.
One parent present at the event happened to be a regular worshiper at Chinwang Temple (清王宮) — about 300m from the university — and proposed to move those fearing spirit possession to the sanctuary of the temple.
The students were delivered to the Chingwang Temple in cars and scooters, to the bemusement of one staff member, who said the visitors treated the place of worship as “as if it were an emergency room.”
After helping students who were unable to walk into the sanctuary and consulting the temple’s deity San Fu Qian Sui (三府千歲), four temple staff members performed a traditional Taoist shou ching (收驚) ritual — which uses a blessed palanquin to drive out any lurking evil spirits — which the temple said was immediately effective, adding that five of the students later took offerings of fruit to thank the temple god.
The student association on Saturday said university staff and security guards went with the students to the temple, and that although one student was in fact terrified and in tears, online rumors alleging that “possessed” students were “screaming in a hysterical state” were “wild exaggerations.”
Almost all of the stricken students made a full recovery, except for a few who reported mild fevers and later sought medical treatment, the association said.
University officials said that while the school at the time decided to respect the decision of the students to seek help from the temple, it would review its procedures and put policies intplace to deal with future medical emergencies.
Chimei Medical Center Department of Psychiatry doctor Kao Pei-hsin (高霈馨) said “cramming excessive numbers of people into a closed space with poor ventilation might induce panic attacks.”
Ko recommended that anyone fearing they might be suffering a panic attack move to an open space, take deep breaths, drink water, rest, and seek medical attention if the symptoms do not improve.
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA