■ Politics
Get a plan, Ma told
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
A People First Party (PFP) legislator yesterday urged Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to take steps toward a future presidential run by proposing a concrete vision for Taiwan's future -- instead of appealing for sympathy about the difficult situation in which he finds himself. "Objectively speaking, Ma is without question the only hope for the pan-blue alliance," said Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), PFP legislative caucus leader. "However, he must draw up a blueprint for ruling the country," Liu said. Liu said that the media has paid a lot of attention recently to Ma's so-called "combat staff," saying that Ma appears as if he likes to spend too much time talking about how much pressure his administration is under, which only seems to demonstrate a lack of will. "There are so many things that he could do, but so few thing he has done," Liu said. "Right now, focusing on the issue of organizing a `combat staff' makes Ma look like an opportunist," Liu said. "The future of the pan-blue camp must be based on a vision, not on how many people belong to anyone's team," Liu said, adding that the public will reach its own judgements about Ma's effectiveness -- especially while Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) is passing important laws in the legislature.
■ Health
Quitter wins
Hualien County resident Chang Chien-kuo (張建國) tasted something sweeter than cigarette smoke when he won NT$600,000 (US$17,910) yesterday in an annual "quit and win" contest. Officials of the John Tung Foundation, which sponsored the contest, said that 30,096 people took part in this year's contest. Chang was chosen as the top winner in a random computer draw. Chang, 33, who had puffed up to 50 cigarettes a day, said he made up his mind to quit after learning that his wife was pregnant early this year. Health Minister Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said more than half of Taiwan's people start smoking before age 18.
■ Public Safety
Youths join in Police Day
Kaohsiung County's police department celebrated Police Day yesterday with a series of activities that included participation by juvenile delinquents from a local reformatory school. More than 500 guests joined in the event's activities, which focused on performances by youths that included traditional dragon dancing, a street dance and a drum performance. In addition to honoring some 60 distinguished and veteran police officers, Kaohsiung County Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) urged the Kaohsiung County Police Department to introduce a more humane work schedule to reduce the level of stress faced by police officers.
■ Animal husbandry
Ducks chanted at
Some farmers play Buddhist chants to ducks to calm them down in the summer heat and make them lay more eggs, a television station reported yesterday. "Some duck farm owners in southern Taiwan are playing cassettes of Buddhist sutras to ducks to calm them down because ducks get agitated in hot weather," Chinese Television System (CTS) reported. "Playing Buddhist chants has also caused ducks to lay more eggs. The percentage of ducks laying eggs rises from 8 percent when no music is played to 10 percent when Buddhist music is played," CTS said." Also, the ducks lay more double-yolk eggs," the station said. Many Taiwanese farmers play music to make cows produce more milk, while some pig farmers play music to make pigs grow.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
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