■ Philately
New stamps launch exhibit
Chunghwa Post Co. will issue new stamps to mark the 18th Asian International Stamp Exhibition, which will be held from Aug. 19 to Aug. 24 at the Taipei World Trade Center, a spokesman said. In addition to two sets of stamps featuring Taiwan's natural scenery and cultural heritage issued earlier this year, Chunghwa Post will issue a third set on Aug. 19 featuring flora and fauna species to coincide with the opening of the exhibition. Between Aug. 20 and Aug. 24, the spokesman said, a specially designed set of stamps will also be issued every day. The exhibition is expected to attract 100,000 visitors, the spokesman said. The Formosan black bear was chosen in a public competition to be the event's mascot, while the Taipei 101 skyscraper has been designated to represent the event.
■ Transport
Souvenir tickets on sale
To celebrate the Taipei MRT system's 2 billionth customer, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC) is selling 3,500 MRT Souvenir Tickets, beginning with an online presale of 1,000 tickets today on the MRT Web site. The sale starts on Saturday next week and lasts until Aug. 24 at MRT souvenir shops at Taipei Main Station and 11 other stations, including Tamsui, Shipai, Jiantan, Zhongshan, Guting, Gongguan, Nanshijiao, Kunyang, Taipei City Hall, Zhongxiao Fuxing and Xinpu stations. The price for the souvenir ticket is NT$300. The TRTC said that the online presale was to begin at 9am today with a purchase limit of two tickets per person. The ticket can be used twice and can be retained after it is used up. The valid period of the ticket is four months. For more information, see the TRTC Web site at www.trtc.com.tw.
■ Society
Oranges get diet test
Kukeng (古坑) township in Yunlin County is trying to recruit 30 obese volunteers to undergo tests to see whether green oranges grown in the township can help them shed some weight. The township government announced that the volunteers -- 15 men and 15 women -- will be given a recipe for making beverages using green oranges as the main ingredient. Examinations will be conducted after one month to see if the green oranges are effective in helping the volunteers lose weight. A spokesman for the township government claimed that freshly squeezed juice from green oranges, when mixed with yogurt, makes a delicious drink ideal for weight watchers. Although the Department of Health has expressed doubts over the claims, the township still hopes to use the tests to prove the effects of the fruit in helping obese people to lose weight.
■ Tourism
Taipei chooses new logo
The Taipei City Government will use the logo "Taipei Wonderful (台北玩得瘋)" to attract both local and foreign tourists, city government officials said. According to Bureau of Transportation officials, the logo was chosen through an online competition in which 1,282 people participated. The author of the logo, Hsieh Yao-cho (謝曜州), who gained 6,056 votes from an online poll among 17,000 voters, will receive a prize of NT$10,000 (US$314) worth of gift vouchers for a department store. The officials said the Bureau of Transportation will also hold a lucky draw among the people who participated in the vote, and will inform the 1,200 winners via e-mail.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
SECURITY RISK: A university student sent a general alarm signal to THSRC’s control center on April 5, causing four operating trains to temporarily halt services The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday pledged to submit a report on ways to harden the communication security of railway systems after a university student hacked into Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) radio communications system and disrupted operations of four high-speed rail trains last month. Investigation by the police and prosecutors found that the university student and radio enthusiast, surnamed Lin (林), first used a software-defined radio (SDR) filter to analyze THSRC signals, downloaded the data to a computer, cracked the parameters and then programmed the codes into his radio devices. Lin then sent a general alarm signal to
RSS