Sun, Dec 03, 2006 page3

• Taiwan Quick Take

  • CNA WITH STAFF WRITER
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  ■ Transportation
  MRT traffic to top 2.5 billion

  The total passenger traffic of Taipei's mass rapid transit (MRT) system is expected to top 2.5 billion early this month, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp announced over the weekend. The figure will represent a 25-fold increase since the system's passenger traffic reached 100 million on Dec. 22, 1998, company officials said. For the second consecutive year, Taipei's MRT system was rated by University of London's Railway Technology Strategy Center as the most reliable system among the world's 25 major metro systems last year, they said. According to Deputy Taipei Mayor Chen Yu-chang (陳裕璋), while the section of the MRT system that is currently in operation totals 76km, another 76km are under construction and 250km are under planning. After all these projects are completed, the density of the MRT network will be similar to that of other major metro systems in the world, he said.

  ■ Society

  Foreign spouses join contest

  More than 60 foreign spouses of Taiwanese, dressed in the traditional costume of their countries, took part in singing and oral reading competitions yesterday in Taichung City at an event organized by the Cabinet to help foreign spouses learn Mandarin or local dialects. Lin Feng-hsi (林豐喜), executive director of the Cabinet's Central Taiwan Joint Services Center, said singing and reading are helpful ways to learn a foreign language. In this regard, the center has organized various singing and reading-oriented courses and activities for foreign spouses to help them blend into the local culture. Foreign spouses play an increasingly important role in the country, with one out of every five newlywed couples involving intermarriage and one out of every 6.5 babies born to foreign mothers -- mostly from China and Southeast Asian countries.

  ■ Transportation

  Chen lauds Kaohsiung MRT

  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lauded the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit (MRT) system as better than its Taipei counterpart after taking a test ride yesterday. Chen, accompanied by acting Kaohsiung Mayor Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp chairman Chiang Yao-tsung (江耀宗), rode an 8km section of the red line between Far Eastern Department Store and Hsiaokang. Yeh said that 20,000 people had taken the test ride on the same section, with more than 95 percent expressing satisfaction with the smooth travel. The MRT's red and orange lines are scheduled to be inaugurated at the end of next year. Chiang, who previously worked for the Taipei rapid transit system, said that the Kaohsiung MRT system has been efficient and that the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model of construction has saved the government NT$44.4 billion (US$1.34 billion). The cost of personnel is also cheaper and more jobs have been created, Chiang added.

  ■ Leisure

  Vote for model villages

  The Council of Agriculture urged the public to take part in an online selection of the nation's top 10 model fishing and farming villages for the chance to win big prizes. The selection will run until Feb. 28, and the public is invited to visit the 20 qualified villages -- culled from an initial screening of 50 villages -- on the council's Web site, a council spokesman said. The council will inspect the 20 villages and the results will be combined with the online vote for a final ranking that is slated to be announced in March, the spokesman said. Those who take part in the voting could win prizes ranging from a tour to digital cameras and MP3 players.
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