■ CULTURE
Singers teach ancient songs
Campaigners for the preservation of Hakka hope to pass on some almost-forgotten Hakka mountain folksongs through a workshop at the Sansia Hakka Cultural Park (三峽客家園區) in Taipei County today. Park spokeswoman Yao Yu-ting (饒妤庭) said that although many of the traditional Hakka mountain folksongs were still vital, some ancient songs have almost been forgotten and are near extinction. Lu Chin-ming (呂錦明), a Hakka culture preservationist, said that ancient mountain folksongs differed from most common traditional mountain songs in melody and the use of words in the lyrics. Mountain folksongs were an important form of entertainment for Hakka farmers in the past, Lu said. Senior Hakka mountain folksong singers, including a 82-year-old singer, will be presenting lessons at a workshop in the park, he said.
■ POLITICS
Gao resigns from DPP post
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), who was indicted on corruption charges by Nantou prosecutors on Monday, yesterday resigned as chairman of the party's Central Review Committee. Prosecutors allege that Gao received NT$2 million (US$60,000) in April from a construction company in exchange for his promise to lobby the National Property Administration (NPA) to help the company win the rights to lease a piece of land belonging to the Taichung City Government. Calling a press conference to announce his resignation, Gao restated his innocence, adding that he would accept the result of the party's investigation.
■ CROSS-STRAIT TIES
MAC urges PRC to negotiate
China should resume negotiations with Taiwan on issues concerning the operation of cross-strait charter flights and visits to Taiwan by Chinese tourists to show its sincerity in improving relations between the two sides, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said yesterday. Noting that the government considers the two policies to be milestones paving the way for the full opening of direct shipping and air links, Chen said direct cross-strait transportation would be achieved within one year of the implementation of the policies. If China resumes talks to resolve the remaining problems, Chinese will soon be able to travel to Taiwan on cross-strait charter flights, he said. The council said the main obstacles to progress have been China's referring to Taiwan as a local tourist destination and its insistence that cross-strait visits do not constitute travel "between two countries."
■ AGRICULTURE
DPP tackles manure prices
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday asked the Council of Agriculture to make sure that manure prices are kept under control. DPP legislative caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) told a press conference that a recent hike in manure prices has had a negative impact on farmers' business. He said the government would make sure that inflation would not spin out of control. The caucus made the call yesterday following an announcement by the council on Thursday that it had helped local pig farmers by taking steps to maintain pork prices against a backdrop of rising international corn prices.
■ TOURISM
Japan tour guides sought
The JTB -- Japan's major tourist and travel agency association -- is planning to establish an office in Taiwan next year that aims to develop Mandarin-speaking tour guides. An executive with the JTB Asian Travel Company (JTB-ATC) said on Thursday that as an ever-increasing number of Mandarin-speaking tourists visit Japan each year, particularly from Taiwan, the association hopes more Taiwanese can serve as tour guides in Japan. The new JTB-ATC office will offer classes to aspiring guides.
■ EDUCATION
`English Day' proposed
Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) yesterday proposed that an "English Day" be held at selected elementary schools. Yang, while inspecting two elementary schools, expressed hope that all students will speak English on that day and that they will make efforts to master English in addition to their mother tongues. The two schools -- Wufu Elementary School and Fengshan Elementary School -- have been included in an "English village" program planned by the Kaohsiung County Government. The two schools will put idle classrooms to good use by setting up "English villages," including simulated restaurants, airports, customs offices, MRT stations, hospitals and other common environments.
■ EDUCATION
Host families needed
National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) in Keelung City is soliciting applications for host families to provice short-term accommodation for foreign students, a spokesman for the school said yesterday. The application period will last until Nov. 2. The school has a total of 35 foreign graduate students, with most coming from France, Guatemala, South Korea, Indonesia, Panama, Belize and the Philippines. Host families need only provide short-term homestay experience and occasional assistance, such as airport pickups for the foreign students as the students already have permanent lodgings. People who are interested in providing the service can visit the NTOU Web site, the spokesman said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
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