■transport
THSRC breaks record
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said yesterday that it transported 132,000 passengers and operated 130 trains on Sunday, the last day of the Tomb Sweeping holiday, marking two new highs. Sunday’s passenger volume broke the record of 123,000 set on the eve of the holiday the firm said. Some 460,000 passengers traveled on the system during the four-day holiday, a figure that exceeded the volume recorded over the Lunar New Year holiday in February, a company executive said. The official attributed the increased volume to the THSRC’s decision to provide additional trains and some free seats, a service that drew many impromptu passengers, adding that during the Lunar New Year holiday most travelers had reserved seats for planned trips. On the last day of the Tomb Sweeping holiday THSRC allowed free seating in some train cars and dispatched an additional four non-reserved trains to carry people from Kaohsiung to Taipei and one from Taichung to Taipei, but many passengers still had to stand all the way, the executive said.
■education
Writing contest announced
The Ministry of Education and the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huaya opened registrations yesterday for a computer writing contest for foreigners. Registration is open to non-native high-intermediate Mandarin students and will run until April 30. The contest will be held on May 27. The steering committee said the contest will consist of two parts — an applied essay and a discussion essay. The five winners will receive awards and cash prizes ranging from NT$2,000 to NT$10,000, the committee said. The committee said it hoped the contest would encourage more foreigners to improve their computer writing and Mandarin skills. Those interested in taking part can visit the committee’s Web site at www.sc-top.org.tw or call (02) 3343-3900.
■HEAlth
Department gives warning
Officials from Taichung County’s department of health have urged local women to be aware of the risks of cervical cancer even if they have had their wombs removed. The officials pointed to the case of a woman aged over 60, who got cervical cancer even though she had her womb and ovaries taken out 10 years before. The woman had skipped Pap smear examinations since then and was shocked to find out that she had cervical cancer early this year, the officials said. They believe that cancer cells might develop in remaining womb tissue.
■HEAlth
Court orders pay out
Taipei District Court recently ordered Alexander Health Clubs to pay more than NT$245,000 in compensation to a university professor who broke his arm after he slipped on a wet floor at one of their fitness centers. The professor, surnamed Lin, broke his right forearm at the health club’s Songshou Road branch in 2005. Lin ended up spending four days in hospital and it took more than two months to heal. Lin decided to sue for compensation stating in the lawsuit that the health club had not placed any warning signs to let people know that the floor was wet. In the lawsuit, Lin claimed that the muscles in his right forearm were still weak and that full mobility had not been restored despite over six months of rehabilitation. The court said in its ruling that the Alexander Health Club was responsible for the accident.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
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