■SOCIETY
Scooter and owner reunited
A motorcycle exhibition at the National Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung City was recently the setting for a reunion between an old Suzuki Landie 50 scooter and its former owner. Huang Shih (黃寔), 69, is a voluntary worker at the museum. The moment she saw the moped she had owned for dozens of years before being forced to auction it online over two years ago because of financial problems, Huang shed tears of joy. Huang was despondent when she handed more than the scooter to Chen Yen-shan (鄭燕山), a 30-year-old antique motorbike collector from Kaohsiung County, and pleaded with Huang not to tear the bike apart. The exhibition, which runs through May 10, displays motorcycles that have run on Taiwan’s roads and streets over the past half-century. Chen said the three-gear Landie 50, which was produced in the 1970s, has been his treasure since he first bought it and that he had spent NT$50,000 on the restoration.
■SOCIETY
Ma buys food with vouchers
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) purchased food yesterday at a Taipei traditional market using cash and consumer vouchers as part of his effort to promote plans to help boost the country’s sluggish economy. Ma made the purchases while accompanying his mother, Chin Hou-hsiu (秦厚修), on a trip to buy Lunar New Year treats at Xinglong Market in the Wenshan district. The NT$3,600 consumer vouchers were distributed on Jan. 18 by the government in an attempt to stimulate consumption.
■DIPLOMACY
Taiwan donates to disabled
Representative to the Philippines Liu Shan-shan (劉姍姍) donated equipment for the disabled to the Philippines on Friday following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the issue with the Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare. Liu, on behalf of the Taiwan-based Eden Social Welfare Foundation, donated the equipment, which included 65 wheelchairs, 150 crutches and 10 walking sticks for the blind, during a ceremony in Manila. Department of Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Philippines and expressed gratitude to the Eden Social Welfare Foundation for the donation, part of which will be given to the Philippines chapter of the Women’s Federation for World Peace. Taiwan donated relief supplies and humanitarian aid to the Philippines in 2005 and again last year after areas of the country were devastated by typhoons.
■SOCIETY
Hakka culture park planned
Construction of a Hakka culture park in Miaoli County began on Friday and is scheduled to be completed in 2011. Addressing the park’s groundbreaking ceremony, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said the park would be a landmark in Miaoli, but also a “spiritual fortress” for the nation’s Hakka population. Located in the southern section of the Tongluo Science Park, the Hakka cultural center will be the only one in Taiwan to comprise both cultural and industrial structures. Siew said he hoped that high-tech companies in the Tongluo park would support cultural development and the new Hakka park would inspire and enrich Taiwan’s scientific and technological development. Council of Hakka Affairs Minister Huang Yu-chen (黃玉振) said the new culture park was expected to work in concert with the existing Liuduei Hakka Culture Park in Pingtung County to preserve and spark a rennaissance of Hakka culture.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
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