President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday he had ordered the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) to study the feasibility of increasing the prize money awarded to medal-winning hearing-impaired athletes.
In the past, a gold medal winner in the Deaflympics received NT$750,000 (US$23,000). This year, however, the SAC raised the amount to NT$1.8 million, but Ma said he has asked the council to study how to raise the prize money to encourage hearing-impaired athletes to hone their skills.
“I also hope that all physically and mentally disabled people will get out of their homes to enjoy sunshine and exercise,” Ma said.
PHOTO: CNA
Ma made the remarks while meeting local athletes who won medals in the 21st Summer Deaflympics and their coaches.
Two sign language interpreters helped with communication between the president and the athletes, and Ma used sign language to spell out the total number of medals Taiwanese athletes won in the games — 11 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze.
Ma congratulated Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) for his city’s successful hosting of the quadrennial sports extravaganza.
International Committee of Sports for the Deaf president Donalda Ammons, who spoke at the closing ceremony the previous day, said she was impressed by the event in many ways, including its venues, organization and efficiency, the setup of programs and the exceptional number of volunteers who were always smiling and ready to help.
“As president of the Republic of China and a former mayor of Taipei, I feel very proud of the achievements of the Taipei Deaflympics,” Ma said.
He also expressed gratitude to the volunteers and staff members of the Sports Affairs Council and the Taipei City Government for their hard work and dedication during the 11-day event.
“The breathtaking spectacle at the opening ceremony and the culinary climax at the closing ceremony were very creative and full of ingenuity,” Ma said.
Ma also expressed his admiration for Chen Yi-chun (陳怡君), a taekwondo athlete who secured Taiwan’s first gold at the Deaflympics on Sept. 6, for her perseverance in the pursuit of excellence despite her disability.
Ma said the SAC had appropriated funds in its budget for next year to establish 10 community public exercise stadiums that will offer advanced sports facilities for low user fees, including indoor warm-water swimming pools, aerobic dance centers, rock climbing equipment and archery ranges.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS