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.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS