President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited the ROC Military Academy in Kaohsiung yesterday for a meal with victims of the flooding caused by Typhoon Morakot in August.
Ma was accompanied by Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉) and Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), as well as officials representing the local areas hit by the flooding.
Asked by reporters to comment on the food, Ma said: “It tastes better than what I [normally] eat.”
PHOTO: CNA
He also gave several cases of dried dates as gifts to the victims.
After the meal, Ma sat down for talks with representatives from Taoyuan (桃源) and Liouguei (六龜) townships in Kaohsiung County. The representatives complained that the criteria for applications for relief, such as permanent housing and subsidies for agricultural losses were too strict.
Some also complained that there has been almost nothing in the way of reconstruction since the flooding, while others hoped to be allowed to stay at the temporary refugee centers for a longer period of time.
Most refugees have returned to their homes while about 500 people remain at the centers.
Ma said the government would not use a very strict system to evaluate applications for permanent housing, but that certain principles would still apply to ensure fairness.
He also said that if evacuations were necessary because of storms in future, he hoped the residents would cooperate with evacuation efforts.
Separately, a Taoist service for Morakot victims was held at a Taoist temple in Datien Village (大田), Jiasian Township (甲仙), Kaohsiung County, yesterday. Taoists and Taoist clergy from around the country as well as Hong Kong attended the ceremony, which was presided over by Taoist master Huang Shih (黃史).
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former Examination Yuan president Chiu Chuang-huan (邱創煥) and presidential adviser Lin Yun-yuan (林淵源) were among the attendees who burned incense and prayed for the victims.
After the ceremony, Tsai told reporters that the post-Morakot reconstruction efforts were too slow and that the government should pool its resources and accelerate programs to rebuild infrastructure in affected areas.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS