Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) is convinced that the number of couples tying the knot in Taiwan next year would set a new high.
Jiang said on Sunday that next year would be a good year for marriage, given that local residents prefer to have “dragon boys” or “dragon girls” — the next Year of the Dragon falls in 2012 according to the lunar calendar.
That, coupled with the -centennial anniversary of the Republic of China, as well as a steady economic recovery, means that he “can hardly wait to see the record being broken,” Jiang said.
The Ministry of the Interior has launched a series of campaigns and activities this year to encourage people to get married and have more children, which Jiang said have borne fruit.
Jiang said that Taiwanese usually get married according to traditional customs, adding that last year was a “lonely bird year,” considered inauspicious for marriage, so that the number of couples tying the knot decreased markedly.
However, Sept. 9, for which “nine-nine” is a Chinese homonym for “everlasting,” was an auspicious day and on that day, more than 6,000 couples took their vows, setting a single-day record for the last two decades.
Oct. 10 also conveys the sense of “a perfect 10” and on that day, 2,500 couples registered their marriages, far outnumbering last year’s daily average of 300 couples.
Recent figures released by the ministry showed the number of couples tying the knot in the first 10 months of this year reached 112,020, an increase of almost 20,000 from the same period of last year.
Although the ministry estimates that the number of couples getting married could reach more than 140,000 this year, an increase of 20 percent from last year, it will still lag far behind the 170,000 couples annually prior to 2003.
A ministry official said that in addition to the custom factor, the drop in the marriage rate was -related to the younger generation’s ideas about the institution, while economic factors are also a major reason.
Because of the soaring cost of housing and declining wages, young people are more reluctant to tie the knot, because they simply cannot afford houses, spouses or children, the official said.
The official said the ministry has put a lot of effort into encouraging marriage and childbirth, but Taiwan’s marriage rate is still slipping, while its birthrate is among the lowest in the world.
“It is indeed a difficult problem to solve,” he said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
RSS