SOCIETY
New Year holiday extended
The Lunar New Year holiday next year will run for nine days from Jan. 21 to Jan. 29, Central Personnel Administration Minister Wu Tai-cheng (吳泰成) said yesterday. In response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) during a question-and-answer session, Wu said the administration had decided to designate Jan. 27, a Friday, a holiday, thereby extending the six-day Lunar New Year holiday to nine days. The administration would also designate Feb. 4, a Saturday, a working day to make up for the Jan. 27 holiday, Wu said, adding that his agency would formally unveil its proposals before the end of this month. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education said this year’s winter vacation for schools would run from Jan. 18 to Feb. 7 following college entrance exams on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18.
CRIME
Thai workers deported
Seventy-nine illegal Thai workers were deported on a charter flight on Thursday. The trip home, co-funded by Taiwanese businesspeople based in Thailand, was initiated by the Thai government as part of its celebration of the 84th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Thai government paid 2 million baht (US$64,900) to book the flight, while Taiwanese businesspeople contributed another 1.3 million baht for other expenses. The deportation was agreed after six months of negotiations with the Thai government, Thai-Taiwan Business Association president Norman Chang (張峰豪) said at a press conference after the group arrived in Bangkok. Also at the conference, Taiwan’s Representative to Thailand Henry Chen (陳銘政) extended his thanks to the Thai workers for their contribution to Taiwan’s infrastructure.
HEALTHCARE
Specialists gather in Taipei
More than 1,000 Asian obstetrics and gynecology specialists gathered in Taipei yesterday to exchange views and share new findings in women’s health. This marked the first time since 1989 that Taiwan had hosted the Asia and Oceania Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology president James Hsieh (謝卿宏) said. During the five-day congress titled “New Frontiers in Women’s Health,” topics ranging from miscarriages, pregnancy and labor risks to laparoscopic surgery would be covered, Hsieh said. He also expressed the association’s eagerness to host a bigger conference — the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics -— in future. “Our concern is whether Taipei can accommodate 20,000 foreign guests from more than 100 countries at the same time,” he said. If the government helped out, more doctors would be introduced to Taiwan’s achievements in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, he said.
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
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
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