A filial son, whose act of carrying his mother to hospital wrapped in a large piece of cloth tied around his neck has received widespread media and public attention, apologized on Monday for taking up so much press coverage.
A picture showing a middle-aged man holding his infirm mother while sitting in the Chi Mei Medical Center in Greater Tainan, has been widely circulated online since Friday
Many netizens said they were touched by the scene. Local media outlets subsequently picked up the story and some netizens launched a cyber manhunt to discover the identity of the man in the photograph.
Photo: courtesy of Chou Yu-tung
The man was later revealed to be 61-year-old Ting Tsu-chi (丁祖伋), a retired investigator with the Ministry of Justice’s Tainan bureau.
Former colleagues were quoted in local media reports as saying they were not surprised to learn that the man in the picture was Ting as he was known for being filial. He even passed on a promotion because he would have had to relocate to Taipei City and so be unable to look after his mother.
Ting, who filed for early retirement in 2007 to take better care of his mother, on Monday expressed gratitude for the expression of public concern, while declining to accept the praise voiced in the media.
“I am not as filial and honorable as described in the news reports, and I’m sorry for taking up so much media coverage over the past few days,” said Ting, whose father passed away in 2007.
Ting said his 85-year-old mother has a history of heart disease and high blood pressure and required 24-hour care.
When asked why he carried his mother to hospital, Ting said he was worried that she would be in uncomfortable sitting in a wheelchair as she recently fractured her leg.
“It wasn’t too strenuous to carry my mother for a few minutes, so I did,” Ting said, adding that he did not expect it to generate so much public attention.
Declining offers of help from netizens, Ting was previously quoted by Chi Mei Medical -Center Public Affairs Division director Wu Cheng-lung (吳政隆) as saying he and his mother did not require any assistance. Ting said that such resources would could be better employed helping someone truly in need.
“It was the first time I carried my mother using a piece of cloth, and it was also the last time,” Ting added on Monday. “In the future, I will call for an ambulance to take her to the hospital and borrow a hospital bed for her.”
Translated by Stacy Hsu, Staff Writer
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS