SOCIETY
Donald Tsang visits Taiwan
Former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday on a personal trip to visit relatives, the Mainland Affairs Council said. Tsang, who stepped down in June last year, is the first key political figure from Hong Kong to visit the nation. He became Hong Kong’s second chief executive after his predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa (董建華), resigned in 2005 for health reasons. Tsang was re-elected to a second term in March 2007. In 2008, then-Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) received a high-profile welcome when he visited Tsang, reflecting warming Hong Kong-Taiwan ties. After that, more Taiwanese political and financial heavyweights visited the territory, including Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強).
SOCIETY
Toilets make life better
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Minister Shih Su-mei (石素梅) addressed the public’s doubts about why the level of private access to indoor flushing toilets was included in the country’s Gross National Happiness index, saying the index is an international measuring scale specified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) “Better Life Index” for measuring people’s satisfaction with their homes, such as whether have basic sanitary facilities. Among the 36 countries in the OECD, all dwellings in the US, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Spain have private access to indoor flushing toilets, Shih said. The OECD’s “Better Life Index” measures well-being by asking people to rate their satisfaction with life on a scale from zero to 10. Australians ranked the highest last year, with a score of 8.01, while Turkish people were the least satisfied, with a score of 2.91.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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