SOCIETY
Museum aims to heal hearts
A traveling “museum” focusing on failed relationships will go on display in Taipei on Saturday and run through Sept. 1. Event organizers yesterday said the “Museum of Broken Relationships” aims to heal and inspire people who have gone through traumatic breakups. About 100 items will be on display at the “museum,” which is on its third visit to the Asia-Pacific region, having toured Singapore and the Philippines since its establishment in Croatia in 2010. Local perspectives will be on display during the Taipei exhibition, the organizers said. The museum’s entire collection comes from donations. According to the museum’s official Web site, the touring exhibition, featuring personal experiences, local culture and history, hopes to inspire people to search for deeper insights from rather than rue their failed relationships.
SOCIETY
NIA extends ROC stays
National Immigration Agency (NIA) Director-General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) yesterday said the agency would extend the period that Republic of China nationals without household registration who enter the country on a landing visa can stay from 30 days to three months. Hsieh said the new policy should lighten the burden for overseas nationals who plan extensive stays in the country, and it could benefit about 60,000 people once it takes effect. However, the change will only take effect two months after the necessary administrative procedures are completed.
SOCIETY
FACT opens autism center
The Foundation for Autistic Children and Adults in Taiwan (FACT) opened its Zhishan Education Center in Taipei yesterday to help raise awareness of the need for early diagnosis of autism and therapy. Autism symptoms are often mistaken for slow development, FACT chairwoman Huang Chien-fang (黃千芳) said. As a result, children with autism who are not diagnosed early on can miss out on the most critical time to receive effective therapy, Huang said. Delayed therapy affects their ability to handle everyday tasks and find employment, she added. The foundation is dedicated to whole-person development for autistic children, Huang said, and the center will offer therapy as well as support for families of autistic children. The number of people diagnosed with autism increased 10.05 percent between 2011 and last year, the foundation said. Autism rates this decade have increased 2.7 times compared with the last decade, marking the largest increase among all disabilities in the time period, Huang said.
CULTURE
Shei-pa Park stages show
The Shei-pa National Park Headquarters in Miaoli County will hold a show on Saturday highlighting innovations to Atayal traditional tribal clothing, in a bid to promote Aboriginal cultural and creative industry. Park headquarter director Lin Ching (林青) said this is the third year in which the park has worked with the Yeh Tong workshop to promote innovative creations for traditional Aboriginal clothing. “This year we are using fuchsia, royal blue, purple and green, colors favored by the Atayal for the clothing,” Lin said. “The clothing feature traditional elements like tassels and pearls, but also ‘modern’ innovations that reflect the designers’ aim to free the clothes from the very word that defines — and traps — them.” Lin said 130 pieces of art and decorations made from wool, felt and other materials would be displayed at the show.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
RSS