EDUCATION
NTU receives big donation
A well-known US obstetrician has donated NT$90 million (US$3 million) to her alma mater, National Taiwan University (NTU), to help train female physicians and medical researchers. Livia Wan (萬祥玉), 80, said she wanted to encourage more women to dedicate themselves to medicine, particularly in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. The university said it will use the money to set up a special fund to hire female professors in the field. Wan graduated from the school’s Medical College in 1958, but when she applied for a resident physician post at National Taiwan University Hospital she was turned down. In frustration, she moved to the US, where she secured an internship at Kings County Hospital Center in New York before being accepted as a resident at Philadelphia General Hospital.
DIPLOMACY
Ma, Paraguay officials meet
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged the Paraguayan Senate to exert its influence to help promote bilateral ties through its recently established “Republic of China friendship committee.” The committee, established on Dec. 12 last year, is the first friendship group set up by the Senate since the opening of its current session in July. Ma met with a delegation of Paraguayan senators led by Senate President Julio Cesar Velazquez at the Presidential Office. Ma said he hopes the committee can push the Paraguayan government to take substantive action in support of Taiwan’s bid to participate in international activities and organizations. He expressed his appreciation to Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes for speaking up for Taiwan at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 24 last year.
SOCIETY
Nation’s oldest person dies
The nation’s oldest person, Liu Ching-huan (劉鏡寰), died of heart and lung failure yesterday at Puli Christian Hospital at the age of 115. Liu was born in 1899 in Sichuan Province, China, and later moved to Taiwan. After her husband died, she converted to Buddhism. She entered a Buddhist temple in 1965 and later become a nun, the Nantou County Government said. She spent much of her time reciting Buddhist mantras. When asked about the secret of her longevity, she would suggest to people to recite Buddhist teachings, which she said would add to one’s blessings.
ENTERTAINMENT
Second comic festival set
The Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival is to open on Feb. 4, featuring graphic artists, animation directors and voice actors from Taiwan and Japan. Organizers yesterday said that the second annual festival will have 430 booths for 50 exhibitors, as well as 44 book signings and other events. Last year’s festival attracted 330,000 visitors and generated NT$130 million (US$4.33 million) in revenue, the organizer said, and it expects this year’s visitor numbers and revenues to beat last year’s figures. Among the big-name artists and authors who are to appear at the festival is Japanese manga artist Hajime Isayama, whose popular series Attack on Titan sold more than 22 million copies worldwide. The festival will be the first time Isayama visits Taiwan, and he is scheduled to hold an autograph session on the opening day. Shiki Mizuchi and illustrator Kohada Shimesaba of the popular Japanese light novel series Dragonar Academy is to sign autographs on Feb. 6. The festival is to run until Feb. 8 at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
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