A Taipei resident who wanted to know what it took to get fined on Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system for eating or chewing gum or betel nut in MRT stations or trains — after seeing other people violate the rules several times and not being punished — decided to find out for himself.
HAPPY FINE
Huang Ming-an (黃民安) said that after chewing gum in the MRT system for a month-and-a-half, he was finally “happy” when an MRT employee approached him and imposed a fine.
Huang said on Facebook that he once tried to stop a drunken man from starting to smoke on the train, but an MRT staffer only looked at them and left.
“I ended up being sworn at,” Huang said.
He said that several months ago, he wanted to stop another man from chewing betel nut, as it is prohibited to do so in the MRT system, but a staffer again only glanced at them and left without taking any action.
After those experiences, Huang said he began to wonder what it would take to get fined for breaking MRT regulations — and he decided to find out for himself.
He started chewing gum whenever he entered an MRT station, “but for a whole month-and-a-half, nobody approached me,” he said.
The moment finally came earlier this month.
“I was, in fact, happy,” Huang said. “Although this was not something meaningful, at least I got the answer to my question, even if it still hurts, because I had to pay a NT$1,500 fine.”
Since he posted his experience on Facebook, about 5,000 people have “liked” it.
‘SPECIAL CASE’
Commenting on the case, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp vice president Sheng Chih-chang (沈世藏) said that eating or chewing gum or betel nut is not allowed on the MRT system, and that most passengers are warned by station staff for doing so, adding that the company would only slap fines on those who frequently ignore the regulations.
“What Huang has experienced must be a special case,” Sheng said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.
RSS