Inspired by the stabbing rampage on Taipei’s MRT system last year, students in Chih-Kwang Senior Vocational Business and Technology High School’s multimedia department came up with the idea of turning an umbrella into a weapon of self-defense by placing a can of mace in the handle.
During a graduation exhibition on Monday, students at the New Taipei City school said they have developed a “multipurpose defensive umbrella.”
Student Fei Chun-chi (斐俊期) said that many people have been scared of taking the MRT since last year’s stabbing rampage, and that most MRT riders are not equipped to defend themselves against potential assailants. Fei said the students’ goal was to equip everyday items with defensive capabilities.
Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei Times
Student Huang Ssu-kai (黃思凱) said the group had originally thought of hiding a cone-shaped blade in an umbrella handle to “combat violence with violence,” but MRT regulations bar passengers from carrying weapons.
As the goal was to deter an assailant, not to cause further harm, the students thought of making an umbrella handle into an extendable baton, Huang said.
However, if the user was under stress, they might fumble and not be able to extend the baton, he said.
After some more brainstorming, the students came up with the idea of mace spray that would allow users to fend off an assailant’s advances with the umbrella itself, as well as using the mace to disorient the attacker and buy time for police officers to arrive, Huang said.
The students said they were looking to strengthen the umbrella’s fabric as well as reinforce its frame, while keeping an eye on its total weight.
“We hope to produce something that will truly combine the utility of an umbrella while meeting the need for a self-defense tool,” the group said.
Four people were killed and more than a score injured on May 21 last year when 21-year-old Cheng Chieh (鄭捷) began stabbing other MRT passengers as their train traveled from Jiangzicui Station to Longshan Temple Station.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS