Taiwan reported a record number of centenarians last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
The 4,721 citizens over the age of 100 represented an increase of 679 from last year, the ministry said, adding that those who have turned 100 years old so far this year has also increased by 18 percent, to 1,876 people.
The data from household registrations were tabulated and verified by door-to-door visits from January to last month, it said.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
The data also showed that women accounted for 2,797, or 59.2 percent, of the country’s centenarians.
The oldest female centenarian is 118 years old and lives in Taipei, while the two oldest males are 112 years old; one in Kaohsiung and another in Miaoli County.
Taiwan yesterday marked the Double Ninth Festival, which traditionally honors elders, with gifts and visits to the country’s centenarians from government officials.
As in past years, the Presidential Office and the ministry gifted a pendant of two Taiwanese taels, or about 38 grams, of gold to those who recently became centenarian, while those who are more than 100 years old received a half-tael pendant.
Social and Family Affairs Administration Deputy Director-General Lee Lin-feng (李臨鳳) said that Taiwanese centenarians are increasing each year due to advances in healthcare, hygiene, wealth and the standard of living.
Lin Tsai-hsian (林才祥), a 100-year-old Keelung resident is one example of of a centenarian who has kept his hearing and vision well maintained, Lee said.
Lin received congratulations from Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) in person on Wednesday.
Lin Tsai-hsian’s children said that their father was once a vendor of soy milk, natural gas and charcoal, and that he used to visit the city’s old wet market each day for 20 years.
Lin Tsai-hsian prefers many small meals of porridge made from unpolished rice throughout the day, and enjoys regular walks and other forms of exercise, they said.
He is a happy person and has not been ill for two years, they added.
One of Tainan’s new centenarians, Chiang Lee Chin-liu (蔣李金柳), was also seen in good health during a visit by city councilors and other officials.
Chiang Lee has kept healthy through a cultivated a positive mindset provided by her study of Buddhism, her children said.
Another Tainan elder, Wei Lin-chin (魏林錦), also of sound health, was seen counting the contents of the red envelope gifted to her by the city government, eliciting laughter from her family and officials.
“Mother’s secret to a long life is to keep herself happy and to keep a regular schedule of waking and resting,” Wei’s second son said.
Additional reporting by Wang Shu-hsiu and Yang Chin-cheng
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