Ninety-five-year-old blacksmith Lee Hou-yung (李後庸) and his 69-year-old son, Lee Wang-pin (李汪彬), quietly sit on opposite corners of the family smithy at Nanfangao Fishing Port (南方澳漁港) in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳), each holding a welder as they make ship anchors.
At their shop, Yi Yuan Metalworks (億元鐵工廠), sparks fly about, rising and falling, seeming to underscore the boom and bust of Nanfangao’s fishing trade that the father and son have witnessed over the past 55 years.
The shop, devoid of a sign, is about 15 ping (49.59m2), with anchors of all sizes and harpoons hanging from its walls, with a hydraulic press in a corner.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
Since its opening in 1958, Lee Wang-pin has been a part of the family trade.
At its peak, the shop had a staff of seven additional workers, who mainly worked on custom orders placed by fishing ship captains.
They manufactured anchors from as small as 4kg to as large as 700kg and also installed them, Lee Hou-yung said.
Nanfangao Township is not big — about 2km2 — but in its heyday, the fishing port was home to nearly 30,000 people, he said.
“The streets were packed with people, and the town had three cinemas, as well as two rows of night market stalls that never seemed to end,” he said.
Commercial trade was thriving, with so many vessels filling the harbor that they could cross it by walking from ship to ship, he said.
Fishing was hard work, and the younger generation did not want to take up the profession, Lee Hou-yung said, adding that as the population shrank, the township’s economy waned.
He turned the shop over to his son more than 20 years ago, but could not bear the idleness of retirement and returned to help, Lee Hou-yung said.
The secret to staying healthy at his age was to keep working, he said, adding that he treated work as a form of exercise and would continue as long as he could.
The prevalence of lightweight fiberglass as a primary material in making ships meant that their shop had less business, Lee Wang-pin said.
Nanfangao’s glory days were in the past, and more than one-quarter of the shops in the port had since closed, he said.
Some smithies remain, but once all the shops shut, ships would have to turn to large companies to fulfill orders and Yi Yuan would be unable to buy customized equipment at affordable prices, he said.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
SIX SUBSIDIES: The monthly allowance for older farmers is to increase to NT$10,000, and NT$5,000 is to be given to homemakers under the national pension system, Lai said The government is to implement major welfare policies for disadvantaged groups, including raising the monthly allowance for older farmers to NT$10,000 and providing homemakers with NT$5,000 per month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks during a visit to Wangling Temple in Chiayi County, saying that the planned increases were being introduced amid economic growth and an increase in tax revenue. Touting a policy, in which the government plans to provide a monthly allowance of NT$5,000 for every child under the age of 18 in a bid to address Taiwan’s low birthrate, Lai said that if received for the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
RSS