Taitung County’s Tiehua Music Village is to close by Dec. 31, because its organizer said it has completed its goal of helping the region develop.
Lovely Taiwan Foundation CEO Lee Ying-ping (李應平) on Friday said that the foundation initially wanted to present the best of Taiwan through local townships and villages, and the area around Tiehua Music Village has developed well over the past few years.
The aim of Tiehua, which was set up by the foundation in 2010, was to provide Taitung’s indigenous people with a stage to perform music.
Photo: Screen grab from Tiehua’s Facebook page
As Tiehua became popular, a lot of singers from Taiwan and abroad performed there, including Taiwanese singer-songwriter Crowd Lu (盧廣仲) and rock star Wu Bai (伍佰).
The news of its closure first came out on Thursday night, when the foundation posted a statement on Facebook.
The foundation said it appreciated all who have joined the village and worked together over the past 13 years, adding that they made Tiehua blossom.
Many local residents said that they were shocked at the news, and wondered if the foundation was under financial pressure.
In response to their questions, Lee said “the cost of running the village was not what we thought about the most, but whether the project had helped the region grow, and [sparked] motivation and opportunities.”
Tiehua Music Village would always be one of Taitung’s best memories, Lee said, adding that the foundation would continue working in areas such as Pingtung and Miaoli counties, and Taitung’s Chihshang Township (池上).
Meanwhile, Tiehua music director Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭捷任) said that the news came out quite abruptly, but as the foundation is a non-profit organization and has been considering a transformation for some time, it was time for a change.
However, the foundation’s goal to help develop local culture and education would remain the same, Cheng added.
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS