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.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS