Smoking is now prohibited at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the hall’s management office said yesterday, after a celebrity accused it of removing trees to establish a smoking area.
The office said it would no longer permit smoking in previously designated areas, effective immediately, following a complaint a day earlier by entertainer Tai Chih-yuan (邰智源).
It also denied that trees were removed to create a smoking area, saying it cut down tall trees with brown root rot to prevent them from falling over and causing injury.
Photo courtesy of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
The soil was also disinfected to prevent the disease from spreading, it added.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the Taipei City Government would help enforce the no smoking policy.
Regarding a call by the John Tung Foundation to fine the hall for establishing smoking areas in contravention of regulations, the Taipei Department of Health said it had not received any complaints.
Although the memorial is a cultural establishment and therefore should be entirely smoke-free under the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防治法), the smoking areas it previously established did not exceed half of all outdoor spaces and were in line with regulations, Health Promotion Division Director-General Lin Hsueh-lan (林雪蘭) said.
In a statement released yesterday, Tai called on the Ministry of Culture to “do something cultural” about the issue.
He urged the ministry to put up signs in Chinese and English at the hall’s entrances stating that smoking is banned.
Responding to comments about upholding smokers’ rights, Tai suggested setting up walled-off spaces in front of the National Central Library for smokers, adding that funding for the areas should come from tobacco health and welfare surcharges.
If national sites adopt such policies, local governments would follow suit and implement similar facilities at outdoor locations, such as swimming pools or tracks, Tai said.
The law is only effective to a limit, and it is up to the public to follow the rules, Tai said, adding that a nation is powerful not just because of the vastness of its territory or strength of its military, but also because of the strength of character of its citizens.
Additional reporting by Chiu Yi-chin
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS