TRANSPORTATION
No change in TPass price
Despite an expected increase in electricity rates next month, the price of the TPass is to remain unchanged, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday in Taipei. For example, the “Taipei-New Taipei-Keelung-Taoyuan” TPass will still be priced at NT$1,200 (US$37.55), even if fares on certain public transport systems were to increase, Wang said, adding that a special government budget would cover potential deficits. Electricity accounts for about 10 percent of the operating costs of Taiwan Railway Corp and Taiwan High-Speed Rail, he said. Discussions are under way about potential increases for Taiwan Railway and intercity bus ticket prices, which have not changed for 28 years and 18 years respectively, he said. The government is expected to partly subsidize medium to long-haul trips for both services, while potential losses from short-haul trips would be covered by revenue generated by the TPass scheme, he said.
LOTTERY
Millions in prizes unclaimed
Two prizes for NT$10 million and four for NT$2 million have not yet been claimed since the winning numbers for the November-December invoice lottery draw was announced, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. One of the NT$10 million winning receipts was food purchases of NT$144 at a 7-Eleven in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), while the other was for cigarettes costing NT$125 at a FamilyMart in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), the ministry said. The eight-digit serial number that won the NT$10 million special prize was 63603594, while the serial number for the NT$2 million grand prize draw was 73155944. The winners have until May 6 to claim their prizes.
SOCIETY
Youth protection mulled
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Thursday ordered a review of proposals to establish a special agency to protect children and young people. Chen has instructed Cabinet Secretary-General Li Men-yen (李孟諺) to hold meetings with representatives from government bodies to discuss the matter, Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) told a news conference. The Ministry of Health and Welfare should conduct a comprehensive review of the placement process for children in foster care, procedures for handling child abuse, and clearly delineate the responsibilities of central and local governments, Chen said. The ministry said in a news release that the role of competent local authorities in charge of social affairs needs to be strengthened, including the supervision of foster caregivers and the institutions they work with. Local governments should assess the necessity of adoption and arrange for the placement and care of children before their adoption, it said. They also need to review the frequency of visits to children in foster care by social workers and formulate guidelines to bolster supervision, it said.
ENVIRONMENT
Hotels to mark ‘Earth Hour’
Several hotel operators are to turn off their lights in public areas for an hour this evening in support of the annual “Earth Hour,” which aims to raise public awareness of environmental issues. LDC Hotel & Resorts Group said its hotels, including Palais de Chine Hotel and Fleur de Chine Hotel Sun Moon Lake, are to join the initiative. Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel said it has planned eco-friendly activities on weekends this month to help people incorporate environmental friendliness into their daily lives.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching