The Ministry of Culture is expanding its Culture Points (文化幣) program to include people aged 13 to 15 starting next year.
Culture Points are a cash handout program intended to pass culture on to the next generation by encouraging young people to engage in cultural activities.
The program began last year for people aged 18 to 21 and was expanded this year to include those aged 16 to 22, with each qualified person able to redeem 1,200 points.
Photo courtesy of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra
Minister of Culture Lee Yuan (李遠) in a news release said that one of his first tasks since taking office has been to lower the age requirement for Culture Points to 13 years old.
Expanding the program to include teenagers aged 13 to 15 would encourage the next generation to be more creative, humanistic and culturally literate, Lee said.
The ministry also plans to promote family travel programs and youth groups to encourage more people to engage in cultural activities, he said.
For next year's Culture Points program, citizens and qualified foreign nationals aged 16 to 22 can redeem 1,200 Culture Points, and those aged 13 to 15 can redeem 600 Culture Points.
These points can be redeemed starting on Jan. 1 at 8am on the dedicated mobile app and are valid until Dec. 31 next year.
Those without a mobile phone can apply for a paper QR code.
This year’s Culture Points are only valid until the end of the month, the ministry said, adding that 248,000 qualified people have yet to redeem their points.
Young people can also receive extra points by inviting friends to join the program, the ministry said.
They receive 30 points for the first two friends they invite, and 10 points for each friend they invite after that, with no limit to the number of points they can receive, it said.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS