COVID-19: Official probed over misinformation
COVID-19: Official probed over misinformationLOST IN TRANSLATION? Hsinchu County Deputy Commissioner Chen Chien-hsien of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), center left, presents a certificate of appreciation on May 26. They even tried to falsely accuse the foreign minister of a country friendly to Taiwan,” Kuan said. I urge the KMT chairman to apologize to the public and to Japan’s foreign minister. Or do they want people to see that the KMT have sunk to such unethical, low moral standards?” Kuan said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
TSMC increases planned payout due to raised earnings
That represents a payout ratio of about 51 percent based on its earnings per share of NT$5.39 in the first three months of this year. TSMC said that its board of directors approved the cash dividend distribution yesterday. A new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co facility is pictured in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan on Jan. 25. The board yesterday approved postponing its annual shareholders’ meeting until July 26. The board yesterday also approved the promotion of Jonathan Lee (李俊賢) to vice president.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Clinic to be fined over shots program
Clinic to be fined over shots programPRIORITY GROUPS: A line of people were waiting at the Good Liver Clinic, apparently to get shots, while the CECC announced more priority groups for jabsBy Lee I-chia and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taipei-based Good Liver Clinic is to be fined NT$2 million (US$72,028) after giving free COVID-19 vaccine shots to people not in groups eligible to receive them, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday. The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) on Tuesday in an exclusive story citing an anonymous tip reported that a Taipei clinic was doling out unused vaccines. Vaccine production, storage and logistics personnel have also been added to the second priority group, Chen said. “The major changes to the list are the fifth and sixth priority groups,” Chen said. Only about 2,000 people are in the fourth priority group, mainly diplomats, athletes or contestants representing Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Food and beverage sales down 60%: survey
Food and beverage sales down 60%: surveyStaff writer, with CNAThe government’s tightened restrictions to control a domestic COVID-19 outbreak have reduced sales in the local food and beverage industry by more than 60 percent, an iChef Co Ltd (資廚管理顧問) survey said yesterday. The survey covered more than 7,000 restaurants and food stalls nationwide to show the effect the restrictions have had on the sector, iChef said. Under the level 3 alert, restaurants and food stalls can provide only takeout services, while on-site dining is not allowed. In the first three weeks of the level 3 alert, takeout and food delivery accounted for more than 70 percent of the industry’s total sales. In the first, second and third week of the level 3 alert, sales from food delivery services rose 36 percent, 48 percent and 41 percent respectively, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
‘Bullied’ student dies in apparent suicide
‘Bullied’ student dies in apparent suicideBy Yao Yueh-hung and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA student at National Chengchi University jumped from the roof of his apartment in the early hours of Sunday after he was allegedly bullied online. At 3am on Sunday, Huang jumped from the roof of his building, leading to questions over whether bullying had played a factor in the apparent suicide. Following the alleged suicide, classmates posted on the online bulletin board Professional Technology Temple confirming that Huang had been bullied online. However, Huang began having conflict online with two new roommates, she said. The school said it would get in touch with students affected by the suicide, and encouraged any student who has problems to ask the school for help.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Greatek output to drop due to virus cases
Greatek output to drop due to virus casesBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterChip tester and packager Greatek Electronics Inc’s (超豐電子) shares tumbled more than 3 percent yesterday, as it said it expected output to drop by about 10 percent this month because it has shut some production lines to test all employees for COVID-19 after reporting eight confirmed cases. Greatek was one of five electronics companies in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township (竹南) that reported COVID-19 infections among migrant workers. Two new rapid screening test centers were yesterday launched at the Southern Taiwan Science Park’s (南部科學園區) two campuses in Tainan and Kaohsiung. The rapid screening test centers can so far test a combined 1,000 people a day, the Southern Taiwan Science Park Administration said in a statement yesterday. Rapid screening test centers were launched at the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) and the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Book review: Neither here nor there: Study casts light on aging Taiwanese migrants to the US
Book review: Neither here nor there: Study casts light on aging Taiwanese migrants to the USThe overall feeling among those interviewed for this fascinating book is that “Americanization” has made them more progressive and tolerant as parents, grandparents, husbands and wivesBy James Baron / Contributing ReporterWith droves of Taiwanese Americans reportedly bolting stateside on “vaccine tours,” the issue of transnational healthcare opportunism is back in the public eye. Still, the perception remains that many Taiwanese Americans are taking advantage of both systems in an unscrupulous manner. A fair few deflected by railing against “undeserving others,” including undocumented Latinos, immigrants from China and even lower-income Taiwanese. In Chapter 5, which is titled Navigating Networks of Support, a woman surnamed Guo relates the difficulty of engaging in politics with family back home. “But Mr Guo explained, ‘Yes, they are from Taiwan, but they are waishengren.’ For Mr and Mrs Guo, not everyone from Taiwan counted as ‘Taiwanese,’” Sun concludes.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
NCC gives BCC a pass, but orders improvements
The nation’s largest radio station was penalized five times during the three-year period for promoting specific products in its programs, accumulating NT$600,000 (US$21,608) in fines, NCC senior specialist Chen Shu-ming (陳書銘) said. The company must also reinforce educational training for workers and ensure that it has a sound financial management plan, the commission said. The commission would offer administrative guidance to BCC if it should change its business plan in accordance with the court’s ruling, Wong said. The radio station was also required to submit in August a financial statement in which its broadcast and non-broadcast revenue are listed in separate categories, Wong said. As Jaw did not accept the position that was offered to him, BCC did not breach regulations in this regard, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Mega Bank fined NT$10m over lax mortgage controls
Mega Bank fined NT$10m over lax mortgage controlsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterState-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) was yesterday fined NT$10 million (US$360,972) for its lax internal control over 28 mortgages totaling NT$350 million, whose applications were made by dummy accounts, the Financial Supervisory Commission said. Mega Bank became the nation’s third bank to be punished for failing to detect mortgage applications made by dummy accounts. Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) was fined NT$3 million in 2016 for offering mortgages to 34 figurehead accounts, some of whom belonged to vagrants, and Hwatai Bank (華泰銀行) was fined NT$3 million in 2018, commission data showed. However, the lender last year found in an internal audit that the mortgage applications were made by figureheads who used funds from a third party to repay the loans, Huang said. Mega Bank has estimated that it would likely incur a loss of NT$22 million due to the 28 problematic mortgages, Huang said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Police warn about new strategies to defraud people
COVID-19: Police warn about new strategies to defraud peopleBy Hsu Kuo-chen and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerScammers have developed new strategies to extract personal information and money amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan, the Taichung Police Department said on Sunday. The department provided advice to avoid online scams amid a surge in reports of people posing as contact tracing officials or e-commerce platforms. A cellphone displays a text message as a person scans a contact tracing QR code in Taipei on May 23. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei TimesSome pose as contact tracing officials, messaging targets to tell them that they have been listed as a contact of a confirmed case, it said. Such scams often have prices far below market norms and do not provide contact information, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Morticians in Taichung call for vaccine priority
COVID-19: Morticians in Taichung call for vaccine priorityBy Su Chin-feng and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerMorticians in Taichung are urging the city government to prioritize them for COVID-19 vaccines, citing the dangers of handling funerary arrangements for unknown cases. Morticians are not on the priority list for vaccines, the Taichung Civil Affairs Bureau said. A medical worker prepares a vaccine shot at a new rapid testing station in Taichung Municipal Hui-Wen High School on Friday last week, as the Taichung City Government plans to establish 66 more rapid testing stations for COVID-19. Taichung City Councilor Chiu Su-chen (邱素貞) said that many morticians have contacted her and said they fear being infected while handling bodies that are only confirmed to have COVID-19 after death. The fact that they have not been prioritized for vaccines shows that the city has underestimated the risks morticians face, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
June 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Delivery workers need jabs: group
Delivery workers need jabs: groupBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) should include delivery workers as a priority group for COVID-19 vaccines, as many consumers rely on their services because dining out has been banned across Taiwan, the Digital Economy Association Taiwan said on Monday. Although most delivery platforms or e-commerce providers do not have enough workers to handle the increase in orders, they still try to complete as many as possible, despite the infection risk workers face from coming into contact with so many people, the association said in a statement. Photo: Liu Hsin-te, Taipei TimesIf delivery workers are vaccinated, they can continue to work safely and are less likely to infect others, which would alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on businesses and reduce consumers’ anxiety, the association added. California and Singapore view delivery personnel as essential workers and have included them in their vaccine priority groups, the association said. Members of the association include Foodpanda Taiwan Co (富胖達), GoShare Taiwan Ltd (睿能數位), Lalamove Taiwan (啦啦快送), Uber Taiwan and Uber Eats Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
June 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Environmental Impact Assessment: Will vertical farms upend conventional agriculture?
Environmental Impact Assessment: Will vertical farms upend conventional agriculture? Indoor farms — often called vertical farms, because they occupy small pieces of land but feature multi-level growing areas — bypass the unpredictability of nature. Curl leaf lettuce growing indoors at YesHealth’s vertical farm. What’s more, Taiwan has scores of disused industrial sites that could be repurposed into vertical farms. However, it tends to release toxins only when heated or exposed to sunlight; inside a vertical farm, this is unlikely to happen.
Source:Taipei Times
June 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Number of furloughs exceeds 5,000
Number of furloughs exceeds 5,000Staff writer, with CNAThe number of furloughed workers in Taiwan increased by 940 over the past week, bringing the total to 5,065, Ministry of Labor data showed yesterday. A large food manufacturing company placed 840 workers on furlough, accounting for most of the weekly increase, the data showed. Twenty-two businesses initiated furlough programs over the past week, bringing the total to 467, the ministry said. The ministry issues weekly updates on the number of furloughed workers in the nation. Most of the establishments implementing furlough programs are small firms with fewer than 50 employees.
Source:Taipei Times
June 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Subsidies to benefit 7.3m people, Premier Su says
COVID-19: Subsidies to benefit 7.3m people, Premier Su saysTARGETED FUNDS: One-time subsidies are to go to farmers, self-employed people and families with young children, but calls for a blanket subsidy were dismissedStaff writer, with CNAAt least 7.3 million people in Taiwan will benefit from a fourth round of subsidies the government is issuing to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The legislature is holding an extraordinary session until Friday next week to review a NT$260 billion (US$9.39 billion) relief package proposed by the Cabinet, with Su briefing lawmakers on details of the package yesterday and today. Su said that NT$73.4 billion is for COVID-19 control measures, such as purchasing and developing vaccines and medication. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei TimesThe remaining NT$186.6 billion is to go to subsidies to individuals and businesses, Su said. The subsidies for individuals, which will benefit an estimated 7.3 million people, include a one-time subsidy of NT$10,000 to NT$30,000 for farmers, fishers, tour guides, taxi drivers and self-employed people, among others, Su said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 08, 2021 15:56 UTC