Web bank offers new rate packages
Web bank offers new rate packagesBUILDING BASE: To mark its one-month anniversary, Rakuten Bank is offering a 50% discount on personal loans and 0.55% interest for a CPBL-linked 66-day fixed depositBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterRakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀), the nation’s first Web-only bank, aims to attract new clients by offering more attractive lending and deposit rates, but is cautious about funding young borrowers without credit records, the bank said yesterday. The virtual bank allows customers to open accounts and file for loan applications via its mobile app. Rakuten International Commercial Bank chairman Chien Ming-ren, left, and chief executive officer Kazuhiko Saiki show their bank’s app at an event in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Kao Shih-ching, Taipei TimesPeople aged 30 to 50 were the bank’s major group of customers in the past one month, Rakuten Bank chief executive officer Kazuhiko Saiki said. Asked how the bank assesses lending risks and sets interest rates for new customers, Saiki said it has built a model to calculate risks, with factors including age, assets and income.
Source:Taipei Times
February 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
MOF to extend tax rebate for energy-saving appliances
MOF to extend tax rebate for energy-saving appliancesStaff writer, with CNAA tax incentive package to encourage purchases of energy-efficient home appliances that is set to expire on June 14 would be extended by an additional two years, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday. The ministry has proposed a draft amendment to the Commodity Tax Act (貨物稅條例) that would extend the tax breaks on select energy-saving appliances until June 14, 2023. A model poses with energy-saving air conditioners at a product promotion event in Taipei on July 12, 2019. The Ministry of Finance yesterday said it plans to extend a tax incentive package to encourage purchases of energy-efficient home appliances by an additional two years until June 14, 2023. As of the end of last year, 2.657 million applications for tax deductions had been filed, which translates into NT$4.47 billion in tax rebates, finance ministry statistics showed.
Source:Taipei Times
February 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
Largan proposes record cash dividend
Largan proposes record cash dividendStaff writer, with CNALargan Precision Co (大立光), a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc, has proposed a record cash dividend per share of NT$91.5 based on last year’s earnings. The cash dividend represents a payout ratio of about 50.03 percent, the first time in 11 years that it has surpassed 50 percent. Largan, a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc, yesterday said its board of directors has proposed a record cash dividend per share of NT$91.5 based on last year’s earnings of NT$182.9 per share. Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei TimesLargan’s dividend payout ratio over the past decade has ranged between 30 and 40 percent. If shareholders approve the proposal, Largan would distribute a total of NT$12.27 billion in cash dividends, its highest in history.
Source:Taipei Times
February 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
Advocates urge lower poll deposits
“The system should be open for ordinary citizens to run for public office. It should not have thresholds to rule out people based on wealth and assets,” Fan told a news conference in Taipei. From left, Taiwan Democracy Watch director Chang Feng-yi, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun and Green Party Taiwan convener Liu Chung-hsien hold signs at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Taiwan Democracy Watch director Chang Feng-yi (張烽益) said that requiring high deposits excludes poor people from running for public office. Green Party Taiwan convener Liu Chung-hsien (劉崇顯) said that other reforms are needed as well.
Source:Taipei Times
February 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
Notes from central Taiwan: Who is shaping Taiwan’s future?
Notes from central Taiwan: Who is shaping Taiwan’s future? Johnny Chiang? Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang at the legislature in Taipei on Thursday. Whoever constructed and approved that finance deal to support wind power here “shaped our future” far more than Johnny Chiang ever will. Let us hope that is a future Johnny Chiang never has a chance to shape.
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 16:07 UTC
Tainan City councilor calls for adopting Romanization
Tainan City councilor calls for adopting RomanizationCHANGING IT UP: With Bopomofo rarely used outside of Taiwan, the lawmaker said that Romanization would help the government in its internationalization effortsBy Tsai Wen-chu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerTainan City Councilor Lee Chi-wei (李啟維) yesterday called for the use of Romanized spellings to make Taiwanese dialects and languages internationally recognizable. Tainan City Councilor Lee Chi-wei yesterday in Tainan points at a whiteboard with “Celebrate International Mother Language Day” and “Save the Taiwanese mother tongue” written in Romanized Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and Chinese characters. Taiwan uses English letters for its license plates, because this is the international standard, so the country’s dialects should also be written according to this standard, he said. “Zhuyin fuhao has 37 symbols, which are usable only to describe Chinese phonetics. “Perhaps if it weren’t for missionaries who wrote down Taiwan’s dialects for use in proselytizing, they would not have survived until today,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 16:05 UTC
Key genes in orchids determined
Key genes in orchids determinedBy Su Meng-chuan and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerNational Chung Hsing University (NCHU) researchers have discovered certain genes in orchids that can be used to manipulate flower hue, prolong the flowering period and prevent wilting, which could reduce the time needed to produce new orchid varieties from seven years to two months. Photo: Su Meng-chuan, Taipei TimesFive years ago, a research team led by Yang developed the “perianth password” theory, which discovered the L and SP complexes behind orchid petal formation. The SP complex determines sepal and petal formation, while the L complex determines the identity of the lip. Three of the genes involved in the creation of the SP complex can change the color of the flower, Yang said. Yang said the discovery refutes the assumption that the genes governing flower formation retreat after the floral organs are formed, showing that these mechanisms remain important in other stages of flower development.
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 16:05 UTC
More than 200 march in Taipei in memory of 228
More than 200 march in Taipei in memory of 228‘MAKING FORMOSA’: Before their march to the Executive Yuan, an organizer asked the crowd to imagine the kind of country they wanted and to ‘speak while we still can’By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterMore than 200 people yesterday marched in Taipei ahead of the 74th anniversary of the 228 Incident. Participants hold a banner and signs at a march in Taipei yesterday to commemorate the 228 Incident. Dozens of groups, including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Covenants Watch and the 228 Memorial Foundation, were represented at the march, they added. She urged people to think about the kind of country they wanted, adding: “We should continue to speak while we still can.”The names of people who died during the 228 Incident were also read aloud during the march. “I hope that everyone can get our mother language back together,” she said in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 16:05 UTC
Documents on White Terror era released
Academia Historica historian Wu Chun-ying presents images of documents about the Henry Liu murder case at a book launch in Taipei on Saturday. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei TimesAmong the works released was the three-volume Documentary Collection on Political Incident: The Henry Liu Case on the Oct. 15, 1984, killing of China-born US writer Henry Liu (劉宜良), who used the pen name Chiang Nan (江南). Former White Terror prisoner Tsai Kuan-yu in Taipei on Saturday holds a newly published book about his life. Another book revealed at the news conference was on White Terror victim Tsai Kuan-yu (蔡寬裕). After graduating from university in the 1950s, Tsai became a target of the KMT regime, and was arrested and charged twice, spending a total of 13 years in prison.
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 16:05 UTC
Brazil travelers face new restrictions
Brazil travelers face new restrictionsMORE RISK? Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesIn line with the rules for travelers who have been to the UK, South Africa or Eswatini within 14 days of entering Taiwan, who are also subject to centralized quarantine, travelers from Brazil would not need to pay an accommodation fee for centralized quarantine, Chen said. The three found to have the Brazilian variant are cases No. 903, 904 and 906, a Taiwanese family of four who returned from Brazil, Chen said, adding that the other family member, case No. However, Lo said that there is not yet clear scientific data to prove that the Brazilian variant is more transmissible or makes vaccines less effective.
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
FEATURE: Start-up takes air out of bike tires
To achieve this, experts developed airless tires, which are also called solid tires. Unlike traditional bicycle tires and tubes, which are made of rubber and need to be inflated, airless tires are made of various materials, depending on the manufacturers. As expanded TPU and expanded polypropylene, which is another material used in Air Fom, are lightweight, Air Fom tires weigh 280g to 320g per wheel, he said. Air Fom tires simulate air pressure of 40 to 70 pounds per square inch, which is close to the range in inflated tires used in commuter bikes, he said, adding that the company can manufacture products with different simulated air pressures. While regular consumers have yet to appreciate the benefits of Air Fom tires, some bike-sharing operators in Europe already have.
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
Tax revenue slips 2.9 percent despite GDP growth
Tax revenue slips 2.9 percent despite GDP growthBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterConventional wisdom holds that tax revenue increases amid a growing economy. Government statistics show that GDP expanded 3.11 percent year-on-year last year, but tax revenue fell 2.9 percent, following a 3.5 percent increase in the previous year. It was the first decline in 11 years, mainly due to decreased corporate income tax revenue and commodity tax revenue,” the Ministry of Finance said in a report on Saturday. The ministry reported preliminary tax revenue data for last year on Jan. 12, and it offered more accurate and detailed statistics on Saturday, including tax data from other government agencies and deferred tax revenue from December last year. Among all tax items, the securities transaction tax, business tax, tobacco and alcohol tax, and vehicle license tax generated the highest revenue on record last year, while the personal income tax, inheritance tax, customs duty and house tax reported the second-highest level on record, the report said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
Huang Kun-bin passes away aged 92
Huang Kun-bin passes away aged 92PEACEFUL, At HOME: President Tsai Ing-wen, who in 2016 appointed the Tainan rice farmer as presidential adviser, said that she is planning to visit his familyBy Yang Chin-cheng and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerFormer presidential national policy adviser Huang Kun-bin (黃崑濱) passed away at his home in Tainan yesterday. Huang, 92, was best known for his appearance in a documentary film on Taiwan’s rice farmers titled Let It Be (無米樂, meaning “riceless joy” in Chinese). Former presidential national policy adviser Huang Kun-bin, right, who died at his home in Tainan yesterday, teaches children about rice farming in an undated photograph. Born in what became Tainan’s Houbi District (後壁), Huang rose to national fame after his role in the 2004 documentary. He won the National Rice Competition two years later and was in 2016 appointed national policy adviser to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Source:Taipei Times
February 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: A farcical peace
As a result, it was the only monument throughout Taiwan that mentioned the 228 Incident until activists put one up in Chiayi in 1989 to commemorate the victims. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsBut when the 228 Incident took place, local youth were more than eager to support the cause. The situation was so tense that the Taiwan Garrison Command was afraid to send reinforcements to Taiwan from Penghu out of fear that locals would use the opportunity to rebel, Hsu writes. After one especially egregious incident, Chao and a few friends spent one night painting anti-KMT slogans around town. As the violence spread across Taiwan, governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀) secretly requested help from China while pretending to seek peace.
Source:Taipei Times
February 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Poor diet increases stroke risk, doctor warns
Poor diet increases stroke risk, doctor warnsBy Wang Shan-yan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA Chiayi doctor warned that a poor diet and a lack of exercise put those aged 40 or older at a high risk for stroke. If a person’s systolic blood pressure is higher than 140 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or their diastolic blood pressure is higher than 90mmHg, they should see a doctor, Huang said. In winter, the risk of stroke increases with intermittent cold spells, and big swings between daytime and nighttime temperatures, he said, adding that an unhealthy diet and lack of activity during the Lunar New Year holiday also heighten the risk. “Those with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar are especially at risk, because they are more likely to have hardening of the arteries,” he said. To remember the signs of a stroke, people should remember the acronym FAST: face, arms, speech and time.
Source:Taipei Times
February 20, 2021 15:56 UTC