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Taipei commuters criticize lack of seats, handrails in streamlined MRT redesign

To ease congestion during rush hour, the Taipei MRT has redesigned some of its cars to optimize interior space. The new layout has done away with some seats and the central poles, and added a family zone to give people with strollers, wheelchairs, and luggage more room. But after these cars were rolled out, passengers began to complain. Some say the hanging straps are hard to use. Parents also say that while there may be more space for strollers, there’s now nowhere for them to sit.

The MRT is crammed with commuters every morning, crushed against each other during rush hour as more people hunt for gaps to board. To give more space, the Taipei Metro introduced a more spacious redesign that does away with some seating and the center poles. But after it was rolled out, many riders found it didn’t make things any easier.

MRT rider
Prefers having center pole
I want it to stay like it was. I don’t think it’s a good idea to remove the center pole.

MRT rider
Doesn’t mind the change
I don’t think it makes much of a difference if a few more people stand. I actually don’t like the hanging straps and prefer to hold onto the side rail.

Riders said the original center pole could be held by many people at once. But the new hanging straps are more difficult to use for shorter passengers who have to keep their arm raised, posing a danger if they lose their balance and fall.

Lin Yi-yun
FTV reporter
Some of the carriages now have these family zones. But riders have complained that this area that used to fit three standing and three sitting passengers now only fits three standing riders. It may better accommodate strollers, but there’s nowhere for the parents to sit.

MRT rider
Doesn’t like the change
I don’t think it’s good. When your child gets fussy, it’s harder to handle them. And kids don’t have a way to keep themselves stable, so they end up swaying around.

The space-optimized carriages were introduced last October with their fewer central posts, adjusted seating, new stroller area, and more horizontal handrails. In response to the criticism, the Taipei Metro said that through train scheduling, station management, and space optimization, it aims to keep expanding capacity and enhancing service quality during peak hours. Some people prefer more standing room, while others need more handrails and seats. Finding common ground will remain a challenge as the metro seeks to keep improving for everyone.

#TaipeiMRT #publictransit #metro #trains #metrodesign #traindesign #MRT #spaceoptimization #rushhour #commute

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2026-08-26

Water buffalo help dispose of agricultural waste

As peanuts in Yunlin enter the harvest season, farmers not only face losses from the heavy rains this year, they also need to deal with large amounts of vines from the crop that are left behind. After the rain stops and the sun comes out, bacteria easily breed in the fields. In the past, farmers would burn the agricultural waste before replanting, which caused air pollution. Lin Chia-liang, head of the Tuku Water Buffalo Shelter, has come up with a win-win solution: Using agricultural waste as feed for water buffalo, letting the animals to dispose of the agricultural waste.

From the air, one can see that this entire field has been set on fire. Another field nearby is shrouded in thick smoke. This is the result of farmers burning their agricultural waste. But they didn’t have to burn it like that. They could have simply gone to this guy for help.

Working under the blazing sun, Lin Chia-liang, who runs the Tuku Water Buffalo Shelter, is collecting dried peanut vines. They’ll be fed to water buffalo.

- Do buffalo like to eat this?
- Yes, they love dried vines.

In Yunlin, after the peanut harvest, farmers are always troubled by the large amounts of peanut vines that are left behind.

Mr. Chang
Peanut farmer
It’s more convenient to burn it, but you might receive a fine. Plowing it into the soil takes time, and it might breed bacteria. Feeding it to water buffalo is better; you can adjust their diet accordingly.

- So how long does it take for them to eat all that?
- About an hour.
- They can finish all that in just an hour?!

Converting agricultural waste into feed can not only reduce air pollution but also cut down the expenses on feed. Sugarcane leaves, corn leaves, and other agricultural waste can all be used as feed for water buffalo.

Lin Chia-liang
Tuku Water Buffalo Shelter
Whether it’s sugarcane, corn, or peanuts, we can help farmers process their agricultural waste year-round. One water buffalo can eat about 60 kg a day, so three water buffalo can polish off 180 kg. This agricultural waste is just supplementary food for them. Hay is their staple.

To effectively address the issue of agricultural waste disposal, Lin plans to set up demonstration sites to show farmers an alternative way to dispose of agricultural waste. He believes that putting agricultural surplus to good use is putting circular agriculture and environmental sustainability into practice.

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#buffalo #agriculture #animal #farm #sustainability

2026-08-26

Anglers in New Taipei City treated to whale shark sighting

A pair of whale sharks recently made an appearance at Bitou Cape! Fishermen at this fishing spot in New Taipei’s Ruifang District spotted a mother and calf frolicking by the rocky shore. After seeing footage of this rare encounter, some snorkelers rushed to the spot to try and see the pair for themselves, but they were already long gone.

From the deep blue, two massive shadows surface, kicking up waves as they swim slowly along the rocky shore. These gentle giants have distinctive spots along their bodies, exposing them as a pair of whale sharks.

Mr. Chen
Local business owner
Some fishers spotted two of them a little past noon—a mother and calf.

- Did you come by here because you saw someone post about whale sharks?
- Yeah.
- Did you see any?
- No, there was nothing!

About 40 anglers were fishing at this rocky outcropping along the Bitou coast in New Taipei’s Ruifang District, when they were surprised by a mother whale shark and her calf swimming by. Some snorkelers rushed over after seeing the footage online, hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but they were long gone by the time they arrived. It’s unusual for whale sharks to come this close to shore.

Chen Li-shu
National Museum of Marine Science and Technology
Water temperatures this year have been a little odd, although it’s hard to say whether that’s what caused them to swim so close to the coast. But they really did swim remarkably close to the reef. It exposes them to injury, so it’s truly quite abnormal.

As whale sharks usually keep to the open water, it’s very rare to see them near the coast like this. Experts advised keeping a safe distance and not chasing after them if they happen to be treated to another encounter.

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#whaleshark #marinelife #NewTaipei #BitouCape #fishing #snorkeling #rareencounter

2026-08-26

Minister of Sports calls on CTBA to follow conventional tourney rules

In a normal international sports tournament, a place in the semi-finals is earned by winning many more games than you lose, but at the 45th edition of the William Jones Cup, all Chinese Taipei Blue had to do was… well, be the host team. A new rule for this year’s tournament guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals to Chinese Taipei Blue, which lost five of its six group games, yet somehow it still ended up as the third place team in an eight-team tournament.

- If you aren’t even halfway through a 40-minute game and the other team already has 51 points, you really do have some issues on the defensive end.

It’s not even half-time, but Chinese Taipei Blue is being man-handled by Strong Group Athletics, a team from the Philippines that’s participating in Taiwan’s William Jones Cup. After suffering a 43-point defeat, Chinese Taipei Blue was at the bottom of its group, as it lost five of its six games, yet, it still advanced to the final four because of a tournament rule that guaranteed a semi-final place to Chinese Taipei Blue, the host team. This team from the Philippines was left fuming about not advancing to the semi-finals despite winning five of its six games at the group stage.

-Wow. Is Agee closing his eyes as he shoots this free throw?

By closing his eyes as he shoots from the charity line, is Tajuan Agee, an American on the Philippines’ team, making a statement about the tournament’s design being unfair? On its Instagram page, Strong Group Athletics posted that its dream of winning three straight titles at the William Jones Cup was crushed by a rule that they hadn’t even heard about until they’d landed in Taiwan. The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association emphasized that it had informed the teams in advance about the new rules, but the CTBA’s words did little to calm the ire of the international basketball community.

Lee Yang
Minister of Sports
I’ve been communicating back and forth with the CTBA for the past few days. As for what I think about the changing of the rules for this edition, well, I still would prefer to have the CTBA not go against established norms for an international invitational tournament like this one. We believe that the CTBA will, going forward, commit itself to progress.

Held for the first time in 1977, the William Jones Cup’s 45th edition had a new rule that guaranteed a semi-final spot to Chinese Taipei Blue. A magazine revealed the reason for the strange change was due to pressure involving ticket sales, as the CTBA is dealing with a deficit of NT$50 million.

Lee Yang
Minister of Sports
When it comes to the funds of a few of our sports associations, I think that they all have room for improvement. Every association’s accounting practices need to be clearer and more accurate. I ask every association chairperson and secretary general to control the amount of debt they take on. The Ministry of Sports absolutely will commit itself to following up on these issues, and we’ll be providing guidance to each association.

The Ministry of Sports stated that it had already begun investigating the issue, yet the tournament is just one problem of the CTBA, which is embroiled in controversy.

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#TaiwanNo.1 #Philippines #ChineseTaipei #CTBA #basketball #WilliamJonesCup

2026-08-26

Donggang-Liuqiu ferry with 141 passengers runs aground

Ferry services between Donggang and Liuqiu Island have finally resumed, after three days of being suspended due to strong southwesterly winds. But the resumption was far from smooth sailing. Just a few hours after services restarted, a ferry operated by Leuco Sapphire Shipping ran aground at the harbor entrance right as it was leaving Donggang. The vessel was carrying 141 passengers and five crew members. It turns out the heavy rains over the past few days had caused sediment to pile up in the channel leading out to sea.

The operator dispatched a small boat to deliver lunch boxes to the stranded passengers. They also tried to dislodge the ferry, by having another vessel tow it with a rope. Unfortunately, the rope snapped. What’s worse is that in its recoil, it struck the ferry’s automatic emergency smoke signal system, which sent large clouds of orange smoke emanating from the vessel. After three hours of rescue attempts, the ferry was finally freed and returned to Donggang.

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#ferry #seatravel #journey #odyssey #donggang #liuqiu #taiwantravel

2026-08-26

China-born ex-lawmaker expelled from TPP to run for Zhubei mayor

Li Chen-hsiu, a China-born politician who was expelled from the Taiwan People’s Party, has made a bombshell announcement. Li has revealed plans to run for mayor of Zhubei, in Hsinchu County, in a move seen as a challenge to the TPP-backed candidate Chiu Chen-yuan. Li’s campaign has prompted immediate criticism from the TPP, which questioned whether Li is even legally eligible to run in the race. Let’s hear more.

Li Chen-hsiu
Former TPP member
I will register as a candidate on the first day. When the time comes, I’ll be the first woman to be elected as Mayor of Zhubei.

Chiang Ho-shu
Taichung City Councilor (TPP)
It can’t be real. She wants to run for Zhubei mayor? Oh my god. Is she even eligible? Whether the CEC allows her or not is the key issue here. Maybe she’s just trying to generate publicity.

Chen Gau-tzu
Legislator (TPP)
Can she register as a candidate? Back then, she wasn’t able to prove that she had relinquished her household registration in China. I believe that hasn’t changed.

You Ying-lung
CEC Chair
Eligibility is reviewed by the local election commission. That’s all that’s needed, unless there are special circumstances which require intervention from the CEC. My position remains unchanged, it all depends on whether she’s only held Taiwan household registration for at least 10 years.

Li previously served as a legislator, a position that put her under much scrutiny regarding her nationality and household registration. After a series of controversies, she was expelled from the TPP, which caused the loss of her seat in the legislature. Now that Li is planning a comeback into Taiwan’s political arena, the Zhubei mayoral election is shaping up to be a focus of public attention.

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#politics #lichenhsiu #china #taiwan #householdregistration #zhubei #hsinchu #election

2026-08-26

CEC Chair warns against putting all referendums on a single ballot

The Nov. 28 local elections are just three months away, but KMT and TPP lawmakers are poised to make last minute changes that could complicate the entire voting process. Previously, opposition politicians pushed for holding the national referendums on the same day as the local elections this year. And now they also want the three referendums to be placed on the same ballot. Chairman of the Central Election Commission You Ying-Lung worries that these last-minute changes could lead to ballots being counted well past midnight.

You Ying-Lung
Chairman of Central Election Commission
There’s less than 100 days to the election, and now you’re going to push forward these amendments to the Referendum Act. What on Earth is the meaning of this?

You Ying-Lung, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, is shaking his head and sighing, all because of amendments to the Referendum Act that are the brainchildren of KMT and TPP politicians, who also pushed to have the referendum vote occur on the same day as the Nov. 28 local elections. Saving time is the primary goal of having the national referendum take place on Nov. 28 as well as having three referendums on a single ballot, yet You warned these changes will be counterproductive.

You Ying-Lung
Chairman of Central Election Commission
When pushing for these amendments, there’s no need to deliberate carefully; so being impulsive like this is the way to go? It sounds as if it’s just a change to the voting method, but, in reality, it’s completely revamping the voting system. The idea is to put all the referendums on a single ballot, but if we use our imaginations the advantages are hollow, yet the resulting disadvantages will be palpable; the bad will outweigh the good. Under no circumstances should we, in such a rush, implement these changes, as the repercussions could be disastrous.

Along with other lawmakers who proposed the amendments, KMT legislator Lai Shyh-bao believes that placing all the referendums on a single ballot would simplify the voting process, lower election costs, and speed up vote counting. The CEC has warned multiple times that the proposed changes to Taiwan’s voting system would need to be complemented by additional measures, because, currently, elections involve paper ballots that are filled out by hand and then later on votes are read out loud and tallied. If new measures are introduced, vote counting might not wrap up until late into the night, possibly even later than the 2018 election, which ended at 3 am.

Lai Shyh-bao
Legislator (KMT)
They’re denying the people the right to exercise direct democracy. The amount of referendums was reduced to just three, so is that still too difficult for you to handle? Are we creating some sort of technical problem? And what’s the problem with counting votes until midnight? If that’s the case, then just count until midnight.

You Ying-Lung
Chairman of Central Election Commission
Putting all the referendums on a single ballot doesn’t settle the issue, and this is not just a technical issue. During counting, a single ballot can’t be sorted into two piles at the same time, so that means the ballot will need to be counted multiple times, which damages the transparency of our ballot monitoring system. We can’t just do whatever you legislators think is fit, because the voters are the core purpose of an election.

The proposed amendments have already been advanced to a second reading. On Aug. 27 or Aug. 28 the KMT and TPP can use their majority to pass these voting process changes, which means the Nov. 28 local elections might not be settled until the morning of Nov. 29.

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#KMT #TPP #DPP #referendum #voting #election #ballot #transparency #CEC

2026-08-26

Man in flip-flops climbs Penghu Great Bridge arch in reckless stunt

A hair-raising climbing stunt left tourists in Penghu breathless, as a man wearing flip-flops crawled up the arch of the famous Penghu Great Bridge. The man made his way up on one side, and once he reached a suitable height, he sat on the edge and let his feet dangle off the side, as he posed for a photo in which he made a peace sign. But while he looks happy in the picture, he may not be so cheery when he receives a ticket in the mail that could set him back NT$2 million.

A man bent double crawls up the side of the big arch at the entrance to the Penghu Great Bridge.

- So scary!
- He’s doing it for the photos.
- He looks like a monkey.
- Everyone’s taking pics of the monkey!

He lets his feet hang from the side of the arch; it turns out he climbed up wearing just flip-fops. Acting as if his reckless stunt were nothing, he’s all smiles as he poses for the camera, flashing the peace sign. But at two-stories above the ground and with strong winds blowing, the people down below were alarmed to say the least.

Member of public
Against arch climbing
It’s insane. Why would anyone want to climb up there, to the top of the arch? Simply baffling.

Member of public
Against arch climbing
It’s so dangerous. Plus, it’s a landmark, so you could damage public property. He was wrong to do that, it’s crazy.

The Penghu Great Bridge arch is a must-see for many tourists in Penghu, who come in droves to take a picture under the landmark. But it’s more than just a photo backdrop. In 2003, it was listed as a historic site.

Hung Chin-ye
Penghu Cultural Affairs Bureau
By law, his actions are punishable with a fine of between NT$300,000 and NT$2 million. We hope all tourists will respect our culture and heritage.

An investigation is underway to track down the perpetrator. With the summer holidays drawing to a close, don’t spoil it all in the last moment by taking a picture for the Instagram likes. Stunts like that could result in serious injury or death, or worse, a fine of up to NT$2 million.

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#arch #flipflops #omg #viral #fyp #funny #penghu #travel #masstourism #澎湖

2026-08-26

Changhua mayor furious after office claims weeding is taboo

Is removing weeds taboo during Ghost Month? With so many activities forbidden during this period, it doesn’t seem completely implausible, but it also sounds like a lousy excuse for slacking off. That’s the crux of a debate that’s been ripping through Changhua lately. It all started when a concerned citizen notified a local councilor about an overgrown parking lot that could be infested with snakes. The councilor informed the Changhua City Office, but got a reply that left him speechless. The office claimed that weeding was taboo during Ghost Month, and, as such, nothing could be done until the month is over. The mayor of Changhua eventually learned about the exchange and said the so-called taboo was a sham. Let’s hear more.

Voice of public servant
District Office in Changhua
If people come and tell us that there are taboos that must be observed during the Ghost Month, we must respect them. Otherwise bad things could happen.

Member of public
Not superstitious
Of course it’s silly. If you can’t remove weeds during the Ghost Month, can you do anything at all?

Wu Wei-ta
Changhua County Councilor (TPP)
We respect people having their own superstitions and taboos, but the tall weeds should be dealt with proactively.

Lin Shih-hsien
Changhua Mayor
I think it’s highly inappropriate. We will take disciplinary action against those responsible. Who ever heard of such a thing? They made it up. Someone should be dispatched to clear the weeds immediately.

So who’s right and who’s wrong? Is removing weeds from an overgrown field on the long list of Ghost Month taboos? A folklore expert did not provide a conclusive answer, but advised against removing weeds in case it disturbs the wandering ghosts that roam the earth during this period. The Mayor of Changhua is having none of it. He says that the parking lot must be weeded regardless, and that government workers should do their job.

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#ghost #taboo #paranormal #changhua #superstition #funny #weedremoval

2026-08-26