Ahead of his inauguration next month, president-elect Lai Ching-te joined interior minister Lin Yu-chang to attend a Taoist ceremony in Taipei Sunday, where he prayed to a goddess for peace and prosperity for the nation, especially Hualien. Lai mentioned that the eastern city has been experiencing numerous aftershocks since the April 3 earthquake, and that he wished that life would return to normal soon.

Accompanied by Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang, Vice President Lai Ching-te attended a Taoist ceremony at Taipei’s Songshan Cihui Temple, where he dotted the eyes of a rice dragon.

Lai Ching-te
Vice President
Ever since the April 3 earthquake in Hualien, there have been continuous aftershocks. Today I’m here for the rice dragon eye-dotting ceremony. I hope it will remove the earthquakes caused by the land dragon’s tossing in the ground, and end the earthquakes, so that the reconstruction work will proceed smoothly.

As of 8:00 a.m. April 28, donations for the "Hualien Earthquake Relief Project" run by the Ministry of Health and Welfare had reached NT$1.4 billion. Lai mentioned that in the wake of the 2016 Tainan earthquake when he served as mayor of the southern city, people from all walks of life donated enthusiastically, and Songshan Cihui Temple also helped out generously at that time.

Lai Ching-te
Vice President
Among the public donations from religious groups, the first one was from Songshan Cihui Temple. The temple master went down to Tainan to make a donation in front of reporters and gave a large sum of money. This is something I’ve kept in my heart.

Ahead of his inauguration next month, Lai has gained favor from all walks of life with his demonstration of concern for earthquake victims in Hualien. The president-elect says he hopes Hualien would rebuild quickly and get back to normal as soon as possible.

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