Revise "Taiwan Stories 2: Taiwanese Need to be Awake!" on Apr. 13, 2009

        Nowadays, it is seen as a virtuous act that giving up one’s seat to the elder, pregnant and crippled on train and bus. Not only do the good citizens do it to show their respect for charity, but also the regional governments of Taiwan intend to promote it as a model of moral etiquette and civic-mindness. It seems that almost everyone take it for granted. But here, we have to ask a question. Do people’s deeds really agree with their thoughts? Does the governments’ promotion really succeed in cultivating civic virtue of Taiwan?
        According to DMR center’s research about the civic quality of Taiwan, one of these research questions is: “Do you think that giving up one’s seat to the elderly, women and children on bus and MRT is popular in Taiwan?” Unfortunately, 34.6% people approve it but there are still 37.8% disapprove, which shows the difficulty of this promotion. Moreover, the general disagreement for this issue among young generation (20-29 year-old) is specifically emphasized, which is at the rate of 39.1%. Besides the official statics, the most direct view of this failure of civic promotion can be seen from our daily lives. During my years of experience taking public transportation, I observe that those who give out their seats are mostly 25-45 year-olds, and yet the majority of them are females. It is rare to see the middle-age men give their seats to the pregnant women, or even people who are too old to stand straight. Sometimes students also give their seats to people who really need them, but normally lots of them just sit there and pretend to fall asleep. It is a sad thing though, this situation should be a warning to Taiwanese as well as the government to think more about our civic education!

Revise "Unconfortable Truth" on Apr. 13, 2009

        Since the subprime mortgage collapse occurred in the United States in 2007, the worldwide financial crisis has furiously stricken the major capital markets, especially the financial system of developed countries. It is no doubt that this global economic storm has brought a huge rise in the number of unemployment and challenged the social welfare policy of those countries. The story I am going to tell is exactly a simple instance in Taiwan which reflects the social agitation stirred by this adversity.

        Miss Liung is now in her early thirties. She has worked as a counselor in a department of Employment Services Center for one year. She always had passion whenever she helped her clients to find the jobs, and felt a sense of fulfillment. However, this situation has changed recently. During this year, the number of unemployment increasingly grows that brings her more clients to serve, so her work becomes heavier than ever, and the worst of all, the project she has engaged in is going to end and she finds no confidence to her future job. Will she be out of work after the contract ends? Or will it have a new project that is waiting for her? In weeks, she has suffered from this stress and still doesn’t know what to do.
        Like Miss Liung, many people are at the edge of unemployment in Taiwan, survive in today's battle, but probably fail in the next day. According to the statistics of the Directorate-General of Budget, the employment rate of January 2008 is 3.80%, but the rate violently rises up to 5.31% after one year. If it doesn't change, there will be more people lose their jobs, even those who work for the government agencies.

Taiwan Stories 2: Is It Popular in Taiwan?

        Nowadays, it is seen as a virtuous act that giving

up one’s seat to the elder, pregnant and crippled on train and bus. Not only do the good citizens do it to show their respect for charity, but also the regional governments of Taiwan intend to promote it as a model of moral etiquette and civic-mindness. It seems that almost everyone take it for granted. But here, we have to ask a question. Do people’s deeds really agree with their thoughts? Does the governments’ promotion really succeed in cultivating civic virtue of Taiwan?

        According to DMR center’s research about the civic quality of Taiwan, one of these research questions is: “Do you think that giving up one’s seat to the elderly, women and children on bus and MRT is popular in Taiwan?” Unfortunately, 34.6% people approve it but there are still 37.8% disapprove, which shows the difficulty of this promotion. Moreover, the general disagreement for this issue among young generation (20-29 year-old) is specifically emphasized, which is at the rate of 39.1%. Besides the official statics, the most direct view of this failure of civic promotion can be seen from our daily lives. During my years of experience taking public transportation, I observe that those who give out their seats are mostly 30-45 year-olds, and yet the majority of them are females. Sometimes students also give their seats to people who really need them, but normally lots of them just sit there and pretend to fall asleep. It is a sad thing though, this situation should be a warning to Taiwanese as well as the government to think more about our civic education!

Taiwan Stories 1: Unconfortable Truth

Since the subprime mortgage collapse occurred in the United States in 2007, the worldwide financial crisis has furiously stricken the major capital markets, especially the financial system of developed countries. It is no doubt that this global economic storm has brought a huge rise in the number of unemployment and challenged the social welfare policy of those countries. The story I am going to tell is exactly a simple instance in Taiwan which reflects the social agitation stirred by this adversity.
Miss Liung is now in her early thirties. She has worked as a counselor in a department of Employment Services Center for one year. She always had passion whenever she helped her clients to find the jobs, and felt a sense of fulfillment. However, this situation has changed recently. During this year, the number of unemployment increasingly grows that brings her more clients to serve, so her work becomes heavier than ever, and the worst of all, the project she has engaged in is going to end and she finds no confidence to her future job. Will she be out of work after the contract ends? Or will it have a new project that is waiting for her? In weeks, she has suffered from this stress and still doesn’t know what to do.