Even without expert advice, most in the the general public were able to foresee what problems would take place in the wake of the 921 Earthquake. We have allowed avoidable disasters to happen right in front of our eyes without having taken any precautions. Mudslides tearing apart Nantou County are just one of many such cases.
A team of researchers has spent time interviewing the staff of township offices. Their preliminary conclusion is that there are many problems with the administration of local governments. The problems arise in every aspect of life, including revenues and expenditures, industrial development, medical services, environment protection and so on. These problems are intractable and have affected every aspect of people's daily lives. The cause of these problems varies from unworkable laws to incongruence between the policy decisions and the people who implement them. Surprisingly, however, the overall plan to address these problems are not available to public servants, local government chiefs nor the central government. Some officials are even too inured to the problems to deal with them. Taiwanese have to fend for themselves as they face up to their future.
Although we have had some small mishaps, generally speaking Taiwan society is rapidly progressing. The consequence of this trend is that people in Taiwan are preoccupied with economic growth indices and the stock market. Although the importance of overall national development has been emphasized by some intellectuals, their appeals are usually drowned out.
People in Taiwan are now immersed in a money-loving culture. In this environment, without concrete action and policies, reforms are no more than empty slogans. What's more, people are bombarded by the opinions of commentators whose credibility are hard to distinguish. Besides, statistics can be deceptive and laws are unreliable because they can be misinterpreted by people who want to distort them. We are living in a lie-riddled, superficial society in which people's lives and properties are not as rightly protected as they had hoped.
Earthquakes, torrential rains and mudslides might cause marginal damage, but when they happen concurrently they can destroy lives. We sincerely hope all that has happened to the Taiwanese so far is a lesson learned. People reap what they sow; natural disasters may be damaging, but they have been aggravated by human negligence. I think now it's time for us to reflect on what we have reaped.
Wang Ben-chaung is Director of Miaoli Community Service Workshop Lecturer of the National Lien-ho College.
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