Editorial: Self-improvement is life-long

The commencement season has officially arrived. This year's graduating class actually includes two prominent government officials, Council of Labor Affairs Chairperson Chen Chu (陳菊) and Pintung County Commissioner Su Chia-chuan (蘇嘉全). Chen and Su received their Master's Degree diplomas yesterday from the Institute of Public Affairs Management at National Sun Yat-sen University (國立中山大學). Adding icing to the cake was President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) attendance at the commencement ceremony and presentation of a "studiousness award" to his two colleagues.

Chen Chu and Su serve as exemplary role models for life-long learning. Despite their busy work schedule, they attended most of their classes and were absent only when absolutely necessary. Unlike other politicians who often commission others to write their dissertations, Chen and Su penned their own.

Such enthusiasm and commitment to self-enrichment and learning must be encouraged given the backdrop of a faltering economy in Taiwan. In fact, this year's graduating class is entering the job market at its lowest point in the past twenty years. In addition to the dwindling number of jobs, the threat of foreign labor competition in the local job market looms large with Taiwan's expected entry into the WTO. The only way to fight this uphill battle is to remain competitive in the job market by constantly updating one's skills. Therefore, learning should be viewed as a life-long journey that doesn't end with graduation from high school or university.

During his speech at Sun Yat-Sen University, the president advised students to face challenges and tribulations with "three nos" -- "no pessimism, no self-limitations and no forgetting of [one's] goals." Of these three nos, the first is an immediate challenge to this year's graduates to overcome the abundant pessimism permeating society today.

Therefore, it is truly encouraging to see the optimism of those graduating, as demonstrated by the creatively energetic graduation parties and commencement ceremonies they devised.

There were also those schools that sought to add a deeper level of meaning to their graduation ceremonies and celebrations. Case in point: the National Normal University (國立師範大學) awarded honorary bachelor degrees to students who had dropped out of their courses decades ago because of their involvement in the April 6 Incident (四六事件) during the time of the "white terror."

Sometimes it is, however, very hard to remain optimistic when people can't stop talking about the bleaker side of things. In this regard, the media share a certain amount of responsibility for their sometimes exaggerated reporting on the depressed state of the country's affairs.

A recent survey indicates that more than 50 percent of the interviewees felt that twenty years hence life in Taiwan will be worse off than it is today. This is quite a departure from the "Taiwanese pride" exhibited by nearly all of the people of Taiwan not very long ago. Prospects for the economy may not be rosy right now, but Taiwan cannot afford to cling to pessimism.

Stop all the moaning and groaning about how bad things are and start fixing problems, so Taiwan's coming generations will have no reason to be anything but optimistic.