How much ignorance and selfishness does it take to regard the suffering of others as an opportunity for one's personal gain?
We cannot do much but accept the fact that many innocent lives were claimed by the natural tsunamis on Dec. 26, while countless others lost their homes and are suffering from a shortage of supplies. In this light, it is very difficult for anyone with human feelings not to feel angry and upset about the selfishness and cold attitudes shown by some Taiwanese people and media outlets toward those suffering as a result of this disaster.
Control Yuan President Fredrick Chien (
According to the media, after confirming that "the golf court is located in the mountains, and that the hotel to stay next to the court has remained unaffected" and "his personal safety, transportation, food and accommodation is not a problem," Chien went to Phuket to "make his wish come true."
There is nothing wrong with playing golf. But why play it now, while victims and rescuers are in need of food and drinkable water? How can Chien think only about his pleasure when others in the same area are working so desperately to deal with the tragic aftermath of the tsunami? As a very high-level government official, how does he intend to lead Taiwanese society with the kind of "courage and insistence" he shows in this matter?
Prior to the disaster, hardly any Taiwanese media outlets bothered to station reporters in Southeast Asia. I have not seen any particularly valuable news stories filed by Taiwanese reporters who have recently entered Sri Lanka, India, Thailand or Indonesia in order to capture the "usual" tragic disaster scenes.
The "best" bits of information they have offered thus far -- compared to the international media -- was in ruthlessly forcing Taiwanese victims and their families to speak on camera.
Take the senseless reporter who asked a tearful old man who'd lost his son "How will your family carry on with their lives?" knowing full well that the deceased was the main income earner in the family.
Another reporter went to disturb a six-year-old girl who was just rescued from a coconut tree with the question: "How many days has it been since you've had breakfast?" Worse still was the reporter who insisted on asking a husband whose wife remains missing, "how do you feel now?"
Anyone with a heart would know how these people feel. Who needs cold-blooded reporters to raise such cruel questions?
The tourism sector in southern Taiwan came out and said bluntly that Kenting could "seize the opportunity" of attracting tourists who would otherwise vacation in tsunami-affected areas.
Then on Dec. 30, a major Taiwanese daily published a criticism of the nation's failed diplomatic strategy. Instead of insisting that Taiwan should quickly join the international rescue efforts based on humanitarian concerns, it asked, "how can Taiwan's aid involvement be a positive engagement of the Thai and Indonesian governments," thus equating humanitarian concerns with potential diplomatic gain.
It is worrisome that some businessmen and opinion leaders are either ignorant, aloof to the suffering of others, or are so selfish that they will try every possible way to gain from others' pain. How can Taiwan claim that it is ready to join the international community -- and expect others to help it with humanitarian or human rights concerns when this country is in need of support?
Chiting Serena Chuang is the International Affairs Director of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US