Dang raises good points
Winston Dang’s (陳重信) opinion piece (“The Suhua Freeway is more than a local matter,” July 11, page 8 ) raises some excellent points. Taroko Gorge is stunning and its beauty needs to be preserved. Unfortunately, the arguments over this particular freeway project have often been more emotional than rational, with there being a number of points being raised by those who oppose the development of Taiwan’s infrastructure in any way, shape or form.
Taiwan has fallen behind many of the other “Asian Tiger” economies in the repair and upgrading of its infrastructure, often relying on Japanese colonial-era projects to fulfill roles that today’s population and economy have far outgrown. From both an economic and strategic standpoint, it is essential to initiate lasting, high-quality and permanent public works projects.
Many of these projects are essential to improving Taiwan’s environmental, transport and living conditions, but it is disturbing to see so many valid questions related to development swamped by so-called “activists” who avoid civilized discussion. Recent videos circulating on the Internet make those of us who care about the environment look like loons.
Good questions must be asked of these projects, and Dang has done an excellent job of raising them intelligently.
THOMAS JOHNSON
Taipei
Pondering pollution
As an electronics engineer working in Taiwan, I was shocked to read about the pollution of the Siaoli River (霄裡溪), allegedly by the nearby Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and AU Optronics Corp (AUO) factories (“Sinpu residents battle companies,” July 14, page 2).
I felt a personal sense of guilt because I recently designed an AUO liquid-crystal-display into a new product and have requested quotations from CPT. Am I complicit in an environmental crime?
As engineers do, I started to think about the problem and became angry instead.
First, one should not assume guilt without evidence. Is it really so difficult to take test upstream and downstream samples near the factory outflow and find a lab with a GC-MS machine (gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer)? If AUO and CPT are guilty, the evidence would be incontrovertible; if they are not, the analysis would suggest where the pollution is actually coming from.
Second, how is it that a company that brags about its environmental policy (AUO) can seriously propose moving the effluent to the “seriously polluted” Laochien River (老街溪)? This is typical of the old-school corporate attitude in Taiwan: Look, this bit of the country is already completely trashed, so it doesn’t matter if we trash it a little more.
I was left with a feeling of hopelessness and sadness for my adopted country. AUO and CPT actually have public relations and business opportunities here. These are technology companies. Their offices are packed full of supposedly clever people. Instead of making lame excuses, they might divert a little of this brainpower into finding a solution. An innovative result would be marketable worldwide and would offer some proof that they are, in fact, green companies.
If this kind of behavior continues, Taiwan will become essentially uninhabitable within a few decades. I would hate to see that happen, but if two of the biggest companies in the country can’t clean up their act when asked, it’s maybe already time to lower the flag to half-mast and start rolling out the lifeboats.
TONY WEIR
Taipei
Customs official or kumquat?
The incompetence of the government agencies in Taiwan is truly staggering. On Sunday, my wife (a Taiwanese) and my son, who has dual nationalities (Taiwanese and Canadian), tried to leave Taiwan for a vacation in France. At the immigration counter of the Kaohsiung International Airport, my son was refused permission to leave without a visa.
I explained that he had a Canadian passport and was a Canadian citizen. The officer, with the IQ of a kumquat, said that in his “opinion” my son was not a Canadian citizen.
It is clearly written on the first page of every Canadian passport: “The bearer of this passport is a Canadian citizen.” Perfectly clear and simple? Not to the morons working at the airport. The immigration “expert” refused to accept a perfectly legal and valid Canadian passport.
The government wonders why more tourists do not come here. The answer is simple: moronic regulations enforced by retarded staff. I will personally write to as many newspapers abroad as possible and warn potential tourists of the folly of coming to Taiwan.
There should also be some standards in hiring personnel for such a sensitive position, not to mention adequate training. What can one say to a stubborn official who does not even understand his own job? Well done Taiwan!
CHAIM MELAMED
Pingtung County
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