Casinos not the answer
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) comment that only economically disadvantaged outlying islands would be considered as casino venues needs a rethink (“Ma offers outlying islands hope of developing casinos,” Sept. 9, page 3).
A referendum held in 2003 showed that around 57 percent of Penghu’s residents backed the casino plan. This figure is often used by politicians when justifying the development. What is often not mentioned is that the voter turnout was 21 percent. Interpreted another way, only 11 percent of residents have backed the plan.
No doubt the 11 percent are those who would benefit most from the development. The other 89 percent are justifiably cautious. Do they really want a casino in their backyard? Do they want their children working at a casino? Would you?
Penghu’s residents do need tourists, but they also need to consider what kind of tourists they want. There are alternatives to casino development and the associated social ills. Penghu should be leveraging its rich environmental and cultural heritage. There are many and varied successful examples to be found across Asia.
Casino developments are solutions put forward by leaders with no imagination. Leaders looking for a quick (unsustainable) fix. I hope democracy prevails and the residents of Penghu are able to decide what is best for them and their children.
JEFFREY CAMPBELL
Luzhou City, Taipei County
Air raid drill too convenient
Last Tuesday an air raid drill was conducted to test the response of the population of Chiayi to an air attack. The air raid was scheduled at a time when presumably most people’s lives would not be overly disrupted, as most were already at work or at school.
It seems rather odd that an air raid drill would be scheduled to take place at the least inopportune moment. We should only be so lucky if anyone planning to drop bombs on Taiwan would show this much consideration.
Wouldn’t an air raid drill held during rush hour be a better way to judge the population’s readiness? Wouldn’t it be preferable to inconvenience people when there is no real danger and learn from those drills? If we wait until there is a real emergency to test the system, we will discover that too many flaws caused casualties that could have been avoided had the public taken these exercises seriously.
Are the authorities too afraid to make a real effort to improve response to possible emergencies?
This morning at 9:30am, the air raid sirens went off all over Chiayi. Although I am sure most people complied until the all-clear was sounded at 10am, some scooters, cars and trucks were seen driving through the city. People stood outside, happily chatting away, and the power tools of construction workers could be heard a few blocks away.
Why is this tolerated?
Over the past several years, I have repeatedly witnessed people flouting rules, regulations and policies set by a government they democratically elected.
When those policies come up a bit short or someone gets injured because of their own carelessness, they immediately call for some official’s head, rather than take responsibility for their behavior.
Consequently, empty apologies and “scapegoating” have been elevated to an art form in Taiwan.
The disregard some people showed during the air raid illustrates my point. The event had been scheduled in advance and publicized in newspapers.
Some people saw this drill only as an inconvenience, from which no personal gain could be had, rather than a test of our safety. They shamelessly flaunted their lack of respect for the event by going about their own business.
Threatening the public with fines for breaking the rules is not a deterrent if it is not enforced. Perhaps it is time for the authorities to put more effort into making sure that people are aware that there are consequences for not obeying rules — especially when it comes to safety — and that there is a price to pay for one’s actions.
Those who disregard rules might think twice about breaking them if the consequences become personal — and their wallets lighter — in the process.
PIERRE LAPORTE
Chiayi City
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
Ursula K. le Guin in The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas proposed a thought experiment of a utopian city whose existence depended on one child held captive in a dungeon. When taken to extremes, Le Guin suggests, utilitarian logic violates some of our deepest moral intuitions. Even the greatest social goods — peace, harmony and prosperity — are not worth the sacrifice of an innocent person. Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), since leaving office, has lived an odyssey that has brought him to lows like Le Guin’s dungeon. From late 2008 to 2015 he was imprisoned, much of this