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.
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