Strays trouble traveler
Traveling around Taiwan for a few weeks, I have noticed that your nation faces a serious problem with stray dogs, especially in the countryside. There are way too many stray dogs. While hiking or cycling, I had a few encounters with unfriendly packs of them. I have not been bitten, fortunately, but it was close a few times.
Your authorities should take care of this issue by catching stray dogs, sterilizing them and yes, putting them down in areas where their numbers are just too high. Tourists coming to Taiwan should be able to enjoy hiking or cycling at ease without having to watch out for dogs and having to chase them away too many times.
Tom Tasman
Germany
Reader commends pilot
I believe the TransAsia Airways pilot was a hero. I looked at the video and was curious as to why the aircraft banked so sharply left at the last moment. It seems he did so to avoid power lines. He ditched the aircraft and saved lives... under control... on one engine.
Ronald Gladiuk
United States
Suspects need punishment
I am not Taiwanese by birth, but I am Taiwanese by choice. Please then allow me the indulgence of an opinion to one of your rather disturbing articles. I have been an educator for many years in Taiwan and my numerous students have included the young and the not-so-young.
This week one of my students asked me if amorality is innate. The simple answer is “Yes,” but with a caveat. It is a blight that strikes few people. The simple acid test is to ask: “How many times have I been shot, bludgeoned or violently robbed?” I would tend to venture that the answer is few to none. So where is this amorality displayed? The sociopath hides in business pursuits and in the military, to name but a few. If they display this sickness, they must be dealt with extremely harshly to serve as a deterrent and to keep this behavior in check.
The article shows that this malaise can be displayed even in young people (“Video of teenagers beating elderly man sparks investigation,” Jan. 22, page 3). These are extremely lucky boys. The victim (an already broken old man) fled, not wanting to give his name or get involved in this chicanery.
He is obviously hiding from something — societal opprobrium or further embarrassment to his family. Who knows? The teens will get a minor slap on the wrist, charged under the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法). The parents, cowed, offered an apology and money.
Not good enough, in my opinion. This is the fault of the parents. They have created these monsters.
When was the last time that you beat a defenseless old man with a scooter helmet? These boys must be punished in a way that they reflect on this incident and will not do it again. Pure sociopaths are incurable, but their behavior can be kept in check.
In addition, the parents should be forced to take some sensitivity training classes, for they have instilled this lack of respect and caring in their children. I know that I sound harsh, but we must control this societal sickness, mostly created by the “me-ism” spawned from unbridled capitalism.
I believe that the world is intrinsically good. However, it will not remain so if we idly stand by and allow little to big acts to go unpunished — the correctness of holding the door open for the next person to the more serious example we have just spoken of. Let us all get in sync for the advancement of the common good.
Leon La Couvee
Taichung
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