Yilan disrespects Aborigines
When the flame of the National Indigenous Games reached Yilan County on March 12, the county government had selected a person who was not an Aborigine to receive it. In a county with more than 10,000 Aborigines, this should have been unthinkable.
Yilan County Councilor Aly Saku from the lowland Aborigine electoral districts said that the county government disrespects Aborigines and that choosing athlete who was not an Aborigine to receive the flame representing the National Indigenous Games was rather sloppy.
Back in 2009, when the local government held the Yilan Green Expo, apples were hung from a pear tree to represent an apple tree at the Newton Pavilion. Lai Ju-ting (賴瑞鼎), once secretary to former minister of justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), felt it was inappropriate and wrote a letter to the Chinese-language Liberty Times [the Taipei Times’ sister paper], saying that hanging apples on a pear tree was an outrage against science and education. Today, a similar thing has reoccurred.
Sixteen years ago, the Ministry of Justice invited actor Kuo Tzu-chien (郭子乾) to join a campaign fighting counterfeiting and piracy. Kuo, famous for his mimicry, dressed up and acted as Chen, and the event climaxed when the two appeared together on the stage, confusing the audience. Chen originally wore a dark suit, but quickly changed it to play along, and Kuo praised him for his attention to detail.
Perhaps Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) should learn from Chen — who served as the county’s commissioner for eight years — and apply the same detail-oriented attitude to her administration.
Chu Ta-ming
Yilan
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