I am really amused by the letters that the Taipei Times receives and prints so often. A letter seems to carry more weight if you add a title to it because in the world we live in today, a title carries more weight than the actual facts.
The political situation here reminds me a little of the fable about the old man and the boy who intend to sell a donkey at the market -- on their way to the market they each ride the donkey, then end up carrying the donkey, to the dismay of those watching.
Every move the political parties here make is aimed at gathering votes, regardless of who or what suffers.
Your editorial on Wednesday ("Taipei gets its priorities wrong," April 25, page 8) had a single line about road accidents, so lets stop to look at the facts for a moment.
About 1.2 million people die in road accidents and about 50 million are injured each year around the world, yet it is more important to Taiwan's government to simulate a Chinese air raid as opposed to actually enforcing basic traffic laws, including stopping at red traffic lights, driving in designated lanes and using turn signals.
These laws are designed for one purpose -- to prevent deaths.
At the rate people are dying on the roads, the only thing accomplished by not allowing people on the roads for 30 minutes in air raid drills is to save three lives. More people die in road accidents than of AIDS or SARS, but the problem is still considered to be only mildly important and road safety is enforced by the weakest of officials.
The situation is an absolute joke. I can think of at least 20 traffic laws that, if enforced, would not only save lives, but also save the government a great amount of money.
The sad part is that enforcing the laws would not be popular because most people do not care about others. They never have and they probably never will.
I could state my position at work and the degrees I have earned in order to prompt readers to investigate what I am saying further. On the other hand, I could assume your readers are intelligent enough to understand the problem on their own.
I am going to opt for the latter, as yours is the only politically correct newspaper -- with correct meaning the truth, not acceptable.
Gerhard Erasmus
Yonghe