A very unmerry Constitution Day

T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the nation, not a creature was stirring because no one had vacation! On Wednesday, for the third consecutive year, citizens of Taiwan will rise early to go to work and try to forget that it was once a holiday they enjoyed.

"I used to pile the whole family in the car and drive to Yushan in the hopes of seeing snow," said Chang Chie-san (長繼善), who will instead take his car alone to the computer manufacturing firm where he works. "For us, it was the perfect way to get in the mood for winter and get excited about Chinese New Year."

Jolly old Chiang Kai-Shek

Although Christmas has never been an official holiday in Taiwan, it has been observed as Constitution Day since 1963, when the US maintained a large military presence on the island. The Yanks unsurprisingly wanted more of a holiday than the average night at Taipei's notorious "Combat Zone" could offer and nudged Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to declare the day an official holiday. According to urban legend, Dec. 25 was chosen as the date because that's when the US military wanted it. In reality, the Constitution was adopted by the First National Assembly precisely on Dec. 25, 1946 and made effective on Dec. 25, 1947, in Nanking.

As anyone in Taiwan with a job is well aware, however, it hasn't been a day off work since the DPP government took power and initiated what would become a prolonged fiasco to implement a 40-hour work week. When the nascent DPP administration tried to initiate the change, they met with resistance from the industrial sector, which feared a decrease in productivity. The government capitulated and backtracked, ultimately advocating an 84-hour fortnight and a reduction in the number of public holidays, lest the economy go bad.

"The economy isn't exactly flourishing, is it? I'd rather be on my way to Yushan," Chang said. He is not alone. Lin Rung-sheng (林榮生) owns an electronics store near Taipei's Hsimenting District and also wishes the holiday would return, albeit for reasons different from Chang's.

"We've always been open on Constitution Day. Most businesses used to close, but for others it was a big sales day." Before the change in policy, Lin's store did a brisk trade on the holiday, given the number of people who had the day off. "People have always taken advantage of the sales most stores have around Christmas," Lin said. "Some people are buying Christmas gifts for friends and family, yes, but most are buying things for Chinese New Year in the same way Americans take advantage of Thanksgiving sales to buy things for Christmas." "As far as the day off is concerned ... we get New Year's Day off the following week ... we can't have every day off ... the economy would go bad."

Ecumenical elbowroom

For others, concern over the defunct holiday goes far beyond economic reasons. Taiwan is home to large number of Christians, not the least of whom are the thousands of Filipino laborers and domestic workers who not only have to work on the holiest day of the year, but must do so thousands of kilometers from their families and loved ones.

Florence Chung is a member of Taipei's Holy Family Catholic Church. She's been in Taiwan 18 years and helps with the liturgy on Sundays and serves every day of the week as an unofficial counselor to new arrivals who are still adjusting. In that capacity, she's seen more than her fair share of forlorn foreigners.