After responding to questions posed by foreign academics at the Fulbright Research Workshop, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday was criticized by members of the public for being “out of touch with the people.”
At the event in Taipei, a foreign academic asked Ma’s opinion on what was causing the men (悶) which many Taiwanese said they were feeling, which the academic said was “a feeling of stagnation, or having no way forward.”
Ma said that he did not know of such a “widespread phenomenon,” saying that there were bound to be a variety of feelings felt by different people as Taiwan is a “very pluralistic society,” adding that the government is striving to take care of those with particular concerns and has raised social welfare spending in a bid to narrow the wealth gap.
Photo: CNA
Ma said the gap between the richest 20 percent and poorest 20 percent of families had been 6.39 times, but the government’s efforts had reduced the gap to 6.09 times. The wealth gap between individuals stands at 4.08 times, he said.
Ma concluded his talk with some comments in English.
“If you know anyone who specifically feels hen men (感到很悶), let me know. I’ll talk to them, alright?” he said.
Ma’s remarks provoked criticism.
Taiwan Adequate Housing Association president Huang Yi-chung (黃益中) said he would be very glad to talk with Ma on how men those without housing felt.
While Ma says that 85 percent of Taiwanese have their own homes, it is a figure based on family units, Huang said.
Under such a method, Huang said that although he works in Taipei and rents an apartment, the data show that he possesses a house as his registered residence is in Hsinchu, where his family owns a home.
Such a calculation method only highlights Ma’s stupidity, Huang said.
Huang also dismissed Ma’s remarks that the central government and local governments are seeking to solve the problem by building more social housing, saying that the 7,000 units of social housing comprise only 0.08 percent of total residential buildings in the nation.
Huang said the government’s policies allowing younger people to take out loans at a lower interest rate results in the young being burdened with debt for the next two to three decades to pay for a home that is over-priced as a result of property speculation.
Such policies expose young people to a potential housing market bubble, further displaying Ma’s stupidity, Huang said.
National Alliance of Parents Organizations director-general Wu Fu-pin (吳福濱) and National Federation of Teachers Unions deputy secretary-general Lo Te-shui (羅德水) said that the government’s education policies are making both parents and teachers “feel stagnated.”
Taiwan Labor Front secretary-general Son Yu-liam (孫友聯) said the nation’s economy has become sluggish and is not doing so well. Not only has Ma failed to deliver on his “6-3-3” election campaign promise, workers are also subjected to long hours and are constantly being overworked, while receiving very low wages.
Government policies continue to favor large corporations, while workers’ wages have regressed to the same level as 1999, Son said, adding that people have evidently had enough, which led to last year’s mass protests and the storming of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
“A president who says he does not know that the public is suffering from a feeling of stagnation, or having no way forward, is evidently too far removed from the public he is supposed to be serving,” Son said.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
RSS