Rights group is demanding an apology from aquarium

The Alliance for Handicapped People (殘障聯盟) will soon launch a series of demonstrations to protest what it calls the Hualien Oceanic Aquarium's (花蓮海洋公園) arrogant attitude toward the disabled, an alliance official said yesterday.

Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), secretary-general of the alliance, said that the protests will not end until the aquarium offers a public apology to the handicapped for a discriminatory statement printed in the aquarium's tourist handbook.

"For the sake of the dignity of Taiwan's 810,000 handicapped, the alliance will soon stage a round-the-clock demonstration to protest the Hualien Oceanic Aquariums' disrespect toward the handicapped and its refusal to offer a public apology to the handicapped," said Wang.

Accompanied by KMT legislators Hsu Chung- hsiung (徐中雄) and Ching- Hui-chu (秦慧珠), the alliance made known its anger at a press conference.

The alliance accused the aquarium management of setting a rule that is offensive and discrimminates against the disabled -- and then publishing the rule in the aquarium's guidebook.

According to the alliance, one of the regulations in the book says that "in a bid to safeguard the security of the animals and aquarium visitors, [the aquarium] refuses admission to any mentally retarded individuals who are not accompanied by their guardians."

A sign displaying a similar rule was also placed at the entrance of the aquarium.

The alliance says the rule severely discriminates against the disabled and violates their rights.

Although the aquarium has now revised the wording on the sign -- as well as recalled 20,000 copies of the guide books -- the dispute doesn't end there.

"We are very unsatisfied, because the aquarium has not yet made any apology for it," Wang said.

"We're not asking for much," he added. "All we're asking for is a public apology from the aquarium."

Not only has the aquarium management failed to offer any apology, said Wang, but it has also chosen to remain arrogant and argue that the rule was established according to what it called "international tourist spot standards."

Citing Disney World as an example, Wang disputed the aquarium's argument that the rule was common and said that no places he knows of has a similar rule.

To express the alliance's dissatisfaction and anger, Wang said that the series of protest soon to be launched by the alliance would include not only on-site protest at the aquarium, but also protests via Internet.

The group intends to circulate its protest statement around Taiwan and abroad, Wang said.

The alliance's protest would not stop until the aquarium management offered a public apology to the disabled for "its inconsiderate and offensive acts toward the handicapped," Wang said.