President promises disabled pension help at activist's memorial service

Attending the memorial service of presidential advisor Liu Hsia (劉俠) yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) pledged to launch the national premium pension scheme as soon as possible despite the government's cash crisis.

Liu's memorial service was held in Taipei's Ta-an Park yesterday morning. Liu passed away on Feb. 8 after allegedly being attacked by her Indonesia caregiver. She was 61.

Liu, a writer and social activist who devoted her life to campaigning for disabled people's rights, once told Chen the pension scheme was an indispensable component of the government's efforts to care for the disabled.

According to the pension scheme, the government will pay part of the premiums for low-income and disabled people.

Chen said he hopes the draft of the pension scheme can be passed in the legislature as soon as possible so that the poor and the disabled can benefit from the policy.

Chen acclaimed Liu's tireless campaigning on behalf of the disabled and said he understands disabled people's pains and difficulties.

"My wife was crippled in a car accident and will be wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life. I understand the feelings of the disabled more than most people," Chen said.

Thanks to Liu's work, the government introduced obstacle-free environments for the handicapped. Liu also fought against regulations restricting disabled students' rights to join university entrance exams, Chen said.

Liu's memorial service was packed with people holding roses or bouquets in their hands to bid their last farewell to the loving activist.

Liu's close friend Pu Yueh (樸月), also a well-known writer, read a passage from a prayer Liu wrote.

"When I pass away, please don't bury me with tears. I have departed for a mysterious meeting. How I wish you could be joyous just as I am," the prayer read.

As Liu did not want people to cry at her funeral, the Eden Social Welfare Foundation (ESWF), an organization founded by Liu for disabled people, decided to present the service with warm music and colorful flowers.

Nevertheless, as choirs sang, many still wept.

ESWF gave all attendants of the memorial service a unique gift, a kernel of wheat, because the group believed Liu was like the kernel of wheat in one of the scriptures in the Bible.

John 12:24 says: "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

Liu's death has awakened the nation's awareness of the right of disabled people and the plight of the island's foreign workers, wrote Yu Chien-kou (游建國), Liu's sister-in-law.

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who also attended the service, said the government gives awards to prize-winning athletes in the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

"However, the money the government gives to winning athletes in the Olympics is ten times higher than that given to winning disabled athletes in the Paralympic Games. This is totally unfair," Ma said.

Ma said the city government is planning to give equal awards to athletes who bring home medals from either event.

At the end of the service, attendants placed their roses and bouquets at the side of a white cross -- leaving the ceremony with a firmer determination to help the nation's disabled people.