An independent lawmaker said he will propose a public scholarship for children in low-income families to give them a fair chance at a proper education, with funds for the scheme coming out of the deep pockets of the pan-blue camp.
"The KMT should think about donating cash from its abundant resources to help forward the scholarship program," Legislator Peter Lin (林進興) said.
The KMT is thought to be the world's richest political party.
Lin said he devised the scholarship proposal after being touched by the story of Lei Chia-chia (雷家佳) and Chang Ying-hua (張穎華), two high school graduates who recently competed for a place in the law department of the National Defense Management College.
The teenagers were both from low-income households unable to afford the costs of studying at a public university.
Lin said that tuition fees in Taiwan are not high compared to other countries with high-quality education systems, such as the US.
But he believed that "formulating auxiliary measures, such as more scholarship programs, is necessary to assure that the financially disadvantaged minority are not affected by the high costs of our educational policy."
He said that the idea of using KMT assets for the scholarship came up after the education debate was politicized.
"Using their party assets for the benefit of education is a good idea," Lin said. "The measure could hopefully solve a pending dispute over the former ruling party's legitimacy in possessing the tremendous amounts of property it obtained during its half-century of dictatorial rule."
Claiming that his idea has received support from other lawmakers, Lin said he will submit his proposal to the legislature when lawmakers return from their summer recess in September.
He hoped that the scholarship, dubbed the "Taiwan Hope scholarship," would be realized with a legislative resolution and set up by the government soon.
But Lin's plan to connect the scholarship with the KMT's assets came up against immediate objections by KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chiu (洪秀柱).
Hung blasted that "anyone who really cares about education problems would not initiate such a motion."
The scheme was proposed with bad intentions and attempts to raise debate over issues other than education, said Hung, an experienced lawmaker who has focused on educational affairs for years.
"Creating more scholarships is only an educational stopgap. The KMT refuses to give any response to Lin's proposal," Hung said.
However, TSU Legislator Ho Min-hao (何敏豪) admired Lin's idea.
"It would be great if the nation could take back the property illegally acquired by the KMT and turn it into scholarship cash," Ho said.
He said even if Lin's idea is not realized, the government needs to create public scholarships to help children from low-income households gain access to education.
A DPP lawmaker said he respected Lin's plan, but he played down the possibility of the DPP administration carrying out his idea.
"It's wrong to link the KMT's assets to the creation of a scholarship, since the KMT's illegally gained assets should be returned to the people and not be transferred by the government into a public scholarship," DPP Legislator Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) said.
Political commentator Li Hsiao-feng (李筱峰) shared a similar view.
"The KMT's Ill-gotten gains cannot be taken as the source of a scholarship. The assets should return to the people and the country instead of being used as scholarships," Li said.
Also see story:
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard