As soon as Minister without Portfolio Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) was appointed as Chairman of the Council for Cultural Affairs, he pledged to implement the idea of "establishing the nation with culture" and to advance the Council to Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
"Cultural policies do not only deal with the issues of how to allot budgets and resources but to find out a guiding principle to establish platforms for diverse ethnic groups' development," Chen said when he started in his new position on Thursday.
"It is also urgent to reconcile the social confrontations caused by the election with stressing civic, community and ethnic consciousness," Chen said.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Perhaps no one was more proficient in the administrative affairs and practices of the council than Chen, who served as its vice chairman from 1994 to 1997.
Since 1994, Chen has been noted for his efforts to promote the policy of "Holistic Community Building," a policy dedicated to creating unique local community cultures around the nation by arousing the residents' communal and civic consciousness. It also seeks to create a new society and culture that contains the different cultures of diverse ethnic groups in Taiwan.
He has promoted the idea of "decentralization," stressing that to reshape the images of Taiwan's cultures, quality of life must be raised and environmental transformation must be based on the autonomy of local communities and grassroots groups.
"What is most lacking in Taiwan society is a common consensus about the basic-level structure of the land," Chen said.
"If we establish a common consciousness from the level of community, then whether to unify with China or be independent from China will not be a problem for Taiwan."
Chen's ideas were highly valued by then president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who later interpreted Chen's discourse into the so-called "life community," an idea that called on the people of Taiwan to build a strong sense of common destiny and identity, as everyone has roots here.
Chen also contributed many ideas in the Creativity and Culture Industry Development Project and New Homeland Movement carried out by outgoing Council chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (
It is said that Chen's appointment also breaks the unwritten rule that a woman should head the council, as in the past 10 years. Since 1993, the heads were Sheng Hsueh-yung (申學庸); Cheng Su-ming (鄭淑敏), now chairwoman of the China Television Company; Helen Lin (林澄枝), vice chairwoman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT); and outgoing council chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou.
With a master's degree in anthropology from the National Taiwan University and a doctorate of anthropology from Yale, Chen first devoted himself to academic research at Academia Sinica's Institute of Ethnology and has taught anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Virginia in the US and the college of humanities and social sciences at National Chiao-tung University (
Chen later held offices in governmental departments and was praised by the public for his "outstanding" performances. He worked as a consultant to Premier Yu Shyi-kun on cultural affairs when Yu served as Ilan County Commissioner in 1997 and 1998.
He was appointed as a national policy advisor in 1999 by President Chen Shui-bian (
Hu Tai-li (
"Chen could often carve out many refreshing ideas and terms that affect and stimulated people." Hu said.
"I expect him to contribute his creativity and energy to his new job and find a balance between practice and theory by fine-tuning his measures."
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
RSS