Members of the Taipei Society (
They called on the public to reclaim the Constitution as a document that belongs to every citizen.
"The new constitution should be a citizen's constitution that is concerned with their rights," said Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), a Taipei Society member and National Chengchi University professor.
The group held a press conference yesterday to promote their new book, The Constitutional Reform Controversy: Lessons from the 1997 Reforms.
"This is an auspicious time for our publication, with the current controversy over the 2006 constitutional reforms," Taipei Society chairman Hong Yu-hung (
"Whether we call it constitutional reform or renewal, this time the process must involve all citizens in a debate, and it must educate all citizens about their Constitution," Ku said.
Taipei Society secretary Hsu Yung-ming (
"The society will continue commenting on politics from a non-political standpoint," he said. "But our more important mission is to get the public involved."
"A national referendum on the subject should involve more people in open debate and solve some of our more enduring problems," Hsu added.
Ku and Contemporary Monthly magazine editor-in-chief Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) co-edited the book, which is a compilation of essays.
"The 1997 reforms have proven extremely problematic since they were brought in," Chin said. "We document suggestions and analyses from civic organizations at the time, many of which were not heeded but proved correct in time."
"This sort of `closed door' reform process must not occur again," Ku said of the 1997 reforms, which were largely shielded from the public. "We hope that politicians will no longer monopolize the process and initiate reforms to further their own selfish ends. The people must be able to watch every step of the process."
Ku said that in 1997 there was still a residue of fear among people because of the violence and persecution of the past. But today, he said, freedom of speech was much more extensive.
The society is organizing a conference on constitutional reform in collaboration with several other civic organizations to get citizens involved in the process, he said.
Members of the Taiwan Law Society were also on hand to show their support for the drive.
"We're putting together a draft of a new constitution with the assistance of non-governmental organizations," society member Chen Tzu-yang (
Hung said the new document should enjoy a consensus and res-pect the voice of the people. It should not be decided upon by a minority, he said.
Society members also pointed to the role of international pressure on the reform process.
"Taiwan is facing a similar international situation this time around," Ku said. "But the difference is, the sense of Taiwan as a sovereign entity has become even stronger and more widely expressed."
Ku added that two powers were battling one another in Taiwan: the increasing international pressure against displays of sovereignty and the rising public awareness of a sovereign identity.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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