President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks while receiving groups of female representatives at the Presidential Office yesterday.
"Although Taiwan is not a member of the UN, promoting awareness of gender equality is a universal value pursued by all humankind," Chen told his visitors, adding that this is currently taking place domestically in Taiwan.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Earlier in the day, while visiting Chunghwa Telecom's customer service center, where the majority of customer service workers are female, the president pledged that the government would also work to open up more employment opportunities to encourage female workers who have left the workplace to return.
Seeing several pregnant female customer service workers, the president, citing the experience of his daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤) -- who was breast-feeding during her masters degree studies -- said he could comprehend the hardship working mothers face.
"Fortunately, with the advance of higher education, the performance of female workers in the workforce is gradually being recognized. The government has also worked to establish nursery facilities and the like in the community to help lessen working mothers' household burdens," Chen said.
The president made the visit ahead of International Women's Day next Tuesday, to show his appreciation for working women.
"Creating a female-friendly working environment is the government's imperative, and our responsibility is therefore to ensure that working women and housewives are not being discriminated against," Chen said.
Chen noted that he realizes marriage and pregnancy often get in the way of female professionals' careers, forcing them to leave their jobs.
The president said he believes the Laborers' Pension Law (勞工退休條例), which is to take effect on July 1, will help give female and senior workers a better sense of security and also encourage female workers to return to the workforce.
The new Laborers' Pension Law will require an employer to deposit a minimum of 6 percent of an employee's monthly salary into an individual retirement fund.
Employees may also continue to build up their retirement savings if they switch companies.
Despite the existence of the Gender Equality in Employment Law (
Chen expressed the hope that government, civil organizations and the private sector could work together to seek ways to better care for the well-being of women.
Also see story:
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai