People born in Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s are commonly referred to as belonging to the "Strawberry Generation," meaning that they are less able to withstand pressure and that they aren't able to work very hard.
However, Chen Po-chien (
According to Chen, the trend that the youth of Taiwan face today is long hours, low pay and job insecurity, amidst massive inflation rates. A survey carried out in Switzerland revealed that the work hours in Taiwan are the longest in the world, averaging 50 hours a week -- beating even Japan's record. Furthermore, Chen said, the minimum monthly pay -- NT$15,840 (US$483) -- hasn't been adjusted in the last eight years.
Chien Hsi-chieh, the convener of the pan-purple alliance, said that the problems are partly owing to the treatment of labor and education as a commodity, which has been reflected in staff cutbacks without any consideration of retirement, and importing foreign laborers to cut down on costs.
"People aren't products; they have rights, dignity, their own opinions," Chien said.
Chien spoke of over-time without pay, the use of part-time staff and the recruitment of new staff to replace senior staff members as a means of saving on costs, saying that "under these conditions it is no wonder that professional workers become easily replaceable."
According to Lin Chia-Ho (
"The government's idea of effectiveness is to slim down staff, which is misconceived and outdated," Lin said.
According to Lin, the government heads the list of organizations who use part-time employees to cut on costs. He compared this to the EU, which in an attempt to set a good example for its citizens makes an effort to increase staff numbers, with a monthly report being issued each month. Lin said that the problem that youth in Taiwan face, however, is of a global nature.
Lin talked about a report which was the result of a conference held in Los Angeles in 1997, which said that by 2025, the world would become a 20:80 society meaning that only 20 percent of the population would play an active role in the flow of the economy; the other 80 percent would be made "redundant."
"The young may not be the first affected, but it is not only a matter of who is first," Lin said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS