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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Society
English environment better
The nation's overall living environment for native English-speaking people made progress this year, according to results of a survey released by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission. The survey, conducted by Shih Hsin University between Sept. 3 and Oct. 31, interviewed 1,098 foreigners living in Taiwan and 1,068 foreigners who were in Taiwan for a short stay. They were questioned about how satisfied they were with various aspects of life in Taiwan this year. The results show that the overall living environment for native English-speaking people improved by 12.3 percent over last year. Health services topped other areas, with a 17.5 percent improvement compared with last year, followed by shopping, with an improvement of 14.88 percent. The survey also showed that some of the general complaints included taxi drivers being unable to speak English and the lack of English-language information at bus stops.

■ Education
Illiteracy at 2.84 percent
Just over 510,000 people in Taiwan 15 years old and over are illiterate, representing 2.84 percent of the nation's total population as of the end of last year, an official with the Ministry of Education said. The official at the ministry's Social Education Department said an overwhelming majority of the illiterate are elderly citizens who grew up during Japanese colonial rule or the early years of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration. Noting that the nation's illiteracy rate remains higher than the internationally acceptable norm of 2 percent, the official said the ministry continues to promote various adult education programs to address this problem. The official said a new group of the illiterate is emerging: the foreign spouses of local citizens.

■ Foreign Affairs
Official to go to Burkina Faso
Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) will travel to Burkina Faso as a special envoy of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to attend the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected president Blaise Compaore next Tuesday. Burkina Faso held its third presidential election on Nov. 13 this year. Compaore, who is also Chairman of the Congress for Democracy and Progress, received more than 80 percent of the vote. He will thus remain as head of state for the next five years. Weng will leave for Burkina Faso today together with a nine-member delegation.

■ Society
Essay awards presented
A private foundation presented awards yesterday for the 16 best essays in a contest held to increase local people's understanding and knowledge of immigrant culture and life in Taiwan. The 16 essays will be compiled into a book in an effort to raise public awareness of the issues concerning foreign spouses of Taiwan nationals, said Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), director-in-chief of the New World Cultural and Educational Foundation. There are currently over 320,000 foreign spouses of Taiwan citizens, with the new arrivals forming Taiwan's "fifth largest ethnic group," according to Lee, with the other four being Aborigines, Hakka, Hoklo settlers from southern China who arrived in Taiwan during the 16th century and Chinese who came to Taiwan when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government fled here in 1949. He called the five groups "assets" of the country in terms of its international competitiveness and progress.

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