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Groups urge Ma to donate vouchers

President Ma Ying-jeou salutes while wearing a scout uniform as he receives a group of representatives of the General Association of the Scouts of China at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

Facing financial problems because of the global economic recession, civic groups yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to keep his promise to donate his consumer vouchers to welfare groups, in the hope that more people would follow suit.

When Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) announced last week that NT$3,660 in consumer vouchers would be distributed to the public before the Lunar New Year holiday starts on Jan. 24, Ma immediately said he would donate his vouchers to charity groups.

However, when some academics questioned how the distribution of vouchers would stimulate the economy by boosting consumption if many people decided to donate them, Ma changed his mind and said on Wednesday that he would use the vouchers to buy produce and donate a cash equivalent to charity groups.

Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲), secretary-general of the Alliance for Handicapped People, said that consumer vouchers donated to welfare groups would still stimulate consumption.

“When we receive those vouchers as a donation, we can’t just lock them up in a safe, we’ll still have to spend them,” Wang said.

Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴), secretary-general of the Alliance for Old People’s Welfare Promotion, agreed.

“Some people don’t need the extra NT$3,600, while others are in desperate need. Welfare groups can act as the platform by which people are able to help those in need,” Wu said.

Taiwan Fund for Children and Family executive director Miguel Wang (王明仁) said that donations to the group had fallen by almost 20 percent this year.

“The number of people sponsoring a child has also fallen — many people have called us and said that they can no longer sponsor children at our shelters because they’ve been laid off,” he said.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday that Ma would spend his vouchers, but would also donate cash to civic groups.

When asked how much Ma intended to donate, Wang said the amount would be at least 10 times the value of the vouchers. He said Ma had not yet decided whether the donation would come from his own pocket or from the president’s discretionary fund. Ma would decide on that by Jan. 18, when the vouchers are scheduled to be issued, Wang said.

Wang said Ma has used the president’s discretionary fund to buy items that he would give away as gifts and his own money on items that were for his personal use.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
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