Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) apologized to the public yesterday for his remark that the inventor of unpaid leave deserved to receive a Nobel Prize.
“I would hereby like to apologize if the public had a different interpretation [of my remark] and if it caused any inconvenience,” Wu said in a written statement, adding that he did not intend to cause offence.
Wu drew widespread criticism from civic groups and legislators on Wednesday over comments he made on Tuesday while meeting with winners of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ award for creating substantial job opportunities.
He said that whoever created the unpaid leave system deserved the Nobel Prize because the system helped businesses retain ties to their employees during the global economic crisis without the need for severance pay, adding that it allowed employees to return to their jobs when the economy improved.
Enraged by Wu’s comments, labor activists on Wednesday called the premier “brain dead,” saying he was insensitive to the plight of workers. Wu at the time responded by saying people needed to develop a sense of humor.
Finding that his explanation failed to quell labor groups’ anger, Wu issued a written apology yesterday, saying he was only giving credit to workers and employers for their cooperation and mutual understanding during the harsh economic downturn.
Earlier yesterday, about 20 young labor rights activists staged a protest outside the Executive Yuan, calling Wu “brainless.”
“Many corporations took the opportunity [presented by unpaid leave during the economic downturn] to lay off employees or force senior workers to resign,” Youth Labor Union 95 member Hu Meng-yu (胡孟瑀) said.
Lee Ying-hsuan (李盈萱), one of the protesters, said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should allow the premier to take unpaid leave so he could develop a sense of empathy for the difficulties faced by workers.
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
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