A suggestion by the nation’s top education official that elementary school students be required to sing the national anthem before class each day is misguided and should be abandoned, Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Addressing the proposal, made the previous day by Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基), Tsai said patriotism was a feeling that would come naturally, provided the government protected Taiwan’s sovereignty and earned respect from the public.
“If the government gives the public a feeling that being a citizen of this country is a glorious thing, people will be more than happy to raise the national flag and sing the national anthem anytime, anywhere,” she said. “That should be the focus … not compulsory [singing].”
Presently, most elementary school students sing the anthem at a weekly flag-raising ceremony. Since the lifting of Martial Law in 1987, the government no longer regulates how often students must sing the anthem or raise the flag.
According to Wu, however, this should change and elementary school students should sing the anthem and raise the flag during daily morning assemblies. Taiwanese schools, he said, needed greater focus on “patriotic education.”
Such a move was especially important with the imminent arrival of Chinese students in Taiwanese universities, he said, adding that the nation should move to ensure it does not lose its sense of self-identity.
“Everybody should loudly say I love the Republic of China,” he said. “When students see the national flag and hear the national anthem, they should [stand at attention] and have a respectful heart.”
This is not about factional politics, he said, as successive governments also needed to “love the Republic of China.”
However, Tsai said that if there was no political angle to this, then President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should set a better example.
“The president [should] bravely protect the country’s sovereignty and bravely look after people’s dignity,” she said. “If he can’t do this ... the public would conclude there is nothing left to be proud about.”
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