Holding up banners and shouting slogans, several civic groups yesterday protested outside the Examination Yuan against remarks by Examination Yuan President John Kuan (關中), who said that civil servants “are not common people.”
“Shut your big mouth up!” and “Step down, John Kuan!” shouted members of several civic groups — including the Citizens’ Congress Watch (CCW), the National Association for the Promotion of Community University (NAPCU), the Union of Taiwanese Teachers and the Green Party Taiwan.
Amid controversy last week over whether public servants, teachers and soldiers should continue to enjoy an 18 percent interest rate on bank savings, Kuan said civil servants “are not common people” because on average, only 3 percent of the people who take the civil service exam pass it to become civil servants.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
“Not everyone can become a civil servant,” he said, adding: “If you can pass [the civil service exam], the state will encourage you with protection for your life.”
Kuan’s comment drew heavy criticism from the public and the Democratic Progressive Party.
On Saturday, Internet users launched a coordinated protest campaign, asking Kuan to “shut his big mouth” on the online social networking site Facebook, a campaign that was followed by yesterday’s protest.
“Kuan’s remarks can only deepen divisions between different classes [in society],” CCW executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said. “His remarks have angered a lot of average wage earners who work hard every day, but do not enjoy the same privileges.”
NAPCU secretary-general Kao Ju-ping (高茹萍), meanwhile, called on Kuan to apologize to the public and resign over his statement, as he previously asked of other officials.
Last month, when Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) made several gaffes in public, Kuan said officials should be held responsible for their statements and step down if the mistake is serious enough.
Examination Yuan Secretary Huang Ya-pang (黃雅榜), who received the protesters on Kuan’s behalf, defended Kuan by saying that his remarks were taken out of context.
“[Kuan] will not talk about this issue anymore and will not apologize,” Huang said. “The comment that ‘civil servants are not common people’ is only part of a long talk that Kuan gave on that day and should not be taken out of context.”
“In fact, Kuan talked about work evaluation for civil servants and how civil servants should act more cautiously,” Huang said. “He wanted to tell us that civil servants enjoy no privileges at all.”
Ho said the statement was unacceptable, because what Huang said “seems unrelated to what we are protesting about.”
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