President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday dismissed a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator’s criticism of young students who she said showed disrespect for the president because they did not stand up when talking to Ma.
Ma said yesterday on his Facebook page that he did not mind students sitting down when they asked him questions.
“We are living in a free and democratic society. There is no need to impose too many rules on university students,” he said. “It’s quite natural for them to sit down when they asked me the questions because they needed to speak into the microphone on the table.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Ma made the remarks in response to a criticism lodged by KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) over Ma’s visit to St John’s University in Tamsui (淡水) on Sunday, during which Ma answered questions about his government’s policies and listened to the students’ ideas on various topics, including the death penalty, the planned construction project of Kuokuang Petrochemical Park and the proposed luxury tax.
“President Ma had to bend from the waist to talk to a student who sat still in his chair. Had I been there, I would have given him a slap on his face. If he was my child, let me tell you, he would have had to kneel down for three days at home,” Kuo said.
Calling the matter a “moral problem,” Kuo added that people should stand up when they speak to their elders.
KMT caucus whip Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said Kuo Su-chun meant to teach the students good manners and that she was not encouraging physical punishment.
“Kuo [Su-chun] has been a strict mother with her children and that was why she thought the students had bad manners. It would be out of context if her comments were interpreted in a way to suggest that she supported physical punishment,” Hsieh said, urging people not to take the matter seriously.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition