Dozens of young people — accompanied by representatives from several civic groups — yesterday performed a “slapping skit” on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office, announcing they would join workers at a May Day parade to protest government policies that are unfriendly to the youth.
With red palm prints painted on their faces, five members of “Youth Want To Be Rich” — an organization composed of mainly college and graduate students who are concerned with the issue of poverty — had their faces slapped by a giant prop hand with the words “national debt,” “student loan,” “unemployment” and “outsourced employment.”
“Mr President, please stop slapping us in the face, we are so poor,” the five shouted after they were “slapped.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“I have a job, but it’s an outsourced job. I have a lot to do and often have to work overtime, but I don’t get paid overtime. I don’t get any company benefits and receive no pension at all,” said Shih Yi-hsiang (施逸翔), a graduate student at Soochow University and one of the five actors.
Another member of the group, Chen Ping-hui (陳秉暉) said that there are about 850,000 college graduates who each owe several hundred thousand NT dollars in student loans.
“With the government’s endorsement, many companies are outsourcing jobs. Since pay in these jobs is low, a lot of young workers just out of school are unable to repay their student loans and have to start their working lives with bad credit,” Chen said, adding that according to statistics, about 25 percent of new graduates work in outsourced or temporary jobs with low pay.
He urged the government to come up with policies that would improve employment conditions for new entrants into the job market and help new graduates repay their student loans.
Shih said the slapping skit was inspired by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kuo Su-chun’s (郭素春) remarks that students attending a forum at St John’s University earlier this month, in which President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also took part, should be slapped because they did not stand up when speaking to the president.
“You know what’s the real slap in the face for us students and young people? Well, it’s the bad economy, high unemployment and terrible working conditions,” Shih said.
The group called on young people throughout the nation to join workers in the May Day parade. Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions chairman Hsieh Chuang-chih (謝創智) also attended the demonstration to show his support and urged everyone to take part.
“You may think only laborers or people working low-paid jobs should take part in the parade, but with such terrible working conditions, you could be the next victim of the system even if you’re getting a salary that is more than satisfactory,” he said.
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