Only one in five Taiwanese believe the country’s music and television shows are superior to those of South Korea, despite government’s efforts to prop up the two industries, a survey by National Taiwan Normal University’s Cultural Administration and Policy Lab found.
When asked whether Taiwanese “idol dramas” are more influential than South Korean series, 9.7 percent of those polled said yes, which indicates that South Korean TV series’ fast-growing popularity has brought Taiwan’s TV industry to its knees.
As for local pop music, only 20 percent of respondents said the industry would one day surpass South Korea’s.
Asked about the Ministry of Culture, 21.7 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with its performance, compared with 36.6 percent who were not.
However, about 33.6 percent of respondents said they were impressed by the artistic and cultural development in the city or county where they live, suggesting that people tend to be more pleased with local governments’ endeavor to boost cultural activities than the central government’s.
A record low of 42.9 percent of respondents think that the central government has attached great importance to the nation’s artistic and cultural development in recent years, while a record-high 44.9 percent think that culture and arts in the country have not been raised.
“These two figures are an indicator of the public’s disappointment in the ministry’s efforts,” Cultural Administration and Policy Lab Convener Jerry Hsia (夏學理) said.
Asked what the ministry’s priority should be, 58.7 percent of respondents said improving coexistence between diversified cultures, 30.5 percent said promoting the nation’s local cultures and 9.7 percent said reinvigorating “Zhonghua culture” (中華文化).
The poll was conducted between May 6 and May 9 through random telephone sampling of 1,068 people aged 20 and above. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The ministry said it was understandable that people were more familiar with the efforts of their local governments than the central government because they sponsored artistic and cultural activities such as music concerts and film festivals, directly interacting with the public.
“However, the ministry is responsible for formulating policies, drawing up new laws and setting up new systems,” it said.
The ministry was established in May 2012 through a merger of the Council for Cultural Affairs and portions of the Government Information Office.
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