National Changhua Senior High School yesterday held its first-ever Global Youth of the Year Awards, with Liao Chung-lun (廖崇倫), a leading figure in the student protests against the curriculum guideline changes, one of the five recipients.
The awards were founded to recognize young activists who have made significant contributions to promoting social justice and the rights of young people and children. They are funded by National Changhua Senior High School Library and the school’s International Youth Leadership Conference.
In addition to Lao, the other awardees are Mazoun Almellehan from Syria, Khalidi Mngulu from Tanzania, Memory Banda from Malawi and Adda Smaradottir from Iceland.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
Mazoun was absent at the ceremony because she lost her passport and could not get a replacement in time. A resident of a refugee camp in Jordan, Mazoun has fought to bring education to girls in Jordan’s refugee camps and has been called the “Malala of Syria” by CNN.
Liao, a student from National Taichung First Senior High School and member of the student club Apple Tree Commune, was a leading organizer of the youth protest against the Ministry of Education’s controversial changes to curriculum guidelines that critics said are China-centric and distorts history.
The protesters broke into the ministry’s compound and briefly occupied it on July 23 before they were arrested. The ministry later dropped charges against protesters aged under 18, though some again received court summons last month.
“There are many social injustices that must be fought now, or they will become impossible to fight in the future,” Liao said in his acceptance speech, adding that the award helped convince him that “holding on to my convictions was the right thing to do.”
Khalidi is a 17-year-old albino activist from Tanzania advocating the abolition of the widespread African practice of attacking albino children for their limbs, because it is believed that their body parts are fetishes that could bring good luck and wealth. Khalidi was invited by the World Health Assembly to speak in Geneva in May about his experiences.
Banda, 18, fought to end child marriage in Malawi, with the National Assembly earlier this year passing a law raising the legal age for marriage to 18.
Smaradottir is a feminist and a leader of Iceland’s Free the Nipple campaign promoting gender equality, a cause that has garnered support from several Icelandic lawmakers and international celebrities, such as Madonna.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
RSS