Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday apologized after suggesting that caregivers should look past their low salaries and treat their jobs as “doing good deeds” sparked controversy.
Lai, a former physician, made the remark at the launch of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “1966 Hotline,” aimed at addressing people’s needs to care for elders in their homes.
“Taiwanese society thrives on virtuous acts, acts to help others,” the premier said during his speech, citing as an example police and firefighters from all parts of the nation who poured into Tainan to rescue people trapped in the rubble after a massive earthquake last year.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“Although those of you who take care of older people only make about NT$30,000 [US$994], which seems disproportionate to your responsibilities, I want to encourage all caregivers to bless Taiwan with your virtuous acts — by performing good deeds,” he said.
Lai’s remark quickly went viral, triggering a torrent of online criticism, a majority of which called on Lai to “lead by example” by also “doing good deed.”
The backlash prompted Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) to issue a statement to clarify Lai’s remarks.
“The premier meant to encourage people to treat one another with kindness,” the statement read.
“Long-term care services is an industry that is meaningful and needs to be pushed forward. Being a caregiver is more than earning a salary or fulfilling one’s life goal, it is also about performing virtuous acts,” it read.
“We hope that the premier’s words will not be misunderstood or distorted by the public,” it said.
Later, on the sidelines of a forum on long-term care services in Taitung, Lai told reporters that he would like to apologize for his remark.
“I did not make myself clear and caused misunderstanding. I am truly sorry,” he said.
“I meant to say that caregivers have a tough job, since they work with elderly people, physically or mentally challenged people or people with dementia. That is why I encouraged them to show kindness, patience and even tolerance,” he said.
The premier said he hopes that when caregivers are faced with challenges or under stress at work, they will remember they are performing virtuous acts and doing good deeds, adding that this transition of mental state is known as “sublimation” in psychology.
He said that the average salary of a caregiver is NT$32,000, while that of a head caregiver is NT$37,000, both of which have increased.
“The Executive Yuan cares greatly about caregivers’ salaries,” he said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS