Analogy anomaly
As a Canadian, I was a bit dismayed by your editorial (?or the love of Taiwan, get it right,?page 8, Aug. 24) in which you said a ?ritish lord berating Canadians?for not ?elebrating Queen Elizabeth? birthday?would be ?aughed out of town.?First, while it is true that Queen Elizabeth? birthday is not a national holiday in Canada, it isn? a national holiday in Britain either. Oct. 10 is, however, a national holiday in Taiwan and it remained a national holiday even under the Democratic Progressive Party. A better analogy would be to have a US senator berating Canadians for not celebrating July 4 (as opposed to July 1, the anniversary of the day Canada became a country of its own).
The fact is that Queen Elizabeth has visited Canada 22 times (not including stopovers): twice in the 1950s, twice in the 1960s, seven times in the 1970s, four times in the 1980s, four times in the 1990s and three times since the year 2000. Her husband, Philip, has also made official visits to Canada, as have the queen? mother, her sons, Charles, Andrew and Edward, her daughter, Anne, her sister, Margaret, her cousins, Michael and Alexandra, her grandchildren, William and Harry, her grandmother, Mary (in 1955, 1962 and 1965) and her husband? grandmother (in 1954). The queen is the official head of state of Canada and it is her image that appears on the front of all Canadian money.
I don? know how much money is spent to support the British monarchy, what with all the official visits and the appointment of the Governor-General of Canada and 10 lieutenant governors, one for each Canadian province. I also don? know how much money the government here in Taiwan spends every year on Double Ten Day celebrations, so I can? judge whether or not US$100 million is truly extravagant or just simply a lot more than usual.
Yes, I do realize that Taiwan wasn? part of China 100 years ago when the Republic of China came into being. I also realize, however, that if World War II had ended differently, Taiwan would not be celebrating Double Ten Day, but instead would be celebrating the birthday of Emperor Akihito on Dec. 23; and, yes, I imagine a Japanese lord would be sent over to berate you if you didn?.
Martin Phipps
Taichung
Why pick on night markets?
Like the editorial (?ight markets eco-unfriendly,?page 8, Aug. 27) said, I have yet to visit a night market which could be described as kind to the environment. I agree that most night markets ?produce a r虹diculous amount of garbage,?and that the government should do far more to encourage the use of reusable utensils.
However, in a society where many people drive large automobiles to air-苞onditioned restaurants that serve delicacies flown in from North America or Australia and wine shipped in from France or Chile, it seems churlish to label night markets as ?co-unfriendly.?Most of the food sold in Taiwan? night markets is locally grown and because there? no air-conditioning the amount of electricity used is quite small. Moreover, most of those who go to night markets do so by motorcycle, bicycle or on foot.
By promoting Taiwan? night markets, the government isn? just helping the food and tourism industries, it? also helping to minimize food miles.
STEVEN CROOK
Tainan County
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