Reshuffle needs ‘gap’
The new Cabinet lineup is not only another empty gesture, but also a hazardous measure (Editorial, Dec. 6, page 8).
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has described his appointment of Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) to the premiership as “a rail connection without a gap” (無縫接軌).
This metaphor is a bad omen.
Even an elementary-school student knows the natural phenomenon that a gap is needed for thermal expansion in connecting two rails. This is especially true in laying rails in cold weather to prevent the train from running off the track in hot weather.
The legislature should ask the president to leave a safe gap in the Cabinet reorganization.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
No women in seminar
What was the Taiwan Brain Trust thinking? Its “International Conference on New Asian Dynamics and the Role of Taiwan” on Saturday last week had a dozen-plus scheduled speakers ... and not even one woman.
The think tank’s insights into the future look a lot like the past if only men are considered worthy to speak. The organizers clearly did not suspect there was a problem in omitting half of humanity.
The professional talkers of this fraternity should speak to empty rooms until they stop supporting exclusionary events.
Gender-blindness is holding back better futures in Taiwan and across Asia, and this “brain trust” lacks an open mind. Wake up, boys.
V.L. Crawford
Taipei
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