A flat rate pension
Last week’s meeting of the National Pension Reform Committee ended in discord after some participants left the meeting in protest.
Obviously, it is difficult to come up with policy solutions that satisfies everyone. It is not really necessary to gather people from all sectors to participate in the committee, because if its decisions do not protect the interests of certain professions, we can be absolutely certain that those people will launch a protest.
This means that rational consideration of the issue would not be easy and that it might be difficult to form a consensus on pension reform.
However, here is a suggestion: Ask the legislature to draft new legislation and ask them to stick to the following points.
First, pensions should cover basic living expenses, so in the interests of maintaining social harmony and avoiding conflict between different groups, each person should receive the same amount, regardless of their profession.
Second, based on the financial status of the pension insurance for each profession, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) should look at national income and consumer costs as it calculates a basis for pension payments.
Third, the number of military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers that receive high pension payments must be decreased annually, and a time limit of five years should be set for integrating everyone into the national pension system as above.
For example, someone who receives NT$80,000 per month should have their payments reduced to NT$70,000 the first year, and then that should be reduced by another NT$10,000 each year, so that after five years, their pension is reduced to NT$30,000 (if that is the figure calculated by the DGBAS).
Fourth, retired military personnel and government employees who do not receive NT$30,000 should have their payments increased over a five-year period until they receive NT$30,000 per month.
Fifth, based on financial situation and consumer costs, possible adjustments to the pension payment should be discussed annually.
Sixth, passing such legislation through a third legislative reading would display the government’s administrative efficiency, and it would be very likely to be accepted by the general public.
Luo Wen-ching
Taipei
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
There is nothing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could do to stop the tsunami-like mass recall campaign. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reportedly said the party does not exclude the option of conditionally proposing a no-confidence vote against the premier, which the party later denied. Did an “actuary” like Chu finally come around to thinking it should get tough with the ruling party? The KMT says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading a minority government with only a 40 percent share of the vote. It has said that the DPP is out of touch with the electorate, has proposed a bloated
In an eloquently written piece published on Sunday, French-Taiwanese education and policy consultant Ninon Godefroy presents an interesting take on the Taiwanese character, as viewed from the eyes of an — at least partial — outsider. She muses that the non-assuming and quiet efficiency of a particularly Taiwanese approach to life and work is behind the global success stories of two very different Taiwanese institutions: Din Tai Fung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). Godefroy said that it is this “humble” approach that endears the nation to visitors, over and above any big ticket attractions that other countries may have
A media report has suggested that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) was considering initiating a vote of no confidence in Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) in a bid to “bring down the Cabinet.” The KMT has denied that this topic was ever discussed. Why might such a move have even be considered? It would have been absurd if it had seen the light of day — potentially leading to a mass loss of legislative seats for the KMT even without the recall petitions already under way. Today the second phase of the recall movement is to begin — which has
RSS