Students were forced to apologize after Taichung Municipal Taichung First Senior High School came under fire for posters that used a racist slur against indigenous people, but Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was unapologetic after saying that “the education system is to blame for low wages, because it has churned out low-value students. To fix the issue of supply exceeding demand, college majors with the lowest fees should be canceled or downsized.”
Ko’s remarks overlook that low wages could be caused by a gross underestimation of the value of a job or workers’ rights violations. A worker being paid less than another does not mean their work is not needed.
The two most obvious examples are social workers and childcare workers. These professions are anything but expendable, even though they offer less than satisfactory wages. The supply and demand system does not entirely reflect a society’s labor needs either. Low salaries can lead to a labor shortage and leave a gaping hole in society.
Ko’s “low-value” remark is discriminatory, yet he refused to admit his mistake or apologize, making him even worse than the high-school students.
Ko has a history of discriminatory remarks, including objectification, for example when he said that “pretty young ladies are more suitable for sitting behind counters than being mayors,” and: “Taiwanese ladies look horrendous when they go out without makeup.”
Even worse, he also made remarks that were sexually and racially discriminatory. For example, he said: “Haven’t we imported 300,000 foreign spouses?”
Each example from Ko was worse than the posters the high-school students made. Ironically, media and influencers rebuked the students’ posters, but let a potential presidential candidate get away with bigotry.
For the past few years, Taichung Municipal First Senior High School, National Tainan First Senior High School, Taipei First Girls’ High School and others have suspended their humanities and language honors programs, partly because many students transfer to sciences when they reach grade 11. The suspensions might explain why discrimination happens, as people are taught not to value the liberal arts and empathetic education.
This trend further demonstrates Ko’s negative influence, as he is known for belittling the liberal arts and social studies.
Four years ago, Taichung Municipal First Senior High School invited Ko to speak and it was reported that he received rave reviews. Nevertheless, if schools do not wish to see a repeat of the poster incident, or parents do not want their children — including girls, minorities and those interested in the humanities and social studies — to be discriminated against, or see their children’s contribution overlooked by society, then people should use their judgement to drive out a callous and unsympathetic politician like Ko.
School campuses and the political arena need as role models people who know how to respect others.
Chen Jun-kuang is an attending physician in the psychiatry department at Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital.
Translated by Rita Wang
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sits down with US President Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday next week, Xi is unlikely to demand a dramatic public betrayal of Taiwan. He does not need to. Beijing’s preferred victory is smaller, quieter and in some ways far more dangerous: a subtle shift in American wording that appears technical, but carries major strategic meaning. The ask is simple: replace the longstanding US formulation that Washington “does not support Taiwan independence” with a harder one — that Washington “opposes” Taiwan independence. One word changes; a deterrence structure built over decades begins to shift.
Recently, Taipei’s streets have been plagued by the bizarre sight of rats running rampant and the city government’s countermeasures have devolved into an anti-intellectual farce. The Taipei Parks and Street Lights Office has attempted to eradicate rats by filling their burrows with polyurethane foam, seeming to believe that rats could not simply dig another path out. Meanwhile, as the nation’s capital slowly deteriorates into a rat hive, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection has proudly pointed to the increase in the number of poisoned rats reported in February and March as a sign of success. When confronted with public concerns over young
Taipei is facing a severe rat infestation, and the city government is reportedly considering large-scale use of rodenticides as its primary control measure. However, this move could trigger an ecological disaster, including mass deaths of birds of prey. In the past, black kites, relatives of eagles, took more than three decades to return to the skies above the Taipei Basin. Taiwan’s black kite population was nearly wiped out by the combined effects of habitat destruction, pesticides and rodenticides. By 1992, fewer than 200 black kites remained on the island. Fortunately, thanks to more than 30 years of collective effort to preserve their remaining
China has long given assurances that it would not interfere in free access to the global commons. As one Ministry of Defense spokesperson put it in 2024, “the Chinese side always respects the freedom of navigation and overflight entitled to countries under international law.” Although these reassurances have always been disingenuous, China’s recent actions display a blatant disregard for these principles. Countries that care about civilian air safety should take note. In April, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) canceled a planned trip to Eswatini for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s coronation and the 58th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic
RSS