A new wave of online discussion has emerged regarding the Ministry of Culture’s Culture Points cash handout program intended to encourage young people to engage in cultural activities.
The new model for supporting Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries is a quality policy that would encourage, promote and cultivate good reading habits among young people. Even if the points are not used to purchase books, they can be used to attend cultural and artistic activities.
The program should not be approached with an attitude of skepticism, imagining all the ways young people might choose to spend their Culture Points, nor should people absurdly question whether the points should be spent on books.
When a policy is first implemented, it should come complete with a set of supporting measures. To prevent some teenagers from spending their Culture Points on products or activities unrelated to culture and the arts, the target audience for the points should have been clearly defined from the start.
In response to those who have already raised concerns about the issue, the ministry should re-evaluate the situation. It must complete a thorough review and verify relevant businesses and other procedures before rolling out a newly adjusted policy.
As for some legislators’ recent obsession with cutting or freezing budgets related to culture and the arts — particularly those from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) — do they not want to support and encourage young Taiwanese to read?
KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has a doctorate in international relations from Jinan University, while TPP Acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in law from Cornell University. They both obtained advanced degrees, so is it not strange that they seem unwilling to help give the future leaders of our nation the opportunity to read?
Hung Yu-jui is a translator and Japanese-language teacher.
Translatedby Kyra Gustavsen
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