Starting next year Aborigines will be able to choose one day a year as a holiday for the observance of tribal rituals if a draft bill is passed into law in the legislature.
The bill is scheduled to be approved by the Executive Yuan today.
The bill would allow each Aboriginal tribe to choose one day a year to observe as a tribal holiday. Only Aborigines of that tribe would be eligible to have the day off.
Minister Without Portfolio Huang Hwei-chen (黃輝珍), who was in charge of reviewing the proposal, said that Aborigines deserve to have a holiday of their own, pointing out that the nation's current holidays come from the majority culture.
"We think it's necessary to let Aborigines have one day off to celebrate their culture and religion in their own way," he said.
Huang also said that it is important that memorial days and festivals that are already observed be enshrined into law.
"National holidays have long been declared by administrative order. We think it's time to make them official," Huang said.
The legislature requested the Cabinet draw up a bill regarding the practice of memorial days and festivals when it passed the draft amendments to the Civil Servant Services Act (
The draft statute regarding memorial days and festivals (
In addition to the one-day tribal ritual day celebrated on a different day of the year by different Aboriginal tribes, there would be 10 national holidays each year.
Memorial days that are national holidays are the Founding Day of the Republic of China on Jan. 1, the Peace Memorial Day on Feb. 28, Double Ten Day on Oct. 10, and Tomb-sweeping Day on April 5.
Festivals from the lunar calendar that are designated as national holidays are the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-autumn Festival and the eve and first day of the lunar new year.
Memorial days that would only be observed (and not marked with a public holiday) are the anniversary of founding father Sun Yat-sen's (孫中山) death on March 12, the Revolutionary Martyrs' Day on March 29, the anniversary of the late president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) on April 5, Confucius' birthday on Sept. 28, Chiang's birthday on Oct. 31, Sun's birthday on Nov. 12, and Constitution Day on Dec. 25.
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