Photographs of Chinese Unity Promotion Party Chairman Chang An-le (張安樂) handing out the “mayor’s award” at an elementary-school graduation ceremony have surfaced on Facebook, sparking an uproar.
Chang on Friday attended the ceremony at National Taipei University of Education Experimental Elementary School for his granddaughter’s graduation and was asked to hand out the award, causing anger from parents over the former gang leader — also known as the “White Wolf” — presenting the prize.
A letter of apology to parents was published on the school’s Web site early yesterday morning.
Photo: CNA
The school made a careless mistake, as it did not carefully think through how awards would be conferred, school affairs director Chen Chien-ting (陳建廷) said in an interview.
He apologized for the trouble caused to students receiving awards and their parents, saying that the school would formally apologize to each parent and would reflect on the mistakes made at the ceremony to prevent a recurrence.
Chen rejected rumors that school principal Lorna Lin (林正鳳) would resign, saying that the issue has not been brought up.
Lin has apologized for the error and would look into it, Chen said, adding that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision for Chang to be asked to hand out the award.
Asked whether Lin had changed her mind after reportedly telling reporters that she was “leaning toward resignation,” Chen said that Lin was “prioritizing school affairs.”
He said he had no knowledge of the Taipei Department of Education reportedly receiving notification from Lin that she would resign.
Chang and others were asked on stage because they were related to graduates, Chen said, adding that the issue of who would hand out awards was not discussed at a preparatory meeting of organizers.
Guests who are to confer awards at ceremonies would now be determined in advance, he said, adding that it had not been standard practice, as organizers hoped to avoid last-minute cancelations.
Asked whether Chang had requested ahead of time to be asked on stage, Chen said: “No, no! Absolutely not.”
Parents expressed their unhappiness over the situation to the school immediately after the ceremony, he said, explaining the school’s decision to re-evaluate the award ceremony and change procedures.
“After we deal with this situation and impose punishments, we will convene to discuss the issue further,” Chen said. “It is not like nobody will be punished for this.”
Ministry of Education K-12 Education Administration Division Director-General Chiu Chien-kuo (邱乾國) said that most awards at graduation ceremonies are typically conferred by representatives of the government department for which they are named.
Mayor’s and commissioner’s awards are the top awards at graduations, and if the mayor or county commissioner, or a representative of the local education department is unavailable, a school inspector should confer the award, he said.
In the event that no city official can attend, the school’s principal would normally confer the award on the city’s behalf, he added.
It is rare to have parents present awards, Chiu said, adding that due to the significant number of parents at graduation ceremonies, choosing any of them to confer an award would be arbitrary and inappropriate.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS