Two days after Postman's Day, President Chen Shui-bian (
"Despite my belatedness, my gratitude for postmen remains. Every day, I see these `green angels' take pains to deliver messages and love," Chen said during his weekly-televised chat yesterday.
The televised talk, entitled A-bian Portrait (阿扁傳真), was launched last month. The program serves as a mechanism for Chen to communicate with people throughout the country on issues concerning their livelihoods.
Chen yesterday recalled a postman in his hometown of Tainan some 40 years ago, saying that the elderly man not only delivered mail, but also read letters to illiterate farmers.
"The younger generation has now become accustomed to staying in contact via e-mail, so they may not be able to understand the importance of the postman as a source of communication in traditional communities," the president said, adding that technology can never replace postmen's ability to deliver kindness and warmth.
After reading the letters, Chen went on, the postman he remembered would offer free personal comments to the recipient, such as: "Your sick relative would certainly feel much better if you went to visit him," or: "Your son has so much filial piety that I would take him as my own son-in-law if I had a daughter."
Chen, who was raised in a poor farmer's family, said he also harbored warm feelings toward the postmen who delivered his admissions to junior and senior high school and who helped him court his wife Wu Shu-chen (
"He [the old postman] pedaled fast on mid-summer days and was soaked with sweat. He would hurry me to open the mail, and seemed even happier than my father when he learned I was to be admitted to good schools.
"There was no e-mail when I was seeing A-chen in University. So Mr. Postman was always our most reliable messenger. The effort I put into writing letters earned me a marriage certificate against all odds," he said.
Chen also mentioned that the postman again served as the bridge between him and his family members in 1986, when he had been put in prison for his involvement in a political event.
"It reminds me of the movie called Pay It Forward. A-Bian thinks that a postman is a green angel that delivers not only mail, but also love to everyone," the president said.
"Many people probably don't know that March 20 is Postman's Day. Although two days late, I want to send my best wishes to all the mail servicemen and women, and acknowledge my indebtedness wholeheartedly. May you send love to every corner of Taiwan every day," he said.
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