In order to celebrate Father's Day yesterday, the Presidential Office held its annual Parent-Child Day, allowing its employees to take their children to the office to have tea with President Chen Shui-bian (
While families gathered inside the office, a group of parents staged a protest outside to show their dissatisfaction with the state of the economy.
At the tea party, Chen welcomed the children and wished fathers a happy Father's Day.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
"I hope that when you come to the office today, you can see your parents' workplace and understand how hard their work is. You should study hard, and grow up happily," Chen told the children.
He said that children would be thinking about what to give to their fathers as presents, adding that his son had asked him what he wanted. He said a card with his son's inner thoughts would be enough.
"A father would be happy to receive presents from his children, no matter what those presents are," Chen said.
While Chen was chatting to his little visitors over tea, outside his office a crowd from the Alliance of Unhappy Fathers (
"If he does not hear the people's voice, then next Father's Day it is likely that he will not be in the Presidential Office anymore," said Yao Chiang-lin (
During their protest, alliance members threw a large bowl symbolizing Chen's job to the ground. The bowl broke into pieces, signifying Chen losing his job.
Yao asked the media not to politicize the protest, however, the demonstration was publicized with the help of KMT's Culture and Communication Affairs Committee.
Most protesters wore face masks. When asked why they came to the protest, some participants fidgeted, gave shallow answers or refused to answer and said the leaders up front were saying it all.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS