Staff Reporter
The Kaohsiung City Government Education Bureau's recent order that schools in Kaohsiung rename ceremonial podiums used in schoolyards came under fire from pan-blue city councilors during a question-and-answer session at the council yesterday.
The bureau filed an administrative order to all schools in Kaohsiung in late March, asking them to stop calling school podiums "Commander's Podiums" (Silingtai, 司令台).
The podiums in schools nationwide have borne the name since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime arrived in Taiwan.
Flag-raising
The podiums are normally used by school principals or teachers to address students after the flag-raising ceremony in the morning.
Kaohsiung City Councilor Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) of the KMT yesterday criticized bureau director Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) for politicizing education.
"The Bureau of Education is in charge of education policies and administration," Lin said. "Why doesn't it spend more time thinking about how many pupils cannot afford school lunches instead of such trivial things?"
In his defense, Cheng said the podiums located in schoolyards date back to the authoritarian era and are related to the military.
Better environment
"The bureau issued the order mainly in the hope of offering a better educational environment for the next generation," he said.
Cheng said the order did not force schools to remove the name "Commander's Podium," but hoped schools could rename their podiums creatively.
Democratic Progressive Party Kaohsiung City Councilor Cheng Kuang-feng (鄭光峰) lauded Cheng Ying-yao's idea when asked for his opinion yesterday.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS