Controversy surrounding the way in which actor Matthew Lin (明道) and other male celebrities have sought numerous postponements of compulsory military service by delaying college graduations or transferring to different schools, has prompted an intra-ministerial meeting to come up with measures designed to stop manipulation of the military service system.
“Certainly everyone has the right to education, but no one should use that right to dodge their military duty,” Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) told a news conference yesterday, saying that his ministry had called a meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of National Defense, local governments and colleges on this issue.
Chien said that while the current University Act (大學法) stipulates a maximum period of time a student can take to complete an undergraduate, graduate or doctorate degree, there is no such regulation on continuous education programs that grant degrees. As a result, many celebrities enroll on such degree-granting programs and transfer from one school to another specifically to delay their military service.
Photo: Sean Chao, Taipei Times
According to the University Act, a student can take up to six years — or nine years for medical students — to complete an undergraduate degree, six years for a master’s degree and nine years for a doctorate.
However, those enrolled in -degree-granting continuous education programs, can postpone their military service until they are 33 years old.
One of the best-known examples is that of the 31-year-old actor Matthew Lin, who has been to five colleges in 11 years without getting a degree, but has still been able to use education as a reason to postpone his military service.
Many celebrities consider the one-year period of military service to be a “career killer,” because new faces can appear and fans might forget all about them.
Although the phenomenon has long existed, a new wave of public criticism has started in the wake of recent local media reports that Taiwanese-Canadian Vincent Chao (趙怡翔) voluntarily performed his military service even though as an “overseas citizen” he could claim an exemption.
“Right now, there are 31 people who are postponing military service by staying at school and the majority of them are celebrities,” Chien said, declining to provide further information on the identities of the people.
“To put an end to this phenomenon, we are fixing the Regulation on Exemption, Banned and Postponed Enlistment [免役禁役緩徵實施辦法] to require students enrolled in continuous education programs to complete their degree by the age of 28 the latest,” Chien said. “The ministry will also urge schools to check on attendance records and inform local conscription agencies immediately when a student drops out as a result of frequent absences or other reasons.”
Chien added his ministry would refer the revised regulation to the Executive Yuan next week for approval.
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