Filmmaker Mayaw Biho of the Amis Aboriginal community on Thursday announced he would run for a seat representing the Pingpu people in the Legislative Yuan.
He made the announcement at a news conference attended by celebrities such as singers Ara Kimbo, Chang Chen-yue (張震嶽) and Panai.
The event was also attended by heavy metal band Chthonic lead vocalist and New Power Party founder Freddy Lim (林昶佐), Social Democratic Party (SDP) founder Fan Yun (范雲) and Green Party Taiwan (台灣綠黨) convener Lin Ken-cheng (林根政).
Photo: CNA
According to Mayaw Biho, there have been more problems for the Aboriginal community since he lost the 2012 legislative election and became the executive director of the Tainan City Government’s committee on ethnic affairs.
“If we do not face up to the issues, we cannot effect change,” Mayaw Biho said, adding that Aborigines needed to become masters of their land and culture once again.
“We need to ensure a future that is fair and equal,” he said.
The candidate, running for one of the three seats dedicated to Taiwan’s lowland Pingpu Aboriginal people, pointed to the Smangus incident as an example, saying that if every village could formulate and implement their own rules, Taiwan would become a place capable of supporting multiple cultures and ethnicities.
Smangus Village (司馬庫斯) is known for opening up its land to tourism, but also implementing its own rules to ensure tourists do not overly disturb the local way of life.
Of the nation’s 540,000 Aborigines, 45.58 percent have registered their residences in urban areas, but although they have left their home villages to improve their lives, they are often faced with low wages and dangerous working conditions, Mayaw Biho said.
The average Aborigine earns NT$27,000 per month, Mayaw Biho said, with poor living conditions, low levels of education and discrimination from mainstream society leading to shorter life spans.
Aborigines need legislative amendments, Mayaw Biho said, adding that if elected he would propose the inclusion of a new chapter in the Constitution to address Aboriginal affairs specifically.
Singer-songwriter Ilid Kaolo said she supports Mayaw Biho for remaining steadfast in his criticism of politicians even after being elected.
To the chorus of his song Do You Still Dare to Dream? Mayaw Biho accepted a bamboo water pipe from Ara Kimbo, as well as gifts of rice wine, betel nuts and betel tree leaves from Fan, Lim and Lee, symbolizing their hope of working with him in the Legislative Yuan.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS