Aboriginal youths should be allowed to work in their villages instead of doing mandatory military service, activists said yesterday.
“Due to an excessive amount of soldiers, there are numerous alternatives to military service, including with the police, firefighters and in the technology industry, with alternative military service in an industrial capacity a recent addition. This is an unfair and unreasonable phenomenon,” independent Aboriginal legislative candidate Mayaw Biho said.
“We hope the Council of Indigenous Peoples can create an opportunity to allow young Aborigines to return to their villages and perform ‘cultural alternative military service,’” Biho added.
All men between 18 and 36 are required to serve 11 months of compulsory military service, with different forms of alternative military service available to some based on family connections, health and individual skills.
Biho said that Aborigines already contribute more than their fair share to the armed forces, constituting 7 percent of regular military personnel, with more than 60 percent in special roles, even though they account for only 2 percent of the population.
Aboriginal men choose to enter the military due to a lack of better opportunities, he said, adding the concentration of resources and opportunities in urban areas has caused most young indigenous people to leave their villages, leading to rapid assimilation and loss of traditional culture.
Giving young people the opportunity to serve in their villages after graduation could help them connect with their roots, he said.
“There should at least be a window of opportunity, because otherwise, many young Aborigines born in Taipei might never visit their parents’ villages,” he said.
Biho said the services actually performed could vary based on individual skills, possibly including teaching, farming or care for the elderly.
Amis Defense Alliance member Kawlo lyun Pacidal said that at yearly sacrificial festivals in the villages she is familiar with, most of the burden of preparation falls on the shoulders one or two young people who remain, adding that alternative military service should be allowed to promote Aboriginal culture.
She added that under A New Partnership Between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwan (新夥伴關係), a treaty-like document signed in 2009 by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) before he was elected and indigenous representatives, Aboriginal communities are recognized as quasi-states that should have the right to offer alternative military service options.
“Cultural alternative military service” would allow Aborigines to “fight for ourselves” in the battle against assimilation by modern civilization, Aboriginal artist Siki Sufin said, adding that the contributions by Aboriginal fighters during World War II and the Chinese Civil War have yet to be recognized.
Council of Indigenous Peoples Department of Education and Culture senior official Wagi Taro said that the council supported the idea of “cultural alternative military service” in principle, but that it would have to hold discussions with related government agencies to determine the feasibility and implementation of the proposal.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS