Liberty Times (LT): Your struggle has spanned eight years and the administrations of two Taipei mayors. What difficulties have you encountered?
Hsiao Hsiao-ling (蕭曉玲): In the month immediately after I sued former mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), I was accused of being an “unfit teacher.” I was questioned by officials every day and the education inspector came over on the pretext of inspecting the school, but with the intent of targeting me. I was terminated in January 2008, three months after the incident [filing the lawsuit].
I remember that in a news conference held by the Unfit Teachers Review Board, a reporter asked then-deputy Taipei commissioner of education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) [now deputy minister of education]: “When did Hsiao Hsiao-ling become an unfit teacher?” Lin answered three times: “On November 12, 2007.” That was the day the Humanistic Education Foundation and I held a news conference announcing our intention to sue Hau to contest his “one guideline, single textbook” policy.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
When Grand Justice Lee Chen-shan (李震山) filed to demand a constitutional interpretation, he said that immediately after I initiated a lawsuit against Hau, my performance grading tanked from A to “conduct unbecoming,” which proves my termination was not because of how I teach, but because of my legal action against Hau.
I was investigated for a year, and I had to attend daily meeting after meeting, as well as daily official orders demanding that I explain myself. It was exhausting. After the school blindsided me with the termination, I appealed the decision.
That was also grueling; the Taipei Department of Education and the Ministry of Education put me at a disadvantage. I lost the ruling with the city, and the case was referred to the ministry. Sad to say, [my appeal to the ministry] was just in time for the man who sacked me, then-Taipei commissioner of education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基), to become minister of education.
My case was reviewed by the ministry in July 2009, and the ministry dismissed it in November [2009] after holding just one meeting without further discussion. I lost again.
After losing my appeal, I was left with no choice but to file an administrative lawsuit, and during that process the school refused to give me any of the relevant documents; they were blatantly out there to get me, and only when the administrative lawsuit began was the so-called evidence handed to me, because it is illegal to withhold information from a litigant in a court.
LT: Why did you sue Hau? Why have you persisted with suing him to this day?
Hsiao: Teaching is not a service industry. I am a teacher; it means that I am autonomous within my professional competence. I should not be asked to use one exclusive set of textbooks. In addition, Hau was lying to Taipei and New Taipei City parents. He said all questions in the [national] examination would be based on [Taipei’s] textbooks. This was not true.
According to professor Lin Shih-hua (林世華), who was the director of the Research Center for Psychological and Educational Testing Research at National Taiwan Normal University, the Primary and Junior High School Act (國民教育法) says that no single textbook should be the sole basis of exams.
I held on for as long as I did because I do not believe the course of justice could be subverted. I am stubborn, and I especially believe that I should insist on doing what is right.
The late student activist Dai Lin’s (林冠華) [who protested curriculum guidelines being drawn up behind closed doors] last words saddened me greatly. He asked his mother why people who did the right thing are the ones who are punished.
This made me think that if children and students are asking these questions, it is time to examine our social values and education systems for the flaws that they must be afflicted with.
My request is humble: I want to go back to work. You have deprived me of my right to work by resorting to all kinds of shameful tricks. Even after holding on for many long years, I had to run a grueling final gauntlet to get my job back. Should we not examine what went wrong with the entire value system?
I could not have done it without my family. Although he [Hsiao’s husband] thought I was right to sue Hau, the overwhelming negativity of the media coverage was too much for him; he could not bring himself to go to work and almost went crazy.
TT: Two years after the ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court, the Control Yuan censured the city government. The consensus among educators is that the Judicial Yuan and Control Yuan are operating on parallel tracks, which caused the dilemma. What do you feel is the legal basis for your reinstatement?
Hsiao: [Former] grand justice Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) once said at a conference that if a branch of government makes a mistake, it can certainly pass judgement on itself and make corrections.
Even more to the point, the Control Yuan already said the situation was inappropriate and illegal. Of course we have to follow the Control Yuan on the issue because the Control Yuan is in charge of keeping the administrative branch in check.
Grand Justice Lee Chen-shan once, in a different opinion, scolded the court for what he saw as “much leeway in its judgement,” which suggested that from the High Administrative Court up to the Supreme Administrative Court, judges cannot say definitively whether I acted in ways unbecoming of a teacher. Therefore, they simply followed the school in all matters related to the case, which means in essence that they did not conduct an investigation.
TT: What do you feel is the significance of your reinstatement to the nation and to society?
Hsiao: Let us not have another Hsiao Hsiao-ling. The whole education system should look closely at this outcome.
Today I have no interest in taking action against anyone, but is an apology so hard? We always tell children that only if they bravely admit their faults can they make progress. I am only asking for my right to work to be returned to me, how could that be so difficult?
Kids these days are quite capable of figuring things out. We as adults should be good role models for them — especially those of us in education.
Translated by Jonathan Chin and William Hetherington, staff writers
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
RSS