Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday apologized after suggesting that caregivers should look past their low salaries and treat their jobs as “doing good deeds” sparked controversy.
Lai, a former physician, made the remark at the launch of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “1966 Hotline,” aimed at addressing people’s needs to care for elders in their homes.
“Taiwanese society thrives on virtuous acts, acts to help others,” the premier said during his speech, citing as an example police and firefighters from all parts of the nation who poured into Tainan to rescue people trapped in the rubble after a massive earthquake last year.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“Although those of you who take care of older people only make about NT$30,000 [US$994], which seems disproportionate to your responsibilities, I want to encourage all caregivers to bless Taiwan with your virtuous acts — by performing good deeds,” he said.
Lai’s remark quickly went viral, triggering a torrent of online criticism, a majority of which called on Lai to “lead by example” by also “doing good deed.”
The backlash prompted Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) to issue a statement to clarify Lai’s remarks.
“The premier meant to encourage people to treat one another with kindness,” the statement read.
“Long-term care services is an industry that is meaningful and needs to be pushed forward. Being a caregiver is more than earning a salary or fulfilling one’s life goal, it is also about performing virtuous acts,” it read.
“We hope that the premier’s words will not be misunderstood or distorted by the public,” it said.
Later, on the sidelines of a forum on long-term care services in Taitung, Lai told reporters that he would like to apologize for his remark.
“I did not make myself clear and caused misunderstanding. I am truly sorry,” he said.
“I meant to say that caregivers have a tough job, since they work with elderly people, physically or mentally challenged people or people with dementia. That is why I encouraged them to show kindness, patience and even tolerance,” he said.
The premier said he hopes that when caregivers are faced with challenges or under stress at work, they will remember they are performing virtuous acts and doing good deeds, adding that this transition of mental state is known as “sublimation” in psychology.
He said that the average salary of a caregiver is NT$32,000, while that of a head caregiver is NT$37,000, both of which have increased.
“The Executive Yuan cares greatly about caregivers’ salaries,” he said.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
A promotional event for the launch of a drinks store led to police questioning a 26-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), the Taichung Police Department said yesterday. Police said that they questioned Chang and forwarded the case to prosecutors, accusing her of producing, distributing, broadcasting or selling pornography. Police said she faces charges related to the alleged distribution of indecent photographs on Twitter and using overtly sexual innuendos to promote the store on Monday night. Officers stumbled upon the content during a routine Internet “patrol.” Chang faces a prison sentence of up to two years and up to a NT$90,000 fine if found guilty
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
MORE WARNINGS: If the US company does not clarify and solve issues with its frozen berries, the FDA might extend an import suspension implemented last month, it said The Kaohsiung Department of Health yesterday said it fined Costco NT$4.5 million (US$146,265) over contaminated frozen strawberries, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that although the US company had filed an improvement plan, an import suspension on frozen berries could remain. Three types of frozen berry products imported and sold by Costco have tested positive for the hepatitis A virus since April. The Kaohsiung health department previously fined Costco NT$300,000 for not providing the sales list of a contaminated batch of Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend imported from Chile, in contravention of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法). It later
RSS