Students have condemned an announcement by Fu Jen Catholic University on Thursday last week that it plans to stop recruiting students to the philosophy, Chinese literature and religious studies departments in the 2019-2020 academic year.
On Saturday, a Fu Jen philosophy student posted on Facebook a letter cowritten by the department’s students on Thursday last week addressed to professors attending an administrative affairs meeting.
“At the informational meeting on Dec. 27, we suddenly received a notice from the university that some humanities departments had already entered the process to stop recruiting students,” the students wrote.
“We entered the philosophy department to search for answers to the chaos and resentment in society,” the students wrote. “As this year’s graduates, in this unique environment, we have seen older students in the department who need this educational setting to search for the meaning of life and of self-worth. We also saw students around us who were unable to receive a decent learning opportunity at the right time due to family circumstances and their upbringing. Even as they brought their exhausted bodies to campus, they still considered and faced the inevitability and beauty of life’s ups and downs.”
Fu Jen is the only Taiwanese university with a philosophy department in its School of Continuing Education, the students wrote, adding that they were thankful for and proud of the kindness that exists at Fu Jen.
“In the face of the university’s rushed decision to give up on us, we are disappointed,” the students wrote. “We hereby implore professors to help us preserve an academic haven in this cruel world and give students an opportunity to build their dreams.”
In related news, comments about religious groups made by the university’s Office of Student Affairs director Wang Ying-chou (王英洲) at Thursday last week’s meeting have sparked controversy.
“I want to remind everyone here that quantity is very important, but attention must be paid to quality as well,” Wang said. “Think about this, everyone: the effort made by the religious studies department. It goes to many religious groups to recruit students. You can imagine that in the future many fellows and dintao (陣頭) [traditional temple performance troupes] or whatever from temples will all come to the university to study.”
Why is the director of student affairs discriminating against and humiliating religious studies students at Fu Jen, religious studies student Lo Yi (羅宜) asked.
“I am a dintao child,” said Liu Chien- hung (劉建宏), who is also a religious studies student. “I am able to study here because of my ability. Why are you using the label ‘dintao child’ to discriminate against me?”
Fu Jen has always respected its students’ beliefs and does not discriminate against any religious beliefs or the research of its professors and students, the university said on Friday last week.
The student affairs director’s good-intentioned advice contains no discrimination against different religious groups, the university said, adding that it expressed regret if the director’s remarks caused some misunderstanding.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS