Chunghwa Post over the past year delivered 850 million fewer letters than a decade earlier, the postal service’s most recent annual report revealed.
The post office delivered 2.7 billion letters in the country in 2013, and has delivered fewer letters annually since then, the report showed.
In 2021, the number of delivered letters dropped to 1.84 billion, and last year there were 35 fewer letters delivered per person than in 2013, it showed.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
Digital communications and online billing have drastically reduced the number of items that need to be physically delivered, Chunghwa Post’s deputy chief of mail business and operations Lin Li-fu (林立富) said on Friday.
“Most of what we deliver now are those few remaining bills that are still in paper form, as well as advertisements,” he said. “Few people still send handwritten letters, as they take time to write and receive. Digital messages can be sent anywhere in the world instantly.”
Postal Museum deputy director Chen Shu-fen (陳淑芬) lamented the decline of handwritten letters, saying that such letters can show more emotion than digital communications do.
Chen said that the museum promotes handwriting among children.
The experience also helps them learn about postal codes, she said.
“It just feels different when you receive something in the mail that was written by hand. That is why many older people tend to keep letters and postcards, and occasionally reread them,” she said. “That is something you cannot get with e-mails. So, I really encourage young people to write more letters and create those memories.”
Warren Wang (王聖哲), a violin and bow maker who is also well-known for his calligraphy, said that handwriting can convey a person’s feelings.
“There’s an emotional aspect to handwriting that can never be replaced. That is why I fell in love with writing letters as a child,” he said.
A graduate of the mechanical engineering department at National Cheng Kung University, studied English and calligraphy in the US to pursue his passion, Wang said.
Today he teaches Chinese and English calligraphy to more than 200 students.
Researcher and writer Chang Liang-tse (張良澤), 85, has resisted the transition to digital platforms for writing and communicating by writing everything by hand.
Chang last year finished a handwritten manuscript for his latest novel, titled Love in White (白衣戀).
“The manual works of musicians, painters and other creators are all attached with so much value, so why have writers switched to computers to type out their works?” he said.
Chang said he hopes that in addition to emphasizing the development of new technologies, Taiwan’s schools could also continue to teach human-focused studies, like calligraphy.
Additional reporting by Liu Wan-chun
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS