The government should end the practice of “typhoon days” — canceling work and classes on days when there are typhoons, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Typhoon days are “to please people,” and are often declared on days when there is no inclement weather, he said.
“There may be no wind or rain, there might even be clear skies, but everyone would end up with a day off, lining up at KTVs, bars and restaurants. This phenomenon really needs to be reviewed,” Tsao said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The practice of declaring typhoon days also compromises national defense resilience, he said.
Achieving national defense resilience means that when natural and human-caused disasters occur, the public could be mobilized in an organized, disciplined and skillful manner to minimize the losses and impacts of those disasters, Tsao said.
Natural disasters include typhoons, earthquakes, floods and droughts, while human-made disasters are things such as an armed invasion of Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) or social unrest caused by cognitive warfare, he said.
“When such disasters occur, should we mobilize the entire population to respond, or should everyone take a vacation and lie down at home?” Tsao said. “From the perspective of defense resilience, it makes no sense for everyone to stay home during a typhoon.”
The practice of declaring typhoon days should be ended and people should be given the option to stay home based on their personal circumstances, he said, adding that those who choose not to come to work would need to request personal leave.
“For example, if the MRT is suspended or the road you take to go to work is closed, then of course you could take a personal leave,” Tsao said. “This kind of matter can be decided by people themselves or individual companies and should not be stipulated by the government.”
Tsao compared the situation with war, during which there would be no prescribed cancelation of work and classes, despite that situation being more dangerous than a typhoon.
“Should we stipulate that during a PLA attack that everyone, including military, police and firefighters, should lie down at home? Should they wait until Taiwan is liberated and safe before they come out?” he wrote. “If we did so, then we might end up with no work or classes to attend at all. What could await everyone would be execution or a concentration camp.”
Tsao advocated for Taiwan’s unification with China while serving as UMC chairman in the early 2000s, but has become a vocal critic of Beijing since 2019.
In August 2022, he pledged to donate NT$1 billion (US$31.28 million at the current exchange rate) to train 3.3 million civilians, called the “Kuma Warriors,” in support of Taiwan’s defense efforts.
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