A proposal to abolish the recently promulgated Act Promoting Development for Strong Generation Policies and Industries (壯世代政策與產業發展促進法) was approved for committee review by the Legislative Yuan this morning.
The act was heavily promoted by former Taiwan People’s Party legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城), who resigned from his post at the end of last month over conflicts of interest related to the bill.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) is leading the proposal to abolish the act.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The proposal claims that the term “strong generation” does not align with internationally or domestically established generational categories and could result in overlapping government policies.
The act defines the “strong generation” as those aged 55 or older with the ability and willingness to work, and stipulates that the government is responsible for putting in place policies to help that generation lead a better life.
There is little research or precedent internationally or domestically that supports a generational divide at the age of 55, the proposal said.
Policies by the UN and International Labour Organization (ILO) define those aged 45 to 65 as middle-aged and those 65 and over as elderly, it said.
International organizations and major countries have never used the term “strong generation” or defined those aged 55 and older as a distinct generation, the proposal said.
In addition, Taiwan has previously implemented legislation that promotes the employment and quality of life of the middle-aged and elderly generations, it said.
For example, the Middle-aged and Elderly Employment Promotion Act (中高齡者及高齡者就業促進法) was promulgated in 2019.
The Executive Yuan also revised Taiwan’s white paper on its aging society in 2021, and proposed a plan to respond to the challenges of a super-aging society based on it, the proposal said.
The definitions of the middle-aged and elderly generations in these policies align with those of the UN and ILO, the proposal said, emphasizing that these definitions differ from the “strong generation.”
The term “strong generation” does not connect with international standards and would therefore be challenging for the Executive Yuan to implement, the proposal said, adding that Taiwanese society does not have a common understanding of the term, making it easy to confuse with existing concepts.
The act should be abolished to prevent redundant administrative work, uphold the multicultural diversity of public terminology and eliminate concerns over potential misuse of the term by individuals with ulterior motives, it said.
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS