People born in Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s are commonly referred to as belonging to the "Strawberry Generation," meaning that they are less able to withstand pressure and that they aren't able to work very hard.
However, Chen Po-chien (
According to Chen, the trend that the youth of Taiwan face today is long hours, low pay and job insecurity, amidst massive inflation rates. A survey carried out in Switzerland revealed that the work hours in Taiwan are the longest in the world, averaging 50 hours a week -- beating even Japan's record. Furthermore, Chen said, the minimum monthly pay -- NT$15,840 (US$483) -- hasn't been adjusted in the last eight years.
Chien Hsi-chieh, the convener of the pan-purple alliance, said that the problems are partly owing to the treatment of labor and education as a commodity, which has been reflected in staff cutbacks without any consideration of retirement, and importing foreign laborers to cut down on costs.
"People aren't products; they have rights, dignity, their own opinions," Chien said.
Chien spoke of over-time without pay, the use of part-time staff and the recruitment of new staff to replace senior staff members as a means of saving on costs, saying that "under these conditions it is no wonder that professional workers become easily replaceable."
According to Lin Chia-Ho (
"The government's idea of effectiveness is to slim down staff, which is misconceived and outdated," Lin said.
According to Lin, the government heads the list of organizations who use part-time employees to cut on costs. He compared this to the EU, which in an attempt to set a good example for its citizens makes an effort to increase staff numbers, with a monthly report being issued each month. Lin said that the problem that youth in Taiwan face, however, is of a global nature.
Lin talked about a report which was the result of a conference held in Los Angeles in 1997, which said that by 2025, the world would become a 20:80 society meaning that only 20 percent of the population would play an active role in the flow of the economy; the other 80 percent would be made "redundant."
"The young may not be the first affected, but it is not only a matter of who is first," Lin said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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