Doing more for the disabled
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) took effect on May 3, becoming the first human rights treaty of the 21st century. It was created to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities (PWD), who represent about 10 percent of the world population.
Today, with a global number of 650 million PWD — including more than 1.4 million in Taiwan — the CRPD guarantees the highest protection of rights.
It is now possible to say: “Yes, we PWD finally have our own human rights convention!”
The CRPD is unique for advancing, protecting and implementing the human rights of PWD in all aspects. More specifically, it transformed the traditional angle of PWD issues from social welfare to one of rights.
The CRPD reminds us not to see PWD from a perspective of self-abasement and sympathy, but rather as equals with the full rights and privileges to pursue happiness.
Within the treaty’s 50 articles, the CRPD includes almost every aspect of PWD’s basic rights: health, education, family, accessible environment, work and employment, social affairs, politics, cultural life, athletic participation, dignity preservation, privacy protection, freedom of communication, statistics and information accumulation, international cooperation and national implementation and monitoring. All of this aims to protect the fundamental rights of PWD.
Although PWDs represent 4 percent of the Taiwanese population, their unemployment rate is three times that of the general public. Financial support for PWD comes primarily from the government, followed by family. However, their monthly family expenses are usually NT$50,000 more than those of an average family. Moreover, the physical condition of PWD typically starts to deteriorate at about 50 — in other words, 15 to 20 years earlier than in persons without disabilities. Only half of PWD are married. These members from “disabled families” are at high risk not only in their finances, but also in their marriages. They also face an unfriendly environment, community opposition and discrimination.
After three years of lobbying, the Protection of the Rights and Interests of (Physically and Mentally) Disabled Citizens Act (身心障礙者權益保障法) was announced on July 11 last year. Its mission statement proclaimed that: “This act serves to protect the legal rights and interests of the disabled, secure their equal opportunity to participate in social, political, economic, and cultural activities fairly, while contributing to their independence and development,” which corresponds to the spirit of the CRPD. Nonetheless, the act has not yet fully been put into effect in Taiwan.
Therefore, the Republic of China (ROC) League of Welfare Organizations for the Disabled and the Eden Social Welfare Foundation are calling on society to help disabled families fully integrate society. Furthermore, we urge the government to adopt world-class standards and continue pushing for the full protection of the rights of PWD by advocating barrier-free mobility and employment opportunities for them.
First, this means ensuring PWDs’ right to make decisions on what kind of medical care, education and community life they want to have.
Second, it implies providing access, information and assistance that will allow PWD to have an independent life and participate in society.
Lastly, it means barrier-free employment opportunities and education, occupational rehabilitation, a secure work environment and access to professional training for career advancement.
We celebrate the coming into force of the UN Disability Rights Convention, which has already been signed by 128 countries. Despite the fact that Taiwan is not a UN member and therefore cannot sign the convention, we will assume our responsibilities and adhere to international norms by advocating the rights of PWD.
We sincerely hope that president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administration will actively advocate and implement the rights of PWDs and by doing so improve Taiwan’s international visibility.
Shieh Tung-ru
ROC League of Welfare Organizations for the Disabled
Huang Cho-song
Eden Social Welfare Foundation
Taipei
Singapore good or bad?
President-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s suggestion that Taiwan should adopt Singapore’s national strategy is worrying (“Ma says Taiwan can learn from Singapore model,” May 11, page 8).
First, it is naive to compare Singapore with Taiwan, as, for one, Singapore does not face the threat of Chinese missiles. It is an independent state, does not have to worry about its identity and status and is therefore free to pursue and negotiate relations with China as it sees fit.
Secondly, while Singapore does have a free market economy and low levels of inequality, we must not forget that it is still run by an authoritarian government that seeks to limit the rights of its citizens as well as the emergence of political opposition.
One of the things that many Taiwanese tend to oversee are the political freedoms and the free media in Taiwan.
If this is the type of government that Ma will be proposing during the next four years (a possibility, however remote, of this happening exists, given that his party has a majority in the legislature), then Taiwanese will have a lot to worry about other than economic recession.
Jessie Lin
Hyattsville, Maryland
Kudos to the Taipei Times for publishing a thought-provoking commentary on the merits of the social, cultural and governmental models from which Taiwan and Singapore could learn.
It would be wise to endorse Ma’s views that “Singapore’s national strategy, or ‘CORE’ — connectivity, openness, reliability and entrepreneurship” is a path that Taiwan must follow to prepare it to face future challenges in global competitiveness. On the other hand, Taiwan’s ongoing, optimistic democracy supported by its social vitality is a proud social value that Singaporeans envy.
This view is supported by a convincing article by Andrew Brick titled “For America, Taipei offers an example of Chinese democracy,” published in the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Backgrounder, #102, April 12, 1990.
Quoting the Wall Street Journal, Brick wrote that: “Taiwan has flourished — at first economically, and now, increasingly, as a democracy.”
In a sense, Taiwan had served as a role model for Singapore — at least until the emergence of the problematic administration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
The pursuit of democracy and social modernization has been the long-term goal of both countries. It’s a dream that former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) acknowledged during their high-level meeting in Singapore in 1989. Given the strategic and subtle policy adopted by both Taiwan and Singapore, Ma’s comments can be interpreted as pragmatic and visionary, building on the foundations laid by the two Lees a decade ago.
My contacts with academics and officials from Singapore in the past decade has shed new light on how Singapore managed to become a regional high-tech and industrial powerhouse.
Through clean, transparent, and visionary governmental and business operations in every sector, Singapore has been recognized globally as one of the most internationally competitive countries, an accomplishment that has not gone unnoticed in Taiwan. In education, the National University of Singapore (NUS) is far ahead of National Taiwan University. Harvard, MIT, Stanford and Johns Hopkins University have joint programs with NUS, creating a platform for Singaporean elite students and public servants to pursue advanced studies at some of the best institutions of higher learning overseas.
In foreign service and global business, Singapore has set an example through dedication, innovation, efficiency and ethics.
Ma’s criticism of the recent Papua New Guinea aid scandal, which the International Herald Tribune has described as checkbook diplomacy, is also justifiable. On this issue as well, we could learn a thing or two from Singapore. The unprecedented political scandal is reminiscent of what World Bank president Robert Zoellick has warned against: “Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fiber and destroys trust.” He added that “The challenge is how best to clean corruption out” — and that is through education.
To overhaul Taiwan’s jeopardized national status, Ma should rejuvenate the nation’s fundamental education policy. Education will not only nurture the young, but also educate professionals and public servants, teach them universal values and thereby revamp Taiwan’s development strategy and image as a whole.
Li Chen-ching
Shih Hsin University
Another smoke problem
I am writing this letter to highlight a significant problem for people living in Taiwan.
Many recent news reports had showed that the air quality is getting worse. Most people are aware of the dangers of secondhand smoke. The government has designated no smoking areas in most public buildings and has stepped up non-smoking campaigns. It has even added a tax on cigarettes to decrease consumption and offset healthcare costs. However, one kind of secondhand smoke still seems to be widely accepted by the public — even if it is potentially twice as harmful. It is highly concentrated and covers a wider area. I am referring to the smoke created by the burning of ghost money by both individuals and temples. Every time my neighbors burn ghost money, my house is filled with a heavy smoke and strong odor.
While it has been proven that the burning of ghost money causes the release of harmful and cancer-causing chemicals, the government has hardly taken any action to address this form of pollution. What is strange is how the public seems to be oblivious to the impact it has or will have on children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems.
People who would never think of smoking in a non-smoking area are the same ones who burn large wads of ghost money outside their homes without giving it a second thought. The problem is exacerbated when local temples burn ghost money in their large incinerators.
In my area, the whole neighborhood is layered with gray smog. I live a few blocks from a temple and the air is terrible. I can’t imagine what the air quality is like for people who live near the temple.
Since banning this practice is probably impossible, an alternative is in order. The government should place an environment tax on the sale of ghost money.
Through this, people who insist on burning ghost money would have to offset the environmental and healthcare costs of doing so.
Name withheld
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