A report published on Tuesday last week by the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper the Liberty Times said that the Ministry of the Interior had instructed the managers of condominium buildings of eight or more floors to submit public safety reports.
However, as of the end of last month, 1,912 of the 5,042 buildings in Taipei that were required to submit reports — about 41 percent — had not done so, the report said.
The report quoted the Taipei Construction Management Office as saying that it would not impose fines for the time being, but instead offer guidance on completing the reports.
In the absence of legislation about condominium administration, community buildings will continue to face the widespread problem of aging equipment and a lack of maintenance.
To make matters worse, there is also a longstanding culture of collective nonparticipation and inaction. There are also tangled relations of vested interests that obstruct residents from trying to make changes, and frustrate their desires to re-establish the proper functioning of management organizations.
The normal operation and development of condominium buildings arises from correct collective behavior of members, through which they can safeguard their common interests from being eroded by the personal interests of individuals.
However, Taiwanese still lack sufficient civic literacy and cultivation. Condominium residents often have a lack of interest in neighbors who are willing to step up to the plate and help others in the building, even subjecting them to “philanthropy extortion,” when an offer to help is turned into an expectation that the person offering shoulders all of the management burdens.
This causes community buildings to sink into a vicious circle where inaction breeds inaction.
Safety is the fundamental standard. Even in Taipei, about 40 percent of condominiums, oblivious to the threat of fines, have thus far ignored a regulation requiring them to submit public safety reports for their building, which the government instituted to improve safety.
The government, for its part, should wake up to the fact that condominium administration boils down to a question of culture. As long as Taiwanese lack the ethic of interpersonal and social relations that former minister of finance Li Kwoh-ting (李國鼎) — the “father of Taiwan’s economic miracle” — called for as long as four decades ago, it will take a long time to fulfill expectations about condominium safety.
Safety is derived from the proper functioning of condominium management. Hopefully the government will maintain its effort to find the right direction, institute the right policies and set clear targets that will help achieve the refurbishment of safety protections.
Zou Ho-le is a cofounder of the condominium administration 2.0 movement.
Translated by Julian Clegg
US President Donald Trump’s second administration has gotten off to a fast start with a blizzard of initiatives focused on domestic commitments made during his campaign. His tariff-based approach to re-ordering global trade in a manner more favorable to the United States appears to be in its infancy, but the significant scale and scope are undeniable. That said, while China looms largest on the list of national security challenges, to date we have heard little from the administration, bar the 10 percent tariffs directed at China, on specific priorities vis-a-vis China. The Congressional hearings for President Trump’s cabinet have, so far,
US political scientist Francis Fukuyama, during an interview with the UK’s Times Radio, reacted to US President Donald Trump’s overturning of decades of US foreign policy by saying that “the chance for serious instability is very great.” That is something of an understatement. Fukuyama said that Trump’s apparent moves to expand US territory and that he “seems to be actively siding with” authoritarian states is concerning, not just for Europe, but also for Taiwan. He said that “if I were China I would see this as a golden opportunity” to annex Taiwan, and that every European country needs to think
For years, the use of insecure smart home appliances and other Internet-connected devices has resulted in personal data leaks. Many smart devices require users’ location, contact details or access to cameras and microphones to set up, which expose people’s personal information, but are unnecessary to use the product. As a result, data breaches and security incidents continue to emerge worldwide through smartphone apps, smart speakers, TVs, air fryers and robot vacuums. Last week, another major data breach was added to the list: Mars Hydro, a Chinese company that makes Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as LED grow lights and the
US President Donald Trump is an extremely stable genius. Within his first month of presidency, he proposed to annex Canada and take military action to control the Panama Canal, renamed the Gulf of Mexico, called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a dictator and blamed him for the Russian invasion. He has managed to offend many leaders on the planet Earth at warp speed. Demanding that Europe step up its own defense, the Trump administration has threatened to pull US troops from the continent. Accusing Taiwan of stealing the US’ semiconductor business, it intends to impose heavy tariffs on integrated circuit chips
RSS