On the last Wednesday in April each year, the world celebrates International Guide Dog Day. Many events are held to show appreciation to guide dogs. This is also an opportunity to educate the public about them.
If one encounters a guide dog on duty, it is necessary to obey the following principle: You should not call, feed or pat the dog. Sudden sounds or actions might distract it from the task of guiding its visually impaired handler. Also, a guide dog should always be welcome in any public place, and the handler should be asked if they need further assistance.
There are about 60,000 visually impaired people in Taiwan. According to the International Guide Dog Federation, the ideal ratio of guide dogs to visually impaired people is 1 to 100. Ideally, there should be at least 600 guide dogs in Taiwan.
It is regrettable that there are merely about 40 guide dogs approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. This number is far lower than international standards. Taiwanese society certainly needs more guide dogs.
However, it is extremely difficult to train a dog to be a guide. Only about 10 guide dogs are trained and matched with handlers per year in Taiwan. Several reasons have contributed to this, including a lack of funding for professionals and institutions that train them, and the difficulty of finding a foster family for dogs undergoing training.
Taiwan must put more effort into training guide dogs. This requires investment from professional training institutions. The government and the public should strongly support and pay attention to the issue. In so doing, visually impaired people can live in a society that is safer and more convenient.
Most importantly, the government should provide more subsidies for guide dogs, not only to make their living spaces better and more comfortable, but also to create a safer and more professional training environment. Second, policies and laws regarding guide dogs and visually impaired people should be updated to ensure a barrier-free environment. In this way, visually impaired people and their guide dogs can gain more access to public spaces and feel safer and unworried.
Third, it is necessary to disseminate accurate information about guide dogs, and such information should be integrated into school curricula. By so doing, the public would understand how significant guide dogs are to society. Fourth, more subsidies should be provided for foster families so that more guide dogs could be raised and trained. Fifth, the authorities must take action against people who contravene the People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act (身心障礙者權益保障法). For example, if a restaurant refuses to let a visually impaired handler enter with their guide dog, the restaurant owner should be penalized.
Society must gain a deeper understanding of guide dogs, and more people should show their support by joining volunteer programs or donating supplies. Moreover, when a guide dog is about to retire, the agencies involved should arrange for the dog to be adopted by a suitable family.
Taiwanese should work on the issue together. Guide dogs should be supported, appreciated and cherished. It is for the benefit of the visually impaired, as well as to create a truly friendly society.
Su Wei-cheng is a lecturer and a former secretary of the president of the Legislative Yuan.
Translated by Emma Liu
After more than three weeks since the Honduran elections took place, its National Electoral Council finally certified the new president of Honduras. During the campaign, the two leading contenders, Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla, who according to the council were separated by 27,026 votes in the final tally, promised to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan if elected. Nasralla refused to accept the result and said that he would challenge all the irregularities in court. However, with formal recognition from the US and rapid acknowledgment from key regional governments, including Argentina and Panama, a reversal of the results appears institutionally and politically
In 2009, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) made a welcome move to offer in-house contracts to all outsourced employees. It was a step forward for labor relations and the enterprise facing long-standing issues around outsourcing. TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) once said: “Anything that goes against basic values and principles must be reformed regardless of the cost — on this, there can be no compromise.” The quote is a testament to a core belief of the company’s culture: Injustices must be faced head-on and set right. If TSMC can be clear on its convictions, then should the Ministry of Education
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) provided several reasons for military drills it conducted in five zones around Taiwan on Monday and yesterday. The first was as a warning to “Taiwanese independence forces” to cease and desist. This is a consistent line from the Chinese authorities. The second was that the drills were aimed at “deterrence” of outside military intervention. Monday’s announcement of the drills was the first time that Beijing has publicly used the second reason for conducting such drills. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership is clearly rattled by “external forces” apparently consolidating around an intention to intervene. The targets of
China’s recent aggressive military posture around Taiwan simply reflects the truth that China is a millennium behind, as Kobe City Councilor Norihiro Uehata has commented. While democratic countries work for peace, prosperity and progress, authoritarian countries such as Russia and China only care about territorial expansion, superpower status and world dominance, while their people suffer. Two millennia ago, the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius (孟子) would have advised Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that “people are the most important, state is lesser, and the ruler is the least important.” In fact, the reverse order is causing the great depression in China right now,
RSS