Work and classes across the nation were canceled for two or three consecutive days last week, depending on the particular area, as Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southern Taiwan.
Typhoon days are controversial. Some think it affects productivity and the economy and therefore it would be preferable if calling a typhoon day would be made much more cautiously. Some think that a day off work and school brings a little joy, and it is not a big deal to do so.
Others say that typhoon days potentially deprive people requiring treatment of their right to receive medical care and students of their right to education. Some in the retail and service industries complain about “differential treatment,” as they do not get a day off even on a typhoon day.
The problem is that people’s opinions about typhoon days are often not based on whether they prevent disasters and casualties.
The above debate demonstrates that there is room for a rolling review of the typhoon day policy.
First, when deciding on whether to call a typhoon day, local governments should consider including an indicator of the potential harm a typhoon could bring.
Second, the government should provide support measures and eliminate unfair or unreasonable regulations.
It is not up to government heads to declare a typhoon day. Whether to cancel work and classes depends on if the predicted wind speed and rainfall meet the requirements.
As of 9pm Wednesday, there were two dead, two missing, and 102 injured, according to data provided by the Central Emergency Operation Center.
It is not clear if the casualties were related to the typhoon day policy. If so, the current policy should be maintained. Iif not, it should be amended, reviewed or canceled.
One of the dead was a truck driver whose vehicle collided with a large rock on the South Link Highway in Taimali Township (太麻里) at around 7pm on Monday last week. He was seriously injured and died three days later.
The Taitung County Government had already canceled work and classes by that time.
It is not clear if the driver was aware of the typhoon day announcement. It is also not clear that the cancellation was related to this incident, and whether there was any policy, either a deterrent or an incentive, that would have affected his decision to continue working.
The other person who died was a man in his 70s who fell to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐).
Was his death related to the typhoon day policy? It is likely not. If this is the case, the authorities should improve their messaging to better inform the public about their policy decisions.
The scenarios in which these people died show that the declaration of a typhoon day is hardly relevant.
It is high time to review the policy on a rolling basis.
Yang Yung-nane is a professor of political science at National Cheng Kung University and an adviser to the Tainan City Government’s disaster prevention advisory cmmittee.
Translated by Fion Khan
The image was oddly quiet. No speeches, no flags, no dramatic announcements — just a Chinese cargo ship cutting through arctic ice and arriving in Britain in October. The Istanbul Bridge completed a journey that once existed only in theory, shaving weeks off traditional shipping routes. On paper, it was a story about efficiency. In strategic terms, it was about timing. Much like politics, arriving early matters. Especially when the route, the rules and the traffic are still undefined. For years, global politics has trained us to watch the loud moments: warships in the Taiwan Strait, sanctions announced at news conferences, leaders trading
The saga of Sarah Dzafce, the disgraced former Miss Finland, is far more significant than a mere beauty pageant controversy. It serves as a potent and painful contemporary lesson in global cultural ethics and the absolute necessity of racial respect. Her public career was instantly pulverized not by a lapse in judgement, but by a deliberate act of racial hostility, the flames of which swiftly encircled the globe. The offensive action was simple, yet profoundly provocative: a 15-second video in which Dzafce performed the infamous “slanted eyes” gesture — a crude, historically loaded caricature of East Asian features used in Western
Is a new foreign partner for Taiwan emerging in the Middle East? Last week, Taiwanese media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) secretly visited Israel, a country with whom Taiwan has long shared unofficial relations but which has approached those relations cautiously. In the wake of China’s implicit but clear support for Hamas and Iran in the wake of the October 2023 assault on Israel, Jerusalem’s calculus may be changing. Both small countries facing literal existential threats, Israel and Taiwan have much to gain from closer ties. In his recent op-ed for the Washington Post, President William
A stabbing attack inside and near two busy Taipei MRT stations on Friday evening shocked the nation and made headlines in many foreign and local news media, as such indiscriminate attacks are rare in Taiwan. Four people died, including the 27-year-old suspect, and 11 people sustained injuries. At Taipei Main Station, the suspect threw smoke grenades near two exits and fatally stabbed one person who tried to stop him. He later made his way to Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store near Zhongshan MRT Station, where he threw more smoke grenades and fatally stabbed a person on a scooter by the roadside.
RSS