A “face equality” video portraying how jobseekers are treated because of their appearance has gone viral on the Internet, with Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation calling for May 17 to be designated as “face equality day” to combat discrimination against people with facial disfigurements.
According to a survey on the social perception of appearances conducted by the foundation in 2013, one out of five people has suffered from ridicule or criticism because of the way they look, while two-thirds of those mistreated due to their appearancessaid they have low self-esteem and do not want to interact with others, the foundation said.
More than 70 percent of respondents said that they have a negative impression of people with a facial disfigurement according to another survey on the public’s real attitude toward people with disfigurements, the foundation said.
Screen grab from Face Equality’s official Web site
To alter the practice of judging people based on appearance and to raise awareness, UK-based charity Changing Face launched a face-equality campaign in 2010, and the foundation has responded to its call with a corresponding campaign in Taiwan since 2011, the foundation said.
Foundation public relations officer Chang Chia-wen (張家雯) said that every face is unique, and face equality is about an individual’s right to be treated fairly and equally, regardless of their appearance.
An educational event to promote facial equality is to be held at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei today and tomorrow, while another activity is to take place at the Pier-2 Art Center in Kaohsiung on May 17, she said, adding that attendees can play games and have their faces painted.
An online campaign to collect photographs of smiling faces is to run through June 30, in a bid to encourage the public to show support for people with disfigurements, she said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody