台湾印尼外劳车站庆开斋节引议论+ 馬英九

choi

BBC Chinese, Aug 12, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/si ... 12_taiwan_eid.shtml

Quote:

"在台工作的印度尼西亚穆斯林周日（8月11日）聚集在台北车站庆祝开斋节，台湾铁路当局的统计称，最多时台北车站及附近广场上有三万名外劳 [short for 外籍勞工]。

"但在台工作的印尼穆斯林多数从事家庭监护工作，只有到周日才有机会庆祝此一相当于中国人农历过年的节日。相对于台湾本身的穆斯林人数约仅五、六万人，马超彦指出在台工作的十五万印度尼西亚穆斯林，是目前台湾穆斯林最大的群体。

My comment:
(a) 开斋节  Eid al-Fitr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Fitr
(Arabic for "festival of breaking of the fast;" marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting)
(b) The gathering INSIDE the train station for festivities is something I have not heard of--in US. In my view, the problems are as follows: Firstly it is a fire hazard. Secondly the crowd in Taipei station were essentially civilians using government properties without payment. I do not know if the workers ever receive training. compare
Home Health and Personal Care Aides. Occupational Outlook Handbook (2012-13 Edition), Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, Apr 5, 2012.
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcar ... onal-care-aides.htm
("How to Become a Home Health or Personal Care Aide[:] There are no formal education requirements for home health and personal care aides. Home health aides working in certified home health or hospice agencies must get formal training and pass a standardized test")

choi

(2) Taiwan's army Blooded; A conscript's death has brought the young out on the streets. Economist, Aug 10, 2013

the last paragraph: "As well as voicing concerns about the army, this week's protests also had an economic dimension. The demonstrators were mainly students and young professionals. This generation has been the hardest hit by Mr Ma's failure to keep his promises to boost Taiwan's economy. Unemployment stands at about 20% for new graduates, compared with a little over 4% for the country as a whole. The heckling Mr Ma [Ying-jeou] received at Mr Hung's funeral was not only because of the conscript's death.

My comment:
(a) HUNG Chung-chiu 洪 仲丘 was a conscript whose military obligation was set to end in three days when, coming back to his barrack after leave, caught carrying a cell phone with camera functionality. His non-judicial punishment,
cf non-judicial punishment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-judicial_punishment
(authorized by Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice; permits commanders to administratively discipline troops without a court-martial; If the member considers the punishment to be unjust or to be disproportionate to the misconduct committed, he or she may appeal the NJP to a higher authority; [no forced exercise])
, was 關禁閉, which included compulsive exercise. he died of (exertional) heat stroke 中暑 with complication of rhabdomyolysis 橫紋肌溶解 resulting in acute renal failure 急性 腎衰竭. See also 洪仲丘事件
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6 ... 8%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6
(b) Perennially new graduates could not find jobs (in part due to lack of experience), a world-wide phenomenon. In the past Taiwan’s unemployment statistics did not carve out a separate category for this group (or youth, for that matter). I have no idea where the Economist got the statistics. If true, Taiwan needs to do something about it. (Do we need so much foreign labor?)  The problem will only get worse once compulsive military obligation is lifted, in favor of recruitment.
(c) President Ma is highly unpopular. One of the main reasons is poor management of economy, despite campaign promises BEFORE his first election to the office in 2008: One of his then campaign platform was 633政見
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/633%E6%94%BF%E8%A6%8B

Huge number of Chinese do come visiting Taiwan (as Ma promised), but economists had calculated the economic impact would contribute to GDP growth rate of 0.5% at most (a number Ma disagreed about). Liar, liar, fire on pants.