Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Capital and Taiwanese democracy

Jerome Keating

The world that we live in is far different from that which experienced the Cold War mentality and ideological struggles at the end of World War II. At that time, the Allied powers had defeated the Axis alliance, and a new struggle appeared between communism and democracy.

Ironically, however, even as that ideological struggle emerged, it was itself being subtly questioned in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. One of the basic points that Orwell was making and which is often lost in the allegory is that at the end of the story, the other farm animals found it difficult to distinguish between their previous capitalist rulers and the pigs that replaced them.

When will Tsai start governing?

Peng Ming-min 彭明敏

In February, former Executive Yuan director-general of personnel administration Chen Keng-chin (陳庚金) called on civil servants to “milk their jobs” and “goof around” as much as possible to drag down the government, but the nation’s chief executive, who should be the one most deeply insulted by Chen’s remark, said nothing.

The shame of overpaid pensions

Taipei Times Editorial

On Tuesday, a bill to recover wrongfully paid government pensions — under a regulation passed in 1971 that allowed KMT officials who held public office to add years worked as a party official to their civil service record — passed its third legislative reading.

About 381 retirees, including former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), former Examination Yuan president John Kuan (關中) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Jason Hu (胡志強), who are paid retirement benefits based on their combined service will have their retirement payments recalculated and be required to return excess payments.

Protesters have no ground to stand on

Chi Chun-chieh 紀駿傑

I am a public-school teacher and I will retire within the next 10 years. Regardless of which version of the pension reform act is passed, my pension is certain to shrink. Despite this, I give my full support to the ongoing effort to reform a pension system that violates the principle of intergenerational justice, in particular the part that is aimed at military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers.

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