Dr. Jeske, Dr. Calmes and Ms. Calmes, Advisor Kao, Rev. Shang, Chairman Huang, Chairman Wu, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good morning!
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Jeske and Dr. Calmes, two American marriage education experts, for coming to Taiwan. Their visit helps promote international exchange and cooperation in family education by giving us the opportunity to discuss how to build a happy marriage and deal with conflicts in relationships. Cultural misunderstandings can be reduced through exploring the unique challenges and issues posed by cross-cultural marriage in Taiwan, thus creating happy families and establishing a harmonious society. It is also a great pleasure to learn that Dr. Jeske will be actively involved in the establishment of a national center for marriage research and information exchange under the Taiwan Happy Marriage Association.
By sociological definition, marriage is the smallest and most fundamental unit in a society. According to the Bible, it is also the first system of human relations created by God. As a fundamental building block of society, marriage deserves the greatest importance and attention. A country is composed of families, and so a healthy and strong marriage is a prerequisite for a healthy and strong country.
The new social welfare reform program outlined by President Bush allocates one to three hundred million US dollars to help low-income couples build and maintain healthy marriages. In view of the benefits of a good marriage and the consequences for children of an unhappy one, we share your country’s deep concern for the integrity of marriage and family life. Studies have shown that the dropout rate for children of divorced parents is more than double that of children from intact marriages, while rates for out-of-wedlock births and drug addiction are fifty percent higher.
In view of the great importance of marriage and family education, our government passed the Family Education Law and established the Family Education Research Center last year to actively promote family education. The objectives are to enhance the public's awareness of the importance of family life, strengthen physical and conceptual development, build happy families, and create a harmonious society. In the meantime, educational authorities at the local government level now offer a minimum of 4-hour prenuptial education programs for eligible men and women to help cultivate proper concepts of marriage and build happy family lives. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior has also established the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Committees in each county and city in order to help protect the personal safety of women and children and realize gender equality.
I am very pleased to see so many NGOs and family education centers from all over the country join together to participate in the symposium. It is my hope that this event will encourage more of our citizens to join the cause of promoting marriage and family welfare. Finally, I would like to offer my best wishes for the great success of the five conferences, and I hope that after the symposium is concluded, Dr. Jeske and Dr. Calmes will have an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful landscape and hospitality of our people. I wish every one happiness and good health. Thank you.