President Ma Ying-jeou convened a press conference at China Medical University in Taichung on May 20 to mark the sixth anniversary of his taking office. The president delivered an address, the translation of which follows:
Listening to youth, realizing generational justice
China Medical University Chairman of the Board of Trustees Tsai Chang-Hai (蔡長海), Chancellor Lee Wen-Hwa (李文華), senior advisors, national policy advisors, Taichung City Deputy Mayor Mark K. Huang (黃國榮), members of the Legislative Yuan, government ministers, instructors, students, and members of the media:
Good morning!
Youth are an asset to society; the student movement reflects the anxiety of a generation
Today, on the sixth anniversary of my taking office, I have come to China Medical University, which has achieved rapid progress and a growing reputation. It is my deep honor to be able to share my opinions with young people here.
I have continuously engaged in dialogue with the youth of the nation over the past several months. Quite a few young people have told me that some of their classmates are worried that they will be unable to find jobs after they graduate. Meanwhile, young people who have just entered the workforce are also troubled that their salaries aren't keeping up with inflation. Some young people, unable to afford a home, are shying away from getting married. Meanwhile, some young couples are concerned that they can't afford to raise children and therefore are not having kids.
I have to frankly acknowledge that very many young people in Taiwan indeed feel anxious. I constantly think about this, and about the cause. In my view, the anxiety felt by young people highlight structural problems, as well as the pains of a generational changing of the guard. My administration has not ignored this problem, but our efforts apparently have not been sufficient. We have a responsibility and we must improve. In response to the anxiety expressed by the nation's youth, I have come up with five measures in response:
I. make every effort to narrow the gap between what is taught and what skills are required, so students will possess skills needed in the workplace;
II. actively promote entrepreneurship among youth, so they will dare to reach for their dreams;
III. hasten the implementation of residential justice, so youth can afford to live in Taiwan;
IV. welcome the prospect of free trade, so Taiwan can become a vital link in the world community; and
V. encourage youth to be interested in national affairs and participate in the making of policy.
I. We will make every effort to lessen the gap between what is taught and what skills are required so students will possess skills needed in the workplace.
Over the past 20 years, the policy that encouraged the establishment of universities has resulted in a tremendous increase in the number of annual graduates from colleges and universities—from 170,000 in 1992 to 330,000 in 2012. This is roughly double, and supply has outpaced demand in this regard. Enterprises, however, face a serious shortage of individuals with vocational talents. As a result, the unemployment rate for young people has not been effectively reduced and salaries have not risen.
What has the government done in response to this phenomenon? In addition to hastening transformation of the nation's industrial structure, we have also worked to strengthen cooperation between the industrial and academic sectors so that students have a better understanding of industry and the market. This will hopefully enhance the expertise of students in specific fields, as well as their hands-on skills. Ultimately, we expect that this will enable students, upon graduation, to be an important source of talent for enterprises.
What steps have government agencies taken? The Ministry of Education has actively promoted internship programs for college, university, and graduate students to increase their practical learning experience. In the 2013 academic year, approximately 50,000 students took part in these extra-curricular internship programs, and it is expected by the 2019 academic year that around 90,000 students will have had internship experience prior to graduation, which will enhance their competitiveness in the job market.
The Ministry of Labor has launched a Dual Track Vocational Training Project to provide individuals between the ages of 15 and 29 who have graduated from junior high school, high school (or vocational high school), two-year technical colleges, and five-year technical colleges with between two and four years of training. This training seeks to develop technicians with expertise in specific areas that are required by enterprises. Each year, 5,000 to 7,000 students receive training under this program.
At the end of last year, the ministry also began promoting a Mentoring Program in which masters in various trades teach their skills to apprentices. Under the vision of the ministry, highly experienced individuals in specific areas will pass along their expertise to students and help them be better prepared when they seek work.
Everyone here is probably aware that these are just a few of the many programs that the government is promoting. But are they really working? Let me share with everyone an example that I saw with my own eyes. I recall Ma Hao-ran (馬浩然), a young person from one of Taiwan's indigenous tribes, who due to a physical disability was having difficulty finding work after he graduated from a vocational high school. But he took part in the Mentoring Program and learned woodcarving from the master Tu Nan-feng (塗南峰), who lives in Laiyi Township in Pingtung County. Ma learned a great deal, and this experience enabled him to go into business for himself. Since October of last year, the government has helped over 250 individuals like Ma Hao-ran to acquire skills in plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, and metal working, which has increased their job market competitiveness.
The Ministry of Labor also has introduced the Guidelines for Youth Employment Subsidy to help youth who are looking for jobs for the first time or who have been unemployed for six consecutive months. This program provides NT$120,000 of vocational training subsidies over a two-year period for each individual. To date, 28,802 young people have been approved to participate in training and 19,210 of them have found jobs. Of this number, 5,105 individuals have found jobs after completing their training. Westerners have a saying, "God helps those who help themselves," which is precisely the principle behind this initiative.
II. We will actively promote entrepreneurship among youth, so they will dare to reach for their dreams.
Taiwan is home to abundant talent in high-tech and innovative fields, and has lots of start-up activity. The young people of Taiwan are of very high caliber, and the government must work to support them. The Ministry of Economic Affairs over the past several years has supported the development of many innovative new animation products and mobile apps. Many young people born in the 1980s are using their creativity and innovative spirit, together with the assistance provided by the government, to create new horizons for themselves.
Perhaps many of you would ask where we can see the results of these efforts. Well, almost every young person these days frequently uses LINE and has surely heard the inspirational story of its start-up. In 2012, three graduates from National Tsing Hua University developed a software program called WhosCall at a start-up they created called Gogolook Co. This software was acquired by the Korean company NAVER, the owner of LINE, for NT$529 million, over 100 times the company's capital of NT$5 million when it was established one and a half years ago. This is a perfect example of government nurturing and investing in creative young people. It also makes us even more confident about this policy. Young people have big dreams and the government wants to institute effective policies to create an environment in which young people can act on their creativity and ideals to make their dreams come true.
In March of this year, the Executive Yuan launched a NT$17 billion fund to promote the "Youth Dream-Building Program," which employs various tools to assist youth with one of two goals—either to find work or to found their own businesses. It is expected that over 2,400 start-ups will be created within the next three years thanks to this program, which will help create 150,000 jobs. Historically speaking, this is the biggest policy initiative ever promoted here by the government to help youth set up their own companies and find employment.
Several days ago, I met with a couple of young "social entrepreneurs" at the Presidential Office who shared their start-up experiences with me. I felt great admiration and pride toward these young people.
I would like to share with you some examples. I'm confident that many of you have heard of the monthly publication called 4-Way Voice. Many new immigrants to Taiwan have undoubtedly read it. The 35-year-old Lin Zhou-xi (林周熙) assisted in the founding of the 4-Way Voice back in 2006 and he currently serves as the editor-in-chief. He is with us here today, and I'd like to ask him to identify himself to everyone. The 4-Way Voice is published in five languages—Vietnamese, Thai, Bahasa Indonesian, Tagalog, and Cambodian. It provides news to new immigrants to Taiwan in their native tongues. This help alleviate homesickness and serves as a platform for the underprivileged to express their thoughts. It also promotes interaction, understanding, and melding among groups with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The contribution of the paper has been enormous.
Another example of a business model that contributes to social welfare is a firm called Neways 2021, which was founded by Mr. Tsai Song-Yu (蔡松諭). His story is quite moving, and will certainly pull at the heartstrings of many. Five years ago during the flooding and mudslides caused by Typhoon Morakot in parts of southern and eastern Taiwan, Tsai, who was born in Xiaolin Village in southern Taiwan, lost all of his relatives and friends. It was the worst blow that anyone could ever take in life. He returned to his village and resolutely decided to do something for his home town. He worked tirelessly, residing in a prefabricated structure while helping to complete construction of the Sunlight Xiaolin Permanent Housing Community. He mobilized the villagers to make hand-made pineapple cakes, soaps, plum paste, and plum cakes, all of which they began selling under "Sunlight Xiaolin" brand name. His work enabled local residents to emerge from their grief, and helped make them self-sufficient economically. Mr. Tsai embraces the spirit of giving back to society and hopes that other young people who embrace these ideals will also receive the assistance they need.
Have these young people changed the world? Yes, I do believe that they have changed not just their own world, but ours, as well. Motivated by kindness, they have demonstrated a new way of thinking and, in the process of realizing their ideals, have also begun doing well for themselves. This philosophy dovetails well with the character of a generation of young people who seek fulfillment. Therefore, the government wants to serve as a resource for each one of you. The government wants you to know that we have your back. The Executive Yuan in the near future will introduce a social enterprises action plan, which will feature deregulatory measures and support the cultivation of resources and talent. This initiative will create a platform where people can go to share their experiences and work to realize their potential.
III. We want to hasten the implementation of residential justice, so youth can afford to live in Taiwan.
The government has paid special attention over the past two years to the issue of residential justice. A total of 856,000 real estate transactions have been entered into a national system for registering the actual prices of property transactions. In addition, the website where one can view this information has received 33.29 million hits during this period. This enables consumers to obtain accurate information prior to purchasing houses. This system also helps to prevent speculators from manipulating prices and thus constitutes an important major step towards residential justice.
As we work for residential justice, which people should receive priority from the government? There are three categories. The first is youth and students, the second is people who have just entered the work world, and the third is the underprivileged. Under our rent subsidy policy, these three groups are eligible for up to NT$4,000 of rent subsidies each month, and currently over 33,000 households are benefiting from this policy.
What about underprivileged people who are unable to receive these rent subsidies? The government is also promoting social housing in the Greater Taipei area through the construction of build-for-rent projects. The government has set reasonable rents to assist young people. Over 7,000 units have been completed, and construction on another 2,000 social housing units will be completed within the next two years. And after the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade comes to a conclusion in Taipei, some 1,800 units that were constructed for the athlete's village will be rented out as social housing. Combined, this means that over 10,000 units will be available in the future.
What about the individuals who have worked for a period but still can't afford to buy a home? The government is currently constructing nearly 10,000 affordable build-for-sale housing units near the A7 Station of the Airport MRT Line in Taoyuan County's Guishan Township and in the Fuzhou neighborhood of New Taipei City's Banqiao District. These housing units will be sold at 70% of market value. In addition, some 1,192 units constructed as part of the Universiade's athlete's village will also be sold at below-market prices to help young people afford a home.
In addition, during the four-year period between 2009 and 2012, my administration carried out a Housing Assistance Program for Young Married Couples to carry through on a campaign pledge I had made. Under this program, more than 66,000 young families have received zero-interest loans to buy homes. The government will also continue to ask banks in which it holds a controlling or substantial interest to provide preferential loans to young families seeking to buy houses. To date, nearly 140,000 households have benefited from this program, which has truly reducing the mortgage burden on young people.
IV. We want to welcome the prospect of free trade, so Taiwan can become a vital link in the world community.
The Cato Institute, a think tank in the United States, at the end of April released its "misery index" for countries throughout the world. The ROC was ranked the third lowest of the 90 countries in the survey. In other words, we are the country with the third least amount of misery in the world, putting us in a better position than the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Korea, and Hong Kong. To be sure, more than a few young people here are concerned about how difficult it is to find jobs and how low salaries are. These worries are a fact, and the government of course must make every effort to address the situation.
What have we done to resolve the unemployment problem? From 2011 to July of this year, we have raised the minimum wage for four consecutive years. The minimum monthly wage has now been raised by NT$1,993, which means it is 11% higher than it was six years ago. The hourly minimum wage has also been hiked twice, and is now up by over 20% from NT$95 per hour to NT$115. Over the past six years, we have created 620,000 jobs. As of March of this year, the unemployment rate had dropped to 4.03%, only 0.13 percentage points from the 3.90% level it was at when I took office.
These statistics reflect the basic state of people's lives. The government has to do more than this. We must figure out the true reasons why salaries have not risen much in Taiwan. I believe the key is that the room for profitability under our existing industrial structure is limited. Amidst the global trend toward regional economic integration, if we don't face the challenges head on, we are going to be swallowed up.
While welcoming free trade, I have always put top priority on ensuring the availability of employment, and on protecting the interests of the nation's industry. However, we cannot for the sake of these considerations allow Taiwan to become isolated from the rest of the world. Over the past 400 years, Taiwan's history has shown that "engagement brings prosperity, while isolation brings atrophy." The more our economic development is impeded, the more we need to release ourselves from the shackles of protectionism, since "protectionism cannot protect anyone." Only by enabling Taiwan to become an indispensable link in the world supply chain, can we ensure Taiwan's economic security.
In the course of economic liberalization, however, Taiwan's society has always been at loggerheads over one particular issue: How do we deal with mainland China? The recent student movement shows that some of Taiwan's young people are skeptical about the cross-strait relationship. However, we must understand that mainland China is the world's second largest economic entity and that it is also the largest trading partner of Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. We cannot ignore this fact. The government needs to maximize opportunities while minimizing risk. Our cross-strait policy over the past six years has consistently sought balance and reasonable trade-offs.
The Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement has been the focus of especially intense interest lately. The majority of the Taiwan public feels that the agreement is beneficial to Taiwan's economy. On June 25 last year, the ruling and opposition party caucuses in the Legislative Yuan reached an agreement calling for an article-by-article review of the agreement and an article-by-article vote. According to a public opinion poll, the majority of the public supports the swift passage of a Cross-Strait Agreement Supervisory Act and an article-by-article screening of the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement.
I would like to take this opportunity to urge ruling and opposition party lawmakers to listen to the public. I hope that Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) can step forward to coordinate between the ruling and opposition party caucuses so the Cross-Strait Agreement Supervisory Act can be passed as soon as possible. This would enable thorough screening and supervision of cross-strait agreements and ensure the transparency of cross-strait agreements that will benefit the public here. The opposition also should not contravene the democratic principle of "majority rule" by repeatedly taking over the podium and paralyzing the Legislative Yuan. If this continues, Taiwan will collapse. All of us should work together to enable the draft of the Special Act for Free Economic Pilot Zones to be passed as soon as possible. This would be a major step toward Taiwan's participation in regional economic integration, and would create the foundation for Taiwan to truly become a free trade island. This is in fact what constitutes loving Taiwan.
V. We want to encourage youth to be interested in national affairs and participate in the making of policy.
Nowadays some people think that the young people of today are very apathetic about society. Really? Is that true? Recently, we have seen young people exhibit a high level of concern regarding the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement and the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. It's obvious that young people are not apathetic at all. In fact, I would like to applaud the passion and interest for public affairs that young people have displayed. At the same time, however, I want to reiterate that demands or expressions of opinions must be made in accordance with the law. Otherwise, our democracy will be harmed. The majority of the public will not accept acts that damage constitutional rule of law or acts that break the law.
If the government permits people to occupy government agencies and insist that the nation and society accept their demands, others will certainly band together and follow suit. They will occupy the legislature and government offices in an effort to threaten the government. How can Taiwan's democracy and rule of law then operate? Taiwan's future cannot be decided through such undemocratic, non-peaceful, irrational methods!
Some young people certainly have very strong thoughts on things and are willing to act. These people constitute an important force for social change. However, I believe there must be a practical mechanism that allows young people to operate within the system, to be seen and respected, and to take part in the making of government policy. This is the only way we can effectively close the gap between the government and youth.
I have recently been thinking a lot about what concrete steps we can take to promote this sort of change. Change must take place step by step, so let us start by taking the first step. I want to announce here that I have already asked Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to look into establishing a "youth consulting group" at the Cabinet level. Young people who are experts in various areas, have strong views, and have a passion for reform would be invited to serve as consultants. The members of the consulting group would mostly be made up of young people aged 35 or under. Others in the group would be experts and scholars, or representatives from civil groups, who have long been interested in youth affairs. I hope that this type of organization will not only provide suggestions on policies that young people are most interested in, such as education, housing, employment, entrepreneurship, marriage and childrearing, international exchanges, and volunteer services. I also hope it will help in the formation of other important public policies by providing the perspective of young people.
If the youth consulting group gets up and running smoothly, what would the next step be? In the future, this system could be expanded to government agencies so that even more youth representatives can observe the administration of various policies. Also, in the process of forming policies at the agency level, youth representatives could provide suggestions and opinions.
To all of my young friends here I say: Let's work together to change Taiwan! Let's work together to create the future! We hope that establishment of a youth consulting group can spur even more young people to engage in dialogue with the government and provide their ideas on a variety of policies. Government policy needs more creativity. Government policy needs more vitality. Government policy must be fair and just. We need your participation in all of this! One can only face problems through rational communication. This is the only way to bravely achieve our dreams.
Youth is the hope of Taiwan. Young people are Taiwan's future. To support the youth of Taiwan is to support the hopes of Taiwan and the future of Taiwan. I will certainly continue to listen to the voices and dreams of the nation's youth, and hope to see an expansion of their participation in politics. This will help to forge a consensus on progress and reform.
The participation that we require is a practical, down-to-earth sort of participation. Mr. Stanley Yen (嚴長壽) recently said that Taiwan isn't lacking in criticism or critics. What it lacks are people willing to roll up their sleeves and get things done. Today is the sixth anniversary of my taking office. In the coming two years, I will not be looking to my personal interests; I'll be sincerely looking out for the nation's interests. I hope that everyone will roll up their sleeves with me and work to create a fairer, more just, and more beautiful Taiwan. I would like to stress again that the government will be doing its utmost in the five areas that I have just mentioned, namely:
I. make every effort to narrow the gap between what is taught and what skills are required, so students will possess skills needed in the workplace;
II. actively promote entrepreneurship among youth, so they will dare to reach for their dreams;
III. hasten the implementation of residential justice, so youth can afford to live in Taiwan;
IV. welcome the prospect of free trade, so Taiwan can become a vital link in the world community; and
V. encourage youth to be interested in national affairs and participate in the making of policy.
These are the thoughts I was wanting to share with everyone on the sixth anniversary of taking office. Let us all work together to create an even better Taiwan!
Thank you!