President Chen Shui-bian said this morning that it is essential that people cast aside the old mentality and traditions about politics, culture, technology, finance and geographic boundaries in this cyber age, but focusing instead on integrating the knowledge of all kinds. Civil servants, the nation's pushing hands of government policies, should particularly break their limits, seek self-improvement, and be persistent in innovation and creativity so that they can be competitive on an international scale and secure for the country the niche for the continuous prosperity.
President Chen declared again his resolution in pushing through the policy of adjusting the high preferential interests rate granted to deposits of all retired civil servants, teachers and members of the armed forces. The President said that the move does not aim to discredit their lifetime's hard work, but aims at ensuring a fair and just society while guaranteeing that all retired soldiers, teachers and civil servants can have a respectful retirement life with their incomes justified. The President urged the Examination Yuan to make an early implementation of the reform measure after related packages are settled, and asked that people in the country to render support for the reform.
The President's remark was made at the award presentation ceremony which acknowledged 2005's outstanding public officials and their contributions to the society.