August 4, 1996-- President and Madame Lee Teng-hui gave a personal welcome today to the visitors to the Presidential Building. After saying hello to the guests, President and Madame Lee expressed great concern over the welfare of the people suffering from the recent typhoon. The President, in particular, indicated that it is his responsibility and top priority to make sure that people are leading a better life. The visitors were more than delighted to see President and Madame Lee and shook hands warmly with the couple to show great respect for them.
Twelve namesakes of the President and seven namesakes of the First Lady from all over the country were also invited today and had a face-to-face chat with the President and Madame Lee. It was a rare opportunity for these namesakes to get together and they felt so much warmth from the gathering. President and Madame Lee, accompanied by Secretary-General Wu Poh-hsiung, arrived at the Presidential Building at 8:00 a.m. Then the President received visitors in his office. According to the Presidential Office's Department of Public Affairs, the third open house tour of the Presidential Building this year ended successfully at 4:00 p.m. today.
Totally there were 20,153 visitors, including 830 handicapped who had taken advantage of a special route. People, young and old, waited in the queue in the early morning hours for the tour today. They, after the open house began at 8:00 a.m., followed the route in good order to see the real face of the Building by themselves. Many of them happily posed with the life-size cardboard portraits of the President and Vice President, and the whole Building was permeated with joy and laughter. Secretary-General Wu Poh-hsiung later expressed his thanks to the security personnel and other staff members who participated in the event to make it a success. This is the seventh time since the Presidential Building resumed open house tours on January 2, 1995. The last one for this year is scheduled for November 3.