Mayor’s remarks:
I. All bureaus and departments should do their best and cooperate effectively in the upcoming International Orchid Show
1. The 2017 Taiwan International Orchid Show (TIOS) will be held from March 4 to March 13 at the Taiwan Orchid Plantation in Houbi District. This beautiful exhibition has been held for 13 consecutive years and is now a leading international event. In addition to exhibiting tens of thousands of orchids of various cultivars and species, we are also using global partnership, networking, conferences, forums, shows, and competitions to attract visitors and buyers from around the world to promote the development of Taiwan’s orchid growing sector.
2. Discover Sustainable Orchids has been selected as the theme for the 2017 International Orchid Show to emphasize the importance of discovery and exploration. The show not only markets Taiwan’s orchid industry, but also showcases the close relationships between Tainan and various global networks, the city’s efforts in ecologically sound smart city development, and its rich and boundless vitality.
3. I hereby express my gratitude towards the various bureaus and departments working together and meticulously planning this international celebration of the orchid. I also hope that relevant agencies will continue to support each other during the Orchid Show to ensure its success, demonstrate the City Government’s planning and execution abilities to VIPs and guests attending, and leave a lasting impression on every visitor.
II. 70th anniversary of the February 28 Incident and the need to realize Transitional Justice
1. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the February 28 Incident. We have organized a series of exhibits to commemorate the event and remind people that history can be forgiven but its truths and lessons must not be forgotten in order that tragedies are not repeated. This includes Tang De-zhang, a lawyer from Tainan who gave up his life during the February 28 Incident as well as Prosecutor Wang Yu-lin, who also lost his life during the White Terror. Our intention is to improve awareness that there were brave individuals from Tainan who sacrificed themselves for the sake of democratic progress.
2. With more and more historical information becoming declassified, the February 28 Incident is now being publicly scrutinized and studied. The KMT government’s forceful suppression and wanton acts of murder have garnered public focus and contemplation. Statues of Chiang Kai-shek in various areas are vandalized on the eve of every February 28 anniversary. To prevent these incidents from re-occurring and make authoritarianism a thing of the past, we decided in 2015 to remove statues of Chiang Kai-shek from every campus and thus preserved the educational focus of our schools.
3. To implement transitional justice, we have started removing statues of Chiang Kai-shek from various areas after communicating with local representatives. The true intent of this action is to highlight the value of social progress. However, there are some people who misinterpret this as an attempt to spark ethnic conflict. In fact, we are aware that among those who perished in those years were Taiwanese Aborigines, Hakka, and a large number of people from China in addition to the Minnanese. Every ethnic group suffered. People who live in modern times should face these historical truths and accept the fact that innocent lives were arbitrarily taken by an authoritarian government. To prevent the recurrence of such tragedies, we should not smear the reforms of transitional justice or paint them as political witch hunts.
III. Topping out ceremony for care housing of the Tainan Railway Underground Project. The second round of registration and purchasing applications to be opened in June.
1. Residents affected by the demolition of houses necessitated by the railway underground project will be provided with housing. We implemented open tendering and signed a community housing construction contract with tender winner Fuly Construction Corporation on March 7, 2014. Construction formally began in August 2015, and the main structure of the community housing is now near completion. I attended the topping out ceremony yesterday to convey our determination and dedication in caring for fellow residents who had to sacrifice their houses.
2. Currently, 181 households have selected sites for their new homes. When the urban plans were verified and construction of the care housing initiated, many households expressed their willingness to register for the new houses. We are aware that the deadline for registration has passed, but to live up to our sincere intent of caring for our residents, I have asked the Urban Development Bureau to announce that they will start accepting the second round of purchasing applications in June 2017. It is our sincere wish to provide every resident who has realized the truth and intends to live in these care houses with a fair opportunity to do so.
3. I would like to take this opportunity to announce once more that the Tainan Railway Underground Project will be initiated this month. This is a major undertaking that is the property of every Tainan resident and should not be delayed in any way. Everything must progress according to schedule. The Tainan City Government will remove various difficulties to ensure that the project is completed on time, provide all Tainan citizens with the best public infrastructure, and maintain the growth of our City.
Reports
I. Women's Policies and Activities for 2017 report presented by the Social Affairs Bureau (refer to the printed information for details)
Resolution: Approved for reference filing.
Mayor’s remarks:
(1) Tainan is home to a population of over 1.88 million individuals, with over 650,000 women above 18 years of age, which make up 35% of the City's population. The Social Affairs Bureau has a vision of establishing the Tainan City Government as a Second Home for Women and has dedicated substantial efforts in integrating non-governmental resources to develop women's welfare, encourage the growth of local women's groups, and develop daycare systems and women's safety. All these measures help safeguard women's rights and promote social participation. I hereby thank Director General Liu and colleagues of the Social Affairs Bureau for their hard work.
(2) The Social Affairs Bureau established a friendly daycare environment by implementing professional training for daycare personnel, subsidizing infant safety insurance at nursery centers, and building six daycare resource centers. A total of three immigrant family welfare service centers and one dedicated female service center have been established as well. Other activities include employment support plans for underprivileged women and implementing a three-tier prevention system to safeguard women's personal safety. Over 200 women’s events and activities benefiting nearly 100,000 individuals were carried out in 2016. Such efforts should be commended.
(3) Starting in March 2017, the Social Affairs Bureau will organize several exhibits and activities that correspond with Women’s Day and Children’s Day celebrations. The purpose of these exhibits and activities is to improve public awareness of family, economic, health, and environmental issues faced by women and children and to improve care services provided to them.
(4) While celebrating Women’s Day and Children’s Day, I would like to remind every bureau and department to keep up the good work and help women demonstrate their contribution to our society, strengthen connections and interactions between parents and their children, and establish Tainan as the friendliest city for women and children. Finally, I will like to offer my best wishes to every woman and child in Tainan City on behalf of the Tainan City Government in advance of Women’s Day and Children’s Day.
II. Administration Outcomes of 2016 and Focus Tasks Report presented by the Tourism Bureau (refer to the printed information for details)
Resolution: Approved for reference filing.
Mayor’s remarks:
(1) Tainan was struck by an earthquake on February 6, 2016, that affected the tourism market and posed an immense challenge to Tainan’s tourism industry. Nevertheless, the City’s strong cultural charms and hard work by our tourism companies allowed our 22 tourist destinations to attract 22.17 million visitors, of which 3.13 million were overnight stays, marking a gradual restoration of our prosperous tourism industry. I hereby thank Director General Wang and fellow colleagues of the Tourism Bureau for their hard work. I also thank the leaders of every bureau and department for the crucial support they provided.
(2) We achieved this spectacular performance thanks to several breakthroughs. The first was the breakthrough in marketing methods that includes holding promotional events in Hong Kong and Japan as well as clever use of mass media, celebrity spokespeople, and social networks to market Tainan’s brand of tourism in other countries. We also established direct flights from Tainan to Hong Kong and from Tainan to Osaka. Since we’re in an era dominated by smart mobile networks, the Tourism Bureau partnered with Niantic (the developer of Pokémon GO) to set up quests at famous destinations in Tainan and hold live mobile game events such as Ingress Anomaly Day and Ingress Mission Day that attracted over 5000 overseas players from Japan, Hong Kong, and China. The second breakthrough was a legal breakthrough. For the development of the B&B industry in downtown Tainan, years of hard work by the Tourism Bureau finally paid off with the formal legal recognition of the Tainan Twin Forts Tourism Area. The Department of Finance, Department of Legal Affairs, and Culture Affairs Bureau have also worked together to oversee the establishment of many tourism hotels in Tainan. The third breakthrough was solving the challenge posed by aging facilities with projects such as Laws for Resolving Sihcao Green Tunnel Boat Ride Issues, BOT Guidelines for River Channel Ferries, Revitalization of Tainan Gold Coast Boat Houses, and Hutoupi Lakeside Hotel BOT Project. These innovative breakthroughs allow Tainan’s tourism industry to prosper and I hereby thank everyone for your efforts. Visitor accommodations (provision of B&B) and meals (local cuisine) would be the first challenge to developing farming village tours. Basic amenities must be in place before village tours can be promoted. Tainan is home to many farming and fishing villages that have such features in place, so I hereby ask the Agriculture Bureau, Civil Affairs Bureau, and Tourism Bureau to work with each other and bring this plan to fruition. Tainan is a city blessed with great potential in developing literary tours and we have achieved substantial growth in tourism. Given our extensive cultural history, there is still plenty of potential and areas for development. Keep up the good work and our city’s tourism industry will continue to prosper.