Mayor’s Remarks:
I.Issues About Rectification of Names for Pingpu Ethnic Group
Recently, the central government has been convening nation-wide Consulting Symposiums on the Construction of the Pingpu Aboriginal Peoples' Rights System. The first conference was held in Tainan last week, which I also attended to show our hospitality and took this opportunity to convey the inner voices of the indigenous peoples of Pingpu Tribe to the moderator, , Mr. Lin Wan Yi, Minister without Portfolio, Chairperson Icyang of Council of Indigenous Peoples, and all participants. We hope to prioritize the recognition of Aboriginal identity for the Pingpu Tribe people and strive for prior scheduling of, and the approval for, the draft of Amendment to Status Act for Indigenous Peoples (“Amendment”) in this session of conference so that the aboriginal culture preservation, education and social welfare of Pingpu Tribe can all be looked after one by one. Tainan City has regarded "Justification is the first, social welfare is the next” as the goal, and looks forward to that the Executive Yuan can send the drafted Amendment to the Legislative Yuan as soon as possible in order to realize the aspirations of the people of Siraya Tribe in Tainan City.
II.About Going Forward to the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup
Although Tainan City has unfortunately failed to enter the final game of 106 Hua-Nan Financial Holdings Cup National Youth Baseball Tournament, we hope that the Bureau of Education will make persistent efforts, review and make improvements to baseball education, so that the strength of the city's baseball teams will get better and better. The chance for the Tainan team to represent Taiwan is rather slim, but this does not affect our city’s enthusiasm to hold the WBSC IV U-12 Baseball World Cup. I hope that the Bureau of Education and the relevant bureaus will fully support the activities. The World Baseball Softball Confederation chairman has promised to hold WBSC U12 World Cup in Tainan City every year in the future if the games can run smoothly for three consecutive years. Tainan City will thus have the opportunity to become the William Potter of the East.
Reports:
I.The Cultural Affairs Bureau submitted the report for "2017 Tainan Museum Festival". (Refer to written sources for details)
Resolution: approved for reference filing.
Mayor's comments:
1.Tainan has a wealth of public and private museums and local cultural buildings themed with humanity history, natural science, commemoration, literature, arts, industry, and religion, etc. Among the 42 premises, some are iconic museums at the national level such as the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, the National Museum of Taiwan History, and the Chimei Museum. Moreover, there are some cultural centers with local features such as the Anping Oyster Shell Cement Kiln Culture Chamber, Taiwan Black-foot Disease Socio-Medical Service Memorial House in Beimen, etc. These premises are not just the centers of field investigation and preservation/research for local studies, and they are also important learning platforms for community building. Furthermore, they are important display windows for our own people and anyone from the world to know about Tainan or Taiwanese culture.
2.After The Museum Act was put into practice in 2015, Taiwan's museum business has moved into a new era. Tainan itself is a museum of life. As the cultural capital of Taiwan, Tainan City should have a broader, diverse, and forward-looking vision to think about the position of the museum and the local cultural centers. Tainan City should position itself as a locomotive to lead the Museums in Taiwan to create the "Enjoy-Learning Economy" of museums with a more delicate and macro thinking. Therefore, the city government has integrated the city's 42 premises to hold the "2017 Tainan Museum Festival” for the very first time with four major focuses of taking root in education, tourism marketing, in-depth navigation and open creativity.
3.2017 Tainan Museum Festival lasts for the period from May 18 to June 25 with the theme of "Museum is not home". We hope to bring to all people the life experience that "museums are ubiquitous". This year the mobile museum booths and special exhibitions organized by student groups and local cultural premises in cooperation enable the museums in Tainan to take the initiative to interact with the masses. In addition, it allows the most important attendees of the museums, the student groups, to have the opportunities to participate in creating more accessible exhibition contents. The diverse activities are organized with pioneering creative ideas in the country, and in this regard, I would like to address my special gratitude to Director-General Yeh and the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s planning and endeavor. I hope that Taiwan citizens and our city citizens will visit museums in Tainan and learn about Tainan in depth and the diverse and rich cultural nuances of Taiwan.
4.I would like to ask Tourism Bureau to assist in the marketing of 2017 Tainan Museum Festival, and the Bureau of Education to assist in the promotion of students' participation in this event.
II.The Fire Bureau submitted the report of "2017 Water Area Safety". (Refer to written sources for details)
Resolution: approved for reference filing.
Mayor's comments:
1.It is summer already, and the rate of people getting close to the water areas is getting higher. I appreciate Director-General Lee of the Fire Bureau’s detailed descriptions and analysis of the city's drowning incidents in the past four years, and the actions taken this year for safety in water areas.
2.Of all the drowning incidents happened in the recent four years, the non-suicidal drowning incidents account for about 70%. Among them, cases of playing in the water, unintentionally falling, and work-related drowning accidents do not account for a large percentage individually, but the overall cases still account for a significant percentage. I hope the related bureaus and departments may do what they can do to prevent drowning through education, environmental reinforcement, and strict implementations of workplace safety provisions .
3.Water safety incidents are seasonal, and one of the proper approaches to prevent drowning accidents is to find alternative sites to alleviate citizens’ need of playing in the water. Summer is the popular season of swimming pools. I urge the Sports Office, the Bureau of Education, the Fire Bureau, and the relevant units to strictly supervise public and private facilities’ environments and water quality to provide safer and more friendly spaces for waterfront activities, so as to reduce students’ curiosity about dangerous natural water areas.
4.I urge the Bureau of Education, the Fire Bureau, and the relevant bureaus to reinforce the education for public awareness of water safety. I also ask the Fire Bureau to evaluate the feasibility of increasing warning signs.