(hat tip to Simon Lee)
DEAR EDITOR OF THE LIBERTY TIMES:
Why are all the 20 finalists in the birthrate name contest in Mandarin
and not one is in Hokklo or Hakka or any of the Aboriginal languges?
by 丹布隆 (Dan Bloom) [new writing model by Simon Lee]
，開 tsīunn 百萬
根據媒體報導，為著搶救生育率，內政部希望創作「口號奇蹟」
欲應徵一个，聽了 tioh 會想欲生囡仔 ê 口號。內政部佇七月底公布百萬「催生」
標語 ê 入選作品，包括「生！就對了！」
「帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！」
「多生寶貝，寶貝台灣」等 20 條，欲進行 1 個月 ê 網路票選，優勝者會當得著
100 萬元獎金等等。毋過，仔細查看遮 ê 入選 ê 標語，竟然攏是華語作品！筆者
看 bē 著任何台語、客語佮原住民語 ê 作品入選。佇多元種族語言普及 ê 台灣，
筆者無相信口號應徵稿中，無台語、客語佮原住民語 ê 作品。是按怎內政部 ê 眾
評審大員 kan-na 選華語口號 ê 作品 hōo 網路票選？
有不願具名 ê 評審委員認為，入圍前 20 名攏傷過正經，huân-hó「選出來會變做
樣板」
。一位內政部官員私下嘛表示，既然網路票選對象是少年人，應該愛閣較
有創意。
遮 ê 意見雖然真符合主題，毋過嘛是無點著問題 ê 核心。
有意或者是無意，無
查覺著台語、客語佮原住民 ê 作品根本 tioh 無上榜！
搶救生育率 ê 標語遴選，kán-na 嘛隱藏族群歧視 ê 毒手，hōo 身為外國人 ê 筆者
深感不安。飼囡仔，敢 kan-na 鼓勵華語族群 niâ？ 內政部拼口號，提出政策牛
肉，有效抑無效? 嘛愛看台灣其他各族群 ê 少年翁某是 是會當接受這種帶有歧
視眼光 ê 政策牛肉！除非…。
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
養小孩，只鼓勵華語族群嗎？
據媒體報導，為搶救生育率，內政部希望再創「口號奇蹟」，砸百萬要徵一個，聽了會想生小孩的口號。內政部在七月底公布了百萬「催生」標語入選作品，包括「生！就對了！」「帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！」「多生寶貝，寶貝台灣」等20則，將進行1個月的網路票選，優勝者可獲100萬元獎金云云。但，仔細查看這些入圍的標語，竟然全部是華語作品！筆者看不到任何台語、客語以及原住民的作品入圍。在多元種族語言普及的台灣，筆者不相信口號應徵稿中沒有台語、客語以及原住民的作品。那麼，為什麼內政部的評審大員們只單挑華語口號作品入圍供網路票選？
有不願具名的評審委員認為，入圍前20名都太正經，擔心「選出來淪為樣板」。一位內政部官員私下也表示，既然網路票選對象是年輕人，應該更有創意。
這些意見雖然一針見血，但還是沒點到問題的重心。他們有意或無意，沒查覺到台語、客語以及原住民的作品根本沒有上榜！
搶救生育率的標語遴選，似乎也隱藏族群歧視的毒手，令身為外國人的筆者深感不安。養小孩，難道只鼓勵華語族群嗎？ 內政部拼口號，端政策牛肉，但有沒有效? 還是要看台灣其他各族群的年輕夫婦能不能接受這種帶歧視味道的政策牛肉！除非…。
（作者本名 [丹布隆] (Dan Bloom) 為美籍資深新聞從業人員；翻譯者黃大河）
(作者為美籍資深媒體人/翻譯者：Terry Huang)
20 標語拼百萬獎金
【王家俊、地方中心╱連線報導】APPLE DAILY, JULY 25, 2010
http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32687695/IssueID/20100725
內政部昨公布百萬「催生」標語入選作品，包括「生！就對了！」「帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！！」「多生寶貝，寶貝台灣」等20則，將進行1個月的網路票選，優勝者可獲100萬元獎金 。但榜外遺珠不少，網路作家貴婦奈奈喜歡「阿飄：你不生，我怎麼投胎？」學者須文蔚推薦「關燈，此時有生（聲）剩無生（聲）！」「精子方向不該在衛生紙上。」搞笑創意比入選作品還令人絕倒。
去年新生兒人數跌破20萬人，內政部人口政策委員會決議，以頭獎100萬元徵求「讓大家聽了想生小孩」的口號。內政部長江宜樺盼透過活動讓大家重視少子化問題。活動3月底起跑到6月底止，近3萬人投稿。
入圍名單中，評審之一的作家蔡詩萍最喜歡「老爸老媽我準備好了，今晚就看你們表現了！」從即將出生的小孩角度，最跳TONE、無厘頭，表示下一代都準備好了，「大人東想西想在想什麼！」至於「幸福很簡單，寶貝一，二，三！」蔡認為，隱含嘿咻的諧音，也有生幾個都好的雙重意思。
擔憂阿飄嚇到人
討論過程中，評審貴婦奈奈先推「阿飄：你不生，我怎麼投胎？」其他委員擔心，這個標語放在公車上，會不會讓人害怕？蔡詩萍認為，會嚇到人，而且有不同信仰的問題。貴婦奈奈只好力促「生！就對了！」「帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！」入榜。
官方評審代表內政部兒童局長張秀鴛最欣賞「有種，就生」、「有種，就留種」，認為這兩則「俗擱有力」，可以吸引年輕族群，卻被其他評審認為「不夠文雅」。張秀鴛質疑入榜的「孕味、乳味，最有女人味。」這則味道怪怪的，只談女人懷孕餵奶，沒有男性角色。
不願具名的評審委員認為，入圍前20名都太正經，擔心「選出來淪為樣板」。一位內政部官員私下表示，既然網路票選對象是年輕人，應該更有創意。
高雄的民眾邱文鴻認為「生個寶貝，幸福加倍！」這句最好，因為有押韻、很好念，彷彿看到小孩子，感覺很幸福。而台北24歲的林小姐則表示，她不會因為看到標語就生小孩，要看自己經濟能力及政府補助夠不夠！
主持會議的內政部次長林慈玲表示，初步是從2萬8340則投稿中選出441則，昨再由每名評審複選20票，依創意、意涵、易朗誦及易記憶等原則，挑出前20名供票選。評審委員11人包括5名官員，及兒童福利聯盟執行長王育敏、貴婦奈奈、蔡詩萍、東華大學副教授須文蔚、政治大學副教授林佳瑩、台灣大學副教授彭錦鵬等。
下月起上網投票
票選活動從8月1日中午12時到31日中午12時止，在網站（100.moi.gov.tw）供票選。第一名獎金100萬元、第二名10萬元、第三名5萬元、第四名3萬元、第五名2萬元，各1人。9月1日公布百萬得主。
鼓勵生育入圍標語
◎多生寶貝，寶貝台灣
◎人生要美好，養兒育女不可少
◎老爸老媽我準備好了，今晚就看你們表現了！
◎生個寶貝，幸福加倍！
◎圓滿人生，就是要生。
◎有子有女，好幸福
◎「孩」好，有你。
◎一生幸福！
◎孩子到位，幸福歸隊
◎生！就對了！
◎帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！！
◎好孕好運到！
◎有子有女就是「好」。
◎結婚，我願意！生子，我樂意！
◎幸福很簡單，寶貝一，二，三！
◎孕釀~~下一個希望
◎孕味、乳味，最有女人味。
◎孩子~是我們最好的傳家寶。
◎誠徵下一代！
◎為愛而生
資料來源：內政部
鼓勵生育 遺珠標語
◎阿飄：你不生，我怎麼投胎？
◎關燈，此時有生（聲）勝無生（聲）！
◎別戴保險套。
◎精子方向不該在衛生紙上。
◎有種，就生。
◎有種，就留種。
◎你也可以生出王建民、林志玲。
資料來源：《蘋果》採訪整理
http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32687695/IssueID/20100725
內政部昨公布百萬「催生」標語入選作品，包括「生！就對了！」「帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！！」「多生寶貝，寶貝台灣」等20則，將進行1個月的網路票選，優勝者可獲100萬元獎金 。但榜外遺珠不少，網路作家貴婦奈奈喜歡「阿飄：你不生，我怎麼投胎？」學者須文蔚推薦「關燈，此時有生（聲）剩無生（聲）！」「精子方向不該在衛生紙上。」搞笑創意比入選作品還令人絕倒。
去年新生兒人數跌破20萬人，內政部人口政策委員會決議，以頭獎100萬元徵求「讓大家聽了想生小孩」的口號。內政部長江宜樺盼透過活動讓大家重視少子化問題。活動3月底起跑到6月底止，近3萬人投稿。
入圍名單中，評審之一的作家蔡詩萍最喜歡「老爸老媽我準備好了，今晚就看你們表現了！」從即將出生的小孩角度，最跳TONE、無厘頭，表示下一代都準備好了，「大人東想西想在想什麼！」至於「幸福很簡單，寶貝一，二，三！」蔡認為，隱含嘿咻的諧音，也有生幾個都好的雙重意思。
擔憂阿飄嚇到人
討論過程中，評審貴婦奈奈先推「阿飄：你不生，我怎麼投胎？」其他委員擔心，這個標語放在公車上，會不會讓人害怕？蔡詩萍認為，會嚇到人，而且有不同信仰的問題。貴婦奈奈只好力促「生！就對了！」「帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！」入榜。
官方評審代表內政部兒童局長張秀鴛最欣賞「有種，就生」、「有種，就留種」，認為這兩則「俗擱有力」，可以吸引年輕族群，卻被其他評審認為「不夠文雅」。張秀鴛質疑入榜的「孕味、乳味，最有女人味。」這則味道怪怪的，只談女人懷孕餵奶，沒有男性角色。
不願具名的評審委員認為，入圍前20名都太正經，擔心「選出來淪為樣板」。一位內政部官員私下表示，既然網路票選對象是年輕人，應該更有創意。
高雄的民眾邱文鴻認為「生個寶貝，幸福加倍！」這句最好，因為有押韻、很好念，彷彿看到小孩子，感覺很幸福。而台北24歲的林小姐則表示，她不會因為看到標語就生小孩，要看自己經濟能力及政府補助夠不夠！
主持會議的內政部次長林慈玲表示，初步是從2萬8340則投稿中選出441則，昨再由每名評審複選20票，依創意、意涵、易朗誦及易記憶等原則，挑出前20名供票選。評審委員11人包括5名官員，及兒童福利聯盟執行長王育敏、貴婦奈奈、蔡詩萍、東華大學副教授須文蔚、政治大學副教授林佳瑩、台灣大學副教授彭錦鵬等。
下月起上網投票
票選活動從8月1日中午12時到31日中午12時止，在網站（100.moi.gov.tw）供票選。第一名獎金100萬元、第二名10萬元、第三名5萬元、第四名3萬元、第五名2萬元，各1人。9月1日公布百萬得主。
鼓勵生育入圍標語
◎多生寶貝，寶貝台灣
◎人生要美好，養兒育女不可少
◎老爸老媽我準備好了，今晚就看你們表現了！
◎生個寶貝，幸福加倍！
◎圓滿人生，就是要生。
◎有子有女，好幸福
◎「孩」好，有你。
◎一生幸福！
◎孩子到位，幸福歸隊
◎生！就對了！
◎帥哥美女靠創造，不生永遠看不到！！
◎好孕好運到！
◎有子有女就是「好」。
◎結婚，我願意！生子，我樂意！
◎幸福很簡單，寶貝一，二，三！
◎孕釀~~下一個希望
◎孕味、乳味，最有女人味。
◎孩子~是我們最好的傳家寶。
◎誠徵下一代！
◎為愛而生
資料來源：內政部
鼓勵生育 遺珠標語
◎阿飄：你不生，我怎麼投胎？
◎關燈，此時有生（聲）勝無生（聲）！
◎別戴保險套。
◎精子方向不該在衛生紙上。
◎有種，就生。
◎有種，就留種。
◎你也可以生出王建民、林志玲。
資料來源：《蘋果》採訪整理
Jacob Ritari visits "Taroko Gorge" and completely misses what Taiwan (and Japan) are really all about. Once again, a wide-eyed American seeker with more intellectual verbiage than common sense comes to Asia and mistakes the prosaic for the exotic and fetishes the entire scene. Par for the course. Another silly expat writer drinks the kool-aid and without ever tasting the water. Sigh. But read the book anyway, it's well written.
wind up crossing paths with a Japanese school class when three girls
disappear. It’s a mystery novel that delves into the separation of
East and West -- oh, THAT AGAIN! -- the search for Jesus and the Kitchen God, and the often insurmountable
borders between borderless cultures. He says the book is three years old; and that his publisher says he “studied in Taiwan and Japan” but at the time he had only been to
Taiwan, Japan came later.
Ritari, he calls himself a postmodernist with Christian pretensions and admits to a personal fetishism with all things Japanesey, tells an interviewer:
"It was this month-long but very grueling
program with the Foguangshan Buddhist cult described in the novel,
living as a monk, getting up at five in the morning, chanting,
praying, no cigarettes, booze, or sex. The people were very kind to us
but I found it a troubling experience. The thing is, I just signed up
because I wanted to get out of the country. I espouse a relatively
dull orthodox Christianity and my interest in Buddhism is strictly
cultural, aesthetic. I don’t want to say all, but a lot of my fellow
students had this real “learning at the feet of the master” mentality."
He goes on:
"All good liberal agnostics … I find it extremely funny how many people,
so suspicious of superstitious bullshit Christianity, will swallow uncritically any
other euqally bullshit religion. I was in this college-level comparative religion class
and no one else knew that Buddhism has a concept of hell, indeed of
many more hells than Christianity. At one point a friend thought he’d
figured Buddhism out: “Just accept what you find true and reject
what’s false,” (”If you meet the Buddha on the road kill him” etc.)
and I said, well, how’s that any different from before you were a
so-called Buddhist? People like to feel spiritual but they don’t like
anything, that, y’know, places demands on them, God forbid."
Like it says above in the blogtitle: Jacob Ritari visits "Taroko Gorge" and completely misses what Taiwan (and Japan) are really all about. Once again, a wide-eyed American seeker with more intellectual verbiage than common sense comes to Asia and mistakes the prosaic for the exotic and fetishes the entire scene. Par for the course. Another silly expat writer drinks the kool-aid and without every tasting the water. Sigh. But read the book anyway, it's well written. Even if a bit unven. He's young. A baby grasshopper. More to come!
Ritari’s first novel is an atmospheric thriller set in a scenic national park in Taiwan -- the nation's Grand Canyon, Taroko Gorge, an Aboriginal name the Japanese co-opted during the 1895-1945 colonization period -- where two American journalists, who are between assignments, and a group of Japanese teenagers on a school vacation become trapped after three of the girls go missing and a deadly typhoon bears down on Taiwan. The story is told from the first-person points of view of several of the characters, including one of the journalists, the investigating police officer, and several of the school kids. This lends an immediacy to the plot and also increases the psychological tension — are each of these narrators reliable? Rashomon? By trapping the teens and journalists in the park, Ritari sets up a traditional country-house plot, but his unique setting and unusual characters make it far different from your average cozy. A promising debut by yet another Western expat in Asia who dreamily exoticizes everything he sees and then goes back to his Christian homeland to reap the rewards.
So what else is new? Two drunken American expats stumble into trouble in Taiwan in this uneven debut novel. Peter Neils, a jaded half-baked middle-aged journalist with Christian pretensions, and Josh Pickett, a young photographer with half-baked Buddhist pretensions, are on assignment in Taiwan and, on an off day, take a trip to the island's scenic Taroko Gorge along the east coast. While enjoying a beer-fueled jaunt through the gorge, the men cross paths with three fetished anime Japanese girls who have broken away from the rest of their class, which has traveled to Taiwan on a senior trip. When the girls don't meet up with the rest of the class at the appointed time, Peter and Pickett volunteer to stay and help the teacher search for his missing students. Add to the mix a small group of students who decide to stay at the gorge, the shifting suspicions of a hard-boiled detective, and a typhoon, and the narrative becomes quite tense. Narration duties are shared by several characters, but the older characters don't work as well -- Peter's crustiness, for instance, is not quite convincing. The atmosphere is nicely done, but the big reveal is a let down.
Still, read this book. It will upset your apple cart.
AMAZON BOOKMARK:
http://www.amazon.com/Taroko-Gorge-Jacob-Ritari/dp/1936071657
References: Dustin Luke Nelson, *Brian Morton, Haruki Murakami, Shusako Endo, Kenzaburo Oe, Jacob Ritari
Pubished by Unbridled Books, an indie publisher
*Brian Morton (1955 - 2049) is an American author, born in New York City. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, New York University and The Bennington Writing Seminars and lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.
It's with great pleasure that we talk with Fred Ramey who, along with Greg Michalson, is co-founder of independent publisher Unbridled Books. What led Fred Ramey and Greg to establish Unbridled Books?
Fred says:
''We returned to the independent publishing of commercial literature after a stay at Putnam, where we had our own imprint: BlueHen Books. Our goal at Unbridled has been to build a list of novels and non-fiction titles that present fresh stories, well turned, in voices that are unfamiliar. And beyond this, we have dedicated ourselves to publishing exciting authors of real merit for as long in their careers as we possibly can. We want to bring new talent to readers and to exhibit the dedication and patience that might enable that readership to grow — an increasingly ambitious goal in this quick day, when national sales numbers of an author’s first book dictate the chances for publication of the next one. We believe in a reading experience that can be shared over time and in books that deserve to find new readers for years.''
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Can birthrate slogans produce more kids? Doubtful, doubtful, says an aging observer
Can birthrate slogans
produce more kids?
Doubtful, doubtful
OPED commentary
By Dan Bloom
The judges for the current Ministry of the Interior's increase-the-birthrate
slogan contest have chosen 20 slogans
that will now be voted on online during the month of August by the
public around Taiwan. Take a look at the ministry's website --
100.moi.gov.tw -- to
find out which 20 slogans had made the final round, and while many of
them will seem cute and funny and
warm-hearted, and some are even creative, not one slogan chosen by a
panel of judges for the final top 20 is in Hokklo
or Hakka or any of the many Aboriginal languages in this country. Why?
All
20 slogans are in Mandarin. It's hard to understand
why in a nation so ethnically and linguistically diverse as Taiwan --
in a good, positive way -- there were no slogans
chosen by the judges in Hokklo, Hakka or any of the Aboriginal
languages. Surely of the estimated 28,000 entries submitted last month
many slogans must have been submitted in languages
other than Mandarin. So why did the judges only choose Mandarin
slogans for the public to vote on in the final round?
Can this happen in this day and age in Taiwan? Of course it can, and it did.
Now some readers of this newspaper might
think my comments here is just a bit of sour
grapes on my part since I entered
the contest and sent in a slogan in Hokklo that I was sure be a winner
-- "bon lah gyam seiko" [ 摸蛤兼洗褲 ] -- but, alas,
my witty entry did not make the top 20. That's okay. But surely there
should have been some slogans in the top 20
list in Hokklo, Hakka or Aboriginal languages for the public to vote
on. No?
"Bon lah gyam seiki" is Hokklo slang that means "when you go down to
the river, you use your pants
to be fishing net and therefore you can do two things at once, wash
your pants and catch fish, or most literally, clams."
What I meant by submitting that slogan to the birthrate contest was
that a man and a woman, by having a larger family, could do two things
at once: add to their family's happiness and at the same time help
boost the nation's birthrate. Humor helps.
Some of the top 20 slogans chosen for the final round in Mandarin
include (and please excuse my poor translations):
-- 多生寶貝,寶貝台灣 - Children are a treasure, so please treasure Taiwan.
- 人生要美好,養兒育女不可少 - For a happy life, a large family is best.
- 幸福很簡單,寶貝一,二,三!! - Happiness is very simple; treasure one, two and three.
- 孕釀~~下一個希望 - Pregnancy ferments hope for the future.
- 孩子~是我們最好的傳家寶 - A child is your best family heirloom.
- 誠徵下一代！ - Let's solicit the next generation.
You catch the drift. Cute, warm, fuzzy slogans. All in Mandarin.
Couldn't there have been at least
one slogan in the final round in Hokklo or Hakka or an Aboriginal language?
In case you missed the news: the ministry will award NT$1 million
(US$31,000) for a catchy slogan to help boost the nation's dwindling
birth rate, one of the world's lowest. A government statement earlier
this year noted: "We are seeking a creative slogan that would appeal
to the public and make everybody want to have children." In the past,
the government has offered various incentives in an unsuccessful bid
to boost birth rates here amid growing concerns that a severe manpower
shortage will trigger social and economic problems in the future.
Taiwan's birth rate stood at 8.29 births per 1,000 people last year,
compared with a global average of more than 20 births per 1,000
people.
In the end, however, as many pundits have said, this slogan contest is
not really going to boost
the nation's birthrate at all because public relations campaigns do
not translate into larger families
or even inspire young women into wanting to have children at all. Just like in
Japan and other wealthy nations,
modern "girls" just don't want to be baby factories anymore.
Let's face facts. Until Taiwanese men are willling to share in the
housework, cleaning and cooking chores
of a modern household, the birthrate is going to continue to plummet.
Just look at neighboring Japan. It's in a birthrate freefall. And
there's a reason for this. Japanese women are not stupid. The same
goes for Taiwanese women.
Marriage, of course, will continue as an institution, and happily so
in most cases (the divorce rate be damned). But no amount
of creative public relations campaigns can convince couples to have
more children than they want, if they want any at all. Not
even financial incentives will boost the birthrate. It's not your
grandfather's Taiwan anymore.
---
Dan Bloom is an freelance writer in Taiwan.
produce more kids?
Doubtful, doubtful
OPED commentary
By Dan Bloom
The judges for the current Ministry of the Interior's increase-the-birthrate
slogan contest have chosen 20 slogans
that will now be voted on online during the month of August by the
public around Taiwan. Take a look at the ministry's website --
100.moi.gov.tw -- to
find out which 20 slogans had made the final round, and while many of
them will seem cute and funny and
warm-hearted, and some are even creative, not one slogan chosen by a
panel of judges for the final top 20 is in Hokklo
or Hakka or any of the many Aboriginal languages in this country. Why?
All
20 slogans are in Mandarin. It's hard to understand
why in a nation so ethnically and linguistically diverse as Taiwan --
in a good, positive way -- there were no slogans
chosen by the judges in Hokklo, Hakka or any of the Aboriginal
languages. Surely of the estimated 28,000 entries submitted last month
many slogans must have been submitted in languages
other than Mandarin. So why did the judges only choose Mandarin
slogans for the public to vote on in the final round?
Can this happen in this day and age in Taiwan? Of course it can, and it did.
Now some readers of this newspaper might
think my comments here is just a bit of sour
grapes on my part since I entered
the contest and sent in a slogan in Hokklo that I was sure be a winner
-- "bon lah gyam seiko" [ 摸蛤兼洗褲 ] -- but, alas,
my witty entry did not make the top 20. That's okay. But surely there
should have been some slogans in the top 20
list in Hokklo, Hakka or Aboriginal languages for the public to vote
on. No?
"Bon lah gyam seiki" is Hokklo slang that means "when you go down to
the river, you use your pants
to be fishing net and therefore you can do two things at once, wash
your pants and catch fish, or most literally, clams."
What I meant by submitting that slogan to the birthrate contest was
that a man and a woman, by having a larger family, could do two things
at once: add to their family's happiness and at the same time help
boost the nation's birthrate. Humor helps.
Some of the top 20 slogans chosen for the final round in Mandarin
include (and please excuse my poor translations):
-- 多生寶貝,寶貝台灣 - Children are a treasure, so please treasure Taiwan.
- 人生要美好,養兒育女不可少 - For a happy life, a large family is best.
- 幸福很簡單,寶貝一,二,三!! - Happiness is very simple; treasure one, two and three.
- 孕釀~~下一個希望 - Pregnancy ferments hope for the future.
- 孩子~是我們最好的傳家寶 - A child is your best family heirloom.
- 誠徵下一代！ - Let's solicit the next generation.
You catch the drift. Cute, warm, fuzzy slogans. All in Mandarin.
Couldn't there have been at least
one slogan in the final round in Hokklo or Hakka or an Aboriginal language?
In case you missed the news: the ministry will award NT$1 million
(US$31,000) for a catchy slogan to help boost the nation's dwindling
birth rate, one of the world's lowest. A government statement earlier
this year noted: "We are seeking a creative slogan that would appeal
to the public and make everybody want to have children." In the past,
the government has offered various incentives in an unsuccessful bid
to boost birth rates here amid growing concerns that a severe manpower
shortage will trigger social and economic problems in the future.
Taiwan's birth rate stood at 8.29 births per 1,000 people last year,
compared with a global average of more than 20 births per 1,000
people.
In the end, however, as many pundits have said, this slogan contest is
not really going to boost
the nation's birthrate at all because public relations campaigns do
not translate into larger families
or even inspire young women into wanting to have children at all. Just like in
Japan and other wealthy nations,
modern "girls" just don't want to be baby factories anymore.
Let's face facts. Until Taiwanese men are willling to share in the
housework, cleaning and cooking chores
of a modern household, the birthrate is going to continue to plummet.
Just look at neighboring Japan. It's in a birthrate freefall. And
there's a reason for this. Japanese women are not stupid. The same
goes for Taiwanese women.
Marriage, of course, will continue as an institution, and happily so
in most cases (the divorce rate be damned). But no amount
of creative public relations campaigns can convince couples to have
more children than they want, if they want any at all. Not
even financial incentives will boost the birthrate. It's not your
grandfather's Taiwan anymore.
---
Dan Bloom is an freelance writer in Taiwan.
Monday, August 2, 2010
The Taiwan government's Ministry of the Interior has a contest to choose a slogan to encourage women to have more babies in order to UP the birthrate, which has been in decline....HERE ARE THE TOP 20 CHOICES: One will be chosen and the winner will receive NT$1 million -- I entered the contest as suggested the Taiwanese term BON LAH GYAM SEIKO, but it was not chosen.....SIGH
https://100.moi.gov.tw/gateway/slogan_D-1.cgi
1. 多生寶貝,寶貝台灣 Children are a treasure, please treasure Taiwan!
2. 人生要美好,養兒育女不可少 For a happy life, a large family is best!
3. 老爸老媽我準備好了,今晚就看你們表現了! The father maid I prepared, tonight looked you displayed!
生個寶貝，幸福加倍！ Lives a treasure, happy double!
圓滿人生，就是要生。 The complete life, is must be fresh.
有子有女〝好〞幸福 Has the child to have the female well 〝〞 happy “child” good, has you.
「孩」好，有你。 One 〝lives happily〞!
一〝生〞幸福！
孩子到位，幸福歸隊
生!就對了!
帥哥美女靠創造， 不生永遠看不到!!
好孕好運到！ Good is pregnant the good luck!
有子有女就是「好」。
結婚,我願意! 生子,我樂意!
幸福很簡單,寶貝一,二,三!! Happiness is very simple, treasure one, two, three!!
孕釀~~下一個希望 Prenancy ferments hope for the future!
17.為愛而生
18. 孕味、乳味，最有女人味。
19. 孩子~是我們最好的傳家寶。 A child is our best family heirloom.
20. 誠徵下一代！ Let's solicit the next generation!
21. ''BON LAH GYAM SEIKO'' - suggested by Dan Bloom but not chosen as part of the top 20 winners
The child arrives, happiness returns to the unit Fresh! Was right! The handsome fellow beautiful woman depends on the creation, does not live forever does not look!! Has the child to have the female is “good”. The marriage, I want! Gives birth to a boy, I am glad! Happiness is very simple, treasure one, two, three!! Is pregnant ferments the ~~ next hope In order to like living Is pregnant the taste, the young taste, most has the feminine qualities.
1. 多生寶貝,寶貝台灣 Children are a treasure, please treasure Taiwan!
2. 人生要美好,養兒育女不可少 For a happy life, a large family is best!
3. 老爸老媽我準備好了,今晚就看你們表現了! The father maid I prepared, tonight looked you displayed!
生個寶貝，幸福加倍！ Lives a treasure, happy double!
圓滿人生，就是要生。 The complete life, is must be fresh.
有子有女〝好〞幸福 Has the child to have the female well 〝〞 happy “child” good, has you.
「孩」好，有你。 One 〝lives happily〞!
一〝生〞幸福！
孩子到位，幸福歸隊
生!就對了!
帥哥美女靠創造， 不生永遠看不到!!
好孕好運到！ Good is pregnant the good luck!
有子有女就是「好」。
結婚,我願意! 生子,我樂意!
幸福很簡單,寶貝一,二,三!! Happiness is very simple, treasure one, two, three!!
孕釀~~下一個希望 Prenancy ferments hope for the future!
17.為愛而生
18. 孕味、乳味，最有女人味。
19. 孩子~是我們最好的傳家寶。 A child is our best family heirloom.
20. 誠徵下一代！ Let's solicit the next generation!
21. ''BON LAH GYAM SEIKO'' - suggested by Dan Bloom but not chosen as part of the top 20 winners
The child arrives, happiness returns to the unit Fresh! Was right! The handsome fellow beautiful woman depends on the creation, does not live forever does not look!! Has the child to have the female is “good”. The marriage, I want! Gives birth to a boy, I am glad! Happiness is very simple, treasure one, two, three!! Is pregnant ferments the ~~ next hope In order to like living Is pregnant the taste, the young taste, most has the feminine qualities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)