Unfortunately, traditional Chinese attitudes toward the handicapped further restricted the opportunities these people had to become active and productive members of society. Handicapped people were often viewed, even by their own families, as an embarrassment, and society saw them as burdens to the community. As a result, they were generally kept far away from mainstream activities. Little was left for the handicapped to do as adults except sell chewing gum and lottery tickets on the streets or beg for assistance.
But Taiwan's modernization and greater exposure to the standards of developed societies is starting to bring about some adjustments to traditional attitudes about people with physical and mental disabilities. The result is a gradual understanding and acceptance of the handicapped as part of society. Besides the government programs now in place to serve the needs of handicapped people, private welfare agencies are also playing an important role in helping them secure active roles in the community.
One of these private organizations is the Eden Welfare Foundation for the Handicapped. Established in 1982 with financial support from the Christian community, Eden provides the handicapped with vocational training, job placement services, help in setting up businesses or farms, psychotherapy, and recreational and social activities. The organization has been vocal and persistent in promoting the rights of handicapped people.
To learn more about the Eden Foundation, FCR interviewed Chen Chiun-liang, Eden's secretary-general. Chen is also the executive director of the Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation, which serves facially deformed people, and he works with the Genesis Foundation, which cares for people who are comatose or completely paralyzed, and the Home of Victory, a rehabilitation center for paraplegics.
FCR: Why do organizations serving the welfare of the handicapped complain so much about the government's social welfare policy?
Chen: First of all, you must understand that we do not complain for the sake of complaining. Since 1970, when the original Law on Welfare for the Handicapped was approved by the Legislative Yuan, we have deeply felt that the act has been useless in helping the handicapped. Offering them a 50 percent discount on bus fares is well and good, but it amounts to very little in helping them cope with the problems confronting them.
Right after the act was passed, we and other welfare groups for the handicapped appealed to the Legislative Yuan to classify facially deformed people as handicapped. We asked if they could be included in the act so that they also would be entitled to government help. The answer was no. So Eden decided that on its own it would take care of the welfare of the facially deformed. So nine years ago we established the Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation. [The 1990 Law on Welfare for the Handicapped, which updates the old law, now includes the facially deformed in its provisions.]
FCR: Can you give examples of government neglect of the handicapped?
Chen: One of the worst cases happened two years ago. The government suddenly announced that it would stop the Patriotism Sweepstakes [a national lottery]. Many peddlers of the sweepstakes tickets, most of whom were handicapped, lost their only means of livelihood. So we petitioned the Legislative Yuan to adopt some measure that would help pull these peddlers out of their financial difficulties. Again, the answer was no.
So I went to some high-ranking government officials and pointed out that if veterans can receive US$740 from the government so that they can visit their hometowns and relatives on the mainland, then the handicapped sweepstakes peddlers are entitled to a subsidy of the same amount. The veterans are not going to die if they don't take the trip, but the handicapped will if they do not have the money to buy food. But I failed. I asked the government officials, "Do we have to make this a political issue? Should handicapped citizens go to the streets so that they can be heard?" It seems to me that in our society only those who shout louder than the rest get what they want.
FCR: Should the government take full responsibility for the welfare of the handicapped?
Chen: In the past, the responsibility was shouldered by the families. But caring for a handicapped person is a heavy burden—financially, physically, and spiritually—especially when the handicapped person is a source of embarrassment for the family. I don't mean that our government has the irrevocable duty to take care of mentally and physically handicapped citizens. But when I think of how prosperous our society has become and how the healthy people out there have been enjoying the good life, I start thinking of the many things the government can do for the handicapped people who are deprived of the right to share in our economic achievements.
As of June this year, Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves totaled US$63 billion, one of the highest in the world. It seems to me that the government has the means to improve its social welfare policy. Unfortunately, even up till now, the government budget allocation for all social welfare programs is less than 1 per cent of the country's total budget.
In most advanced countries, social welfare policy is considered a significant part of national politics, and they have implemented very good social welfare policies. But in Taiwan, social welfare is probably the last on the list. According to the "Principle of Livelihood" [one of the Three Principles of the People written by Sun Yat-sen] the weak and the less able are entitled to government protection. But in today's society, the weak have become the prey of the strong. What's more, protecting the weak has become secondary to politics, economics, finance, and whatever else. Perhaps it is time for our government to rethink its spending on national defense and its spending on social welfare. Are the allocations reasonable?
Disabilities no barrier to the mind—teacher and students in an Eden Foundation art design class focus on creative work, not on their physical restrictions.
FCR: But hasn't the government been trying to improve social welfare programs?
Chen: What I just said does not mean our government is not doing anything to help the handicapped. Recently, the Legislative Yuan passed a bill to spend US$7.4 million to reconstruct within five years all the sidewalks in Taipei so that they can be better negotiated by the handicapped. Chungshan South Road has been chosen as a model of an obstacle-free street. Another US$4.4 million will go to building facilities for the handicapped in fifty-two buildings, among them city hospitals, libraries, government offices, and community health centers in Taipei City.
We are also looking forward to the enforcement of a handicapped employment quota. The idea is that there should be at least one handicapped person out of every fifty employees in a state-run enterprise, and one out of every 100 in a private company. The Legislative Yuan has included this provision in the revised Law on Welfare for the Handicapped, and it will be enforced throughout the island. I have also heard that soon there will be a medical insurance policy for the handicapped.
FCR: What all these developments say is that handicapped people with less severe problems will benefit more from the programs. What happens then to those people who are seriously handicapped?
Chen: That is a good question. As soon as the government promised to spend US$59.3 million for social welfare programs in 1991, we approached them with our ideas about solutions to the employment problems of the handicapped. We hope the government will help set up small-sized, family-style rehabilitation centers in twenty cities throughout the island. Each center will accommodate only fifty handicapped people, and aside from providing physical therapy, the centers will also give training in vocational skills.
The program will start with handicapped people whose physical problems are less severe. It would be easier to train them and to help them become independent and productive members of society. Indirectly, the program will help reduce the social costs of caring for the handicapped, and also increase taxable income. Then the government will have more money for its social welfare programs, including care for the seriously handicapped.
FCR: How are the handicapped doing in the present job market?
Chen: First of all, most handicapped people do not receive enough education or training. Therefore, it is harder for them to get a job than for anyone else. Second, when they do get jobs, they are faced with transportation and mobility problems. These include what to non-handicapped people are simple things, like taking a bus, going to the bathroom, and so on. They would be lucky if they could find a job in a company with facilities specially designed for handicapped staff. That hasn't happened yet in Taiwan. There are many stories about handicapped people losing their jobs. The worst part of it is that people in our society are prejudiced against the handicapped and underrate their capabilities. People on wheelchairs can have healthy hands and minds, and can be better workers than people with healthy legs.
FCR: It would be difficult for social welfare organizations to rely only on the government for financial support because of its limited budget for social welfare. What about support from society?
Chen: Actually, for many, many years now, society has been the main source of financial support for organizations for the handicapped. In addition, it has become almost a tradition for religious groups, especially the Catholic and Buddhist organizations, to be the major financial forces behind this so-called "pitiful industry."
Eden constantly receives small donations from people from all walks of life. Last year we did a survey on the total amount of small donations, under US$75 received by welfare organizations. Eden received the most from the general public. We also receive substantial donations from big corporations, but their contribution seems small compared to their income.
FCR: How much in donations do you receive each year?
Chen: We receive a total of US$1.5 million in public donations and government grants. We have eighty people working at Eden, and the payroll amounts to US$55,000 per month. When civil servants were recently granted a 13 percent raise, we were forced to do the same. So more than half of the money we receive is used for staff salaries.
Most people don't understand that the money goes to other things besides physical facilities. We hire people to help the handicapped, and they have to be paid. After all, social welfare is a kind of service industry, and we have to pay for the services we receive. We pay the teachers who train the handicapped in various skills. The handicapped themselves do not pay for the programs.
Chen Chiun-liang—"People in wheelchairs can have healthy hands and minds, and can be better workers than people with healthy legs."
FCR: Suppose the government allocates enough money to carry out an extensive social welfare policy, do we have qualified people to work on social welfare programs?
Chen: I don't think that's a big problem. As far as I know, the government has been sending people abroad to observe and learn how other countries deal with their social welfare problems. People in local welfare organizations such as Eden also go to advanced countries for training. In Taiwan, we have scholars who specialize in social welfare issues. They can help with organizing or planning polices and programs. I also know there are many handicapped people who have gone to the U.S. to study social welfare and medical care for the handicapped. When they come back to Taiwan, their knowledge and training will be very helpful to their fellow handicapped.
So finding human resources is not a problem. The problem, I think, is whether the government knows how to best use these people. Every year a lot of social welfare or physical therapy graduates fail to find jobs related to their area of study. Besides, the salaries are low, so there is no motivation for these graduates to do social work or physical therapy.
The other problem lies in our medical system for the handicapped. In advanced countries, psychotherapy is an important part of their medical treatment. The handicapped need help with their emotional problems. They need emotional support and encouragement so that they can cope with their difficulties and limits. But most of our rehabilitation centers do not offer this service. Also, in any well-organized hospital, a medical doctor is not a physical therapist. Here, medical doctors are expected to be authorities on physical therapy as well.
If the government genuinely wants to do a good job with its social welfare policy for the handicapped, the people who are in charge of the appropriate agencies should have professional knowledge of the field. Most of all, they must be committed to helping the handicapped.