Over the course of the past fifty years, Taiwan's people have enjoyed the benefits of an increasingly prosperous economy. However, various forms of pollution have also greatly reduced Taiwan's quality of life. While many foreign reports have dubbed Taiwan's success the "Taiwan Miracle," Taiwan's quality of life still has much room for improve ment.
In the past 50 years, Taiwan has experienced tremendous economic development. The per capita income increased from about US$140 in 1949 to today's US$13,200. Citizens here have enjoyed an affluence unprecedented in Chinese history. However, the garbage problem and air and water pollution have become so serious that in 1995 the German magazine Der Spiegel referred to Taiwan as a Schweinestall ("pigsty"). Taiwan's quality of life in the past decades seems to lag far behind its economic development, and is by no means a miracle. But how is quality to be measured?
Since Taiwan's first economic plan was carried out in the 1950s, the economy has been gradually transformed from one based on agriculture to one based on technology and manufacturing. By 1987, the ROC's foreign exchange reserves had exceeded US$70 billion. The gross national product (GNP) reached US$284.8 billion in 1997, and was ranked eighteenth in the world. Taiwan's rapid economic development has brought its society a higher standards of living.
"From indicators like less expenditure on food, shorter working time, and longer life expectancy and more education, one can clearly see Taiwan's advances," says Professor Chai Sunglin, founder of the Consumers' Foundation, a private organization for the protection of consumers' rights.
"As I know, many people in some underdeveloped nations spend almost 100 percent of their money on food--and they're still starving. Forty or 50 years ago Taiwan's people also spent about 75 percent of their money on food, with most of the rest going to pay medical bills. Nowadays, Taiwan's people spend less than 30 percent on food. This means people here have more to spend on entertainment and cultural activities."
Life expectancy, according to Chai, is also an important factor to consider when evaluating the improvement of living standards in Taiwan. "Life expectancy in some countries is shorter because of malnutrition and lack of medical facilities, as well as widespread contagious disease. People in Taiwan now enjoy a longer life expectancy than before--it's increased from about 58 years in 1952 to about 74 today. This indicates that public health in Taiwan is making progress," says Chai.
"On the average, Taiwan's people spent three years in school in 1949, and 60 percent of the population was illiterate. Now, the average length of education is 15 years," says Chai, adding that the literacy rate is over 94 percent. He remembers that when he graduated from elementary school in the mid-1940s, only a half-dozen of his classmates (including himself) were able to continue into junior high school. "Now, if people want to study, they have many opportunities to satisfy their wish," says Chai.
Chai also mentions that the amount of time people spend working is much less in Taiwan than it was. "Before, most people in Taiwan worked all day, every day. If we calculate by the number of hours in a year, people nowadays spend an average of about 25 percent of their time working, and have much more time for recreation."
Hsia Cheng-chung, director general of the Urban and Housing Development Department under the Council for Eco nomic Planning and Development, gives many examples to explain the difference between the past and the present, although she agrees that it is difficult to avoid generalizations. She thinks Taiwan has made tremendous progress in the past several years--whether in terms of food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, recreation or public health.
"Most families in the past were satisfied just to have enough rice to eat. Meat was seldom seen on the tables of ordinary families. However, nowadays, people have to go on diets to keep fit," Hsia says. On the subject of clothing, "people bought clothes only at Chinese New Year, and the main function of clothing was to keep warm. However, today's people buy clothes all year-round, and style, color and fashion have become the major considerations," says Hsia.
Hsia also mentions the progress Taiwan has made in housing issues. "People used to live in small rooms and share kitchens and bathrooms with the neighbors, but today people in Taiwan own bigger houses and enjoy many convenient 'creature comforts.'"
Progress in the area of Taiwan's transportation systems has also been especially fast, according to Hsia. "In the early days, transportation was very inconvenient. When people studied or worked in other cities, they didn't always have the opportunity to go home when they wanted to," says Hsia. Hsia's own experience as a young person was typical of many. "It took at least one day to travel from Taipei to Taichung, where my family lived. So when I graduated from high school and left home for further study in Taipei, I had a long cry because I didn't know when I would come back again," says Hsia. Today, people fly from Taichung to Taipei every day in about half an hour.
Hsia shares Professor Chai's opinion about education in Taiwan. She mentions that not many people in the past had the chance to study; today, more than 50 percent of the population has graduated from at least high school. "Various educational organizations like the open universities, community universities, and other private educational organizations offer people more opportunities than ever to study," says Hsia.
Hsia also admires the fact that today's people have more outlets for entertainment and recreation. "We didn't have much time or money to spend on recreation before. People were more than happy if they could just go to the movies. And if people had the chance to travel by airplane, it was considered a big event," says Hsia. She remembers that people used to get all dressed up when they took an airplane just as if they were attending a formal party; now, various entertainment options are available, and going abroad has become common.
Medical facilities have also improved greatly in Taiwan. "The number of beds per 10,000 people has increased from 3.35 in 1954 to 55.7 in 1997, while the number of physicians per 10,000 people has increased from 6.43 in 1954 to 13.3 in 1997. And almost all citizens in Taiwan have national health insurance," says Hsia.
For the past 50 years, citizens' living conditions have greatly improved in many ways; however, this doesn't necessarily mean that the quality of life has improved as well. The indicators for judging a country's life quality include economic and environmental situations, education, culture and recreation, social welfare, medical facilities, and public order. Taiwan has made certain gains in these areas during the past 50 years; but pollution is getting worse, and it is considered the major factor for the fall in the quality of life in Taiwan.
"Water and air pollution can cause cancer and respiratory problems, while noisy and overcrowded environments can lead to mental illness. Research suggests that noisy and overcrowded spaces make people violent, and this may result in crime and social problems," says Hsia. "I believe that the rise or fall of Taiwan's life quality will be based on how we improve our living environment."
Lin Kuei-yin, president of the Homemakers' Union and Foundation, agrees that if Taiwan wants to improve its quality of life, environmental protection should be a priority. "If the pollution gets worse here, no matter how much money we spend on medical services, the quality of life won't improve significantly because people will continue to suffer from various dis eases," says Lin.
How serious are Taiwan's environmental problems? The question is related to Taiwan's population density. Based on a 1998 report from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Taiwan's population is 21.82 million, with the popu lation density at over 1,500 people per square mile--22 times as large as the population density of the United States. The number of manufacturing companies was 157,000 and the density was 11.4 companies per square mile, which was 12 times that of the US. Also, the number of vehicles was 15.77 million, including 5.35 million cars and 10.42 million motorcycles, yielding a density of 1,134 vehicles per square mile--18 times that of the US.
A higher population density means a higher concentration of garbage. According to an EPA report, the total amount of garbage in Taiwan in 1996 was 8.6 million tons. This means that each person produced over 2.5 pounds of garbage a day, an amount similar to that for the citizens of OECD member-countries. A significant number of Taiwan's cities have long suf fered from not knowing where to take their garbage. News of "garbage wars" in various cities and counties often appears in the media.
The large number of private automobiles and high density of industries mean greater amounts of exhaust, which have resulted in chronic and unhealthy levels of air pollution. Factories using and generating pathogenic materials are finding it difficult to handle these hazardous wastes. Tsai Hsung-hsiung, administrator of the EPA, admits that hazardous waste is a serious problem in Taiwan.
"As the EPA administrator, I feel as if I'm perched on the edge of a dormant volcano. At some point I may feel a need to step down from this position [as a gesture of responsibility]. In the past 30 years, hazardous industrial waste has been disposed of randomly. Since the EPA was established in 1987, we have tried hard to find them and do something with them, but we haven't found all of them yet. I worry that these hazardous wastes might jeopardize citizens' health someday," says Tsai Hsung-hsiung.
Water pollution is another problem that has greatly reduced the quality of life. Many of Taiwan's rivers and coastal waters are seriously polluted. Industrial, agricultural and residential wastewaters drain directly into rivers, seriously polluting the waters downstream. According to 1997 statistics from the EPA, 38 percent of Taiwan's primary rivers and 29.5 percent of its secondary rivers are polluted. Of 21 major rivers, 5 were seriously polluted. The Peikang River, which is more than 85 percent polluted, still tops the list. It is difficult to give a comprehensive comparative statistical framework, however, because the earliest figures date from around 1983--by which time Taiwan's pollution levels were already high.
Urban communities are major culprits in the pollution problem, mainly because of the island's failure to develop sewer and sewage-treatment facilities. According to the Construction and Planning Administration under the Ministry of the Inte rior, in 1998 most advanced nations had completed 95 percent of their sewage systems, while Taiwan had built just over 5 percent--far behind most East Asian countries, and some African countries. Even in Taipei, which started to build its sewer system in 1972, only 40 percent of the households have been connected. Kaohsiung, a city in southern Taiwan, has also built only 5.3 percent of its sewage system. And of 21 cities and counties on the island, nearly 15 cities and counties have no operable sewage-treatment facilities at all. Residents of these cities may have to buy drinking water from local stores.
"The acronym 'GNP' needs to be given another definition in Taiwan: 'Garbage, Noise and Pollution,'" says Charles H.C. Kao, founder and president of Commonwealth Publishing, who also established a foundation to promote Taiwan's quality of life. "Our per capita income has exceeded US$13,000 and is ranked 23rd to 25th in the world. Taiwan can be called a high-earning and advanced country. However, the pollution is so serious that people here would be embarrassed to call themselves a modern nation." Kao believes it is time for Taiwan's people to pay attention to living quality.
People like Kao with strong intentions to improve the quality of life in Taiwan are already becoming numerous. The general public has also sensed the importance of environmental protection. "I think the public is more willing to sacrifice something in exchange for a better environment. Before, if people wanted to dump their trash, they just tossed it into great heaps on the street. That made Taipei's streets dirty and smelly. However, since the policy of 'no garbage touching the ground' was carried out in 1997, people have had to wait for garbage trucks to collect their trash at a specific time. This method is less convenient for people, but I've never heard any complaints," says Chai Sunglin.
Tsai Hsung-hsiung, the EPA administrator, has the same feeling. "The general public here is getting more concerned about the environment. They don't keep quiet anymore when they hear about some industry threatening their living environ ment. This trend has also forced industries to upgrade their equipment to reduce the pollution," says Tsai. "I'm happy to hear that many chemical factories have greatly reduced their pollution. Some of them have even won awards for their remarkable improvements."
Support from the general public has also helped the government make the work of environmental protection smoother. "Before, when we wanted to punish the polluting industries, some commercial unions often complained to us. Pressure from these groups sometimes did put me on the spot. However, the work of environmental protection is easier now because environmental protection is viewed as a priority," says Tsai Hsung-hsiung. Hence, in recent years, some concrete achieve ments in environmental protection have also been made.
"Air pollution has been reduced greatly now. The PSI reading in Taipei is almost in line with the international standard. The days of 100-plus PSI readings, considered bad air quality, have also been reduced from 20 percent to 8 percent a year in Kaohsiung. And the garbage problem will be greatly alleviated after the project to build 21 incinerators is completed in the year 2002."
The Executive Yuan has organized a plan to address the problem of water pollution. It plans to establish sewage systems in the 12 most polluted areas, which are home to more than 12 million people. This NT$43.1 billion (US$1.3 billion) project hopes to bring the habitants in these areas fresh drinking water in 7 years' time.
Even though the ROC government has taken steps to integrate a concern for the quality of life with economic develop ment, more than a few people think the government's efforts in this area are less than adequate.
"What the central government has in mind is quite different from what the general public has in mind. The public cares more about their living environment, public order and transportation; however, the government pays more attention to for eign affairs and revising the Constitution," says Charles H.C. Kao. "If we compare ourselves now with ourselves then, we could say that we have made tremendous progress over the past decades. But if we compare ourselves with other modern countries with similar per capita incomes, then it's clear that in every possible respect, Taiwan is far behind."
Kao does speak for many people when he says that "besides the high foreign reserves and high domestic savings, we lack the features of a modern society. We don't have clean air and water, orderly traffic, quiet residential areas, or well -arranged sewage facilities. When will we finally have all these?"