Taiwan Today

Taiwan could soon begin celebrating Children’s Day again, Jiang Yi-hua, minister of the Interior, said Feb. 24. Jiang told reporters that the Ministry of the Interior under the Executive Yuan is currently drafting a bill that would make Children’s Day, which falls on April 4, a national holiday. If the bill is successfully passed into law, Taiwan could begin observing Children’s Day next year. Jiang added that further intra-departmental meetings were needed before the MOI could decide whether to recommend that Women’s Day, which falls on March 8, become a national holiday as well. But sources said that the chances of such a motion passing were slim. When both weekends and holidays are counted, Taiwanese citizens enjoy 114 days off per year. In the future, this number will be adjusted slightly upwards to either 115 or 116, so that Taiwan will have the same number of days off per year as western nations. Most Asian nations have approximately 90 days off per year, according to the MOI. Japan, which has 121 days off, is an exception to this rule. According to Jiang, the MOI held a series of intra-departmental meetings last year during which it was agreed that Children’s Day would become a national holiday, and that Children’s Day and Women’s Day would be celebrated on separate occasions, rather than on the same day, as is currently the case. According to Lin Ching-chi, deputy director of the MOI’s Department of Civil Affairs, before 1991 only children and women, respectively, had Children’s Day and Women’s Day off. But then in consideration of the fact that parents often need to look after children when they have a day off, it was decided in 1991 that Women’s Day and Children’s Day would be celebrated jointly on April 4. This lasted until 2002, when Taiwan implemented a five-day work week. It was decided then that Women’s and Children’s Day would still be celebrated, but would no longer be a national holiday with the day off. Taiwan currently has 10 national holidays per year, including three holidays based on the Gregorian calendar—Founding Day (Jan. 1), Peace Memorial Day (Feb. 28) and National Day (Oct. 10)—and seven off days that are traditional festivals based on the lunar calendar: Lunar New Year’s Eve, the first three days of the Lunar New Year, Tomb Sweeping Day, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Moon Festival. (HZW)