Youths get expert advice on understanding issues of the day

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

      Taiwan Church News

      3051 Edition

      August 16~22, 2010

       

       

      Youths get expert advice on understanding issues of the day

       

      Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

      Written by Lydia Ma

      Photo by Chen Yi-hsuan

       

       



      Tainan Presbytery’s Dong-Ning Church Youth Fellowship invited 
Chen Shih-meng to speak to 

      youths about ECFA, politics, and the role of youths in 
contemporary society on August 14, 2010. 

       



      Chen’s credentials include former Presidential Office 
secretary-general and former Taipei 

      City deputy mayor, but he is also a member of Taipei East Gate 
Presbyterian Church.

       



      Chen divided his seminar into two segments. He spoke first 
about the implications of ECFA 

      by examining the political and the economic aspects of this 
treaty. Then, he moved on to 

      address how youths should respond to an ever-changing society.

       



      As a member of Taipei East Gate Presbyterian Church, Chen 
remarked that youths should 

      feel very proud about being a member of a PCT fellowship 
because this church cares deeply 

      about evangelism and social justice. He urged them to pursue 
excellence in their field, attend 

      and participate in at least one club or fellowship, seek out 
friends with similar aspirations, and embrace politics.

       



      Chen predicted that fallouts from ECFA will be increasingly 
felt as time goes by. He pointed 

      out that as Taiwan becomes increasingly dependent on China 
economically, it will find its 

      political autonomy challenged as well. He also quoted experts 
and journalists from other 

      countries who pointed out many clauses in ECFA that’d undermine 
Taiwan’s national sovereignty.

       



      Youths who attended Chen’s seminars were very passionate and 
engaging. They asked Chen 

      for his opinion on alternatives to ECFA. Chen replied the 
government could’ve enticed 

      Taiwanese businesses based in China to move back to Taiwan by 
changing Taiwan’s 

      investing environment. He also felt that the government 
could’ve pushed China to adopt 

      WTO’s dispute resolution model or waited for regional 
free-trade agreements to materialize instead.

       



      At the same time, Chen underscored, “Don’t believe that just 
because ECFA is a done deal 

      that it’s useless to do anything about it. In a democratic 
country and system, it’s still possible to 

      abolish ECFA,” Chen said with optimism. He believed that 
history had proven that 

      authoritarian regimes and attitudes would never last.

       



      Speaking on how youths should respond to this ever-changing 
society, Chen urged them to 

      stay engaged. He remarked that he’d visited various churches in 
the past and chose to join 

      PCT in the end because he noticed that only PCT was actively 
involved in social issues of the 

      day. He believes that God is a God of love who also cares about 
justice.

       



      Chen gave youths 3 suggestions during his seminar on youths 
living in an ever-changing 

      society. He first urged every youth to pursue excellence in a 
discipline and work hard to 

      achieve a personal goal in that field. 

       



      Second, he encouraged them to join an organization or club, 
such as a church fellowship, so 

      that they wouldn’t be striving alone and wouldn’t be easily 
defeated because they’d be joined 

      by other people who shared similar passions with them. 

       



      Finally, he urged youths not to shun politics. He explained 
that politics deeply affect the lives of 

      citizens and government policies determine the direction of a 
country’s course. Therefore, 

      people cannot leave politics in the hands of others, but must 
stay engaged and attuned to it if 

      they don’t want to become victims.

       



      According to Dong-Ning Church’s youth counselor, Lee 
Chen-chien, the church’s youth 

      fellowship organized this forum because it felt that youths 
needed to be equipped to face the 

      challenges of an ever-changing society. 

       



      Youth counselors hoped that through the expert advice of a 
Christian who’d been studying 

      social issues for a long time, youths would gain a better 
understanding of these issues and 

      what they could do in response. Chen Shih-meng’s background 
made him a perfect candidate 

      to speak with youths on these matters.

       



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