Homeless and poor shunned by government but accepted by Christian organizations

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

3123 Edition

January 2-8, 2012

Headline News

Homeless and poor shunned by government but accepted by Christian organizations

Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong, Lin Yi-ying

Written by Lydia Ma

Organizations such as Working Poor Unite, Salvation Army, and Taiwan 
Association for Human Rights protested outside of the Legislative Yuan on 
December 24, 2011, by showing a clip taken a few days earlier, which captured 
Taipei Parks & Street Lights Office workers spraying water on homeless people 
at 11:00 p.m. using a high pressure water hose. The incident took place at 
Monga Park in Wanhua District of Taipei City on a cold winter’s night as 
homeless people settled inside the park for the night. It was clear from the 
clip that the workers had been ordered to banish homeless people from the area.

During that protest, officials from these organizations criticized government 
authorities for using such an inhumane method to sweep poor people out of sight 
and out of mind and urged them to stop immediately as it was immoral and 
useless in solving the problem of homelessness and poverty.

According to these organizations, homeless people have been stigmatized for too 
long in Taiwan, often labeled as lazy, scums, and villains. They are often 
blamed or suspected in public safety problems without a shred of evidence and 
this has become a widely accepted practice, a troubling indication that 
protection of human rights in Taiwan doesn’t extend to the homeless. This 
latest water spraying incident is a sign that poverty is a grave social problem 
that the incoming administration must face with wisdom and maturity.

Salvation Army Taiwan Headquarter Office spokesperson Rev. Kao Li-ming said he 
was shocked that Taiwanese government would treat homeless people in such an 
inhumane way, and especially under the watchful eyes of police officers. He 
added that similar incidents had taken place previously in the months leading 
up to the opening of Taipei International Flora Exposition in 2010.

Kao underscored that the Salvation Army had seen governments use similar 
underhanded and inhumane methods to solve problems before, but they occurred in 
third world countries. To see such incidents happen in a democratic country 
such as Taiwan as well is unthinkable and an indication of underlying misguided 
thinking.

Kao added that though he could sympathize with the concerns of Wanhua residents 
and their preoccupation with maintaining a good community image, treating 
homeless people in such an underhanded way posed a greater harm to community 
image, and even Taiwan’s international reputation. He warned Taipei City that 
water spraying homeless people to banish them from the streets of Taipei will 
tarnish Taiwan’s international reputation and give people the impression that 
Taiwanese society lacks empathy.

However, just as Taipei City Councilor Angela Wing lauded people who sprayed 
water on the homeless, a church in Taipei demonstrated a better and more loving 
alternative. Shuang-Lien Presbyterian Church elders and deacons set up a few 
tents near a plaza on Minsheng East Road and put out 30 tables to prepare a 
banquet for nearly 300 people of low-income families. These people came from 2 
nearby districts and 9 boroughs. 

Besides enjoying a year-end feast, these families also received a red envelope, 
fruits and canned, non-perishable food. Shuang-Lien Church hoped that these 
small gifts would help people experience the love of God through churches. 

The coordinator of this year-end banquet was the Church and Society Committee 
officer from Shuang-Lien Presbyterian Church, Hong Yu-hao. She said that it was 
her church’s custom to invite low-income families in the area to church for a 
banquet at this time of the year. 

Hong underscored that this event was made possible through the support and help 
of 9 borough directors and donations totaling NT$300,000 from church elders and 
members who wished to remain anonymous. 

Shuang-Lien Church also serves its surrounding communities by offering 
bursaries to struggling students, helping single-parent families, and visiting 
seniors living alone. Much of the church’s ministry is done in a low-key manner 
so as to follow the biblical command to serve in quietness and humility.

Hong emphasized that long-term unemployment and inflation had risen in the past 
few years under the Ma administration, keeping the national Misery Index high. 
She hoped that through Shuang-Lien Presbyterian Church’s example, other 
churches would be inspired to reach out to marginalized groups in society, 
including the homeless, so that they may experience God’s love and the warmth 
of Christian churches.

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