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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 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 asTaiwan 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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