Learn Your Lessons, or Even the Angels Can't Help You

Learn Your Lessons, or Even the Angels Can't Help You
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
September 26, 2008

The Liu cabinet has been in office for over four months. As a result of the tainted milk incident, Minister of Health Lin Fang-yu has been forced to resign. He has become the first political appointee in the Ma/Liu administration to fall. Lin Fang-Yu is well respected in the medical community. But he should not stay on, and need not stay on. Lin Fang-yu is a man of virtue. But in troubled times, merely being a man of virtue is not enough. One must also be a man of ability. Lin Fang-Yu is a symbol of the beleaguered Liu cabinet. Merely being a man of virtue has already cost one ministry official his job. If Premier Liu Chao-hsuan cannot learn the necesssary lessons from his four months in office, then no one, no matter how powerful or wise, will be able to deal with the problems the administration faces.

The Liu cabinet asked a veteran minister to hold down the fort. He probably did not expect so many problems. The problems were so numerous, even an old hand couldn't cope. He forgot that since the change in ruling parties eight years ago, time is running short. The situation has changed drastically, and includes both external and internal factors. The public may make allowance for external factors. Examples of external factors include the financial turmoil caused by the subprime mortgage crisis, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crisis, the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and restructuring. Internal factors are not so easily forgiven. Examples of internal factors include hurricane and disaster relief and even something as basic as food quality management. These are problems that government agencies must be concerned about regardless of which party is in power.

Typhoon Kalmaegi inundated the entire island. Water Resources Agency Chief Chen Shen-hsien was blasted. He's lucky. He kept his job. Typhoon Sinlaku followed, and once again Taiwan was stricken. Bridges and roads collapsed. Secretary General Chen Chin-yuan of the Bureau of Highways was not as lucky. He was sacrificed. Was Chen Chin-yuan treated unfairly? Most unfair was the lack of a unified mechanism ever since the Lee Teng-hui regime eliminated the Taiwan Provincial Government. Agencies at the upper, middle and lower levels of government lacked a coherent structure. One section might be properly administered. But anything could go wrong with some other section. But nothing could be done about it. The Bureau of Highways was in charge. He had to solve the problem even though he couldn't solve the problem. When he couldn't solve the problem, he should have begged other agencies for assistance. But Chen Chin-yuan remained silent. He watched idly as President Ma and Premier Liu surveyed the disaster and faced angry disaster victims. Chen Chin-yuan said nothing. He has been blasted mercilessly, but has refused to budge. Is he implying the president should resign in his place?

Minister of Health Lin Fang-yu was working at the National Taiwan University Hospital when Premier Liu recruited him Minister of Health. He is a professional and a man of character. But Lin Fang-yu lacks finesse. He chooses his words poorly. He is modest and self-effacing. He lacked any forceful and coordinated response to the tainted milk crisis. The Department of Health is in charge of food quality management. The Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Standards is in charge of food inspection. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council are both in charge of food ingredients imported from Mainland China. What is there left for the Department of Health to do? Alas, the Minister of Health stands on the front line in the battle to protect peoples' lives and well-being. He must say what others fear to say. He must be the voice of the people. Lin Fang-yu's lack of finesse caused the tainted milk incident to get out of control. Lin Fang-yu had no choice but to resign.

The Republic of China is a civilized nation. What constitutes a civilized nation? A civilized nation is one in which people's lives and property are sacrosanct. The ROC's food sanitation management does not rank among the world's highest. But at least a certain level of business ethics prevails. No business would dare to allow tainted products to reach the market. For example when the tainted milk incident erupted, the King Car Group immediately sent samples to laboratories for testing, on the company's own initiative. As soon as the company became aware of a problem, it ordered a complete recall. When even businesses feel obligated to take such steps, where are the authorities? Government inspections are inadequate. The public has been forced to "Do It Yourself." Most outrageous of all, a product that failed the test could pass 24 hours later.

A major food quality management incident such as this should have forced government agencies to conduct comprehensive tests. Before they conduct any such tests, they must formulate a consistent set of safety standards. On the very first day, the government had a "zero tolerance" policy for melamine. The standard was so strict no industry passed. No one dared protest. All they could do was meekly remove their products from the shelves. What was the justification for such draconian standards? Why, because human lives were at stake. Who knew that 24 hours later, the standards would be relaxed. Products taken off the shelves the day before could be put back on the shelves the day after. Industries that had already apologized could hardly demand compensation from the government. A complete about face in only 24-hours. Government officials think only of the test data. They don't seem to appreciate that these dry numbers impact industry revenue, and even more importantly, consumer confidence.

When the Liu cabinet took office, it was touted as the "PhD cabinet." That was not necessarily a compliment. PhDs are often oblivious to the hardships suffered by ordinary folk. A group of academics toil away in the laboratories, accumulating quantitative knowledge. But their cold statistics cannot represent the value of even the humblest of human lives. Premier Liu was afraid to drink a cup of powdered milk prepared by an opposition legislator. When he did that, he had already alienated himself from the people. He did not seem to realize that the cup of milk he was afraid to drink was something people drink every morning of their lives. Four hours later, a committee within the Executive Yuan relaxed the test standards. Will this new standard put people at ease? We doubt it. As long as Premier Liu and other government officials are afraid to drink the same milk that the public drinks every day, whom among us can say "I trust the government?"

中時電子報
中國時報 　2008.09.26
再學不到教訓，神仙也救不成了！
中時社論

劉內閣上台四個月多，為了毒奶粉事件，衛生署長林芳郁書面請辭，成為馬劉政府第一位陣亡的政務官。林芳郁在醫界夙有名望，但是，不該留也不必留；林芳郁當 然是好人，但，亂世為官，只有一個「好」字還不夠，他還得有「能」。林芳郁只是目前危機重重的劉內閣一個縮影，行政院長劉兆玄若不能從四個月消耗一個部會 首長的經驗中習取教訓，坦白講，武功再高的聰明人，都擋不住政府必須面對與處理那些千頭萬緒的問題。

劉內閣請出老將壓陣，他大概沒想到怎麼可能有這麼多事，是經驗老到的部會首長無法處置的。他忘了，政黨輪替八年來，時間不可謂短，現實的變化不可謂不大， 這裡頭有外部因素，有內部因素，外部因素民眾勉強可諒解，諸如次貸、二房、雷曼兄弟宣告破產重整引發的各種金融風暴效應；內部因素很難理解，諸如風災與救 災，乃至最基本的食品管理，照正常都是不論政黨輪替與否，政府部門都應該關切的。

卡玫基颱風讓各地淹大水，水利署長陳伸賢被盯得滿頭包，他運氣好，被保住了；辛樂克颱風再來，還是全台災情，橋也斷了、路也塌了，公路總局長陳晉源沒陳伸 賢的命，被犧牲掉了，陳晉源被冤枉了嗎？真冤枉，因為政府事權自廢省以來從未統一，上、中、下游治理主管機關不一，治好了一段，隨便那一段沒治好，都可能 出事，但是，沒辦法，既為公路「總局」，不總其成也得總其成，至少他無法總其成時，得哀哀求告，要求其他單位配合或協助，陳晉源大氣沒吭一句，遑論他還讓 勘災總司令馬英九總統與劉揆，到了地方面對父老鄉親的責難，一句話都不知如何講起，挨罵到翻天，他不走人，難不成讓總統走人嗎？

林芳郁是劉揆從台大醫院請出馬的署長，專業、人品毫無問題，最大的問題是，林芳郁是個老實人，他不善言詞，為人謙沖，碰到中國毒奶粉這麼大的危機，無法強 勢統合。食品管理在衛生署、食品檢驗在經濟部標檢局，大陸食品原料進口在經濟部與陸委會，衛生署能說什麼？很抱歉，做為為人民生命健康把關的第一線部會首 長，不能說的話，他得在第一線為人民發聲，他的老實讓毒奶粉事件擴大蔓延到不可收拾，林芳郁也沒有第二條路走。

台灣，已經是個文明國家，什麼叫文明國家？人民的生命財產是最重要的事！台灣的食品衛生管理，不敢說是居先進國家之冠，至少基本的企業道德已經建立，沒有 那一個企業集團敢在讓人民入口下肚的產品中亂搞，最簡單的例子，金車食品在毒奶粉事件發生後，以最快時間主動送驗，發覺有問題即刻主動宣布全面下架，企業 主都有良心做這個事，請問主管機關何在？政府單位檢驗不及，要民眾ＤＩＹ，更離譜的是，檢驗標準可以廿四小時來個天翻地覆的大變化，從不合格轉為合格。

發生這麼大的食品管理事件，政府機關本來就應該全面檢驗，全面檢驗前就應該有一個一致、公平、且安全的標準，第一天政府對奶製品三聚氰胺的檢驗標準必須是 「零」，嚴格到幾乎業者逃無可逃，沒人吭氣只能配合全面下架，為什麼？因為事關人命！沒想到廿四小時之後，檢驗標準竟然放寬了，影響所及，前一天已經下架 的產品可以重新上架，已經道歉的業者甚至不敢問，「能不能向政府求償」。廿四小時的變化，政府官員想到的只是檢驗標準的數據，但是，這麼簡單的一個數據影 響的是業者的收益，更嚴重的是消費者的信心。

劉內閣上台時，被捧為「博士內閣」，這四個字褒中帶貶，「博士」者實則不知民間疾苦，在研究室裡的學者群，以數據累積學問，但是，人生、生命、乃至最簡單 的生活，都不是這些冷冰冰的數據可反映的。當劉揆在立法院備詢不敢一口飲盡反對黨立委沖泡的奶粉時，他已經和民眾遠了一步，他不知道，這一杯他不敢喝下肚 的飲品，就是民眾每天晨起的生活！就在劉揆畫下一條線和民眾區隔的四小時後，行政院跨部會會議就把檢驗放寬了，這個標準能不能讓民眾安心？坦白講，我們是 存疑的，但是，只要劉揆或任何政府官員不敢公開喝一杯民眾每天都喝的奶製品，沒有任何人敢說：我對這個政府放心！