寧語藍實習日誌19:

台語復興提案

今天，我和何秘書長以及許慧盈常務理事第二次前往立法院研究大樓，與立委蔡易餘國會議員會面，討論台語問題。直到初到台灣才知道，台灣有自己獨立的語言，與漢語截然不同。雖然來台灣已經三個月了，但我接觸台語的機會不多。只有在公共場合聽到有人說一些聽不懂的話時，我才會想──這會不會是台語？即使現在，我仍然不太清楚台語的發音。不過，我注意到，即使是台灣的普通話，聽起來也與中國，特別是北京的普通話不同，北京的普通話聽起來更生硬。台灣的國語聽起來更柔和、更悅耳、更動聽。

他們的目標是成立台語復興委員會，以提高年輕一代的台語水平。他們認為台語是台灣的核心語言，絕大多數台灣人都能說國語和台語。然而，學校不教授台語，官方交流、公共生活等場合也不使用台語。大家都認為別人可能聽不懂台語，所以通常都用國語溝通。這導致台灣的語言環境不利於台語的學習與傳承，人們擔心台語會因此逐漸消失，使用率下降。我發現一個有趣的現象：台語熟練度最高的人群主要集中在嘉義縣；然而，支持使用台語的人群主要是60歲以上的居民，因為嘉義縣老年人口眾多。

我還發現一個特別有趣的論點：他們認為恢復台語意識是一個國家安全問題，因為它對台灣身份的維繫至關重要，也是「抵制」國話的必要手段。我簡直無法想像中國政府會對這種政策有何反應！這個論點讓我開始思考中共為了實現「民族團結」的目標而壓制少數民族語言的問題。在我的學習中，我們討論了中國西部的新疆地區，那裡的少數民族曾經遭受殘酷鎮壓。他們的母語維吾爾語遭到壓制，學校禁止使用維吾爾語，甚至連人名都被漢化。陌陌提到，國民黨過去也出於類似的目的壓制台灣語，但當然，現在的政府對此卻毫不在意。當時，被發現說本族語的學生會被強迫戴上「我不說本族語」的羞辱性標語。這項政策在1987年《國家語言發展法》通過後被廢除，該法賦予台灣所有民族語言平等的地位。

現在，我對台灣語的歷史有了更深的理解！我希望能夠繼續學習更多。

Taiwanese Language Revitalization Proposal

Today, Secretary-General He, Executive Director Hsu Hui-ying, and I visited the Legislative Yuan Research Building for the second time to meet with Legislator Tsai Yi-yu to discuss the Taiwanese language issue. It wasn't until I first arrived in Taiwan that I realized Taiwan has its own independent language, completely different from Mandarin. Although I've been in Taiwan for three months, I haven't had many opportunities to speak Taiwanese. Only when I hear someone speaking something I don't understand in public do I wonder—could this be Taiwanese? Even now, I'm still not entirely clear on the pronunciation of Taiwanese. However, I've noticed that even Taiwanese Mandarin sounds different from Mandarin spoken in China, especially Beijing Mandarin, which sounds harsher. Taiwanese Mandarin sounds softer, more pleasant, and more melodious.

Their goal is to establish a Taiwanese Language Revival Committee to improve the Taiwanese language proficiency of the younger generation. They believe Taiwanese is the core language of Taiwan, and the vast majority of Taiwanese can speak both Mandarin and Taiwanese. However, Taiwanese is not taught in schools, nor is it used in official exchanges or public life. Everyone assumes that others might not understand Taiwanese, so Mandarin is usually used for communication. This has created a linguistic environment in Taiwan that is unfavorable for the learning and transmission of Taiwanese, leading to concerns that the language may gradually disappear and its usage may decline. I've noticed an interesting phenomenon: the highest proficiency in Taiwanese is concentrated in Chiayi County; however, those who support its use are primarily residents over 60 years old, given Chiayi County's large elderly population.

I've also discovered a particularly interesting argument: they believe that restoring awareness of Taiwanese is a national security issue because it's crucial for maintaining Taiwanese identity and a necessary means of "resisting" Mandarin. I simply cannot imagine how the Chinese government would react to such a policy! This argument has made me start thinking about the CCP's suppression of minority languages ​​to achieve its goal of "national unity." In my studies, we discussed Xinjiang in western China, where ethnic minorities suffered brutal repression. Their mother tongue, Uyghur, was suppressed; schools banned its use, and even names were Sinicized. Momo mentioned that the Kuomintang suppressed Taiwanese for similar purposes in the past, but of course, the current government seems unconcerned. Back then, students found speaking their native language were forced to wear humiliating banners that read "I don't speak my native language." This policy was repealed after the passage of the National Language Development Act in 1987, which granted equal status to all ethnic languages ​​in Taiwan.

Now, I have a deeper understanding of the history of the Taiwanese language! I hope to continue learning more.

寧語藍實習日誌18: 練習感恩晚宴演講

練習感恩晚宴演講

今天，我來到辦公室練習我為台灣動物保護行政監督聯盟六月七日感恩午宴準備的演講稿。這週，在準備初稿的過程中，我有機會回顧了在台灣的這段時間，並思考我想向聽眾傳達什麼訊息。在場的各位應該都已經了解何宗勳秘書長辦公室所取得的卓越成就，因此，我想著重闡述如何才能最好地表達我在這裡期間對動物保護的感悟。台灣在動物保護方面所做的努力給我留下了深刻的印象，尤其與其他東亞國家（如中國和日本）相比。在訪問這些國家期間，我不幸地目睹了多起動物被塞進狹小籠子裡的事件，這讓我對這些國家動物保護的缺失感到憤怒和不安。目睹這些之後，我更加感激美國和台灣現有的動物保護法律，而在此之前，我從未過多關注過這些法律。

秘書長何宗勳都對演講內容表示滿意，這讓我很高興。不過，我需要花很多時間練習語調和發音，因為我讀演講稿中的許多單字都很吃力，畢竟我以前從未大聲朗讀過其中絕大部分內容。這些字詞相當複雜，但對於讓演講連貫流暢、準確傳達我的意思至關重要。在開始練習最終版本之前，我可能還會做一些修改，因為我還需要寫一個合適的結尾。不過，我很高興自己正朝著正確的方向前進。

在之後我參加的會議上，我有機會查看了該組織從政府收到的新當選理事長的選舉證書。這份證書正式確認了特定人士已合法當選為特定公民組織或非營利組織的領導或代表。這是我第一次見到台灣的正式法律文件（除了我自己的學生簽證），感覺非常有趣！

Practicing Thanksgiving Dinner Speech

Practicing My Thanksgiving Luncheon Speech

Today, I came to my office to practice my speech for the Taiwan Animal Protection Administrative Oversight Alliance's Thanksgiving Luncheon on June 7th. This week, while preparing the first draft, I had the opportunity to reflect on my time in Taiwan and consider the message I wanted to convey to the audience. Those present are likely already aware of the remarkable achievements of Secretary-General Ho Tsung-hsun's office; therefore, I want to focus on how best to express my reflections on animal protection during my time here. I was deeply impressed by Taiwan's efforts in animal protection, especially compared to other East Asian countries such as China and Japan. During my visits to these countries, I unfortunately witnessed many instances of animals being crammed into small cages, which angered and disturbed me regarding the lack of animal protection in these countries. After witnessing these events, I am even more grateful for the existing animal protection laws in the United States and Taiwan, laws I had previously paid little attention to.

I was happy that Secretary-General Ho Tsung-hsun expressed satisfaction with the speech. However, I need to spend a lot of time practicing my intonation and pronunciation because I'm struggling to read many words from the speech, as I've never read most of it aloud before. The vocabulary is quite complex, but crucial for making the speech coherent, fluent, and accurately conveying my meaning. I'll probably make some revisions before starting to practice the final version, as I also need to write a suitable ending. However, I'm glad I'm moving in the right direction.

At a later meeting, I had the opportunity to see the election certificate the organization received from the government for the newly elected chairman. This certificate formally confirms that a specific person has been legally elected as the leader or representative of a specific civic or non-profit organization. This was the first time I'd seen official Taiwanese legal documents (aside from my own student visa), and it was very interesting!

寧語藍實習日誌17: 參觀國家人權博物館

參觀國家人權博物館

今天，我決定去新北市京美白色恐怖紀念公園的國家人權博物館參觀，以進一步了解塑造台灣歷史的重要事件。了解台灣的民主之路對我來說很重要，因為直到三個月前來台灣之前，我根本不知道台灣曾經實行過戒嚴！我還驚訝地發現，這座博物館才開放八年，它成立於2018年。

博物館所在的京美拘留所仁愛樓就是當年關押政治異見人士的地方，白色恐怖時期就關在這裡。剛到的時候，那座高聳的混凝土建築群，頂部架著鐵絲網，讓我有些不安。一切都如此逼真，讓我震驚——彷彿真的回到了白色恐怖時期。

這些設施是為強迫勞動而設計的，參觀的時候，我彷彿看到了每天在這種艱苦的環境下工作，不知道什麼時候會被處決。

即使是居住在台灣以外的人也受到了白色恐怖時期的影響。著名台裔美籍記者劉漢明被國民黨政府授權的竹聯成員暗殺。他因撰寫蔣經國（時任台灣總統）的傳記而聞名。他的遇刺成為重大的政治醜聞，美國官員批評國民黨在美國本土組織政治暗殺。

了解政治宣傳如何在監獄中傳播也很有趣。囚犯只能閱讀和觀看經過審查和預先批准的資料，這主要針對印刷媒體。監獄裡有一個報紙閱覽板，上面貼著《中央日報》（國民黨的官方報紙），但所有「敏感」訊息都被剪掉了。囚犯們稱這些報紙為“洞洞報”，因為普通話裡“洞”的發音是“咚”。此外，如果有人想從圖書館借書，監獄當局會在書上蓋上一句中文成語：「不要忘記你們的使命是反抗中國共產黨，收復中國大陸」。令我震驚的是，《中央日報》一直發行到2006年，最終停刊只是因為國民黨無力償還不斷增加的債務。

參觀完監獄後，一個迫切的問題依然縈繞在我心頭：國民黨在策劃了台灣歷史上如此駭人聽聞的時期之後，是如何維持其政治支持的？在我看來，這就像納粹黨改頭換面，今天依然能在德國維持政治支持。這個問題我需要在接下來的時間進一步探究。

Visit to National Human Rights Museum

Today, I decided to visit the National Human Rights Museum in New Taipei City at the Jing-mei White Terror Memorial Park to further my knowledge about influential events that shaped Taiwan’s history. It’s important to me that I’m aware of Taiwan’s path to democracy, as I was unaware Taiwan was ever under martial law until I came here three months ago! I was also shocked to learn that the museum has only been open for eight years, as it was established in 2018. 

The actual detention center itself is the Ren-Ai building of Jingmei Detention Center, where political dissidents were housed during the White Terror period. When I first arrived, the imposing concrete complex fitted with barbed wire running along the top made me a little apprehensive. I was shocked at how realistic everything looked - it was as if I had stepped back in time to the actual White Terror period. 

The facilities were designed for forced labor, and while I visited, I imagined working in these exhausting conditions on a day to day basis, not knowing if execution was soon to come. 

Even those residing outside of Taiwan were affected by the White Terror period. Henry Liu, who was a well-known Taiwanese American journalist, was assassinated by members of the Bamboo Union, which was authorized by the KMT government. He became famous for authoring a biography of Chiang Ching-kuo, who was the president of Taiwan at the time. His assassination became a major political scandal, and American officials were highly critical of the KMT for organizing a political assassination on US soil. 

It was also interesting to learn about how political propaganda was dispersed throughout the facility. Inmates were only allowed to read and view censored and preapproved materials, of course, and this largely applied to print media. The prison had a newspaper reading board where newspapers from the Central Daily News (the official newspaper of the KMT) were located, but all “sensitive” information was cut out. The prisoners called these the “Dong Dong” newspapers because the word for hole in Mandarin means dong. In addition, if someone wanted to check out a book from the library, the prison authorities would stamp it with a Chinese idiom that said “Don’t forget your missions are to counterattack against Chinese communists and recover Mainland China”. I was shocked to learn that the Central Daily News remained in print until 2006, and was only closed due to its growing debts that the KMT was unable to maintain.

One pressing question that remains after visiting the site was how the KMT was able to maintain political support after orchestrating such a horrific period in Taiwan’s history. To me, it would be like if the Nazi Party rebranded and continued to maintain political support in Germany today. This is a question I will have to explore further during my remaining time here.

寧語藍實習日誌16: 如何回饋實習組織

 如何回饋實習組織

         今天，我再次在辦公室與何秘書長會面，繼續討論我的實習計畫。我最初提議創建一個LinkedIn個人資料，以幫助他們提升公共宣傳效果，但何先生擔心我回美國後該頁面的維護問題。因此，我重新思考，還能如何做出貢獻。我最初的目標是幫助台灣公民參與協會提升其英文公共關係知名度，以便國際受眾能夠與他們建立聯繫；於是，我開始思考實現這一目標的其他方法。經過一番思考，我想到了兩個方案。第一個方案是撰寫一篇關於該組織和我實習經驗的評論文章，並投稿給《台北時報》，這是目前台灣唯一一份英文報紙。第二個方案是製作一個英文的宣傳短片，並配上PPT幻燈片，供他們面向國際受眾使用。

         在我向何先生提出我的想法後，他建議我準備一份關於實習經歷以及我對台灣動物保護問題的了解的演講，在台灣動物保護監督網絡成立十五週年紀念活動上發表。除此之外，我還可以向《台北時報》投稿，並用中文做一個關於實習經驗的最終演講。雖然這些想法聽起來不錯，但我現在很緊張，因為要用中文做這麼長的演講。我擔心自己的聲調和發音，因為這些方面我一直不太擅長，所以我需要多加練習，確保演講流暢自然。不過，我很高興我們最終敲定了一個雙方都認可的計劃。我很期待最終的結果！

How to Give Back to the Internship Organization

Today, I met with Secretary-General Ho again in the office to continue discussing my internship project plan. I initially suggested creating a LinkedIn profile to help them improve their public relations efforts, but Mr. Ho was concerned about the page's maintenance after I returned to the US. Therefore, I reconsidered how else I could contribute. My initial goal was to help the Taiwan Citizen Participation Association raise its English public relations profile so that an international audience could connect with them; so I started thinking about other ways to achieve this goal. After some thought, I came up with two options. The first option was to write a review article about the organization and my internship experience and submit it to the Taipei Times, currently the only English-language newspaper in Taiwan. The second option was to produce an English promotional video with accompanying PowerPoint slides for their international audience.

After I presented my ideas to Mr. Ho, he suggested that I prepare a presentation about my internship experience and my understanding of animal protection issues in Taiwan to give at the 15th anniversary celebration of the Taiwan Animal Protection Monitoring Network. In addition, I could submit an article to the Taipei Times and give a final presentation about my internship experience in Chinese. While these ideas sound good, I'm quite nervous about giving such a long speech in Chinese. I'm worried about my intonation and pronunciation, as these are areas I've never been very good at, so I need to practice a lot to ensure my speech flows smoothly and naturally. However, I'm glad we finally settled on a plan that we both agree on. I'm really looking forward to the final result!

寧語藍實習日誌15: 國立二二八紀念館

 國立二二八紀念館

         今天，我根據何秘書長的推薦，進行了一次自助遊，參觀了位於台北的國立二二八紀念館。我選擇參觀一個展現中國歷史上重要事件的遺址，因為雖然我在台北已經待了大約三個月，但對台灣的歷史仍然知之甚少。紀念館有兩個主要展覽，第一個是常設展覽，第二個展覽則紀念延平書院及其在二二八事件中的角色。透過這次參觀，我不僅了解了二、二八事件，也了解了現代民主發展和人權狀況。

        在參觀之前，我從未聽說過二二八事件。我事先做了一些簡單的研究，發現二二八事件發生在1945年日本向盟軍宣戰、二戰結束後不久。日本的無條件投降意味著台灣擺脫了日本的殖民統治，台灣人民為獲得自治的機會而歡欣鼓舞。此後，蔣介石派遣軍隊扶植國民黨政府接管台灣，導致國民黨政府腐敗不堪，繼續像日本佔領時期那樣剝削台灣及其資源。新政府的高級官員中，只有極少數是台灣人，導致台灣民眾被排除在政府之外，實際上為政治起義埋下了伏筆。展覽中經常提到的這一「事件」也標誌著台灣白色恐怖時期的開始；這是國民黨長達43年的政治鎮壓時期。為了更深入了解這段歷史，我還想參觀位於新北市的景美白色恐怖紀念公園。

        在這次展覽中，我發現特別有趣的是它提到了《過渡時期司法法》。該法旨在透過賠償受害者和解密文件來幫助解決歷史遺留問題。儘管這起事件發生在近80年前，但就在去年，賴清德總統承諾加快開放政治檔案，以進一步探討真相。另一個讓我感興趣的話題是綠島（我之前只知道它是一個熱門的度假勝地），以及它如何被用作國民黨政府隔離和監禁政治犯的場所。

       總的來說，博物館精心設計的佈局以及多語種的信息呈現方式給我留下了深刻的印象，其中包括為講韓語、日語和英語的人士提供的資源。

National 228 Memorial Museum

Today, following Secretary-General He's recommendation, I took a self-guided tour and visited the National 228 Memorial Museum in Taipei. I chose to visit a site showcasing an important event in Taiwanese history because, although I've been in Taipei for about three months, I still know very little about Taiwan's history. The memorial has two main exhibitions: the first is a permanent exhibition, and the second commemorates Yanping Academy and its role in the 228 Incident. Through this visit, I not only learned about the 228 Incident but also about modern democratic development and the state of human rights.

Before the visit, I had never heard of the 228 Incident. I did some preliminary research and discovered that the 228 Incident occurred in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II, following Japan's declaration of war against the Allies. Japan's unconditional surrender meant that Taiwan was freed from Japanese colonial rule, and the Taiwanese people were overjoyed at the opportunity to gain autonomy. Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek sent troops to support the Kuomintang government in taking over Taiwan, leading to widespread corruption and the continuation of exploiting Taiwan and its resources as during the Japanese occupation. Only a very small number of senior officials in the new government were Taiwanese, effectively excluding the Taiwanese people from the government and sowing the seeds for political uprising. This "event," frequently mentioned in the exhibition, also marks the beginning of Taiwan's White Terror period; a 43-year period of political repression by the Kuomintang. To gain a deeper understanding of this history, I also want to visit the Jingmei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei City.

What I found particularly interesting in this exhibition was its mention of the Transitional Period Judicial Act. This law aimed to help resolve historical issues through compensation for victims and the declassification of documents. Although this event occurred nearly 80 years ago, just last year, President Lai Ching-te pledged to expedite the opening of political archives to further explore the truth. Another topic that interested me was Green Island (which I previously only knew as a popular resort) and how it was used by the Kuomintang government to isolate and imprison political prisoners.

Overall, I was impressed by the museum's well-designed layout and multilingual information presentation, including resources for Korean, Japanese, and English speakers.

寧語藍實習日誌14: 校園動物保護教育委員會會議

 校園動物保護教育委員會會議

        今天，我在何秘書長的辦公室完成了兩項任務。首先，我幫他打包信封，裡面裝著動物保護宣傳冊和即將舉辦的活動的傳單。

        之後，我旁聽了他與校園動物保護教育委員會的會議。該委員會旨在聯合有飼養校犬經驗的教師，共同推廣校園動物保護。為了在學校落實動物保護，他們計劃推廣一系列動物保護教育材料，並將其融入學校課程。這一切都是為了培養學生對動物的保護意識。他們提到，過去曾與新北市政府合作，組織過許多校園動物照護的教師培訓。透過參與宣傳和教育活動，他們還可以改變公眾對流浪狗的看法，這也是動物保護的重要方面。這次實習讓我學到的一個重要經驗是：沒有宣傳活動，就沒有媒體報道；沒有媒體報道，就很難引起人們的注意。

         會中也提到，有教師認為應該對校園動物進行嚴格管理。這與我在美國的經歷截然不同。在美國，我在小學、國中甚至高中都接觸過校園動物。小學時，我們有兩個與動物相關的項目：一個是飼養毛毛蟲，觀察它們的變態過程；另一個是飼養小雞，學習如何照顧和尊重動物的生命。國中時，我的班主任養了一隻寵物龍貓，每個學生都可以在課間輪流照顧它和它的籠子。

        高中時，我的生物老師在教室裡養了一條她自己的寵物蛇，這條蛇似乎沒有什麼教學用途──只是供人觀賞而已。所以，看到大家對校園寵物問題如此熱烈地討論，我感到很驚訝——我一直以為這只是學校裡一個比較非正式的教育環節，主要由老師組織，沒有學校或政府的干預。

        他們的主要想法是讓委員會提出想法，然後由政府機構（例如教育部）來實施，因為他們在這方面資金和人力都比較有限。如同先前所說，他們認為動物保護教育本身就應該納入學校課程，現在已被歸類為「品格教育」。會議結束時，我有機會參觀了三所學校和校園動物，其中兩所位於新北，一所位於桃園，一所位於台中。我很期待親眼看看台北小學生的日常生活是什麼樣的！

School Animal Protection Education Committee Meeting

Today, I completed two tasks in Secretary-General He's office. First, I helped him pack envelopes containing animal protection brochures and flyers for upcoming events.

Afterward, I sat in on his meeting with the School Animal Protection Education Committee. This committee aims to unite teachers with experience caring for school pets to promote campus animal protection. To implement animal protection in schools, they plan to promote a series of animal protection educational materials and integrate them into the school curriculum. All of this is to cultivate students' awareness of animal protection. They mentioned that they have previously collaborated with the New Taipei City Government to organize many teacher training programs on school animal care. Through participation in publicity and education activities, they can also change public perception of stray dogs, which is also an important aspect of animal protection. One important lesson I learned from this internship is: without publicity campaigns, there is no media coverage; and without media coverage, it is extremely difficult to attract people's attention, which is necessary for the success of public policy initiatives.

The meeting also mentioned that some teachers believe that school animals should be strictly managed. This is very different from my experience in the United States, where I have encountered school animals in elementary, junior high, and even high school. In elementary school, we had two animal-related projects: one was raising caterpillars and observing their metamorphosis; the other was raising chicks to learn about the life cycle of birds. In junior high, my homeroom teacher had a pet chinchilla, and each student could take turns caring for it and its cage during breaks.

In high school, my biology teacher kept her own pet snake in the classroom, which seemed to have no educational purpose—it was just for display. Therefore, I was surprised to see such a heated discussion about school pets—I had always thought it was just a relatively informal educational activity in schools, mainly organized by teachers, without school or government intervention. None of the school pets were meant to serve the purpose of promoting animal protection education, so it was interesting to see how the same thing can be viewed from a different lens in different countries.

Their main idea was to have a committee propose ideas, which would then be implemented by government agencies (such as the Ministry of Education), as they have limited funding and manpower in this area. As mentioned earlier, they believe animal protection education should itself be incorporated into the school curriculum, as it is now categorized as "character education." At the end of the conference, I was given the opportunity to visit three schools and their campus animals, two in New Taipei City, one in Taoyuan, and one in Taichung. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the daily lives of elementary school students in Taipei are like!

寧語藍實習日誌13: 文章修訂與規劃

 文章修訂與規劃

         今天，我去辦公室和何秘書長見面，完成了我翻譯的中英文文章的修改，學習瞭如何將文章發佈到TCPA的博客網站上，並開始考慮如何在LinkedIn上介紹這些文章，這將有助於他們擴大在線影響力。這樣我也可以更好地與家人、朋友、老師和同學分享我在台灣的經歷，並透過我的LinkedIn個人資料進一步提高人們對TCPA的認識！這將是一個輕鬆分享我職涯發展經驗的好方法。為了更好地修改文章，我瀏覽了之前實習生的作品集，並從中汲取靈感。由於何先生週二不在辦公室，我還被安排決定週二想研究哪些方面。

        雖然我在台灣期間接觸到了各種各樣的主題，但我仍然很想了解更多關於台灣不同政黨的信息，以及它們在目標和政策方面的差異。例如，我知道台灣有三大政黨，分別是民進黨、國民黨、台灣民眾黨。我很好奇，儘管國民黨在戒嚴時期對許多台灣民眾犯下了種種暴行，但如今它在台灣是如何被接受的。

        因此，如果能有機會拜訪其中一個政黨的辦公室或與他們的代表會面，深入了解他們的目標和主要政策議題，將會很有意義。如果無法實現這一點，我也希望有機會參觀其他博物館，進一步探索台灣的歷史。參觀故宮博物院、中正紀念堂或孫中山紀念館將讓我受益良多。

Article Revision and Planning

Today, I met with Secretary-General He in the office to finalize the revisions of my translated articles in both Chinese and English. I learned how to publish articles on the TCPA blog and started considering how to introduce the organization on LinkedIn, which will help expand their online reach. This will allow me to better share my experiences in Taiwan with family, friends, teachers, and classmates, and further increase awareness of TCPA through my LinkedIn profile! This will be a great way to easily share my career development experiences. To better revise the articles, I reviewed the portfolios of previous interns and drew inspiration from them. Since Mr. He was not in the office on Tuesday, I was also tasked with deciding what areas I wanted to research on Tuesday.

Although I encountered a wide variety of topics during my time in Taiwan, I am still eager to learn more about the different political parties in Taiwan and their differences in goals and policies. For example, I know that there are three major political parties in Taiwan: the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Kuomintang (KMT), and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP). I am curious how the KMT is accepted in Taiwan today, despite the numerous atrocities it committed against many Taiwanese people during the martial law period.

Therefore, it would be very meaningful to have the opportunity to visit the office of one of the political parties or meet with their representatives to gain a deeper understanding of their goals and key policy issues. If that is not possible, I would also like to have the opportunity to visit other museums to further explore Taiwan's history. I believe that visiting the National Palace Museum, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, or the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall would be very beneficial for me.

寧語藍實習日誌12: 與山姆會面

 與山姆會面

今天，我和Sam進行了一次非常有啟發性的會面。 Sam是台灣公民參與協會的常務監事。我們見面討論了他發表的一篇題為《反對票可以改善所有民主政體》的文章。鑑於文章的內容，我原以為Sam在加入台灣公民參與協會之前，應該有政治學、研究或政府的背景。然而，事實並非如此！ Sam告訴我，他16歲時移居美國，在那裡完成了高中學業，之後進入哈佛大學攻讀金融學士學位（哇！）。畢業後，他又進入賓州大學華頓商學院攻讀MBA（再次令人驚嘆！）。之後，他成為華爾街一家商業銀行的投資銀行家，並有機會環遊世界，直到2005年退休。

        他說自己大約在2012-2013年開始參與公民事務，這讓我立刻好奇是什麼讓他對政治議題產生了興趣。他告訴我，當他去以色列出差時，和一些同事討論了他們對以色列政治體制的不滿。以色列實行多黨制政府和全國比例代表制選舉制度；這使得宗教極端組織能夠對國家政策有不成比例的影響力，儘管以色列也有大量中間派、無黨派選民。

        這讓我想起了我在學校學過的「少數人的暴政」概念，即少數有組織的團體能夠控制政府，阻撓政策制定，而不是讓大多數人參與。這些人經常鼓吹敵對的、親戰的政策，要求以色列公民應徵入伍，但由於宗教豁免，他們不必讓自己的孩子去參加他們支持的戰爭。於是，他在冥想時想到了投下「反對票」的想法。如果人們能夠對這個政黨投下“反對票”，就能清楚地表明他們在選民中有多麼不受歡迎。

        本文的主要論點是，現代民主制度存在一個致命缺陷，即不允許公民對任何特定候選人投下「反對」票。作者認為，鑑於美國超過70%的選舉都是無人競爭的，投下「反對」票是一項基本權利。在本文所提出的製度中，如果有兩位候選人，選民可以對其中一位投下「贊成」票，也可以對其中一位投下「反對」票。也就是說，如果兩位候選人競選某個職位，選民表達意見的選擇就從兩種變成了四種。若兩位候選人的得票數均未達淨正數，則必須重新舉行選舉。作者認為，這項方案將激勵中間派、無黨派選民參與投票，進而提高投票率，同時也將激勵黨派政治人物努力爭取獨立選民的支持。

        此外，這將促使許多政黨的競選策略不再是“互相攻擊”，而是迫使他們證明自身優勢，而不是一味地詆毀對方。

他認為，即使在擁有悠久民主歷史的國家，民主也還有很大的進步空間。退休後，他的主要目標是協助推動直接民主項目，他認為直接民主對於補充代議制民主至關重要。正是出於這種理念，他得以在台北成功推行網路投票提案。此前，所有簽名都必須以紙本形式收集——一項提案就需要多達30萬個簽名！他主要透過與大學室友共同創立的非政府組織「平衡投票倡議」（Balanced Ballot Initiative）來推廣他的理念，該組織主要從事教育工作。

        他也參加國際論壇和會議，並撰寫論文來傳播這一理念。他最初希望在加州柏克萊市推行負面投票制，因為柏克萊是一個進步的城市，他甚至向市議員提出了這個想法。後來，由於其他團體當時也在柏克萊市推動排序複選制投票，他決定將精力集中在埃爾索雷諾市。這主要是因為台灣是特許城市，擁有自己的憲法，可以自行訂定選舉規則。現在，我對台灣的公投議題很感興趣！

Meeting with Sam

Today, I had a very insightful meeting with Sam, the executive supervisor of the Taiwan Citizen Participation Association. We met to discuss his article, "No Votes Can Improve All Democracies." Given the content of the article, I assumed Sam had a background in political science, research, or government before joining the Taiwan Citizen Participation Association. However, that wasn't the case! Sam told me he moved to the United States at 16, completed high school there, and then went on to study for a bachelor's degree in finance at Harvard University (wow!). After graduating, he went on to pursue an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (again, amazing!). He then became an investment banker at a commercial bank on Wall Street, with the opportunity to travel the world until his retirement in 2005.

He said he started getting involved in civic affairs around 2012-2013, which immediately piqued my curiosity about what sparked his interest in political issues. He told me that when he traveled to Israel on business, he discussed his dissatisfaction with the Israeli political system with some colleagues. Israel operates under a multi-party system and a proportional representation electoral system; this allows religious extremist groups to exert disproportionate influence over national policy, despite a large centrist and independent electorate.

This reminds me of the concept of "tyranny of the minority" I learned in school—the ability of a small, organized group to control the government and obstruct policy-making decisions within their own faction instead of involving the majority. These individuals often advocate hostile, pro-war policies and demand that all Israeli citizens be required to enlist, but due to religious exemptions, they are not required to send their own children to the wars they support. Thus, the idea of ​​casting a "no" vote came to mind during his meditation. If people could cast a "no" vote for a party, it would clearly demonstrate how unpopular they are among voters.

The main argument of this paper is that modern democracy suffers from a fatal flaw: it does not allow citizens to cast a "no" vote for any particular candidate. The author argues that, given that over 70% of elections in the United States are uncontested, casting a "no" vote is a fundamental right. In the system proposed in this paper, if there are two candidates, voters can cast a "yes" vote for one and a "no" vote for the other. In other words, if two candidates are vying for a particular position, voters have four options for expressing their opinions instead of two. If neither candidate receives a net positive vote, a new election must be held. The author believes this scheme will incentivize centrist and independent voters to participate, thereby increasing voter turnout, while also motivating partisan politicians to strive for the support of independent voters.

Furthermore, this will force many political parties to move beyond simply attacking each other in their campaign strategies, compelling them to demonstrate their own strengths rather than merely discrediting their opponents.

He believes that even in countries with long histories of democracy, there is still significant room for improvement. After retiring, his primary goal is to assist in promoting direct democracy projects, which he believes are crucial to complementing representative democracy. It is this belief that enabled him to successfully implement an online voting proposal in Taipei. Previously, all signatures had to be collected on paper—a single proposal required as many as 300,000 signatures! He primarily promotes his ideas through the Balanced Ballot Initiative, a non-governmental organization he co-founded with his university roommate, which focuses on educational work.

He also participates in international forums and conferences and writes papers to disseminate this concept. He initially hoped to implement negative voting in Berkeley, California, because Berkeley is a very progressive city, and he even raised the idea with city council members. Later, because other groups were also pushing for ranked voting in Berkeley, he decided to focus his efforts on El Soreno. This was mainly because it is a chartered city with its own constitution, allowing it to set its own election rules, opening up the possibility for a balanced ballot to be implemented. Now, I'm very interested in the issue of referendums in Taiwan!

寧語藍實習日誌11: 實習專案規劃與執行

 實習專案規劃與執行

         今天，我獨自思考如何為台灣公民參與協會做出貢獻。這需要我執行一個能以某種方式幫助組織的個人專案。說實話，我有點不知從何下手。這個組織涵蓋的領域非常廣泛，我不知道該從何入手。除了提升他們的社群媒體影響力之外，我也沒有發現該組織有什麼明顯的不足或需要改進的地方。我簡單地向何先生提到了這個想法，但他擔心會吸引太多人來諮詢，這可能會讓人數本來就很少的志工工作人員應接不暇。此外，我的實習期結束後，誰來繼續更新頁面也是個問題。

         我又回到了我的主要任務上，那就是思考如何讓外國非政府組織與他們關注的領域在台灣建立聯繫，並探索如何為他們提供全球合作的機會。儘管何秘書長告訴我LinkedIn在台灣並不普及，但我認為他們在這個平台上建立線上形象非常重要，這樣才能更好地與外國非政府組織建立聯繫。

         為了應對可能湧入的大量問題，我將關閉頁面評論功能，以管理互動和保護隱私。此外，我認為轉發TCPA部落格和動物監測保護網站上的部落格文章有助於增加瀏覽量。這個頁面還可以作為公民參與平台，幫助宣傳該組織目前關注的議題和請願活動，以獲得更多簽名。

        為了在我離開後順利交接頁面維護工作，我可以預先撰寫文章和博文，並提前三個月安排發布。頁面可以逐步更新最新的博文，我還可以使用人工智慧輔助中英翻譯。此外，我認為從美國人的視角探討我對台灣公共政策議題的看法會很有意思，或許能為讀者帶來啟發。

這個想法還可以改進，但這是我的出發點。

Internship Project Planning and Execution

Today, I spent some time alone reflecting on how I could contribute to the Taiwan Citizen Participation Association. This required me to execute a personal project that could help the organization in some way. To be honest, I was a little unsure where to begin. The organization covers a very broad range of areas, and I didn't know where to start. Aside from increasing their social media presence, I didn't see any obvious shortcomings or areas for improvement. I briefly mentioned the idea of opening up a Q&A page for the organization so that the public could ask more specific questions and be able to get more engaged with specific issues. However, Mr. He, worried that it might attract too many inquiries, potentially overwhelming the already small volunteer staff. Furthermore, he was concerned about who would continue updating the page after my internship ends.

I returned to my main task: figuring out how to connect foreign NGOs with their areas of interest in Taiwan and exploring opportunities for global collaboration. Although the Secretary-General told me that LinkedIn isn't widespread in Taiwan, I believe it's crucial for them to build an online presence on this platform through creating a Linkedin page in order to better connect with foreign NGOs; as it's very widely used in the United States and other countries.

To handle the potential influx of questions, I plan to disable the page comment function to manage interaction and protect privacy. Additionally, I think sharing blog posts from the TCPA blog and the animal monitoring and conservation website will help increase page views. This page can also serve as a platform for civic engagement, helping to promote the organization's current issues of concern and petition campaigns to garner more signatures.

To ensure a smooth handover of page maintenance after my departure, I can pre-write articles and blog posts and schedule their publication three months in advance. The page can be gradually updated with the latest blog posts, and I can also utilize AI-assisted Chinese-English translation to help me write. Furthermore, I think exploring my perspectives on Taiwanese public policy issues from an American viewpoint would be interesting and perhaps insightful for readers.

This idea has room for improvement, but it's my starting point.

寧語藍實習日誌10: 公民委員會討論

 認識台灣需要海洋部

        今天，我和何秘書長以及公民會成員在辦公室會面，了解他們討論如何執行一個計畫。

       然而，我剛坐下就注意到桌旁掛著一面新旗幟，上面寫著「台灣需要海洋部，擁有191個島嶼，國家級海洋治理至關重要」。雖然這與今天的主題沒有直接關係，但我覺得很有趣。旗幟上方還有一句「海中建國，海中生」。看到這句標語，我著實吃了一驚，因為在留學之前，我只熟悉台灣本島，一直以為台灣還有大約10-20個島嶼。

       上網查了一下，發現台灣早在2018年就成立了海洋委員會，負責管理海上安全和政策。目前，他們的工作重點是加強海上灰色地帶的應對，並加強對南海的研究力度。我找到一篇大約一週前發表的新聞報道，講述了海洋事務委員會的一位代表最近訪問了位於爭議不斷的南沙群島的太平島。七年來，台灣政府官員從未造訪過那裡。我之前在大學課程中了解過這個島嶼，所以能在一個真實的案例中考察這個問題，感覺很有趣。

         之後，我們見面討論了我還有其他問題我注意到一個反覆出現的現象：在政府會議上，日本經常被提及，我想知道為什麼日本在這些討論中如此頻繁地被提及。何先生向我詳細介紹了台灣和日本之間獨特的關係。歷史上，許多台灣人喜歡去日本旅遊，因為日本地理位置優越，交通便利，文化上與台灣比較熟悉。因此，許多人更願意把錢花在日本度假，而不是去香港、新加坡或中國大陸。在推行某項政策時，他們常常會引用其他較發達國家的例子，以期獲得民眾的認可。

         我也很好奇何秘書長在非營利工作中最感興趣的領域是什麼，因為在實習期間，我有機會接觸到各種不同的主題。他說他最感興趣的是人才培養，以及如何將普通人轉變為積極的公民，而他們正是透過「大公民小政府」的模式來培養人才。

Understanding Taiwan Requires the Ministry of Ocean Affairs

Today, I met with Secretary-General Ho and members of the Citizens' Association in the office to take part in a discussion on how to implement a plan for my personal project to contribute to the organization.

However, as soon as I sat down, I noticed a new flag hanging on the table that read, "Taiwan needs the Ministry of Ocean Affairs; with 191 islands, national-level ocean governance is crucial." While this wasn't directly related to today's topic, I found it interesting. Above the flag was the phrase, "Building a nation from the sea, living from the sea." Seeing this slogan, I was genuinely surprised, because before studying abroad, I was only familiar with the main island of Taiwan and never thought Taiwan had about 10-20 other islands.

A quick online search revealed that Taiwan established the Ocean Affairs Council as early as 2018, which is responsible for managing maritime security and policy. Currently, their focus is on strengthening responses to maritime gray areas and increasing research efforts in the South China Sea. I found a news report published about a week ago about a representative of the Ocean Affairs Council recently visiting Taiping Island in the disputed Spratly Islands. For seven years, Taiwanese government officials had never visited there. I had learned about this island in university courses, so examining this issue in a real-world case was very interesting.

Afterwards, we met to discuss other questions I had. I noticed a recurring phenomenon: Japan was frequently mentioned in government meetings, and I wondered why. Mr. Ho explained the unique relationship between Taiwan and Japan in detail. Historically, many Taiwanese people enjoyed traveling to Japan because of its advantageous geographical location, convenient transportation, and cultural familiarity with Taiwan. Therefore, many people preferred to spend their money on vacations in Japan rather than in Hong Kong, Singapore, or mainland China. When implementing policies, they often cited examples from other more developed countries to gain public support.

I was also curious about what areas Secretary-General Ho was most interested in in his non-profit work, as I had the opportunity to explore various topics during my internship. He said he was most interested in talent development and how to transform ordinary people into active citizens, which they cultivated through a "big citizen, small government" model.