President Ma Ying-jeou attended a banquet on Sunday in front of the Presidential Office Building. It was no ordinary outdoor banquet, though: it was to share a little bit of pre-Chinese New Year spirit with people in need. President Ma also passed out red envelopes with 500 Taiwan dollar bills to the participants – that’s about US$15.
Sunday’s banquet in Taipei was just one of 16 similar events being held around Taiwan in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holidays. The banquets are being sponsored by three major foundations: the Zenan Homeless Social Welfare Foundation, the Genesis Social Welfare Foundation, and the Huashan Social Elderly Charity Foundation.
In a speech at the Taipei banquet, President Ma spoke about the origins of the event, which date back 26 years ago. He said it began with a group of kindhearted community women who made boxed meals for the homeless ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. This year, some 40,000 people donated money to make the banquets possible.
This year was the first time one of the banquets was held in front of the Presidential Office Building. The location on a street in the middle of Taipei meant that workers had only seven hours to prepare the food, instead of five days. They prepared a 10-course meal of traditional foods for 2,300 tables, which can usually seat between 10-12 people.
President Ma said that when he first took office nearly eight years ago, some 260,000 people benefited from the government’s social welfare programs. Today, he said that number has more than doubled, climbing to 700,000. But the president said that even though the government spends more on social welfare than on any other item in the budget, it’s still not enough. He said there is still a great need for assistance from the private sector.