President Ma Ying-jeou on Sunday thanked Taiwan’s volunteers for their hard work, and for filling in in areas where the government falls short. He was speaking at an awards ceremony for Taiwan’s Youth Volunteer Service for Regional Peace.
Ma founded the organization shortly after taking office in 2008. This year’s awards ceremony lauded 40 volunteers for their contributions in eight different areas, including: culture, technology, health and education.
In his speech, President Ma spoke about the Peace Corps in the United States, which was founded by President Kennedy back in the 1960s. Ma said that the thousands of young people who had volunteered for the organization had changed the world. President Ma spoke about how his own nephew, Gene Yu, had participated in a Peace Corps mission in Ecuador, and how that had led to him later study at West Point.
President Ma encouraged the youth of Taiwan to share their time, energy and wisdom to help others. So far, he said, more than 1.4 million young Taiwanese had gotten involved in the Youth Volunteer Service for Regional Peace. More than 10,000 of them have also gone overseas to volunteer, thereby helping the country in its diplomatic efforts. Ma said he hoped that even more young Taiwanese can offer their talents in new ways, to help fill in where the government falls short.