Premier Lin Chuan today encouraged the young people of Taiwan to be passionate about public policy and to approach it with a clear, calm mind. To improve the country's policies, they must also be patient and persistent in communicating with society.
The premier made the remarks at a Youth Policy Forum conference organized by the Ministry of Education (MOE).
A key requirement of a good policymaker is to have compassion and enthusiasm for society. The individual should also possess the ability to think rationally, staying critical of current policies in order to come up with ways to improve them, Lin said.
Public policies must be aimed at solving the problems and issues that concern people, he continued. The more public attention to an issue, the more important the policy will be, such as the case of pension reform. In addition, a policymaker must listen to public opinion and consider the matter carefully in order to uncover the critical issues and find the solutions.
It is important to break away from existing viewpoints and to think about how a problem might be solved. Policies should be feasible, practical and based on public consensus so that they can have the public's backing and resources, the premier said.
Held annually, the Youth Policy Forum conference serves as a platform for young people to make policy recommendations to the government. This year's event focused on social innovation and covered four topics: child care and long-term care, higher education, youth employment, and youth culture. Today's presentations included award-winning policy proposals as well as recommendations by local youth representatives. Ministries were also on hand to respond. The forum is an important mechanism for encouraging youth participation in policymaking, the MOE said.