Regarding outstanding obligations of officials at National Cheng Kung University

Subject:
Regarding outstanding obligations of officials at National Cheng Kung University
From:
richard
Date:
Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:41:50 +0800
To:
MOE , em50000@email.ncku.edu.tw, Huei-chen Ko ,

Control Yuan , Prime Minister

Ministry of Education
Taipei, Taiwan

26 September 2005

Dear Ministry of Education Officials,

As you know, National Cheng Kung University officials have been in violation of Ministry laws for many years

now. The president of our university, Kao Chiang, apparently decided he didn't know what to do when your

Ministry Appeal Committee ruled in my favor in January, 2001. It took NCKU more than two years, while Kao

Chiang was president, before it issued contracts that should have been issued immediately after the ruling.
Delay of even one day would have been enough to get an official discharged elsewhere. Most educated people (and

even many uneducated people) would understand what it means when an appellant wins an appeal ruling. Some

other governments would find anyone in noncompliance with such a ruling as guilty of obstructing justice, a serious

offense.
Kao Chiang should be made to understand that Taiwan is a nation of laws, not officials. It's a nation of laws, not

lawyers. It's a nation of laws, not relationships. Relationships are good in tea houses; but only laws work in

universities. It's the same principle that protects Taiwan citizens (including Kao Chiang's friends or relatives) when

they matriculate or teach at American or British universities.
Kao Chiang should also be made to respect the dignity of his colleagues. Moreover, he should be made to

understand that his colleagues will defend their dignity, at whatever cost, within the legal channels of the law.
Yet National Cheng Kung University has still not officially apologized for violating my legal rights since 1999.

Neither NCKU nor Kao Chiang has apologized for holding secret meetings, for circulating a secret letter, for

accusing me without review, or for spreading malicious gossip about me under the cover of "official meetings." Kao

Chiang has still not apologized for his delay in enforcing a legal Minsitry ruling of 2001, forcing me to repeatedly

travel outside Taiwan during this period, including once to South Korea in the middle of winter.
Then there's the outstanding issue of Chen An-chuen, a student who wrote a secret letter that was secretly

circulated and used in my dismissal hearings. This student has neither apologized nor been punished. Instead she

received employment at our university (she is now a part-time instructor) and is completing her thesis, as I

understand.
I find it insulting that NCKU officials acted on Ms. Chen's secret and obviously absurd, even malicious, letter in a

matter of days, while my legitimate complaint has been ignored by Dean of Student Affairs, Ko Huei-chen, for

several years. Ms. Chen writes a secret letter claiming she failed a class eight years before and that letter is handled

in an "official" manner; I complain about this student's behavior and I'm given every kind of excuse why my

complaint cannot be handled.
I wish to make clear to the Ministry of Education that I will continue to exercise all options available to me within

the law, including media exposure, until these issues are resolved within principles of human rights and laws. I

understand there will be judgment after death (God has no use for relationships), but I will do everything within my

rights to effect judgment on this earth as well.
I urge the Ministry of Education, once again, to effect the punishment and dismissal of all officials involved in the

mishandling of this case. Protecting the reputation of our university is more important than protecting the careers

of these officials.

Sincerely,

Richard de Canio
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan