P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter 2013 July
The Presbyterian Church in TaiwanSeamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center No.2, 1F Yukang Chung 1st Rd., Chien-chen District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Tel:886 7 8227296
Fax:886 7 8416870
Website: http://www.pctsfsc.org.tw/
Bank: E.SUN COMMERCIAL BANK KAOHSIUNG BRANCH BANK Account No: 0082466056717 Name: The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center Address: NO3. SZU WEI 4TH ROAD. LIN YA DISTRICT KAOHSIUNG TAIWAN R.O.C. SWT：ESUNTWTP
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P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2013 July
I Will Bless Those Who Bless You The Guan Da Xing No. 28 incident, a fatal shooting event conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard, has agitated the Taiwanese people greatly. After the incident, series of protests, petition, and military practices were initiated by the angry citizens and the government. However, after the rage, one shall keep in mind that the fundamental dispute was the overlapping EZZ, which happens to be a sovereignty issue. If both parties do not negotiate thorough diplomatic means, and make a proper compromise, similar events would happen again eventually. The Guan Da Xing No 28 was not the first vessel being shot, and would definably not be the last. Many reporters have asked our center, “How do you deal with this event?” Actually, all the cases are different, take instance for Guan Da Xing, I myself and my fellow colleagues went to Dong Gang (a harbor located in Southern Taiwan) and express our condolences to the Guan Da Xing family right after the tragedy happened. In addition, we also provided consolation funds for the family (which the Captain’s family refused, they wanted us to deliver the money to those who were really needy.) Although this event attracted much of the media’s attention, the fishermen’s lives move on. What really matters is us devoting more energy to better their lives in the future. Countless Taiwanese ships were and are still being detained abroad, despite praying and pleading the almighty God to lead us, our fishermen also need helps from our international friends. What we needed the most is the supports from the local Seamen’s Quarterly, Churches, Media, Taiwanese Businessmen, and the seamen who were once being assisted in our PCT Seamen’s Service Center, through this Rescue Networks, we might be able to minimize the casualties.
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P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2013 July
A normal size fishing boat (around 500 tons) which carries 20 fishermen would take 4 million NTD to refuel, and it could run for another 2, 3 months. Usually, it takes 3 years for a ship to return to her home country. It is very common for fishermen to stay in the boat for a year or two, and never set a step on the land during that time. As a fisherman, he spends most of his life on a boat, unable to write mails to friends, unable to read the most updated magazines, news papers, and do not even mention about phoning their families. One cannot go home and meet his dear wife, mom or dad. ---Not Even Christmas. This is the Sadness of a fisherman, one of the most risky vocations, considering the job content, the unstable weather and working environment. As time and the Guan Da Xing’s incident fade away from our memory, cruise boats and fishing boats are still as busy as before, loading and unloading the cargos, yet similar cases like Guan Da Xing (Privacy, nature disasters, murder) are still happening every day, even at this very moment. Let us pray for our seamen brothers, and hope our pray would bless them as they bless us. Hope the gospel would spread to those fishermen’s families, and hope God blesses us all.
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations.
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P. C. T. Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center ~ News Letter
2013 July
A compromised life of fisherman A-Guo signed contract as the chief of engineer with a fishery company near the end of last year. Accordingly, he left the next day, reporting for duty at assigned harbor in Indonesia. After he got on board, he found that captain asked him to work overtime, beating and verbal abuse him with no leisure time allowed. The worst of all, he was prohibited to take his medication (A-Guo suffers from Diabetes and has to take his medication constantly in order to lower his blood sugar). This situation got worse with excess of blood sugar, and restless work which weakened his vitality greatly. One time, captain beat A-Guo's left back which made him felt extremely uncomfortable (possible of internal injury). The symptom got worse and A-Guo had returned to Taiwan for medical treatment. Doctor has notified the patient's family which he was in crisis mode on February 2nd. During the treatment, MRI scan has confirmed that A-Guo's left chest has internal blood stasis (possible caused by captain's beating) and required intubate to suck out blood stasis. A-Guo was not able to speak until February 9th, since he was in coma after returning to Taiwan. According to A-Guo's brother, the fishery company only came to visit A-Guo once during his hospitalization. A-Guo's brother has asked the company if they are going to cover A-Guo's medication bill. The company representative responded that public insurance should be able to cover the expense. The social worker helped A-Guo with legal advise; however, lawyer mentioned offenses of causing bodily harm has to be charged prior to file indemnification which based on the court ruling. Additionally, a lawsuit could take a long period of time and cost a fortune for A-Guo's family. Even if, A-Guo can win the lawsuit, the indemnification might not be enough to cover the expense for lawyer after all the effort. (A-Guo's medication bill has been estimated to be around NT$200,000). During the process of negotiation, social worker has consulted Labor Affair Bureau, lawyer, and law consulting foundation for answers. However, Labor Affair Bureau only has allowance for dispute as paycheck wise between labor and capital. As for lawyer and law consulting foundation, both of them believed that this particular lawsuit could take many years and cost greatly and indemnification might not be enough to cover all the expenses. Therefore, a lawsuit was not recommended to be filed. The social worker from P.C.T. Seafarer/Fishermen's Center will find social resources to help those fishermen who needed the assistance. But sometimes relying upon oneself is better than relying upon others. Social worker has pointed out some precautionary steps for fisherman to help themselves before working on board. 1. Signing proper working contract which should be detailed as possible, for instance, prizes, bonus, job responsibilities, and benefits etc. 2. Exchange family contact information with co-workers in case of emergency and promoting communication. Furthermore, P.C.T. Seafarer/Fishermen's Center sincerely hopes that people who is kind enough could provide lawful consultations and/or goods, materials to the minority fishermen who needed the help. Thus, more minority fishermen can receive the proper professional supports.
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