Taipei City Government announced on Wednesday that it will reintroduce financial gifts to seniors for Double Ninth Festival next year, previously stopped in 2016 after Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (???) assumed office in 2014.

From 2023, Taipei citizens aged 65 and over will receive a monetary payment of NT$1,200 (US$40) for the festival in honor of seniors, trimmed down from NT$1,500 in the past, Taipei Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan (???) said at a news conference.

Meanwhile, Taipei seniors aged 65 or older in low-income and lower-middle income households will receive NT$1,500 and those 99-years-old and over NT$10,000, Huang said, adding that the city government will allocate NT$620 million for the payments every year.

Taipei seniors aged between 65 and 98 received payments of NT$1,500-NT$5,000 the last time the payment was made in 2015, a year after Ko was elected mayor of Taipei.

In April 2016, Ko excluded senior citizens from high and middle income families from the cash payments, citing the need to use the funds to pay for more welfare benefits and something more tangible for the elderly, triggering widespread discontent among seniors.

In November last year, Taipei City Council passed an ordinance ruling the cash payments should be restored. Ko appealed the case, but it was rejected by the city council.

Earlier this year, Taipei City Government notified the Executive Yuan of the ordinance, hoping it would invalidate the rule, but to no avail.

The Executive Yuan replied in June that the rule did not contravene the Constitution or other relevant laws, asking Taipei City Government to earmark a budget to re-institute the cash payments on Double Ninth Festival.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel