Taipei, May 22 (CNA) The Tang Prize Foundation has teamed up with high schools in Taiwan to launch a program that is aimed at inspiring students' interest in the four fields of the award -- sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law.
The program has invited students from 10 high schools to form teams and propose creative events that will help young people and the general public gain a better understanding of the four fields.
A total of 12 proposals from 12 teams have been received, and each team of students will receive NT$100,000 (US$3,282) to help them organize their events, the foundation announced Thursday.
Among them is a debate on issues related to biopharmaceutical science, proposed by a team from National Taichung First Senior High School. By preparing for and engaging in the debate, students will be able to better understand biopharmaceutical science issues, the foundation said.
A team of students from Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, meanwhile, will organize a competition to promote the spirit of the Tang Prize through dance, crosstalk and other forms of performance art, according to the foundation.
An award ceremony will be held Nov. 21 to select the top three teams, which will receive prize money of NT$30,000, NT$20,000 and NT$10,000, respectively.
Even though the program aims to tap the creative side of students, Tang Prize Foundation CEO Chern Jenn-chuan (陳振川) said that the ultimate goal of his foundation is to help build up Taiwanese students' ability to think in depth about social and environmental justice issues.
During a visit to Taiwan, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, winner of the first Tang Prize in sustainable development, pointed out the problem of low taxation in Taiwan, while Chinese American historian and the first Tang Prize sinology laureate Yu Ying-shih (余英時) stressed the importance of humanistic qualities in a democratic society, Chen said.
"These are issues that young people should care about and think about," Chen told CNA.
As long as the next generation cares about sustainable development and social and environmental justices, "they will be more sophisticated in their views about politics and will not be so easily swayed by populism," he said.
The biennial Tang Prize was established in 2012 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin (尹衍樑) to honor top researchers and leaders in the fields of sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law.
The first award ceremony was held in Taipei in September last year.
