by Crystal Shih
Did I really win? How much?” “Give me five more tickets!” Someone scratches their ticket even while holding money to buy more. The lottery whirlwind has invaded Taiwan again. From 1 December the central goverment has instituted a “commonwealth lottery” on the first day of every month. 50% of its profits are meant to be used for public welfare projects, 45% in citizen annuities, and 5% for health insurance. In addition, because of the 921 earthquake, 44% of profits in the first three months will go to devastated areas. This lottery gives buyers two opportunities to win prize money. First one can win up to NT 2,000,000 instantly. Even if you don’t win anything, don’t be disappointed. Hold on to the ticket and check at the end of the month to see if you have won a “lucky prize,” as much as NT 500,000. The lottery is similar to the present uniform invoice system, but the probability of winning a prize in the new lottery – about 40% – has attracted thousands of people. For some it’s just for fun; others have a dream of winning a large fortune. No wonder people will buy even 100 tickets at a time. The government gives priority to disadvantaged people to be sales agents for lottery tickets, including the handicapped, aboriginal people, and people from low-income families. A disabled sales agent commented, however, that a package of 500 tickets only brings NT 4,000, including tax. “We have to register first to sell lottery tickets, and when the tickets are sold out we must wait ten days to register the next batch. It’s difficult to make a living this way.” According to the government, selling the lottery can be regarded as an avocation rather than a vocation for the disadvantaged. Nevertheless, the banks that also sell lottery tickets are great rivals. This also leads to many complaints from disadvantaged people. Considering that one of the intentions of the lottery is to help these people, we should choose them when we want to buy tickets. Have you ever bought lottery tickets? Why not buy one, just for fun or to help the victims of the earthquake? Just remember to buy them at the stands of disadvantaged people! a
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
|