A peek inside the eccentric office amenities of two DPP lawmakers

A peek inside the eccentric office amenities of two DPP lawmakers

2024-07-31

Have you ever visited your local lawmaker’s office? Lawmakers often make their office space very personal, with some hints of their personality and political aims. Today we peer inside the eccentric office amenities of two DPP lawmakers. Ariel Chang has a tiny playground in her office, to make life easier for visiting children and caretakers. Meanwhile, there’s a selection of coffee beans to rival the finest coffee shop at the office of Asenay Daliyalrep.

A political aide demonstrates how to use the flying rings. A DPP lawmaker cleared out some space in her office to create this mini kids’ playground.

Ariel Chang
DPP lawmaker
In a normal office, there’s no space for kids to run around. If they’re getting restless, their parents start feeling tense. They might not be able to explain issues well. So that’s why I wanted this space where kids can read books and play. Some children might have ideas they want to share, and in a relaxed environment, while playing, they will be able to share those ideas.

Before taking office, Ariel Chang was secretary-general of an NGO called “Taiwan Parks and Playgrounds For Children By Children.” She’s made the best possible use of this limited space to welcome families in, and serve voters who come to the office. Alongside the exercise equipment, there are children’s picture books and other toys.

Ariel Chang
DPP lawmaker
The pictures in here are different from the usual style, so children quite like flicking through this one. Everyone can play with this, but people think this one is very beautiful. It’s a child’s artwork. Before, a child put them together flat in the shape of a fox. You can let kids create their own art.

This little playground is small but perfectly formed. Chang says there’s more in the kitty to buy extra toys. Meanwhile, at the office of DPP lawmaker Asenay Daliyalrep, the legislator has inherited a bar top from her predecessor Alex Tsai. She’s converted it into a coffee bar: the perfect space to welcome guests into.

Asenay Daliyalrep
DPP lawmaker
When we have meetings, we need to brew coffee for everyone. See how many kettles we have! I bought these with my own money for everyone to use. And this too, because lots of guests need disinfectant.

Inside the cupboard is a panoply of brewing paraphernalia, as well as various different flavors of coffee. When visitors come over from the Executive Yuan, they can sort out important matters over a relaxing cup.

Asenay Daliyalrep
DPP lawmaker
We have more types of coffee beans here than you’d get in most cafés. We’re arguing back and forth every day in the Legislative Yuan, and sometimes people get very stressed. So I welcome everyone I know in parliament and in different departments to come here. And you can drink however much you like, always.

Legislators are often leaders in another field before taking office, and when they build up their parliamentary base, their space reflects their life experience. It can improve the quality of lawmaking, but also provide a window into their personality.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

立委研究室改裝兒童遊戲場張雅琳服務家長選民

2024-07-31

有不少立委會改造立院辦公空間，來服務選民，像是民進黨立委陳瑩接手前立委蔡正元留下的吧檯，用來沖咖啡服務訪客；出身"還我特色公園"聯盟理事長的張雅琳，更騰出一部分的辦公空間，當做兒童遊樂場。

幕僚示範吊環用法，連拉好幾下，這是民進黨立委張雅琳騰出辦公空間，打造成小型的兒童遊樂場的器材之一。

[[立委(民) 張雅琳]]
“如果是一般辦公室環境，小朋友沒地方跑，可能比較躁動的情況下，爸爸媽媽就會很緊張，可能就沒辦法把問題好好說清楚，所以才會希望這個空間，可以讓小孩去看書、玩東西。像有些小朋友可能有想法想說，在一個比較輕鬆的環境下，他可能可以在玩的過程中，邊陳述自己的想法。”

張雅琳從政前是"還我特色公園"理事長，她善用有限的空間打造親子友善環境，服務上門的選民，除了運動器材，還有兒童繪本跟遊具。

[[立委(民) 張雅琳]]
“畫圖的風格，可能跟一般常見的畫風不一樣，所以小朋友還蠻喜歡拿這本翻。這個是大家可以玩，只是大家看到這個作品覺得他很美，這個是小孩的作品。之前有小朋友拼平面的，拼成狐狸，可以讓小孩自己創作。”

特色公園小而精，張雅琳還說未來有經費，要補上其他器材。鏡頭轉到民進黨立委陳瑩的辦公室，她接手前立委蔡正元留下的吧檯，改造成自己沖咖啡、招待客人的小空間。

[[立委(民) 陳瑩]]
“大院有開會，需要手沖咖啡給人家。你看這麼多的壺，都是我自己買，但我是買給大家用。然後這個也是自費，因為客人多就需要消毒。”

櫃子一開，滿滿的沖泡器材，還有不同口味的精品咖啡，讓行政部門來訪時，能用輕快的氣氛聊公事。

[[立委(民) 陳瑩]]
“咖啡豆比一般你們在外面的咖啡店種類還多。在立法院每天吵來吵去，有時大家情緒緊蹦，歡迎所有要來國會的聯絡人或公部門的每一位，都是大家喝到飽的概念。”

立法委員是來自各領域的菁英，在打造辦公室時，不少立委發揮巧思，除了加強問政品質，也展現出每個人不同的特色。

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The third thing is that because we know how the cerebellum calculates the frequency. We can actally cancel the frequency using a technique called transcranial alternating current stimulation. It initiates a revolution because for the first time, we start to know how our biology, how nerve system do calculations, do math. This is actually not just for essential tremors. It is just a specific case. We actually know how the neurons calculate your movments and motions. So by knowing this, we can cure all the other types of motor disease.

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Because there are so many tremor patients, but each of them can have different causes. In precision medicine, in current therapy, you need thousands of different treatments to cure a single patient because you don’t know which cause it is. If we know where the frequency comes from, you can cancel the frequency to cure all these types of patients with one mechanism. This has already passed the animal testing and validating in humans. We are starting to do human trials.

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