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見当違いの優先事項
白川自治相は、22日、地方公務員一般事務職への外国人採用は各自治体の裁量にゆだねるという方針を明らかにした。また、東京都でも、外国人に地方選挙への投票権を与えるため、法律の改正が検討されている。しかし…。
Misplaced Priorities
By CHRISTINE O. CUNANAN-NOMURA
Newly installed Home Affairs Minister Katsuhiko Shirakawa recently instructed ministry officials to look into the possibility of letting foreigners take local government jobs ― including administrative jobs. At the same time Kawasaki City and the Kochi and Kanagawa Prefectural Governments have announced efforts to scrap the nationality requirement for public service posts.
Now the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is even considering revising the laws to allow foreigners to vote in local elections.
As a foreigner in Japan, I have no doubt that these efforts will have many benefits. The additional job opportunities will especially be welcome to the foreign community. Many non-Japanese will also appreciate having greater influence in local society.
While recognizing the good intentions of the bureaucrats who have agonized over these decisions, however, I can't help thinking that their priorities are misplaced at this crisis point in modern Japanese history.
There are many other more important and daunting tasks facing the government. It must first solve its own administrative problems and then work on improving the living conditions for its own people.
The government must streamline its operations and trim the bureaucracy to avoid putting additional tax burdens on citizens. To do so, it must learn to make do with fewer resources while maintaining efficiency.
The government must find ways to cope with a forecasted shortfall in pension funding and health care services. If a real solution to this problem is not found, the only way to keep these programs running will be to make salaried workers pay higher premiums and to force recipients, such as the elderly and the sick, to receive fewer benefits.
Japan must, as a developed country, make affordable housing available for all its people. Many Japanese cannot afford to own homes unless they take out 20- or 30-year loans for tiny properties far from the city.
The government must care for the increasing number of homeless people in major Japanese cities. Many homeless people claim that the bureaucracy has tried to ignore them instead of help
them.
For many reasons, the opportunity to hold administrative government jobs and the right to vote are privileges of nationality. People who would like to claim these rights in a particular country must usually be citizens of that country. In fact, people in many countries would feel uncomfortable giving these privileges to foreigners.
I would personally consider it only natural if Japanese were the only ones who could hold local administrative posts and vote for their representatives. And, although changing the status quo would bring more benefits to foreigners, the Japanese government has more serious problems to consider than cosmetic improvements for foreigners. The government should not be tying up bureaucrats' time with study groups and meetings about relatively peripheral matters when so many more serious domestic issues remain unsolved.
Newly installed Home Affairs Minister Katsuhiko Shirakawa recently instructed ministry officials to look into the possibility of letting foreigners take local government jobs ― including administrative jobs. At the same time Kawasaki City and the Kochi and Kanagawa Prefectural Governments have announced efforts to scrap the nationality requirement for public service posts.
Now the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is even considering revising the laws to allow foreigners to vote in local elections.
As a foreigner in Japan, I have no doubt that these efforts will have many benefits. The additional job opportunities will especially be welcome to the foreign community. Many non-Japanese will also appreciate having greater influence in local society.
While recognizing the good intentions of the bureaucrats who have agonized over these decisions, however, I can't help thinking that their priorities are misplaced at this crisis point in modern Japanese history.
There are many other more important and daunting tasks facing the government. It must first solve its own administrative problems and then work on improving the living conditions for its own people.
The government must streamline its operations and trim the bureaucracy to avoid putting additional tax burdens on citizens. To do so, it must learn to make do with fewer resources while maintaining efficiency.
The government must find ways to cope with a forecasted shortfall in pension funding and health care services. If a real solution to this problem is not found, the only way to keep these programs running will be to make salaried workers pay higher premiums and to force recipients, such as the elderly and the sick, to receive fewer benefits.
Japan must, as a developed country, make affordable housing available for all its people. Many Japanese cannot afford to own homes unless they take out 20- or 30-year loans for tiny properties far from the city.
The government must care for the increasing number of homeless people in major Japanese cities. Many homeless people claim that the bureaucracy has tried to ignore them instead of help
them.
For many reasons, the opportunity to hold administrative government jobs and the right to vote are privileges of nationality. People who would like to claim these rights in a particular country must usually be citizens of that country. In fact, people in many countries would feel uncomfortable giving these privileges to foreigners.
I would personally consider it only natural if Japanese were the only ones who could hold local administrative posts and vote for their representatives. And, although changing the status quo would bring more benefits to foreigners, the Japanese government has more serious problems to consider than cosmetic improvements for foreigners. The government should not be tying up bureaucrats' time with study groups and meetings about relatively peripheral matters when so many more serious domestic issues remain unsolved.
Shukan ST: Dec. 13, 1996
(C) All rights reserved
- Misplaced
- 見当違いの
- priorities
- 優先事項
- Newly installed
- このほど就任した
- Home Affairs Minister
- 自治大臣
- instructed
- 指示を出した
- ministry officials
- 省の職員
- look into the possibility of 〜
- 〜 の可能性を検討する
- letting 〜 take local
- government jobs
- 〜 を地方公務員に採用すること
- administrative jobs
- 行政
- scrap
- 撤廃する
- nationality requirement for public service posts 公務員になるには日本国籍が必要だという条項(国籍条項)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government
- 東京都庁
- (is)considering
- 検討している
- revising the laws
- 法律を改正すること
- allow 〜 to 〜
- 〜 に 〜 を認める
- vote in local elections
- 市町村選挙で投票する
- additional job opportunities
- 新たに増えた就職口
- appreciate
- 嬉しく思う
- having greater influence in 〜
- 〜 により大きな影響力を持てること
- local society 地域社会
- While recognizing 〜
- 〜 を認める一方
- good intentions
- 善意
- bureaucrats
- 官僚
- have agonized over 〜
- 〜 をめぐって苦労した
- crisis point
- 重大な時期
- daunting
- 凍結されている
- streamline
- 合理化する
- operations
- 業務
- trim
- 削減する
- bureaucracy
- 官僚組織
- avoid putting additional tax burden on 〜
- 〜 に余分な税の負担を押しつけるのを避ける
- make do with fewer resources while maintaining efficiency
- 能率を維持しつつ、より少ない人材で間に合わせる
- cope with 〜
- 〜 を切り抜ける
- forecasted shortfall in 〜
- 予想される 〜 の不足
- pension funding
- 年金の資金
- health care services
- 健康保険の業務
- solution to 〜
- 〜 の解決策
- keep these programs running
- 年金や健保の制度を機能させていく
- premiums
- 保険料
- recipients
- 受領者
- benefits
- 年金制度や健康保険でおりる金
- developed country
- 先進国
- make affordable housing available for 〜
- 手ごろな価格の住宅を 〜 が入手できるようにする
- cannot afford to 〜
- 〜 する余裕がない
- take out 20- or 30-year loans
- 20 〜 30年のローンを組む
- tiny properties
- ささやかな持ち家
- privileges
- 特権
- nationality
- 国民
- representatives
- 代表者
- status quo
- 現状
- cosmetic improvements
- うわべだけの改善策
- should not be tying up bureaucrats' time with 〜
- 〜 で官僚の時間をとるべきではない
- peripheral matters
- あまり重要でない事柄
- domestic issues
- 国内問題
- remain unsolved
- 未解決のままである