Taiwan's National Theater apologizes after staff refused to help disabled person

台灣國家戲劇院因工作人員拒絕幫助殘疾人而道歉

National Theater promises improvements after celebrity complaint on Facebook


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Rex How (郝明義), a former National Policy Advisor and chairman of the Locus Publishing Company, shared a post on Facebook on Wednesday (Nov. 9) in which he said that the staff of the National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) refused to help him three times when he needed a hand to lift up his wheelchair.

On Tuesday evening, the 66-year-old publisher attended the music performance “Quatuor Hermes and Kun Woo Paik” in the recital hall at the NTCH. However, instead of sitting in the wheelchair area, he and his friend sat in the front row, according to the Facebook post.

As the music concert ended, How needed a hand to lift his wheelchair onto the upper steps and leave the venue. “I asked the male staff who stood on the right front of the stage for help, but he replied to me that he could not leave his spot as he had to serve others.”

How and his friend tried to move the wheelchair themselves but were unable to do so. “I noticed the performing hall was empty now, so I asked for the staff's help again. He told me he had something else to do, so I began taking photos and he left.”

“My friend kept on helping me, but we were stuck trying to get up to the steps and could not move. Then I saw a staff member who appeared to be a manager come over, so I asked for her help,” said How.

“Sorry sir, we have a policy that we cannot offer help to customers in wheelchairs because we cannot take responsibility if they fall,” the female employee replied, leaving How speechless, according to the post.

How concluded that there should be revised guidelines for NTCH employees to help disabled people. He called for the staff to have more empathy and flexibility in dealing with emergencies, said the publisher.

Hsu Mei-lin (許美玲), the Deputy Executive Director of Business Development at the NTCH, told Taiwan News that customers’ safety is their first priority. She apologized for what happened and said that NTCH is looking for experts and forming a group to address the matter.

Hsu clarified that NTCH rented the venue to another company to host the show, so participants had to buy wheelchair seat tickets via phone. Therefore, How, the front seat ticket owner, may not have known there were tickets available in the wheelchair area.

Hsu emphasized that the staff directed How to take a seat in the wheelchair area, but he insisted on going to the front row. “We will certainly work on training our staff and we have not yet discussed any relevant punishment for our employees,” said Hsu.