The Taichung Government set up parent-child centers in Nantun, the North District, Taiping and Fengyuan and has announced new centers along the coastal line starting next year. The year-end elections are now just a month away. Mayor Lin Chia-lung, who is running for reelection as the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate, says the new centers are simply a solution to the parents who don't know anywhere to take their children for activities. The Kuomintang's mayoral candidate, Lu Shiow-yen, pointed out that what young children are lacking even more are dedicated sports centers.


Some children play with toy cars,while others play with costumes, props and climbing equipment. Their parents are happy they have somewhere safe to play.

There's role-playing stuff and cars. (My) older one is running around. And then (I have) a 7-month-old, who is lying over there playing.

Nantun's family center opened last August, and similar centers opened in Taiping and Fengyuan this month. The North District center is almost finished, and new centers are slated to open along the coast next year. Taichung City Mayor Lin Chia-lung, who is running for reelection as the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate, says he is meeting the needs of preschool-age children.

So, the family center provides a place where parents and children can both be. On the one hand, the best care possible is provided, and they can also learn. When you have recreational facilities that advocate putting different kinds of children together, you have to be extremely careful.

Lin's opponent, the Kuomintang's Lu Shiow-yen, says existing resources should have been used instead because there is a much greater need for dedicated children's sports centers.

This is an indoor family center. Does it truly meet the needs of city residents? Is it a children's sports center? Are there dedicated children's pools, sporting equipment and classrooms inside?

According to city statistics, Taichung's under-six population is around 50,000. As people are having fewer and fewer children, one of the keys to winning the election may be winning the support of young parents with beneficial children's policies.