Lawmakers eye new holiday, NT$500 bill design to mark Premier12 title

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) A number of Taiwanese lawmakers on Tuesday called for the creation of a new national holiday or updating the design of the NT$500 bill to commemorate the national baseball team's historic win Sunday in the WBSC Premier12 Championship in Tokyo.

In an interview Tuesday morning, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said he had already collected signatures from 26 other lawmakers for a bill to designate Nov. 24 "National Baseball Day."

The idea -- which would involve passing amendments to the government's Implementation Regulations on Memorial Days and Holidays -- came to him after Taiwan's victory in the tournament, Hsu said, adding "this is an honor everyone can share and remember."

Meanwhile, other lawmakers spoke out in support of reports that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), an avid baseball fan, had proposed adding the national team's photo to the front of Taiwan's NT$500 bill.

The front of the NT$500 bill currently features a 1998 image of a baseball team from Taitung's Nanwang Elementary School throwing their hats into the air after winning a local Little League tournament.

The Central Bank on Tuesday pledged to "carefully evaluate" any proposals it received on the issue.

Reacting to the reports, DPP lawmaker Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said he supported the potential redesign, on the grounds that it would be "meaningful for Taiwanese people" and would help increase Taiwan's visibility abroad.

In a Facebook post, Kuomintang lawmaker Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said he understood the Central Bank's caution on the matter, since any single change could spark a larger debate about the design of Taiwan's currency.

"But there is one thing they can do right now," Hung said, arguing that a limited-time, commemorative NT$500 bill featuring the national team could be issued, in order to recognize the "rarity and significance" of their achievement.

Among those with dissenting views on the proposals, Wu Tong-liang (吳東亮), chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC), said that from his perspective as a company boss, Taiwan "already has a lot of days off."

"Commemorating a baseball championship is fine, but you don't necessarily need a day off for it," Wu said.