The once-a-decade Population and Housing Census has been rolled out for half a month now. Today (Nov. 16th), Chen Min, Director of the Department of Census at the Executive Yuan’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), as well as Section Chief Yang Li-hua, visited Hsinchu County, where they received a report from the Population and Housing Census task force within the County Government’s Budget, Accounting and Statistics Department. In addition to hearing the report, the Director and Section Chief also commended and encouraged the Hsinchu census workers’ diligence. County Magistrate Yang Wen-ke, Head of the Hsinchu County Population and Housing Census Department for this Census, also came to welcome the Director and Section Chief. County Magistrate Yang further explained the status of Population and Housing Census work in Hsinchu County. The County has surveyed a total of 53,000 households, meaning that the current completion rate is 32.2%.
County Magistrate Yang explained that, on August 17th, Hsinchu County established the Hsinchu County Population and Housing Census Department; and starting September 1st, the County’s 13 townships established Population and Housing Census Offices. Together, they have mobilized about 500 people involved in budget, accounting, statistics, civil affairs, household registration, village administration, and other relevant tasks. The census targets the entire population who was household registrations or long-term residency in the County. Wufeng, Jianshi, and Emei Townships – Indigenous areas and areas with low populations – will have full census coverage, with 15% random census sampling. Beginning November 1st, internet census response began, with calculations running until the 15th. The overall internet census response rate was 11.7%; within this, Zhubei City at 20.3% and Zhudong Township at 16.1% had higher internet response rates.
Director Chen stated that this is Taiwan’s 7th full Population and Housing Census, and it is also the first time to use internet census responses. The public have been very eager to do internet response. With the addition of the auditing process, it is expected that all the work will be complete only by the end of December. The DGBAS stated that Hsinchu County’s population is growing rapidly; this year’s census population figure is the County’s highest in history. All census data is strictly for statistical purposes, is kept confidential, and is not used for any other purposes – County residents should feel at ease in responding! Residents and friends who have any concerns should call the 165 Anti-Fraud Hotline, or ask their village borough chief, township civil affairs office, or the County’s Budget, Accounting and Statistics Department or Civil Affairs Department to investigate. Everyone is asked to comply with this Census.