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Letters:

Beware politics of fear

I write in response to Jason Lee Boon Hong's letter (Letters, Aug. 24, page 8). While I agree with Hong's assertion that next year's election is important, his statement, "the country's fate is in the hands of the voters," is perhaps a little too naive. Unfortunately for Taiwan's fledgling democracy, the media will be the ultimate force that will determine the immediate destiny of the people of Taiwan.

Moreover, combined with the incumbent leader's topsy-turvy political misadventures and his desperation to become the so-called "son of Taiwan," this next election really isn't about the people of Taiwan, but merely a tactical ploy to build an electorate based on shallow identity politics, distrust and most devastating of all, greed. The best way to combine these "values" is to personally appoint oneself as arbiter of democracy or some similar title. Does "bastion of freedom" suddenly ring a bell?

Hong writes: "Do Taiwanese want a passport bearing the name People's Republic of China on the cover, with Taipei or Kaoshiung listed as the provinces of birth on the first page?" It is exactly this kind of threat-based tactic that many politicians employ that has served to hollow out the opportunities presented by a living and breathing democratic system. It cannot be denied that cross-strait relations and China's threats to Taiwan play an important role in political decision-making among the populace.

But building an election platform based upon threats both real or imagined, imminent or far-fetched is something that amounts to authoritarianism and fascism.

This platform based upon fear and loathing, "vigilance" and "patriotism" is fed to the press and transformed into a form of discourse that will continue to delegitimize Taiwan's democratic system. Following the 2000 presidential elections, the politics of Taiwan have taken on a form of "Love Taiwan or perish politically."

One possibility some people fail to understand or do not wish to entertain is that this "Love Taiwan" attitude is nothing more than political propaganda. Who ever controls the media ultimately controls the discourse on what it means to "Love Taiwan."

Today, we live in a country where "Loving Taiwan" entails a variety of things. Whether that means serving in our country's armed forces, volunteering time and energy to benefit those who are less fortunate, performing one's occupation or feeding one's family, this list continues onward. Rather than narrowing this list and politicizing policy decisions based upon the upcoming national election, the people of Taiwan need to vote with their minds and not just with their hands. As citizens of this democracy, we can never take these institutions and organs of democracy for granted.

We need to actively evaluate what it means to live in a democratic society, and look beyond the meagerly "choices" being "offered" by our politicians today. If Taiwan's democracy and national identity are merely built upon what we consider dangerous, what we consider disdainful and in broadly, haphazardly defined constructs in what we consider "the Other," we will rapidly approach an authoritarian society built upon ethnic purity, loyalty oaths and narrowly defined verification systems to monitor how each citizen "Loves Taiwan." This is when a "passport bearing the name People's Republic of China on the cover, with Taipei or Kaoshiung on the first page" and a "Republic of Taiwan" passport will be issued in the same spirit of nationalistic fanaticism.

The citizens of Taiwan need to build a coalition based on promoting the constant verification and preservation of the hard-fought democratic system and look beyond this infamously narrow-minded blue-green spectrum of limitations. We should attempt to broaden the amount of choices available to us or future ballots may just be pieces of papers on which voters are asked: "green or blue?"

Chiao Yuan-Ming
Taipei

What `mother tongue'?

I wonder what is the "Mother tongue" that Su I-wen (蘇以文) was referring to ("Learning English too young can hamper children," Aug. 26, page 2)?

So many people here in Taiwan are born in a bilingual environment. Does that mean that they are encumbered and as a result learn slower? I am speaking of course of the families that use mostly Hakka or any of the many indigenous languages of Taiwan at home. Should they then stop learning Mandarin at school so that they can learn faster in their "mother tongue" or does this only apply to English?

As a former alumnus of Taipei American School, I attended classes with many students whose "mother tongue" was not English. Most of these students were right here from Taiwan and have gone on to be some of the more successful people this country has.

So, I wonder where Su did this research and how he can explain that nearly two out of three people in this country are bilingual and they seem to be managing their school work quite well.

John Chislett
Taichung
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