Donghu Station: There are lots of retired KMT stalwarts in this area — and we need some praise for the president somewhere in the system. Yingshou Station (英壽站, “Long Live Ma Ying-jeou” Station) is a no-brainer.
Nangang Software Park Station: Time to honor the dead. President Ma may not be able to get outgoing KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung’s (吳伯雄) son into the Taoyuan County commissioner’s seat, so a fallback would be naming this high-tech station after Wu’s uncle, Wu Hung-chi (吳鴻麒), whose bullet-ridden, tortured and — some sources say — castrated corpse was found under nearby Nangang Bridge during the 228 Incident of 1947, courtesy of KMT thugs and soldiers. But there’s a compromise: the English name has to be in pinyin, hence: Hongqi Station.
Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Station: This would become Hu Shih Memorial Station (胡適紀念站) in recognition of a man who gave people hope that China might one day resemble a civilized country. And it is located near the Academia Sinecure. Ma always did find moderate academics to be better company than entrepreneurs and slobbering strongmen. And let’s face it. You don’t need to be told where you are when you arrive at the exhibition center — just look out the bloody window.
Let’s be blunt: The KMT needs to impose the “let’s all be friends” side of its personality on the landscape. And what better place for some revisionist rehabilitation than a station at the end of the line?
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