Soong’s words of wisdom
In the final presidential debate, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) acknowledged an open secret: Government statistics are cold and offer little comprehension of true Taiwanese life.
Hitting the nail on the head, he said the average person does not earn even close to Taiwan’s current annual per capita income of US$19,000. All one has to do is ask around and the truth shall be revealed.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), seeking re-election, has been seen in public countless times, but has he asked the right questions?
Moreover, does he care enough to implement effective policies to address people’s concerns?
Ma has asked for four more years to fulfill his “6-3-3” policy, referring to 6 percent GDP, 3 percent unemployment and US$30,000 annual per capita income.
However, at least one of his goals is highly difficult to attain.
For Taiwan’s per capita income to reach US$30,000, incomes must increase by at least 50 percent within four years. A percentage increase of this degree is easy when numbers are small (eg, two to three) instead of big (eg, 20,000 to 30,000).
However, let’s assume that Taiwan’s per capita income will reach US$30,000 within four years. Is it plausible, then, to assume that the ever deepening pockets of the corporate sector will skew the average income to reflect such a dramatic increase over such a short period of time?
If this were the case, how will future policies help the middle classes and the lower economic tiers?
Ma has said that Taiwan’s wealth gap last year was the smallest in the world, while conceding that wealth distribution still needs to be more equitable.
What a load of bull!
Nordic social democracies must be envious of Taiwan’s president. It is clear that Ma loves to showcase his extraordinary logic.
Soong’s words make economic sense.
It is a pity, though, that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members continue to let Ma hijack their party. Soong would have made a better leader for the KMT had its members really cared about Taiwan and all its citizens.
Michael Tsai
Tainan
What’s in a name?
In the final presidential debate on Saturday, Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was well ahead, while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) fell far behind in the TV call-in polls.
In spite of suffering from flu and being investigated by the Special Investigation Division, Tsai led Ma by a factor of five and 20 in polls conducted by two TV stations.
This shows that Ma has failed in his efforts to blacken Tsai’s name with the documents with forged dates revealed by the Ma administration.
Taiwanese often refer to Ma and Tsai as “Double Ing” or “Double Ying” (雙英, shuang-ing).
The only difference between “Ying” for Ma and “Ing” for Tsai, the same character (英, brave), is the letter “Y” — which is pronounced the same as the Chinese word wai (歪, crooked) in Taiwanese and Mandarin.
Tsai’s name without the “Y” defends her integrity and cleanliness.
Although Ma claims that he is clean, he demonstrates corruption by clinging to more than US$6.6 billion in illicit party assets stolen from the Taiwanese people.
He also says that his US green card had been automatically voided, but he has never produced any evidence.
Ma was born in Hong Kong, but named after Kowloon. He feels safe (安) in his re-election, but this character is attached to a huge white banner.
A white banner generally signifies surrender and this character shows a lady in the house — the Presidential Office. Ma’s banner also suggests that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members should be peaceful when Ma loses.
On the other hand, People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) has a Chinese name that includes the names of two ancient countries in China.
Citing eventual unification as his goal, Soong, labeled by Ma as pro-unification, has two countries in his name, but not in his mind.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
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