Now is the time for change
Has the public not grown tired of last-minute revelations of supposed wrongdoings just prior to elections? This last bit of sensationalist rhetoric by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) and Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) in regards to the possible election of independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is scandalous (“KMT lawmakers question NTUH organ harvesting,” Nov. 21, page 1).
Allegations of possibly expediting the deaths of patients so organs could be harvested are just now coming to light? It seems that these two legislators are employing the same tactics used by an addled old man, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), who chose to question the “loyalty” of Ko’s dead relatives (“Lien says DPP taught ‘wrong thinking,’” Nov. 17, page 1). Is the KMT this desperate that they feel they need to stoop this low?
I guess my question is this: When will the good people of Taiwan wake up to the fact they are being both “bought” and duped by those who should, but do not, hold the best interests of Taiwan at heart?
Wake up and smell the corpse flowers, Taiwan. There is and has been a sickness growing in government. Now is your chance to do something about it with your vote.
Tom Kuleck
Greater Taichung
No gratitude in campaigning
A recent feature was very interesting and it shed light on the evolving election culture of Taiwan (“Nov. 29 candidates fine-tune campaigns with songs,” Nov. 3, page 3). While many candidates are hoping to get an edge on their competitors with creative slogans and costumes, others are trying to get a boost by picking theme songs for their campaigns that they hope will bring voters in.
There is one thing that used to play a part in past elections, but seems to have almost entirely disappeared from this year’s campaigns. Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) used to use the term lo lat (勞力) in his campaign speeches in 2000 and 2004, and many other candidates in south Taiwan used to use the term as well on recorded messages that would play over and over again in repeating loops from sound trucks cruising the neighborhoods.
Not anymore: The term has almost entirely disappeared from Taiwanese culture and even campaigners in the south have stopped calling out lo lat to potential voters as they did so colorfully in the past.
It was once explained to me that lo lat means “labor” or “hard work” in both Chinese Mandarin and Japanese, but it means “appreciation for your labor or effort” in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) and in Hakka as well. Lo lat is a deep sincere thank you, and some people say it with a further emphasis by intoning tsin lo lat, with tsin (真) standing for “very” or “truly” — so that the longer phrase means “truly thankful.”
But nobody says lo lat or tsin lo lat anymore in a thoroughly modernized Taiwan, and the election culture which once turned lo lat into a catchphrase to attract voters at campaign stops and from sound truck shout-outs has disappeared. It is a pity that such a traditional and important cultural and linguistic term has been retired to the graveyards of yore.
From what my elderly neighbors have told me, lo lat was used in the old days to say thank you to someone, usually an older person, but it could also be used for everyone else to express a deep appreciation for that person’s hard work and time spent doing something for you — such as tilling the fields, growing rice, cooking dinner or carrying a heavy bag for you at the bus station. It was more than a mere “thanks” or “thank you.” It was a deep, sincere thank you for a person going out of their way to help you.
I have heard that in Greater Kaohsiung, some politicians in both camps — the Democratic Progressive Party and the KMT — will sometimes use the word during campaign rallies, but one hears it less and less now.
When a politician addressing would-be voters and supporters said gam sha lo lat (感謝勞力) during a rally, he or she was assured that the assembled crowd was very happy to hear those heartfelt words, even though they are not always so sincere or heartfelt on the part of the politician. However, its use often helped to garner votes and the gimmick worked.
Today it is pop songs and folk songs that are used as election gimmicks, according to the article referenced above. I recently heard one candidate using the theme song from Umin Boya’s movie Kano as part of his sound truck tape loop. Lo lat.
Dan Bloom
Chiayi
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