The latest article written and posted by former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) on his personal (Web log) blog revealed how he is still trying to adjust to life as a citizen again, but he also divulged his ambition to re-initiate his political career in the near future.
"There are so many things to do when you have to do them all by yourself," Hsieh said.
In the blog post, the former premier also mentioned that officials from the Executive Yuan had approached him and asked him to return seven-days worth of pay that he had received, totaling about NT$70,000, for the month of January because he left his position before the end of the month. Reading between the lines, it seemed that Hsieh was somewhat bitter about the Executive Yuan's move to ask him for the money back.
It is really a weird feeling to return to normal life. You have to pay your own taxi fees, buy tickets for flights, kill cockroaches at home, etc. You have to do everything yourself, he said in the entry.
"I was Kaohsiung mayor for six years and the premier for one. As a result, I have had many aides helping me out over the past seven years. All of a sudden, I have to take care of everything by myself and I have found out there are so many mundane things to take care of during daily life," Hsieh said.
The former premier said that he had also begun to appreciate the trappings of power from the first minute of his return to normal life. However, he also realized that a politician's power came from the people's trust.
"It's like a promise to serve the people when a politician is given such power," he said. "It's a good thing for a politician to become an everyday citizen again so he or she can be reminded of what he or she has promised the people."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique