Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and DPP vice presidential candidate Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday called on supporters to “bring piggy banks home,” as their campaign office is short NT$70 million (US$2.1 million).
Thousands of supporters gathered outside Tsai’s campaign headquarters in Taipei and repeatedly chanted: “Hello, president” as Tsai walked onto a stage, even though the presidential election is still weeks away.
Waving small flags to show their support for Tsai, many supporters also held up piggy banks filled with coins, which they shook to make a noise.
Photo: CNA
Before, during and after the rally, people lined up to donate their piggy banks full of coins to campaign staff, which is the trademark of Tsai’s supporters when making donations.
For every money-filled piggy bank supporters donated, they received a souvenir piggy bank, on which the campaign’s English slogan, “Light up Taiwan 2016,” the words “souvenir of the three pigs campaign” and Tsai’s signature were inscribed.
Tsai told the crowd that the party would cherish all donations made through piggy banks, as each represents an expectation for a better future, as well as the public’s trust of the DPP.
Photo: AFP
“Many have asked how the DPP is different from the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT],” Tsai said. “Well, I will tell you that the DPP exists because of the public’s support. We are clean, we do not run businesses and we do not rely on large donations from corporations. Everything we have comes from the people, making the DPP a genuine democratic party, a party of the people.”
Donations using piggy banks started with a man in Tainan and his three grandchildren, who gave Tsai three piggy banks full of coins at a campaign event during the 2012 presidential election, Tsai said.
At the time, the government questioned the legality of the donation, with the Control Yuan warning that the three children could not legally make political donations, as they were underage. The controversy triggered more piggy bank donations by supporters, with the practice continuing in this campaign.
Chen said that he had also donated a piggy bank to Tsai four years ago, but this time he would not do so.
“My wife said that we are not donating piggy banks this time, because this time, she is donating me. She is donating me to the DPP and to the people of Taiwan,” Chen said. “I am the piggy bank that my family is giving to Taiwan.”
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