Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) said he has learned never to name any lawmakers during legislative sessions if they have ever approached him privately for a discussion or to request something.
The minister said it was one of the most important lessons he has learned from a financial scandal surrounding the private Jin-Wen Institute of Technology (
"I should never mention any lawmakers' names [in legislative meetings]," said Tzeng, responding to a question posed by DPP lawmaker Wang To (王拓), who asked the minister what he had learned from the growing furor over the Jin-Wen case.
"You are truly naive. It is such a simple fact that it doesn't take any brains to learn. But you have had to learn it after paying such a high price," Wang told the scholar-turned-minister.
On March 26, Tzeng mentioned the name of independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (羅福助) in a meeting in response to PFP lawmaker Diane Lee (李慶安), who asked if any gangs or publicly-elected representatives were influencing the investigation concerning the scandal.
His words sparked a series of political spats, beginning two days later, when Lo physically attacked Lee over allegations that she had intimated he was a gangster.
Last Thursday, Vice Minister of Education Lin Chao-hsien (林昭賢) was demoted to the post of councillor at the ministry for his alleged involvement in the scandal and on Friday, Minister Without Portfolio Chang Yu-hui (張有惠) resigned over the same allegation. Lin, however, refused to accept the new post and said he would retire instead.
Lin and Chang became mired in the financial scandal because they both bought villas in the Ta Hsueh Shih Hsiang (大學詩鄉) community, which was built by a construction firm owned by Chang Wan-li (張萬利), former chairman of the Jin-Wen Group. Reports say the two men bought the residences at an amount far below the market price as a bribe from the group.
Legislators at an educational committee meeting yesterday asked Tzeng not to approve Lin's retirement request, saying that any officials alleged to be involved in a scandal should never be allowed to use retirement as a pretext for escaping legal liability.
"If Lin is an official with integrity, he should stay at the ministry for judicial inquiries," said KMT lawmaker Liu Kuang-hua (劉光華).
Lin, despite saying he would file for his retirement yesterday, did not show up at the ministry. Instead, his daughter, Lin Yi-hua (林奕華), a KMT Taipei City Councilor, appeared at his office to speak on behalf of her father.
Lin Yi-hua said her father decided to wait until tomorrow to make his request because he was upset by what he considered to be "unfair remarks" made by the minister.
Last Saturday Tzeng said he removed Lin from his post because some of Lin's deeds had been "found to be improper."
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