Lee Ying-yuan gets new hairdo

Seeking to close the gap in good looks with his rival, DPP candidate for Taipei mayor Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), has been sporting a new hairdo.

The Lee camp is also looking for a professional stylist to take care of Lee's hair and image, according to DPP lawmaker and campaign spokesman Julian Kuo (郭正亮).

"Hopefully, we'll be able to find that person by the middle of this month," Kuo said yesterday.

Lee's new hairdo follows recent hairstyle changes by incumbent Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has begun to use less styling gel in an effort to appear younger with more natural looking hair. In addition, Ma has also lost 3kg in the past two months.

Not to be outdone, Lee's campaign team decided yesterday at a regular meeting at DPP headquarters to come up with a new look for its candidate.

Lee's campaign team is also waging its battle for the Taipei mayor's seat on several other fronts. By the end of this month, Lee is scheduled to visit all of the city's 435 borough wardens to listen to their needs first-hand.

He'll also launch a personal Web site by the middle of August, publish an autobiography on Sept. 1 and release white papers on the city's management later in September.

In addition, the campaign's headquarters -- which the public will be free to visit at any time -- is scheduled to open in September.

The Chinese name of Lee's Web site (www.inTaipei.org.tw) has a special meaning.

"The Chinese name for `in Taipei' sounds similar to `win Taipei' in English. We hope Lee will win the mayoral race," Kuo said.

The DPP lawmaker also said Lee's white papers will likely cover three areas: controversial city policies made during Ma's term, Ma's mistakes over the past three years and Lee's vision for Taipei.

Meanwhile, Ma yesterday had his annual health checkup at the Municipal Chung Hsiao Hospital.

He weighs 74kg and stands 177cm tall. His body mass index reading is within the normal range at 23.5, or 1.7 less than that of last year. His body flexibility level is 54cm, or 9cm above the level of excellence.

All other tests results showed him to be in very good health.

"It pays to do 150 sit-ups and 100 push-ups everyday," Ma said yesterday.

The Taipei mayor has his health checkup every year on the eve of his birthday. Doctors at Municipal Yang-ming Hospital told him to lose 3kg when he had his annual checkup there last year.