Young man joins ranks of elders

Lin Yao-wen (林耀文), the would-be director of Kaohsiung City Government's Department of Information (DOI), will become Taiwan's youngest government official in history after formally taking the position next Monday.

DPP Legislator Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said Lin, 27, was Taiwan's youngest government official and had beat his record.

Luo was appointed as director of Taipei City Government's Department of Information at the age of 28 when President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was the mayor of Taipei, Lin said.

Lin said the reason city governments prefer to choose young people as directors of departments of information is because the positions require young people's "energy and creativity."

Lin was appointed as director of Kaohsiung's DOI when Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) announced the city government's personnel reshuffle on March 17.

As the personnel reshuffle was announced, a local Chinese-language televison station introduced Lin by placing photos of Lin and Chiao Chien-ming (趙建銘), the son-in-law of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) side-by-side.

Lin and Chiao look strikingly similar.

Lin said he would not be conceited as a result of becoming the country's youngest government official.

Wang Chih-cheng (王自成), a Kaohsiung-based senior reporter of the Chinese-language newspaper the Commons Daily, said Lin is a "very humble" person.

According to Wang, one of Lin's biggest challenges as director of the DOI will be how to handle his relationship with reporters.

"A majority of Kaohsiung-based reporters are aged between 30 and 40. Lin is only 27, about the age of a fledgling reporter," Wang said.

Besides, Wang thinks the main reason Hsieh chose Lin as DOI director is because the department will be abolished by the end of this year.

"Hsieh appointed Lin as DOI director mainly because Hsieh wanted to limit the impact of shutting down the department. Lin's ability is not Hsieh's primary concern," Wang said.

However, Hsu Jen-tu (許仁圖), who is the incumbent DOI director and will assume the director of Kaohsiung's Bureau of Civil Affairs post on March 31, disagreed with Wang's viewpoint about why Hsieh selected Lin as his successor.

Hsu said he does not think Hsieh chose Lin as DOI director to reduce the impact of the abolishment of the DOI because Lin is young and less influential.

According to Hsu, although the Kaohsiung City Council decided to abolish the DOI at the end of this year in its last session, there are still opportunities to turn things around.

Hsu said the city council would review the DOI's scheduled closing when its next session begins in April.

"Whether the DOI will survive depends on Lin's ability to negotiate with the city councilors," Hsu said.

Hsu also said he believes Lin can overcome his difficulties in communicating with reporters who are ollder than him. "He has been my co-worker for a long time and is very familiar with the operations of the media," Hsu said.

Lin said he would face reporters with a humble attitude. "I believe if I hold a humble attitude toward them, they will be willing to help me," Lin said.

To secure the survival of the DOI, Lin said he plans to visit every city councilor in person to solicit support.

Lin said the abolishment of the DOI would cripple the city government's efforts to transform Kaohsiung into an international city.

"Without the DOI to promote the city's features, Kaohsiung's tourism and recruitment of investors will be seriously affected," Lin said.