Taiwan's most tuneful lawmaker is ready to cut yet another album on behalf of charity this fall, but despite his growing back catalogue, DPP Legislator Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) claims he only discovered his talent for singing after entering politics.
"During a by-election campaign 10 years ago, I found out that I could sing," Chen said. "The discovery reminded me that I could not only help people by exercising my legislative power, but also by raising money for charity by singing."
Chen, a legislative leader of the DPP caucus, launched his political career as a commissioner in Sanchung during the 1990s.
The first song he sang in public was about the city of Sanchung, an industrial city in Taipei County.
At the time, he recorded an album in a bid to raise campaign funds for his fight for the commissioner's seat. However, Chen quickly ran into difficulties.
"We could not find any singer or celebrity to sing for me simply because I was nameless and the DPP was only a fledgling party," Chen said.
The freshman candidate was finally forced to sing on the album himself, a move that may have helped him ultimately win the by-election and break the KMT's long-time hold on the city.
"I think the unexpected victory could be partially attributed to the album," Chen said. "Singing the song myself helped me to raise my recognition level and enabled the electorate to recognize that I had an affinity with Sanchung."
The song was called The Gloomy City (悲情的城市) and spoke of Chen's sadness that the KMT had built so little infrastructure in the area.
The song not only kick started Chen's life in politics, but also led to invitations to sing at other campaigns and gala events such as the DPP's anniversary celebrations.
He once sang in front of 60,000 people at Chungshan Football Stadium (中山足球場) when the DPP welcomed former dissident Peng Ming-min's (彭明敏) return to the country in 1992.
Chen said he was honored to sing for the esteemed statesman who later became the DPP's candidate in the 1996 presidential election.
Chen, however, claims he has never had a musical lesson in his life.
"I never got the chance to learn how to read music," he said, adding that he memorizes songs through repeated listening.
"That might help to show my real affection for the songs," he joked.
Neither does the DPP lawmaker visit KTVs with colleagues after work because, he says, his family is his main concern outside of work.
As a father of two, childcare still dominates most of the legislator's leisure time and his only chance to practise singing is at home.
"It is a pity that my children don't appreciate my singing during practices," Chen said. "Instead, they always asked me to shut up and stop singing outdated songs at home since the songs do not go down well with that generation."
However Chen's performances received praise from Shen Li-feng (
"We know the DPP lawmaker has never had any musical training." Shen said. "But we found that he had developed a very stylish way of performing and successfully reveals his affection for the songs."
The lawmaker has already mapped out his plans for next year's presidential election.
"I will do my best to help President Chen Shui-bian (
He believes that a song like A Homebound Returnee will best interpret the president's attachment when the campaign heads to Chen Shui-bian's hometown.
Moreover, a song like The Happy Voyage (快樂的出帆) will exemplify the ruling party's pledge of endlessly working for a better living standard among people of the country, Chen Chin-jun added.
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