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Law cuts president's gift for New Year to NT$10

To avoid charges of vote-buying ahead of the March presidential election, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will give away Lunar New Year red envelopes containing only NT$10, compared with NT$200 last year.

For a fourth consecutive year, Chen will deliver the gifts to residents of his hometown in Guantien township, Tainan County, on the first day of the Lunar New Year today.

However, this time the seasonal gift has been curtailed because of an anti-election-bribery rule that limits gifts given by candidates to voters to NT$30.

Therefore, the traditional hung bao -- the red envelope that contains cash -- that Chen will give this year have been replaced by a souvenir red envelope with a NT$10 coin fixed inside.

The tradition of presidents giving away red envelopes in their hometowns started with Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who would give away red envelopes from his home in Sanchih township, Taipei County, on the first day of every Lunar New Year.

The event now creates considerable excitement in the president's hometown, and long queues form in front of the president's home.

Lee gave away NT$200 in each red envelope, but the value of the red envelopes, and whether presidents should be giving them away at all, have become a hotly debated issue.

Some people argue that it may not be ethical for the president to give away money that comes from his state affairs allowance.

Second, how much money should be given away? To avoid charges of bribery and yet continue the popular ritual, the Presidential Office this year modified the format of the "presidential hung bao" from the NT$200 dollar bills in the regular red envelopes to the specially-designed souvenir packages with NT$10.

Presidential Office spokesperson James Huang (黃志芳) said: "It is undeniable that because of the election campaign, the president's behavior will be watched even more closely by the public, and we don't want to create any unnecessary problems so that our rival camp might cash in on the issue."

Huang said that Chen would continue to give away the new souvenir red envelopes if he is re-elected because they are far more meaningful than the NT$200 bills.

Whatever the president gives away, it is likely that hundreds of his supporters would still line up in front of his house in Tainan to receive it.

Every year, hardcore supporters of Chen's brave the winter weather to camp in front of the president's house to be the first one to get the red envelopes from Chen.

This year, hundreds have already reserved a spot by placing a stool in their place.

This year, a Guantien township resident, Hsu Chung-hsing (許崇興), won the first place in the queue, beating the champion of the last two years, Chuang Sheng-jung (莊昇融), who makes the journey each year from Taipei County.

Hsu, who owns a stand in the township selling water chestnuts, a famous product from Tainan, began to queue on Jan. 6.

"No matter how cold it is, as long as I can receive the red envelope from the president, I will feel warm," he said.
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