Shen has eye on mayor's office -- with a dead heart

Controversial Democratic Pro-gressive Party (DPP) Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) yesterday said his ambition to hold the post of Taipei mayor would not be deterred by questions about his health, while conceding he had been disheartened by the "constant bickering" of his colleagues.

Shen was speaking during the launch of his book Always Upbeat: The Elated Life of an Outspoken Man yesterday. He suggests in the book that although he has suffered from myocardial infarction, his abilities would be not be beneath those of his competitors in any mayoral race.

Shen did not explicitly say that he would run for mayor, but he did dismiss speculation about the state of his health in the book.

"Citizens of Taipei City, are you casting votes based on a candidate's electrocardiogram and ultrasound or his capabilities?" he writes.

He expressed confidence in the way he had handled a dispute with TV talkshow host Wang Ben-hu (汪笨湖) in recent weeks by saying that his actions would be judged by voters in his Taipei electorate in December's legislative election.

"I will minimize my campaign activities, and would those DPP supporters who still cannot forgive me after reading this book please transfer their votes to other DPP candidates in my constituency," Shen said.

Shen also recited a poem he wrote recently to say that he had turned cold toward politics and the recent spat with Wang that had resulted in daily tit-for-tat attacks in the media.

"The heart is dead/The blood has turned cold/I cannot cure Mother Taiwan's illness/I don't want to either/Wave goodbye to the life which had been "always upbeat"/Spend the rest of my years "no longer upbeat"/Dying in action like Don Quixote/The horse hide to wrap my corpse is not ready/But I have already fallen," the poem read.