The March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Committee, the NT$610.8 billion weapons purchases from the US, the KMT's stolen assets stand aside. What matters to voters in the countryside in southern Taiwan is "boa gam chin" (搏感情) a Hoklo expression meaning to establishing emotional and personal ties with constituents.
Two days ago in Luchu (路竹) Township in Kaohsiung County, a group of people sat on the square surrounded by traditional three-sided houses (三合院), drinking tea and reminiscing about the past.
PHOTO: WU HSING-HUA, TAIPEI TIMES
These three-sided houses with a half-enclosed square can be seen everywhere in Taiwan's countryside, and it is common for neighbors to wander into each other's places casually, drink tea, and talk.
Yet the uncommon thing about the scene in Luchu was that one of the people in the tea party was Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who was playing the role of an old neighbor, rather than a major political figure.
There he was a highly respected elder, but he was even more a familiar neighbor who shared similar experiences with his neighbors as they grew up together.
Luchu is where Wang grew up. Wang's family is much respected in the village, and Wang knows almost everyone there. Every time he returns to the village, passersby would come and say hello.
"Of course I am still helping out my constituents with their requests," Wang said, saying he was still meeting and serving the constituents despite the fact that he is going to be a legislator-at-large in the next legislature.
Wang said that every Sunday he would return to Luchu, and his old home would be filled with constituents and he would mingle with them. The constituents would be provided with meals, and they would have a good time.
In this way Wang builds his popularity.
In Tainan County, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) set up his campaign headquarters in a similar setting: There is a square in which he can provide constituents with food, and right inside the headquarters there is a table with tea pots facing the door, so anyone who comes can immediately sit down, have a cup of tea and start chatting.
Lee's mother, who is 76 and dresses modestly as any farmer's wife would, is also at the headquarters welcoming the visitors.
Lee looks very calm, believing he has his constituency well secured.
"In the past, there would be fights between one village and another, and that is how united the villages are," Lee said, hinting that he had tight support from his village.
This is how elections work in the southern countryside -- the candidate is either from the area, or he has been serving the area well and knows the constituents well.
This is unlike the northern cities, where the candidates can try to gain support by promoting their personal ideologies and attract voters with similar ideas.
Many lawmakers in the southern countryside, be they pan-green or pan-blue, have voiced similar opinions: the constituents do not care about the political disputes presented by the media, but they care very much about whether they know the candidate and what the candidate can contribute to the area.
Familiarity with the constituents, or at least sharing the same origin, is of utmost importance to the candidates. A Hoklo proverb, "there is at least familiarity between two if they come from the same place even though they may not know each other well (人不親土親)," highlights how important it is for the candidates to share close ties with constituents.
A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker in the Tainan area used a supporter as an example.
"That supporter of mine voted for A-bian in the presidential election simply because A-bian was also from Tainan," the lawmaker said.
"But now I am running as a lawmaker again, the supporter has ordered his child to vote for me too because I am from the area," the lawmaker said.
Similar things happened to the pan-green candidates too.
"When I make calls to the constituents, some of them would just call our lawmaker by his name as if he were their neighbors," said a volunteer, surnamed Yang, helping DPP Pingtung county lawmaker Lin Yu-shen (林育生).
"Sometimes the constituents would even want to ask the legislator to call them directly, and I would always note that down and inform him," Yang said.
Yang also said that while she would become excited upon seeing Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) when Ma came to Pingtung, when asked about whom she would vote for if both Ma and Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌) ran for the 2008 Presidential election, she answered without hesitation it had to be Su.
"Su was the Pingtung county chief after all, and he did wonderful things for the county," Yang said.
The need to "boa gam chin" is a product of the agricultural countryside in the central and southern Taiwan where personal networks and constituent service were of prime importance, Tunghai University Department of Political Science Professor Wang Yeh-li (王業立) said.
"The difference between choosing on the basis of platforms or personal ties is a difference between the cities and the countryside," Wang said.
Wang pointed out that there were some regional lawmakers who rarely showed up in the legislature or attended call-in TV programs, yet they still maintained great popularity in their areas simply because they focused intensively on constituent service.
"Since the pan-blue camp is not good at PR campaigning like the pan-greens, the pan-blue candidates have to keep up their popularity through the traditional election strategy of constituent service," Wang said.
"The DPP, meanwhile, wants to expand its domain, so its candidates would also work on providing service, not just PR," Wang said.
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