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Meet the man behind the scenes

Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Ma Yung-cheng is shown in this April 17 photo. PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES

The past couple of weeks have been tough for Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成), who has been dogged by allegations of political and financial irregularities.

Visibly vexed by the allegations, which he describes as groundless, Ma said that trying to dismiss the unfounded accusations leveled against him has consumed most of his time.

"They come one after another and I have no idea why those rumormongers do not need to take any responsibility," he said.

Ma was referring to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) and political commentator Hu Chung-hsin (胡忠信), who have accused him of accepting large amounts of money for pushing through the merger of two financial institutions.

Chiu alleged that Ma received a red envelope containing NT$2 million (US$61,671) from Hua Nan Financial Holding Co chairman Lin Ming-cheng (林明成) on his wedding day as part of the merger deal.

Ma filed a defamation lawsuit against Chiu and Hu for making the allegations.

Chiu and Hu have also accused Ma of being involved in the 319 assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), saying that the husband of Ma's cousin Lu Chung-ming (呂崇民) provided the gun believed to have been used in the shooting.

Lu Chung-ming has also filed a criminal lawsuit against Chiu and Hu in addition to a civil complaint.

Born in 1965 in a Mainlander community in Taichung, Ma has long been a follower of Chen.

Ma began working with the president in 1991 while Chen was still a legislator. Later, when Chen became Taipei mayor, Ma became Chen's right-hand man, serving as a coordinator, mediator and policy strategist.

During Chen's tenure as Taipei mayor Ma made a serious mistake. When Chen was trying to win a second term as Taipei mayor, a female Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) city councilor accused him of frequenting hostess bars.

He admitted his error, made a public apology and left the campaign team for the sake of the election bid. However, the incident reflected badly on Chen, and he failed to win re-election.

After Chen failed in his bid to become Taipei mayor for a second time in 1998, Ma began preparing for graduate study overseas.

His plan, however, never came to fruition because he then became busy helping Chen with his presidential bid.

Chen won the election in 2000 and Ma was named secretary to the president in 2000. Chen's peers, however, christened Ma the "leader of the Boy Scouts."

The "boy scouts" nickname was coined by Hu, the author of Son of Taiwan (臺灣之子) -- a biography of Chen, after he had a falling-out with the president. Wu used the term to attack policies he felt were flawed, saying the decisions were made because of poor advice Chen was receiving from his young aides.

Ma took over the position left vacant by Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), who became Cabinet spokesman last February before returning to the Presidential Office in February this year.

Kuo Wen-pin (郭文彬), a secretary at the Presidential Office and a long-time associate of Ma, said he and Chen are very much alike, except that Ma is more level-headed.

"They are both efficient, aggressive and very idealistic," Kuo said. "However, it is not necessarily a good thing to be an idealist because they can get very stubborn and egotistical."

Kuo described Chen as a candid, direct individual who speaks his mind openly and therefore sometimes makes mistakes while Ma is a calm, reflective person who thinks carefully before he speaks.

Ma and Chen are also the kind of people who have confidence in those to whom they delegate authority, Kuo said.

Because Ma is in charge of all Chen's itineraries, task progress reports and organizational functions, Kuo said that Chen gives Ma his complete trust and seldom questions his judgment.

Understanding that mistakes are not acceptable, Ma has been trying to keep a low profile, a move that Kuo said sometimes weakens his capability.

"Sometimes, you just have to come out from behind the curtain and speak up for yourself," Kuo said, referring to the recent spate of allegations lodged against Ma.

Ma could easily have been appointed a Cabinet official, but the 41-year-old has repeatedly declined such arrangements, saying that he was too young for such positions.

Because Ma is a very efficient and sometimes impatient person, Kuo said that he gives his colleagues great pressure.

Ma may seem serious in public, but in private Kuo said that he is a guy with a great sense of humor. That is, of course, when he is not under pressure, Kuo added.
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