"Life is precious, think for two more minutes -- you don't have to kill yourself," Buddhist Master Sheng Yen (
Words of wisdom from an old master, it's a statement that local politicians should keep in mind when making rash comments, such as threatening suicide, academics said yesterday.
After coming under fire from both the pan-blue and pan-green camps for barging into Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (
Fa quit his position as KMT caucus whip on Thursday and his membership in the KMT on Friday as an expression of apology for the potential damage he might have inflicted on Ma's election bid.
Fai is not the only politician who has offered to end his life.
One day after Fai made such a remark, KMT Vice Chairman John Kuan (
Many also remember that last October, a Central Election Commission member recommended by the People First Party, Chao Shu-chien (
Seppuku is a Japanese ritual of committing suicide by disembowelment.
The commission did proceed to have a vote on it, and Chao didn't follow through on his word, dismissing it later as a mere joke.
Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒), dean of the College of Indigenous Studies at National Donghwa University, said yesterday that seppuku is a Japanese ritual to show that a person is ashamed of his own actions.
"It's sacred and is morally very symbolic; however, the politicians have made such vows a joke," he said.
Tseng Chien-yuan (
"Public issues should be discussed rationally in society," Tseng said. "Threatening to commit suicide is more like what terrorists or extremists would do."
While such rash words by politicians may have an impact on their supporters to a certain degree, especially during a period when tempers are running high as the election approaches, Tseng said that making such comments "would create an atmosphere of unrest in society, which is certainly negative."
Kuan Chung-hsiang (
"Politicians set bad examples by using provocative language that would only heighten the political standoff," he said. "Younger politicians or voters may learn from them, and it's not a good thing."
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
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EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
COUNTERMEASURE: Taiwan was to implement controls for 47 tech products bound for South Africa after the latter downgraded and renamed Taipei’s ‘de facto’ offices The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still reviewing a new agreement proposed by the South African government last month to regulate the status of reciprocal representative offices, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. Asked about the latest developments in a year-long controversy over Taiwan’s de facto representative office in South Africa, Lin during a legislative session said that the ministry was consulting with legal experts on the proposed new agreement. While the new proposal offers Taiwan greater flexibility, the ministry does not find it acceptable, Lin said without elaborating. The ministry is still open to resuming retaliatory measures against South
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