President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) marked his first year in office yesterday by reading books with schoolchildren.
Wrapping up a grilling from foreign correspondents in the morning, Ma got a break from the adult world as he visited the Dali Elementary School in Taipei City’s Wanhua District yesterday afternoon.
Ma answered questions and read a children’s book penned by sixth-graders at Shengdong Elementary School in Changhua County.
PHOTO: CNA
The book, titled The Sky of a 12-year-old: The Dreams of a Group of Elementary-school Students, is a compilation of interviews with well-known people such as Acer Inc founder Stan Shih (施振榮), TV anchorwoman Shen Chun-hua (沈春華) and Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), founder and artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theater and Novel Hall Dance.
The book is the result of a two-year project, named “Childhood. Dream. Courage,” designed to raise funds for the children’s graduation trip. For each book they sell, they keep NT$1, with the rest going to charity.
One girl asked Ma whether it was his childhood dream to become president, to which he said he had wanted to be a train driver when he was little and that he thought his job as president was similar because he led the country to move forward.
Another boy asked him which task needed more courage: asking his wife to marry him or to be president. Ma said that while getting married concerns only two people, to be the president of the country touches upon the lives of millions.
When asked which country he would prefer to be the president of, Ma offered a reward of NT$100 to whoever knew how many countries there are in the world. To which one boy yelled: “more than one.”
Ma said he liked being the president of this country best because of its geographical position and natural environment.
“If I were an alien from outer space looking for a good place to stay on Earth, I would choose Taiwan,” he said.
One girl was curious about the most meaningful thing Ma ever did when he was young. Ma said he found helping people gave him much joy.
Ma encouraged the children not to underestimate themselves because they are small. Once they set a goal, they should keep on going.
“Just do it,” he said.
The children were then asked to use their fingers to grade Ma’s performance yesterday. They all gave him a 10.
Despite getting top marks from the children, Ma’s disapproval rating among adults was higher than his approval rating in a poll released yesterday.
The latest poll conducted by the Chinese-language Global Views magazine showed that Ma’s disapproval rating was 48.6 percent, while his approval rating was 38.9 percent. The figures showed an improvement for Ma over last month.
The poll also found that 44.9 percent of the respondents were unhappy with the performance of Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), while 37.7 percent said they were satisfied.
The overall disapproval rating for all Cabinet ministers was also higher than their approval rating, with 49.3 percent dissatisfied and 31.2 percent satisfied.
In related news, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said the party had strengthened its cooperation with the government over the last year, and he promised to continue working with the Ma administration to improve government performance.
“There is no such thing as separating the party from the government. We are a team. The KMT will help Ma perform better as he moves on with his first term. His success is for the benefit of all people in Taiwan,” Wu said yesterday at KMT headquarters.
Wu said some party members had said last year that party affairs should be separated from government affairs, but the Ma administration and the KMT had reached a consensus later to work together and enhance cooperation as a team.
As the ruling party, Wu said the KMT would work closely with the Cabinet and the legislature to seek better lives for Taiwanese.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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