A romantic poem submitted for an open competition has prompted much discussion online after a netizen said it contained a hidden message that mocked President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as a brainless “jellyfish.”
The poem, entitled Old-Fashioned You and I (陳舊你我) was submitted by a contestant named Chen Chih-ming (陳志明) for the “Speak Out for Love” (為愛發聲) poetry competition hosted by Uni-President Enterprises Corp as part of a promotion for its packaged milk tea beverages, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday.
The poem has all the appearance of elegant Chinese poetry, written in 12 stanzas, as the author wrote of his romantic longing for his girlfriend while brewing a pot of tea.
However, an eagle-eyed netizen noticed that the poem, intentionally or unintentionally, included a message mocking Ma, the newspaper reported.
The message, which reads diagonally through the poem, says: “Ying-jeou, you jellyfish brain (英久[九]妳這個水母腦).”
A number of netizens said they were impressed by the author’s creativity and ability to make fun of Ma using such elegant and romantic language.
One netizen was quoted by Apple Daily as saying: “This guy is a cultured hipster!”
Another was quoted as saying: “This is the new form of patriotic poetry.”
The Presidental Office had no comment on the matter, the Apple Daily said.
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