Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that the leak of an audio clip in which one of his campaign officials is heard using foul language to scold new staff members was hard to prevent, because the staffers were hired after an open recruitment process.
Ko on Monday evening officially launched his re-election campaign office, which includes 13 new members who were recruited from 1,800 applicants.
A netizen claiming to be a staff member on Tuesday posted the clip on Professional Technology Temple, the nation’s largest online academic bulletin board system.
Campaign office director Huang Chien-hsing (黃建興) can be heard in the clip using foul language to scold people for leaving in the middle of a meeting and not arriving on time in the morning.
The netizen wrote that the staff had other errands to run and had already informed their superiors that they could not attend the entire meeting, but Huang still humiliated them and insulted their mothers.
The campaign office on Tuesday in a statement said that Huang cares for the staffers, but became too emotional while teaching them about workplace discipline.
The office has just been established and the staff come from different backgrounds, so they need some time to get to know each other, campaign office spokesperson Lin Hsiao-chi (林筱淇) said, adding that Huang has apologized to the staffers and promised to avoid using emotional words.
Asked to comment, Ko said: “There are advantages and disadvantages in open recruitment. A shortcoming is that you cannot control the background of those you hire, so there might even be secret agents from the CIA or communist China.”
“However, we maintain the principles of transparent government, public participation and openness,” he said, adding that his dedication to transparency is also why the city government under his lead can avoid scandals.
Ko said he urged his campaign staff to remember that they should always act as if they are speaking to the public, adding that the use of foul language is wrong and merits apology.
Asked if Huang would be fired, Ko said that people should not be given only one chance, so if he has changes his attitude, there is no reason to fire him.
Separately, the campaign office said that Ko would officially register to become a candidate for the Taipei mayoral election on Nov. 24.
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