Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
For one, it sounds too much like something the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) would do. Surely, no one can forget how Lien eagerly seized every possible opportunity to show off his English both before and after the last presidential election -- accepting interviews in English, giving press conferences in English, and so on. In fact, some native English speakers even had to check their dictionaries in order to understand some of the impressive and flowery vocabulary he used.
The KMT's intention was likely to show the contrast between Lien and President Chen Shui-bian (
In fact, it's fair to say that the same contrast exists between the KMT and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Although many members of the DPP also earned advanced degrees abroad and have lived overseas for a long time, they typically downplay this part of their background and portray a native and grass-roots image. Why? It's because they know as well as Chen that such an image is a hit with the Taiwan public.
It's truly sad that after two presidential election defeats Lien still thinks showing off his English can win him brownie points. If along with his fluent English he had Ma's good looks, he could at least shoot for a Prince Charming image -- for which there's still a good market among urban middle-class voters. Unfortunately, he does not. In the end, he simply appears snotty and distant.
As for Ma, he should be a little more careful. While one can hardly say that he's done anything wrong, publicly giving a full lecture on English grammar and spelling to a room full of government officials, including his own superior Premier Yu, simply leaves a bad aftertaste. It presents a condescending attitude that is incompatible with his usual down-to-earth, sunny image.
In addition, it's pretty obvious that almost five years into Chen's presidency, Ma still feels like a loner rather than a member of the team. This is shown in the way that he characterized the incident as reflecting problems with the education system. As the mayor of Taipei, he is an important part of the government, and so part of the problem he depicted. It would be nice if he could offer constructive suggestions on how to improve the situation and correct the problems. After all, everyone already knows the importance of English and realizes there are serious problems with Taiwan's English education.
Finally, if Ma has time to proofread the English draft of the educational accord with Palau, surely he should be able to do something about the spelling and grammar mistakes on the the Taipei City government's Web site.
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