“The people’s pain is my pain and your suffering is my suffering,” President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on Saturday. “The public is frustrated with the current economic hardship … I urge you all to have faith in me and believe that I will lead the nation out of the economic straits.”
These words sound fine as a lullaby.
Back in reality, however, Ma and his government continue to come up short on strategies to alleviate economic tensions.
In an attempt to bolster public confidence in the government, Ma on Saturday elaborated on what the government has done to boost the economy, citing attractive numbers such as the NT$1.08 trillion (US$35.5 billion) he said the government had secured from foreign and domestic investments and the nearly NT$4 trillion the fund could be worth if expected investments over the next three years are factored in.
The public does not seem to buy into that rosy picture, however. The TAIEX on Tuesday plunged to its lowest level since September 2006, dropping 322.72 points to close at 6,834.24. While the drop was in part led by continuing US mortgage woes, the Ma government has failed to do anything to mitigate the damage.
A quick comparison of the indexes tells it all. Among neighboring stock market performances on Tuesday, the TAIEX took the hardest hit, with a 4.51 percent drop, while the Japanese stock market dropped 1.96 percent, Singapore 2.53 percent, Malaysia 1.43 percent, Hong Kong 3.82 percent and South Korea 3.81 percent.
The Ma government continues to announce more relaxations on China-bound investment, naively thinking that China will be the remedy to the nation’s economic woe.
Rather than trumpet fancy numbers, propose mega projects and portray China as the solution, the Ma administration should instead seek to find remedies that fit the current illness.
If, as he claims, Ma really feels the people's pain, perhaps he should follow in South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's footsteps and donate his salary.
During the presidential campaign, Ma often used South Korea as an example and said Taiwan should use the latter as the model. Maybe so; so show us the money.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party caucus has proposed offering taxpayers with an annual income of NT$495,000 or less a tax return of NT$6,000, which could have a positive impact on underprivileged families struggling with rising commodity prices.
Sadly, the KMT-controlled legislature shot down the proposal yesterday without offering a viable alternative.
The nation’s Consumer Price Index is at a 14-year high and it is creating substantial problems for families.
These people don’t need the vague promises and castles in the air that Ma and his administration have flung at us over the past few weeks, but concrete action that will have an impact on ordinary lives.
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