Former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) once commented on the impact of language culture on national development, saying that China is inferior to the US because of language barriers. Although Beijing sends students abroad to study English, they cannot acquire the spirit behind the language because of their Chinese education, and are prejudiced by their first impressions and confined to traditional Chinese culture.
Those who value the “essence of national culture” criticize this point of view, but judging from the recent popularity of two proverbs, “to cast a brick to attract a piece of jade” (拋磚引玉) and “moral obligation prohibits a person from declining an unshirkable responsibility” (義不容辭), Lee’s comment does make some sense: If someone in the US said that these were the reasons they were running for president, people would surely topple over laughing.
Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) once portrayed herself as a “brick” trying to attract greater Chinese Natioanlist Party (KMT) talent to compete with her in the party’s presidental primary. This raises the question: Why does Hung want to be the leader of the nation if she is nothing but a brick intended to attract greater talent?
Even before making any policy suggestions, she has complained about her poverty, saying that she may be the poorest presidential candidate in the history of the KMT if she is nominated, a claim that surely must have offended former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), who is on the latest Hurun Global Rich List as well as the memory of former KMT president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), who had an image as being a clean politician during his lifetime.
If Hung is the poorest KMT presidential candidate ever, she has not mentioned a more important fact: The deputy legislative speaker would probably also be the most unimpressive presidential candidate in the KMT’s history if nominated.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) used the other idiom recently, saying that he would be committed to this unshirkable responsibility if he were drafted by the KMT to run for president. This statement is both pretentious and ridiculous. Wang thinks he is popular and he is waiting for the KMT to beg him to run for president so he can pretend to be forced to do it. However, his remarks were more like the signal of a breakup, showing that this is the final battle in the struggle between Wang and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), as Ma and Wang supporters come to a showdown.
If we compare the ongoing “idiom contest” that is going on in connection with the KMT’s primary to the first presidential election in 1948, before the collapse of the KMT regime in China, the current situation becomes even more laughable.
In January 1948, then-Peking University president Hu Shih (胡適), who received higher education in the US, wrote a letter to encourage then-KMT heavyweight Lee Tsung-jen (李宗仁) to run for president. Using a metaphor from Western sports, Hu wrote that although there is only one winner in a race, there must also be other contestants for the winner to be No. 1.
Advised by strategists brainwashed by traditional culture, Lee replied three days later, instead encouraging Hu to run for president. Apart from echoing Hu’s race metaphor, Lee wrote that based on knowledge and reputation, it should be a moral obligation and an unshirkable responsibility for Hu to run.
If by throwing a brick, you only attract another brick, but then are overcautious and hesitant to take action, it will be too late for regrets.
James Wang is a senior journalist.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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