The Chinese nickname for newly appointed Premier William Lai (賴清德) is Lai Shen (賴神) — “Lai the Divine” or “Divine Lai.”
Paying attention to what he does and says provides a good understanding of why that is.
He differs from other politicians, who beat around the bush and are afraid to speak their minds, and instead draws clear demarcations between himself and what he does not like. When he served as Tainan mayor, rather than creating the conventional illusion of harmony between the city government and the city council, he stood up to then-Tainan City council speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), who was facing bribery charges.
He is also outspoken about his political stance, rather than being two-faced and telling people only what they want to hear. At a forum at Fudan University in Shanghai, he spoke with fervor and assurance on sensitive issues such as Taiwanese independence and student movements, instead of being timid and holding back.
The nickname “Lai the Divine” is much more about a sense of intimacy that has grown around an appreciation of his sincerity, rather than about placing him on a political pedestal and worshiping him.
Today’s Taiwan is still trying to find a way to make an international breakthrough, while at the same time having to deal with thorny domestic social problems. As a result, Taiwanese tend to deify a few “political superstars,” such as Lai and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and rely on them as “saviors,” but such political idolatry is both bizarre and dangerous.
Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was blindly worshiped — not as the “great man of the century,” a savior and a mighty helmsman, but as an evil demon, a murderer and an enemy of Taiwanese. The sins that “god” Chiang committed in Taiwan are too numerous, but they include the 228 Incident, which eradicated members of the local elite, the political persecution of the White Terror era and the suppression of political dissent, as well as political imprisonments and blacklists.
Anyone who blindly goes along with political worship is guilty of perpetuating it.
A look at Chiang in Taiwan and Adolf Hitler in Germany will show that deification is the result of political fraudsters and blindly uncritical followers that egg each other on. The crowds of blind worshipers are agitated by wildly ambitious political charlatans and their empty, hypnotic slogans, while the political charlatans become increasingly demonic, egged on by the cheering and encouragement of the blind masses.
Once politicians are being worshiped, the political conditions that they need have been met and they charge toward the edge of a cliff like a runaway train as they push forward their stubborn, willful and mistaken policies, creating disaster and catastrophe along the way.
A look at history and the people who were hijacked by Chiang and Hitler, as those politicians pursued their godlike status, shows that no one was a winner: The political charlatans turned their own lives into a tragedy and could not escape the harsh judgement of history, while the blind masses had their humanity distorted as they became complicit in the politicians’ crimes, whether intentionally or not.
Those who dared oppose the political “gods” were either made to disappear or imprisoned. Many innocent people had no choice but to resign themselves to do as they were told or suffer the consequences.
Idolization makes political charlatans go crazy, and it drives the blind masses crazy.
This is why it needs to be said that “Lai the Divine” is not some three-headed, six-armed divine figure — as clever and insightful as he is, there are some things that are beyond his ability; as thoughtful as he is, he will make mistakes; as broad as his vision is, there will be blind spots.
The need to monitor closely what he does and what he says should not be forgotten while his abilities are recognized and he is expected to do what he is good at and carry out reform.
When he strays, he must be told. When he makes mistakes, he must be told and corrected — this is good for him and good for us all. Placing him on a political pedestal will only harm him and Taiwan.
Chang Kuo-tsai is a retired associate professor at National Hsinchu University of Education and a former deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of University Professors.
Translated by Lin Lee-Kai
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