Having the title doctor or the letters PhD after your name carries the connotation of having broad knowledge. In reality, while people with doctoral degrees often possess highly specialized expertise and might be held in high esteem among their peers, they are likely virtually unknown to the general public. In Taiwan, people with doctorates are common, while probably fewer than one out of 100 of them could truly make a name for themselves.
Of course, there are exceptions. Those who gain media exposure can easily become well-known, especially if they are involved in politics. However, many fail to live up to their academic titles, instead becoming known for making crude jokes and absurd remarks.
In the early 1990s, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has a research doctorate in law from Harvard, proposed a presidential election system based on “direct election by delegates.” It was an overly complicated, and indirect, proposal in which people elect party representatives who in turn vote for the president of that party. This is the same person who described deer antlers as “the hair inside a deer’s ears.” How can an academic of his level lack so much common sense?
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator-at-large Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), who has a doctorate of law from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, previously said that the legislative and executive branches have a “top-down” relationship, which contradicts Taiwan’s constitutional principle of equal separation of powers.
That is the same as saying that Weng, who won her seat because she was on the KMT’s legislator-at-large list, ranks above Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤). Weng’s self-inflated and arrogant attitude is preposterous.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), who has a law degree from Cornell University, made a nonsensical statement in defense of TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who has been entangled in allegations of corruption.
“Ko eats quickly, and those who eat quickly are less likely to be corrupt,” Huang said.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) has a law degree from Central Police University. As mayor, he said that the issue of nuclear waste must first be solved before addressing other concerns. When he ran in the Jan. 13 presidential election, he announced plans to review and restart construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), completely ignoring the issue of nuclear waste. The shift in stance made him appear inconsistent and unreliable.
Ko, who holds a doctorate in medicine from National Taiwan University, previously said that accepting the so-called “1992 consensus” would be akin to kneeling down and surrendering to China. However, when he ran for president, he said the “1992 consensus” had been unfairly stigmatized.
Ko has positioned the TPP as an alternative to the DPP-led pan-green coalition and the KMT-led pan-blue coalition, using the color “white” to symbolize his goal of an open and transparent government. Yet, he is now involved in allegations of corruption, and had collaborated with the KMT, and referred to Taiwan and China as “one family” — he is truly a political chameleon.
Ko claims to have an IQ of 157, but once called his own party’s central review committee chairman “a dog.” During his two terms as Taipei mayor, his administration ranked at the bottom among the six special municipalities. Despite having high academic credentials, his practical capabilities are notably lacking.
Ko has said that corruption occurs with the connivance of superiors, who cannot be unaware. When news emerged that the TPP had falsely reported political donations, its superior, Ko, claimed he did not know about it until it was exposed. His moral depths seem limitless. What absurdity.
Chang Kuo-tsai is a retired National Hsinchu University of Education associate professor.
Translated by Nicole Wong
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