For 82-year-old Kuo Wan-chih (郭萬枝) -- a former celebrity and tang wai politician from Kaohsiung -- yesterday may have been the warmest day he's had in years.
He received "Get Well" wishes from Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and social workers who visited him in hospital.
Kuo, nicknamed the "Yencheng District Chief," after Kaohsiung's oldest district, was well-known for his generosity and extravagance in his younger years. That was before he became sick and was ignored by his six children.
On Tuesday, Kuo was hospitalized and his doctor ordered that his left arm be amputated immediately to save him from septicemia, also known as blood poisoning.
But none of Kuo's children would sign a letter of agreement before surgery could take place and they refused to respond to social workers' urgent calls to come to their father's bedside.
On Wednesday, doctors were allowed to operate on Kuo after social workers, district police and staff from the city government's senior citizen services center came to act as witnesses in place of Kuo's children.
Kuo's misery attracted so much attention because he was previously a tang wai -- literally outside the (KMT) party, or opposition politician -- before Taiwan began its moves toward democratization.
During his visit, Chang praised Kuo, calling him a grassroots political pioneer. "I hope Kuo's children fulfill their duty to support their father. Meanwhile, the government will construct a sound social security system to provide the elderly with care," the premier said.
A mediation will be held on Monday with Kuo's family to discuss his future health support.
Kuo's eldest son claims to have financial difficulties, including bankruptcy, and to be unemployed, saying he is unable to care for his father.
"If no family member is willing to take care of Kuo, the center may file a lawsuit against them on charges of abandonment," said Chen Kuei-ying (陳桂英), director of Kaohsiung's senior citizen services center, adding that Kuo would then be temporarily put into a public home for seniors.
Having inherited a foster father's six houses, Kuo was rich and spent his money extravagantly, frequenting hostess bars.
"It has been said that Kuo used a pile of bills as a pad to balance the uneven table legs and tipped bar girls very generously," Chen recalled yesterday.
Chen said that Kuo gained fame when his song Wan-chih parody (
Between 1946 and 1974, Kuo served as an appointed Kaohsiung City councilor, as Yencheng district chief for nine years and as an elected city councilor for more than 10 years.
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