Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
"Ma said I don't know anything about the economy," Hsieh said. "I say he has no idea about ordinary people's happiness."
Hsieh said that while Ma was happy because he had increased his personal wealth by NT$46.3 million (US$1.4 million) over the past 10 years, he had no idea how ordinary people live their lives.
PHOTO: CNA
The idea of economic prosperity that Hsieh advocates, Hsieh said, is to ease the plight of the people. If elected, he said he would make an effort to create more jobs, give unemployed people something to do and make houses more affordable.
Criticizing the high real estate prices in Taipei City, Hsieh said people with an average income would not be able to afford a place of their own because a 30-ping apartment in the capital city now costs approximately NT$15.4 million.
While Ma described the high property prices in the city a sign of "prosperity," Hsieh said that he would like to point out two things.
First, average household disposable income in Taipei City, where Ma served as mayor, increased by 14 percent from 1998 to 2006, while that in Kaohsiung City, where he served as mayor, grew by 18 percent.
During the same period, Hsieh said the population in Taipei City decreased by over 24,000, while that in Kaohsiung City increased by 35,000. Taipei City lost 14,000 people last year alone and household disposable income decreased by NT$15,000 from 2005 to 2006.
Second, 40 percent of the monthly salary of a regular income earner in Taipei City goes on mortgage payments, while the figure in Kaohsiung City was 28 percent, with 25 percent universally accepted as a reasonable amount, he said.
In other words, a married couple with a joint monthly income of NT$70,000 were estimated to pay between NT$35,000 and NT$45,000 for a 25-ping apartment in the capital city, he said.
Dismissing Ma's praise of Taipei's high property prices as "irresponsible," Hsieh said that in the nation generally there is a big gap between rich and poor, but that it is most serious in Taipei City.
"Ma interpreted it as a result of the free market economy, but how does he know anything about the plight of ordinary people when his personal account increased by more than NT$40 million over the past 10 years," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said he is not in favor of government intervention in the real estate market, but that the government is duty bound to help the young and disadvantaged find a place to live.
He proposed that the government release state-owned land for the construction of public housing to be rented to people above 25 years of age. Such a privilege would be offered on a once-in-a-lifetime basis.
To alleviate the financial burden on young tenants, he proposed the government offer a 40 percent discount on rent for the first two years and a 20 percent discount for the following two years.
He also proposed a low-interest loan program to make real estate affordable to young people. Under the program, first-time buyers would be entitled to interest-free loans.
The government would build more dormitories on campuses and make efforts to stabilize real estate prices so that young people could afford a house of their own, he said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit