People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday apologized for his “Persian cat” comment, saying it was an inappropriate metaphor and was not aimed at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) or anyone else in particular.
Soong used the metaphor during talks with former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味), during which Soong borrowed a saying from former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) who said that “Black cat or white cat: If it can catch mice, it’s a good cat” (黑貓白貓, 能抓耗子的就是好貓).
Soong then followed that comment with “Not like someone who’s like a Persian cat: Good-looking, but can’t catch mice,” a remark local media saw as a satirical jab at Ma, who is seeking re-election.
Photo: CNA
In a press release yesterday, Soong said he and Chang were exchanging opinions on the political situation and that while discussing Deng’s remark, Soong had unintentionally footnoted it with his “Persian cat” comment.
Though it was not targeted at anyone, Soong said he was deeply apologetic over the incident and would reflect upon the inappropriate metaphor.
Political figures, even in private, should not be flippant, which can lead to misinterpretations by the media, Soong said.
He added that he hoped no one would read too much into his words and that he would take the incident as a warning and be more careful when speaking in the future.
Soong, a former secretary-general of the Chinese Nationalist (KMT) and the only elected governor of Taiwan Province, serving from 1994 to 1998, has remained tight-lipped on whether he will run in January’s presidential election.
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant. “It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
RSS