The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said the government might have illegally profited certain companies taking part in performances to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China (ROC), and it urged judicial authorities to look into the matter immediately.
DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the rock musical Dreamers — considered the highlight in a series of activities celebrating the ROC centennial — which told the stories of young people and their dreams that led to the Xinhai Revolution and the ROC’s establishment, had cost more than NT$215 million (US$7 million).
The Council for Cultural Affairs should have held just one bid for the musical, and allowed the winning troupe to organize the entire show, Chen said.
Instead, the government divided the project into to 13 bids, of which about six were restricted bids totaling NT$180 million, Chen said. The “creativity design project” portion, which had a NT$39 million budget, wasn’t put up for public bidding, but went to well-known theater director Stan Lai (賴聲川), founder of the Performance Workshop Theatre.
The council might have profited some companies by avoiding holding regular public bids, he said.
DPP spokesman Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said three of the 11 bids, totaling almost NT$30 million, were for rental of lighting and communication systems.
“Those were just for rentals, so was it reasonable for the government to spend such a huge amount?” he said.
DPP lawyer Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) quoted council Affairs Minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) as saying that the quality of the musical was on a par with Broadway productions.
“Take Phantom of the Opera as an example. It started playing in 1988, and although the equipment for the musical cost US$12 million, it has been used for the past 20 years, about 80 million people have seen the show and it has grossed more than US$5 billion,” Hsu said.
“In comparison, Dreamers had only two performances and only 10,000 people saw it, but it cost more than NT$215 million,” he said.
Chen said many professions in the world of performing arts also found the costs dumbfounding.
Noting that Lai had also won the bids to design programs for Taipei’s Deaflympics in 2009, the Taipei International Flora Expo and Dreamers, Chen said the judiciary should investigate whether there was any corruption in the bidding process.
In response, Sheng said the bidding was conducted in accordance with procedures and there had been no profiteering.
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