A young man taking part in a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) internship program raised some eyebrows, as he happens to have the same name as former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄).
The DPP presented a month-long summer internship program, which is designed to offer training opportunities to talented young people interested in politics and public affairs, by sending them to the party’s various departments three days a week over the course of the program.
One 24-year-old member, who shared the same name as Wu, stood out among the 18 members of the group who signed up for the program. He was even referred to by his peers as “Pak Kung (伯公)” — an honorific title in Hakka given to the former chairman — during his internship at the party’s publicity department.
Photo: Lin Shu-hui, Taipei Times
“When I first saw the name on the enrollment list, I could not believe it, but it turned out to be authentic,” the party’s Department of Youth Development director Chang Chi-chang (張基長) said.
According to the young Wu, he was named after the former chairman because the veteran politician, who at the time served as minister of the interior, paid a visit to his grandfather when he was born.
However, the 24-year-old said he planned to represent the DPP in local elections in his Chiayi County hometown after gaining practical experience through the internship, or partake in campaign activities to solicit support for the party.
In a further twist of coincidence, the young Wu’s brother had originally been named Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) — the same name as the current vice president. However, because people used to taunt him by calling him “Liar Yih” (白賊義) — a popular nickname for the vice president in southern Taiwan — Wu Poh-hsiung said his sibling changed his name to Wu Poh-chung (吳伯中).
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