Accepting the Ice Bucket Challenge, Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) got more than he expected yesterday when protesters showed up and challenged him to show more care for former employees of the ministry.
Yeh was called on by Aveda Beauty Salon founder Chu Ping (朱平) to join the campaign in which those who are challenged must choose between being doused with ice water and donating US$100 to fund research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The minister was scheduled to respond to the challenge in public at 3:40pm yesterday.
The news quickly spread online after it was announced, and about six or seven representatives of a self-help group for ex-freeway toll collectors showed up at about 3:30pm, saying they wanted to accept the challenge together with Yeh.
Photo: Huang Li-hsiang, Taipei Times
Group member Kuo Kuan-chun (郭冠均) said that although they were glad to see Yeh support the ALS campaign, he should not forget former toll collectors who lost their jobs eight months ago after the nation launched a distance-based electronic toll collection system. Six members then dumped buckets of ice water over their heads and left soon after finishing the stunt.
As members of the self-help group had managed to storm into the lobby of the transportation ministry building during a protest earlier this year, police came to guard the entrance as soon as they were tipped off that several self-help group members were coming.
Yeh dumped a bucket of cold water over himself after members of the group had departed, and showed a receipt for NT$3,000 that he donated to the Taiwan Motor Neuron Disease Association.
He then challenged Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), former New Party lawmaker Joanna Lei (雷倩) and radio show host Zoe Li (黎明柔) to do it.
Asked how he felt after dumping ice cold water over his head, he said he can now continue his work “with a cool head and a warm heart.”
He did not respond to the appeal of the freeway toll fee collectors.
The challenge has spread to Taiwan from the US, where it has drenched public figures such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
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