With more than a million members and a decades-long history, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has played host to a multitude of unconventional visitors at its Taipei headquarters who have left lasting — albeit amusing — impressions with the reception staff.
Talking about their most memorable experience working at the KMT front desk, a group of receptionists recounted the story of the man who came in, looking perfectly normal and sober, only to tell them: “I am an alien, and on behalf of my people I request that the KMT grant us membership, and these are our party membership applications.”
The man left immediately after finishing what he had to say, leaving behind a stack of newspapers — the so-called membership application forms — and a group of people roaring with laughter, they said.
The party used to have a mainland affairs committee whose staff were stationed in China to gather intelligence, but most of the “secret agents” have returned following the detente between Taiwan and China, they said.
A man who calls himself “Agent 501” usually drops by for a chat at about noon — when there are “free lunchboxes,” they said.
Another party member who claimed the committee had sent him to Nepal in 1969 often came in intoxicated, with a copy of the Koran in hand, which he described as a copy of Sun Yat-sen’s (孫逸仙) Three Principles of the People (三民主義) with Sun’s signature on it, they said.
There was also the senior citizen nicknamed “Mr Gold Mountain” who visited the party headquarters from time to time. Showing off an “antique jade pendant,” the man said he had been entrusted to return the pendant, which he said was worth hundreds of million of New Taiwan dollars, to the KMT. A party official actually entertained the man one time, only to find out that the jade was a fake, they said.
As the ruling party, the KMT is never short of “excited” petitioners at its headquarters, they said.
Some visitors would kneel down and request a meeting with the president, they added.
Aside from on-site visitors, the receptionists also have to deal with a wide array of phone calls from members of the public, mostly complaints ranging from criticism of politicians to a “murderous” neighbor or some “money-grabbing” relative.
Regular complainers usually call in at a certain time, they said, adding that they once heard someone in the background telling them to ignore the caller because he was not in his right mind.
The KMT receptionists said they can only patiently and nicely talk to the callers and consider such ordeals an opportunity to act more charitably toward others.
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