Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that one must either be very “thick-skinned” or have a very high emotional quotient (EQ) to survive as a politician, and that he considers himself to have developed a bit of both qualities.
Ko made the remarks when asked by reporters why he accepted former Taipei Research Development and Evaluation Commission chairperson Chen Ming-hsiun’s (陳銘薰) resignation on Wednesday shortly after vehemently defending him.
Chen, a professor at National Taipei University, left a city-council meeting in the middle of a question-and-answer session on Monday after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Yan Sheng-guang (顏聖冠) slammed him for saying that he would leave his post immediately if Ko raised the management fee for dormitories used by high-ranking city officials from NT$700 to NT$15,000.
Ko said that Chen was determined to go, which he blamed on the nature of Taiwan’s political life.
He said that it was only natural for “political novices” like him and Chen to turn around and leave during a quarrel, but when they behaved that way at the city council, people “kicked up a major fuss.”
Ko, similarly, briefly withdrew from a council meeting after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor William Hsu (徐弘庭) last month made insinuations about Ko’s protection of former EasyCard Co chairman Tai Chi-chuan (戴季全) over the company’s issuance of controversial EasyCards featuring portraits of a Japanese adult video actress implied that the two men had a “special/sexual relationship,” (特殊性關係), which also prompted Ko to pound his fist on a desk.
Asked why he had not accompanied Chen to apologize at the city council, Ko said that it probably would not have worked out, as some councilors may have continued to boycott Chen, adding that Chen perhaps did not intend to apologize.
“With political life the way it is, you must either be very thick-skinned or have a very high EQ [to remain in politics],” the mayor said.
Asked whether he considered himself thick-skinned or to possess a very high EQ, Ko said: “I think I am making good progress on both.”
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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