Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that the city government would continue to hold New Year’s Eve countdown parties despite his personal distaste for such events.
Ko has said that he opposes policies whose implementation requires a one-time expense aimed at “pleasing the crowd,” such as the year-end party and the monetary gifts distributed to senior citizens on the Double Nine Festival, which he has proposed canceling.
“I do not like it, but other people apparently do, so you have to keep it,” Ko said of the year-end party.
“It makes me depressed just thinking of the countdown that I have to do tonight [last night] and the flag-raising ceremony at 6am,” he told reporters.
Ko said that he would seek to reduce city government expenditure on the year-end party by encouraging private businesses to invest in and help organize the event
The city’s Department of Information and Tourism, which organizes the party, said that it spent about NT$6.9 million (US$208,673) on the event, the majority of which Ko said went into the design and installation of the main stage.
Asked whether the department’s marketing of a calendar featuring 16 photographs of him meant that he had become an “idol,” Ko said: “I am more like Yuan Zai (圓仔) the panda than an idol.”
Yuan Zai is a the first panda to be born at the Taipei Zoo.
“I am too familiar with the media-driven cycle of the making and breaking of idols, so I will strive to break away from this cycle. There have already been too many examples [of fallen political idols],” Ko said.
He let out a sigh when asked whether he would sing during last night’s celebrations.
“I will start rehearsing at 9pm. I am so close to becoming a comedian,” Ko said, prompting laughter.
The mayor sang a Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) song by pop group Mayday (五月天) at last night’s event.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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