Independent Taipei City Councilor Chiu Wei-chieh (邱威傑), who is also a YouTuber, yesterday confirmed that he and two fellow YouTubers have applied to the Ministry of the Interior to form a new political party focused on improving the happiness of Taiwanese.
Chiu, also known on YouTube as “Froggy” (呱吉), announced on Facebook on Tuesday that he and Chen Tzu-chien (陳子見), known on YouTube as “Retina” (視網膜), and Chang Chih-chi (張志祺), known as “Shasha77” (志祺七七), applied to form the party and plan to hold a launch event on Thursday next week.
They named their party the “Unstoppable Happiness Party” (歡樂無法黨), a literal translation of a play on words in Chinese.
Photo: CNA
Chiu, 44, said that he has always done things that make him happy, even if it is working overtime, but since becoming a city councilor this year, he said that his life has been surrounded by hatred, malicious intentions and negative emotions.
“In the world of politics, nobody believes being happy should be a priority,” he wrote, adding that as he becomes more socially sophisticated, his original naivete and pureness is fading, so he wants to change Taiwan’s politics by bringing in more factors that address happiness.
Chiu held a news conference confirming the plan, saying that their goal is to bring more happiness to Taiwanese, while raising public awareness on social issues that they care about, including generational justice, marriage equality and housing justice, among others.
“According to the standard procedure, we need at least 100 founding members to form the party, and they must attend the launching event on Nov. 14 to elect the chairperson and officials,” he said.
“Politics is not difficult, it’s about bringing back happiness,” he added.
Chiu said the party was open to working with politicians from other parties who share similar values, and that if Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) wants to join the party, he would be welcome.
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