Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) yesterday sparked controversy after she claimed to have nearly caused a fire in her legislative office while attempting to disinfect a mask with an air fryer.
Yeh said that she was on Tuesday attempting to follow instructions from Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳), but used an air fryer instead of a rice cooker as Tang had instructed.
The mask burned up, nearly starting a fire that could have burned down the Legislative Yuan’s second building on Taipei’s Qingdao E Road, she said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Responding to criticism from other lawmakers over her use of the air fryer, Yeh later in the day admitted fault on Facebook and said that she had not studied physics and chemistry well enough in high school.
“OK, OK, I admit it, and I apologize to my junior-high school and senior-high school chemistry and physics teachers. I did not study well, but if I had I would be working at Academia Sinica, not in the legislature,” she wrote.
Yeh’s office also issued a statement saying that Yeh would appear later in the afternoon with the air fryer to demonstrate its “proper use in making deep-fried tianbula (甜不辣) and shrimp pancakes.”
Yeh disclosed her mishap at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee earlier yesterday, saying that she was troubled by an inadequate supply of masks, citing the need to wear one everywhere in public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She asked Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇): “I would like to ask for advice, minister, has anyone here ever steamed a mask before?”
Hsu said that he had not tried the procedure.
Yeh said that the masks she had used for the prior two days had developed an unpleasant smell, and that she hoped to find a way to stretch her limited supply.
Tang has only used six masks since February, Yeh said, adding: “Many people still do not have enough masks.”
She said that she hoped to remind the public to only use a rice cooker if they hope to extend the life of their masks.
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