After attending a meeting of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Central Standing Committee Meeting a few days ago, Taipei Mayor and party chairman-elect Ma Ying-jeou (
He then proceeded to drink a toast in kaoliang before hurrying to his next scheduled event, where, almost too drunk to handle himself, he repeatedly gave children money, as if he were tipping prostitutes in bar. Besieged by the media, Ma's drunken behavior was all captured on camera.
With Ma drunk during office hours, it is no wonder that his subordinates misbehave, as happened when a city mortuary employee died after he and a few colleagues skipped work on Aug. 6 to go wining and dining at a Taipei restaurant. Not only did this mortuary employee fail to report his absence from work, he even asked a colleague to punch in for him.
But this is not the most sensational part of Ma's exhibition of the "Drunken Mayor" style. Although he apologized to Taipei citizens on Aug. 12 and admitted that he had set a "bad example," there was one proviso -- Ma shifted the blame onto KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
But is all this only about drinking on the job? If it were, it may not have been such a big issue. What makes the whole incident interesting is that it tells us something more about Ma. He has nowhere to run to, and his problems are too many to count.
One of the problems is that Ma has put himself on the spot. He issued the ban prohibiting city employees from drinking on the job or on their lunch breaks. He has denigrated his own position by breaking this rule. He even excused himself by saying that it was "difficult to refuse the invitation." With such a mayor, it is all too easy to guess what his staff must be like.
A second problem is that he lied from beginning to end. He was clearly so drunk that he could no longer handle himself, but still he told the media that, "I've had something to drink, but I'm not drunk."
That may be of little import, but he altogether avoided mentioning his own drinking ban. Not until things became more serious did he change his story and offer an apology. This is how he does things most of the time.
A third problem is that Ma's city government is devoid of discipline. From the day he took office until today, 357 people have been disciplined for drinking on the job, and we have no way of knowing how many have been lucky enough to slip through the net.
The city government isn't merely suffering from a loose screw or two, the whole structure is coming apart. They cannot even enforce a simple "drinking-on-the-job" ban, with the mayor himself imbibing to his heart's content. It wouldn't be very surprising if the whole city government took to drinking.
The fact that Ma was forced to issue a drinking ban after less than two years on the job shows him to be a bad leader; the fact that he issued the ban but fails to enforce it shows him to be a bad administrator.
Since now he is spending his time dreaming of becoming the next president, I guess the people of Taipei will continue to be responsible for their own happiness.
Chin Heng-wei is the editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Lin Ya-ti and Perry Svensson
After nine days of holidays for the Lunar New Year, government agencies and companies are to reopen for operations today, including the Legislative Yuan. Many civic groups are expected to submit their recall petitions this week, aimed at removing many Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers from their seats. Since December last year, the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) passed three controversial bills to paralyze the Constitutional Court, alter budgetary allocations and make recalling elected officials more difficult by raising the threshold. The amendments aroused public concern and discontent, sparking calls to recall KMT legislators. After KMT and TPP legislators again
Taiwan faces complex challenges like other Asia-Pacific nations, including demographic decline, income inequality and climate change. In fact, its challenges might be even more pressing. The nation struggles with rising income inequality, declining birthrates and soaring housing costs while simultaneously navigating intensifying global competition among major powers. To remain competitive in the global talent market, Taiwan has been working to create a more welcoming environment and legal framework for foreign professionals. One of the most significant steps in this direction was the enactment of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) in 2018. Subsequent amendments in
US President Donald Trump on Saturday signed orders to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China effective from today. Trump decided to slap 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada as well as 10 percent on those coming from China, but would only impose a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy products, including oil and electricity. Canada and Mexico on Sunday quickly responded with retaliatory tariffs against the US, while countermeasures from China are expected soon. Nevertheless, Trump announced yesterday to delay tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month and said he would hold further talks with
Taiwan’s undersea cables connecting it to the world were allegedly severed several times by a Chinese ship registered under a flag of convenience. As the vessel sailed, it used several different automatic identification systems (AIS) to create fake routes. That type of “shadow fleet” and “gray zone” tactics could create a security crisis in Taiwan and warrants response measures. The concept of a shadow fleet originates from the research of Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. The phenomenon was initiated by authoritarian countries such as Iran, North Korea and Russia, which have been hit by international economic
RSS