Sun, Dec 11, 2011 page3

• 2012 ELECTIONS: DPP overwhelmed by clinking piggies

  PORK POWER: The DPP said about 70,000 piggy banks were returned to campaign headquarters, including banks weighing 70kg delivered on a shoulder-pole

  • By Hou Cheng-hsu, Lo Hsin-chen, and Wang Shan-yan / Staff Reporters
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  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was overwhelmed by support yesterday as its piggy bank fundraising event came to an end.

  The “three little pigs” fundraising event began in the middle of October after the Control Yuan said the donation of a piggy bank to the DPP by three-year-old triplets in Greater Tainan was in violation of the Act Governing Political Donations (政治獻金管理條例).

  Thousands of supporters returned piggy banks yesterday, with the DPP’s headquarters in Pingtung County receiving about 1,200 piggy banks within two hours of opening its doors at 10 am.

  

  Democratic Progressive Party campaign staff pose with 71-year-old grandfather Huang Shih-ming, center, and three-year-old triplets whose donation in October led to the piggy bank campaign, each wearing three piggy banks on their heads, at DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s regional campaign headquarters in Greater Tainan yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  The DPP’s regional campaign headquarters in Greater Taichung also saw a huge response, with supporters bringing in piggy banks weighing 70kg on a shoulder-pole. In Chiayi County, a supporter showed up with three live piglets, which immediately became the focus of many photographs.

  In Greater Kaohsiung, a centenarian named Chien Chao Shuang-tsen (簡趙雙岑) showed up at the DPP’s regional campaign headquarters and returned a piggy bank, which was filled with coins donated by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

  Chien Chao was personally greeted by Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who expressed gratitude and said that “each piggy bank represented the expectations of a family.”

  

  Democratic Progressive Party supporters in Chiayi County yesterday hold three piglets as piggy banks filled with campaign donations were being handed in.

  Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsun, Taipei Times

  Meanwhile, the triplets who sparked the fundraising event and their 71-year-old grandfather, Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), caused a stir when they showed up at the DPP’s Greater Tainan campaign headquarters.

  “I didn’t expect it to become a nationwide trend,” Huang said.

  “The piggy banks, which used to be lifeless money-saving objects, have gained a life of their own because of the heart-stirring emotions surrounding them,” he added.

  

  Democratic Progressive Party volunteers in Hsinchu City yesterday hold piggy banks filled with campaign donations sent in by supporters.

  Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times

  Chuang Chin-pao (莊金胞), another supporter from Greater Tainan, custom ordered a large piggy bank made from fiberglass. Chuang then had it sent to the DPP’s regional campaign headquarters in Greater Tainan.

  “The pig was to commemorate an important hour in the development of Taiwan’s democracy and to stand witness to the election of Taiwan’s first female president,” Chuang said.

  According to the DPP, about 70,000 piggy banks were returned to its campaign headquarters nationwide yesterday.

  The branches have said they will hire security services to protect the piggy banks, adding that they would be sending them to Taipei on Sunday in a creative manner.

  Additional reporting by Lin Meng-ting and Yang Yi-min

  Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
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