“With my long hair and tattoos, I am going to be a member of the legislature.”
This is not a line from a Hollywood movie. It came from an actual rock star: New Power Party cofounder Freddy Lim (林昶佐), the lead singer of Taiwanese metal band Chthonic, which built up a sizable following both at home and overseas before being selected to perform as a touring act at renowned metal festival Ozzfest in 2007.
Lim’s victory on Saturday in the legislative elections was surprising.
He actually garnered 2,015 votes less than his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival, Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who was seeking re-election for a third time, in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正) district. Lim only managed to defeat Lin because of the votes he received in the Wanhua District (萬華), the city’s second “oldest” district, where 16.1 percent of residents are 65 or older, according to statistics released by the Taipei City Government.
Lim’s election has not only had a profound impact on the nation’s politics, but also signaled an “awakening” in public opinion in several ways.
Shortly before election day, Lin attacked Lim’s “long hair” and “abnormal” personality.
Despite Lin’s attempts to exploit rock star stereotypes — being wild and prone to controversial behavior — Lim, a political novice, managed to defeat Lin by a substantial 10,571-vote margin.
This indicates that voters have begun to look past pointless minutiae and learned not to judge people by their appearances.
As most disillusioned former KMT supporters can attest to, this was not the case with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was often described as “handsome” and “genteel” before he was elected in 2008 and 2012.
Evidence of this phenomenon can be found in an incident that occurred before the election. Following a Chthonic concert and campaign event at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei early this month, Lim became a source of controversy after ghost money being blown around at the event floated out of the venue and onto windshields and passing scooter riders, who were reportedly upset.
Ghost money is a standard part of Chthonic concerts. It is used to mourn the nation’s pioneers who died resisting oppression by foreign regimes, such as in the 228 Incident, and military conscripts who were drafted by the Japanese government to fight during the Second Sino-Japanese War against KMT forces.
Despite media coverage of the band’s negligence in properly handling the ghost money, the public seemed to have paid more attention to the historical context behind its use instead of the mistake, refraining from reproaching Lim.
The public would probably not have tolerated the same negligence had it taken place before the 2004 legislative election.
Lim did not win his legislative seat because he was elected by senile rock ’n’ roll enthusiasts. While he won thanks in part to his on-stage charisma and policies, his triumph bears a broader significance: Voters both young and old have been liberated from traditional values — which Lim aptly pointed out in his post-election remarks.
As the nation’s social atmosphere was largely conservative until the early 1990s, it is both moving and reassuring that more Taiwanese are embracing new values, which helps to move the nation toward a more liberal and inclusive path.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and