The Megaport Festival “has made many mothers weep,” Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) wife, Lee Chia-fen (李佳芬), said yesterday. It was not clear what she was insinuating.
Lee made the remarks while campaigning for Han, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) in New Taipei City, adding that as a mother she knows what many parents are worried about.
The festival’s organizers last month announced that there would not be a 12th Megaport Festival next year after facing pressure from the Kaohsiung City Government.
Photo: Ho Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The festival, cofounded by metal band Chthonic frontman Freddy Lim (林昶佐), now an independent legislator, is frequently headlined by rock band Fire EX, which promotes Taiwanese independence.
As a mother, she would like to see a society that is built on harmony and reciprocity, Lee said.
For that reason, Han has been working hard to improve the nation’s economy and education, while caring for the disadvantaged, she said.
Han would aim to improve the nation’s education system and take care of the disadvantaged if elected president, she added.
While Han was running for mayor last year, she encountered many mothers who cried in her arms due to worries about their children’s school curriculum, Lee said.
She learned from her trips across Asia that Taiwanese children are gifted and would have a great future if they were given the proper opportunities and training, she said.
It would be the “sin of our generation” if we fail to provide a good environment for our children, Lee added.
In related news, KMT Chairman Wu Den-Yih (吳敦義) yesterday said he has not received word on KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) being tapped to be Han’s running mate when asked to comment on the rumor on the sidelines of a rally in Miaoli County.
Chiang had on Saturday dismissed the rumor as untrue.
Previously, former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), former premier Simon Chang (張善政) and former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) had all been rumored to be Han’s vice presidential candidate.
Wu told reporters in Miaoli that Han has asked him who would make a good vice president.
He suggested that Han find someone who can complement him and work well with him, Wu said.
He also told Han that he must pick his own vice president and wished him good luck, he said.
While it was rumored that Han was originally scheduled to attend the Miaoli rally with local KMT legislative candidates Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮), Hsu said that Han had informed party members that he would not be attending the rally.
Han would definitely visit Miaoli, Hsu added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
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Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial