Cartoon not discriminatory
Recently, a Taoyuan high-school student’s cartoon titled The Emperor’s Clause won a special prize at the National Student Art Competition. The cartoon depicted a pedestrian as an emperor crossing the street slowly, and it drew criticism from Internet celebrity Cheap, who accused the artwork of discriminating against disadvantaged pedestrians and even demanded that the organizers take back the prize. When some Internet users expressed different views, Cheap replied: “I dare you to mock the indigenous peoples, homosexuals and women’s rights in the name of freedom of creation.”
This has now turned a simple art competition into a complex social issue.
It all started with a CNN report last year titled: “Taiwan’s ‘living hell’ traffic is a tourism problem, say critics.” To rid Taiwan of this bad reputation, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications increased the penalty for not giving way to pedestrians to NT$6,000, with a demerit of three points from June 31. A driver accumulating 12 points in a year will have their driver’s license suspended for two months and be required to take a road safety course.
The rule has been implemented for more than five months and it has been quite effective. Drivers are giving way to pedestrians, although we still occasionally see pedestrians being hesitant about crossing the road, or some looking at their cellphones or walking slowly on the crosswalk, which makes drivers waiting to turn feel anxious as the traffic light is about to turn red.
As a driver and pedestrian myself, I found the cartoon funny, as I am sure many others did. Most people would not actually plod over crossings accompanied by a tortoise as in the cartoon. Few, I am sure, would feel offended or discriminated against. They would simply see the funny side.
The point of the cartoon is to call on pedestrians and drivers to respect each other. There is no intended malice or discrimination.
One can compare this with comments made a few days ago by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), who said: “People in Taipei like to quarrel, while people in the south like to fight.”
I was born in southern Taiwan but grew up in Taipei. I do consider Jaw’s words discriminatory.
Hsieh Chih-chieh
Taipei
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