Taiwan’s President (upper and lower) showed up at my apartment complex last night. I missed his speech, but I did manage to get a few photographs. This is the second time the KMT has used our home for a political rally since I moved in. They were also here for Hau Long-bin’s (郝龍斌的) last mayoral run.
I’ve taken some flak for allowing my daughter to have her picture taken with Ma Ing-jeou (馬英九). One guy even told me he’d never let his daughter be exploited like that. That seems like a bit much. I will say this though: I didn’t plan on going to the speech. I just wanted to hang out in the courtyard and people-watch. I love a good spectacle and am not overly serious about politics.
This is how it went down: My daughter asked at the front door if she could go in. She was then gruffly brushed aside by a dullish bodyguard. One of Ma’s advisors took offense at his attitude and said: “Of course you can go in. And you can sit in a reserved seat at the front too.” Once inside, Ma noticed my daughter and waved for her to come over. I wanted to get some shots to amuse my friends, in-laws and self, and so I encouraged her to do just that. A nice conclusion for all involved.
I think I will have to go to the next tenant’s meeting and voice concern about the following though: When I asked the building supervisor how much Ma’s team was paying for the use of our multi-purpose room, he did an “ah” and hand sweep to indicate it was silly to worry about such trivial matters. Meanwhile, I’m paying NT$2000 a month in building fees. We don’t have a swimming pool. We don’t have a library. We don’t have a rec. room. We don’t have an indoor playground / play land. No Friday night movies. In other words, our money is just going into a black hole. Building management is so cheap when it comes to the tenants that when the lock was replaced on my building, only one key was issued to my family. When I said I’d like two or three, I was told, with much hyperbole, it was quite impossible (沒辦法) because of the budget. Under such circumstances, let’s hope an individual representing one of the richest political parties in the world doesn’t get to use our multi-purpose room for free.
6 comments:
They say that Bill Clinton met President JFK as a youngster and it inspired him to become President one day. Maybe Ahleena is already on the path to greatness? I think so...
"Republicans and Democrats... Go Home!!!" That's a nice sentiment, Patriot. I know my daughter is special too. Thanks.
I'm no admirer of the current president or his ideology, but if my daughter had been in the same situation, I would have taken advantage of the photo op as well. I don't see anything exploitative, political or sinister going on here.
"...take them to the guillotines!"
Looks like someone is feeling nostalgic for the good old days of the Reign of Terror.
I've never had much problem with Ma (this is why I'm known on certain websites as a "pro-China troll") although if I were Taiwanese I would probably be planning on voting Tsai next time round.
As far as I am concerned, this is perfectly harmless, in fact actually makes Ma look like something approaching a human being, which is, of course, exactly what he and the rest of our political leaders are. I hope your daughter will look back on these photos in future years and be happy to think that she met the president of Taiwan as a child - although I'm sure she'll be doing something even better than that!
There is no exploitation in this, only people behaving like human beings. Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar.
The way Ma is grinning like a Cheshire cat indicates to me that he had more than soy milk for breakfast. He looks like a puffy-cheek boozer.
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