Election is an essential part of a democratic country, for it can
push the rotation of political parties. Actually, I am not that interested in
politics or elections. I do not appreciate the dark side of politics, so I do
not want to be involved with it. However, the election still related to us
students. I am now under the eligible voting age, but after two years it will
be my turn to vote for the one I endorse. In order to make a better decision in
the future, I have to learn more about the political ecology in Taiwan
When it comes to the question: “Do you know anyone who is very into
this election?” The person who comes to my mind immediately is my uncle. Every
time he reads the news which is about politics or the election, he always
expresses his opinion to us. Nevertheless, over ninety percent of his views are
criticisms. Instead of staying objective, he always criticizes those who stand
for the opposite position by no reason. As far as I am concerned, this type of
behaviors does not mean that he takes up more social responsibilities than
others. Maybe little of his comments are right, but actually he is just a
political fanatic.
In addition, I do not think political topics and discussions should
be included in class. In Taiwan
▲Picture from: http://childstar.pixnet.net/blog/post/30341579
If I were the head consultant of KMT and DPP campaign, I would coach
my staff to be sincere and honest to win the campaign in the last 10 days
before the election day. Too much drum-up activities add dispensable
expenditure, and exaggerated politics are only for a while. If we want to win
the election for long term, we must win the voters’ support with our true heart.
Original discussion: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/e0915951617/article?mid=413&prev=428&next=-2&page=1&sc=1#yartcmt
Actually, I know nothing about how to appreciate the culture of Taiwan' s election. Recently, a survey announced by the Executive Yuan reveals that almost ninety percents of foreigners consider Taiwan a friendly country and are pretty satisfied with the living environment and function of Taiwan. However, when addressing the below question “what' s the worst part of Taiwan in your opinion?" to foreigners who currently live in Taiwan, most of them all have deep impression toward the martial art scene that Taiwan' s legislators perform in the Legislative Yuan.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, when speaking of those drum-up activities, I can never express the experience that how I suffer from them simply with words. The election will run in the end of this November, but the drum-up cars have already kept broadcasting boisterously for their candidates months ago. Moreover, all the traffic islands are full of banners for campaign which cause the ugly street image and make all the pedestrians and drivers in danger. There are lots of diverse slogans on the banners for attracting the voters’ attention. But, for the voter like me, it' s the candidate' s political views that should be important instead of how creative their banners are.
The scene of physical conflicts indeed happened in the Legislative Yuan constantly, and that is really astonishing. It seems that this kind of deed is a “tradition” in the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan. Moreover, foreign media even regard such condition as a ridiculous joke. The behavior of legislators in Taiwan does not only have a bad effect on children, but also bring shame on our own country.
DeleteSince Taipei is the capital city and political center of Taiwan , the density of drum-up activities must be higher than other cities in Taiwan . In Chia-yi, large campaigns are held at most twice, and the candidates will show up in person only once or even never appear. As far as I know, you are already a lawful voter. Have you ever been to the voting booth to vote for the candidates? I am curious about what it feels like. Though I do not like the politics in Taiwan , it is still our duty to vote as a responsible citizen.
Elsa, you gave a vivid description about your uncle; you must have had enough of his political comments. I don't like politics, either. But at times, I am like you, we are all surrounded by the tension from election. Perhaps the media have tried too hard to affect us?
ReplyDeleteI like your suggestion a lot. However, I doubt if those supporters would like it as much as I do. I am now going to read what your partenr has to say about the campagine strategy.
Keep up the good work.
Gina Chen
During the electoral duration, the media report the election-related news over and over again. Because of the news media, I feel annoy about politics; however, I can’t reject to understand politics because it closely links to our daily life. I’m in a dilemma.
DeleteMost of the supporters like to see the candidates shout out loud on the stage with their own eyes. It’s hard to win their support with true heart because they like concrete things. Yet, as long as the candidates can gradually reduce the drum-up activities, the atmosphere of election will be altered for the better little by little.
Shirley,
ReplyDeleteIt is always interesting to see how others (foreigners) view us (Taiwanese). I often have similar discussion with my husband who is an American. However, I am not sure how this is related to this discussion topic since you didn't offer a comparison between how electioni is run in different countries.
But I can't agree with you more in turns of the ugly street scene nowadays. It bothers me , too , at times.
Now I am curious how you would help Elsa come up with a good plan for our Q3.
Gina Chen
Although I’m already a legal voter, I haven’t been to any voting booths yet. It’ll be my first time to vote if I’m able to decide who my ideal candidates are before this weekend. I agree with you that it’s our responsibility to vote in order to show our respect toward the democratic system of election. Recently, I am doing a research which is associated with Psycholinguistics. After hearing a word, the respondent has to report the first word that comes into his or her head. During the process of doing the research, I find that most college students nowadays all hold negative impression toward politics. For example, the first words that come into their heads after hearing politics will be dirty, dark, shameful or scandal. I’m not surprised at all when discovering this pathetic phenomenon of Taiwan.
ReplyDeleteThe thing which is more miserable is that we college students have no idea about how to make our hometown a place where worthy to be proud of generally. And in my opinion, I don’t consider the distorted culture of election will get better only by we do carry out the responsibility to vote as a citizen.
Well, I hope you can figure out who is the one you like most. Just before the voting day, there was a terrible news that lian sheng-wen was shot on the stage of the drum-up campaign. Additionally, one of the masses died from the stray bullet. If the politic phenomenon in Taiwan does not improve, I don’t think I will go to the voting booths, even though it is our duty to vote. The research you do is really interesting. I think the reason why most students have negative thoughts on politics is that politicians themselves disappoint us in many ways. Maybe this situation is not easy to get better in a short time.
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