The President and the Premier
... or a couple of scaredy-cats?
An image from today's Liberty Times (自由時報):
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) (left) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) (middle) appear to be holding hands yesterday as they attend a ceremony for the people who died in Typhoon Morakot two weeks ago.
Photo by 黃佳琳 from the Liberty Times (自由時報)
(Click image to see the original article.)
NOTE: This has nothing to do with frequently-heard hints that Ma is gay, and I wouldn't insult gays by suggesting that either Ma or Liu are part of that community. This is about a president who tried just last Tuesday to give international media the impression that he and his cabinet are "strong leaders." Hint to Ma and Liu: You're doin' it all wrong.
Unhealthy relationships: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, Liu Chao-shiuan, 劉兆玄
Cross-posted at It's Not Democracy, It's A Conspiracy!
Labels: Liu Chao-shiuan, Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan, Tim Maddog, 劉兆玄, 台灣, 馬英九
posted Sunday, August 23, 2009 @ 7:20 AM by Tim Maddog
[Permalink]
Tweet
RSS Feed
4 Comments:
They have to hold hands because like little boys walking in a busy street, they feel they are in danger from all those dangerous poor people -- the horrors! -- in danger from having to mix with all those unsophisticated rustics! In such a scary world out there, outside of the shelter of KMT propaganda and stolen wealth (those high-class circles)... so of course they need to hold onto each other.
-- That is the image that this picture evokes.
Due to ethnic stereotypes, there are many who live in Northern Taiwan that are actually afraid to visit the South. This is especially true with first/second generation Taiwanese from China.
This is probably one of the strangest picture. Even if they are a bit scared due to whatever reasons...holding hands is just totally weird. Don't forget they are both 60 something years old men.
@Islander:
I'm not really sure it's "fear", but rather contempt or dislike. It all becomes a vicious circle of sorts when the Waishengs think the Southerners discriminate them by putting the blame of 228 on them, and hence develop prejudices towards Southern Taiwan. Vice versa, people from the South think they (Northeners, Waishengs) are snobbish and elitist. Being a 3rd gen waisheng, I can proudly say I harbor no such discriminations - perhaps a little anxiety/nervousness since my Taiwanese sucks - but I hope I could say the same for a few others close to me.
Post a Comment
<< Home