I joined the about 250,000 people who gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard and beyond on Saturday night to protest over the July 4 death of Army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) and that of several others in recent years.
This was the second large protest targeting the armed forces since Hung’s death was revealed in early July, a controversy that has completely taken over the nation and which I fear could have serious repercussions for the military’s ability to successfully implement an all-volunteer system.
Big Citizen is Watching You |
Ma’s performance throughout all this has been nothing less than abysmal. Once again, he has shown himself to be a leader who is incapable of connecting emotionally with the people who put him in office. He has been aloof, cold, and by failing to show real leadership he has allowed the situation to generate. It seems that the man can only shed tears at the graves of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). His wife, the person who probably knows him best, was right when she said last year that he is a selfish person who thinks only of himself.
Members of the Hung family |
The organizers last night called on everybody to follow Ma around and display the placard with a large bleeding eye and the words “Big Citizen is Watching You,” a tactic inspired by similar action taken against Ma and other Cabinet officials following the destructions of people’s homes in Dapu (大埔), Miaoli County. Ma was also heckled when he tried to attend Hung’s funeral in Taichung this morning, and once he made it there, he once again displayed his disconnect from reality by failing to recognize Hung’s uncle, who has appeared on TV non-stop for about a month now.
I guess Taiwanese have their response now to the song “Do you hear the people sign?” Ma doesn’t. (All photos by the author)
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