20100929 Floods can not be used to put out the expo fire

Floods can not be used to put out the expo fire

By Allen Houng 洪裕宏

As people in southern Taiwan were still wading through flood waters brought by Typhoon Fanapi, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) was coming under attack from all sides; from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to the pro-blue media. The government was trying to equate the situation in Kaohsiung with the devastation brought by Typhoon Morakot in August last year, in an attempt to replicate some of the public anger directed at Ma’s administration a year ago and dump it in Chen’s lap.

This was also a blatant attempt by the government to draw attention away from the storm raging over budget irregularities for the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo. It was a cynical ploy to kill two birds with one stone: hobbling Chen in the upcoming special municipality elections and throwing a lifeline to Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).

It is no secret what the pan-blue camp is up to, their actions are entirely transparent. If they continue to try and swing this election in their favor, the public is going to react accordingly.

You cannot compare apples and oranges. Flooding is flooding, the storm over the flora expo is another thing entirely.

Chen has to take some responsibility for how Kaohsiung City responded to the typhoon; that is quite clear. However, if that much rain had fallen on Taipei City, there would have been flooding too.

The point is, the central government was woefully unprepared for Morakot. Ma went off swimming and attended a wedding banquet, but perish the thought that the pro-blue press would pursue this.

This time, the pan-blue camp had nothing to pin on Chen and neither the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) press machine nor the pro-blue media could find any dirt to dish.

Hau is experiencing his own personal typhoon at the moment, and if he was hoping it would blow over, he is going to be severely disappointed. Taipei City councilors have unearthed countless irregularities over the flora expo budget and Hau still has not accounted for them. The longer he lets this go on, the more suspicions will grow. This is only going to fan the flames of the problem and make things worse for him.

How can he not see this? Can it be that he simply does not have a leg to stand on? The pan-blue camp could try to divert the public’s attention with the flooding in Kaohsiung and Pingtung, but beyond that, all it can do is wait for the flora expo to start.

After all, if the expo is a success, people might forget about the problems. The government spent so much on the expo — almost NT$10 billion (US$318 million) — that it is bound to have some kind of positive effect. It is by no means certain, however, that this will be enough to salvage Hau’s hopes of re-election.

Are people going to be so impressed that they won’t believe any kickbacks were made? In the back of their minds will they be wondering how much better it could have been if everything had been transparent?

The flooding in Kaohsiung and Pingtung raises all kinds of questions about infrastructure and flood management, at both central and local government levels.

If the central government needs to address flood management and control, why is the KMT dragging its feet? Why hasn’t the KMT-controlled legislature done anything?

As we approach the centenary of the Republic of China, no one wants to look forward to the next 100 years as being a period of hardship. Ma should not harbor any thoughts of using the Kaohsiung floods to extinguish the flora expo flames. He is not going to fool anyone. The public is not that stupid.

Allen Houng is a professor at National Yang-Ming University’s Institute of Philosophy of Mind and Cognition.