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EDITORIAL: Piggy
banks fly as change desired
Forget about the saying “when pigs fly,” because throughout the country they are
doing just that. Off the shelves, that is.
Highlighting the desire for change in the country, people are rushing to fill
piggy banks and donate them to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) election
campaign. And the DPP has the Control Yuan to thank for this.
The Control Yuan last month made a fuss and warned the party that its acceptance
of three piggy banks donated by three-year-old triplets was against the
Political Donations Act (政治獻金法). The Control Yuan said Article 7 of the act
stipulates that only people of voting age and those who meet other voting
eligibility rules can make political donations. However, the article is more
typically aimed at preventing foreigners, especially people from China, Hong
Kong and Macau who are not eligible to vote, from making donations.
Moreover, given that the triplets donated their piggy banks under parental
guidance, handing over the banks on stage with their mom and grandfather by
their side, it seems like a minor infringement of the act. The donations were
aimed more at a nice photo opportunity than political meddling by
three-year-olds.
While the Control Yuan’s move could have dampened the DPP’s spirits, it instead
aroused indignation among many Taiwanese and prompted the DPP to declare this
month “little pigs month,” in which supporters are urged to use piggy banks to
make donations to the party.
With the popularity of the piggy bank drive taking the DPP by surprise, the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might have an even harder time understanding
what all the fuss is about, given that it appears oblivious to people’s everyday
struggles despite a widening wealth gap and growing social injustice. There is a
latent desire for change in the country, a fact which seems to have passed by
the KMT and is clearly highlighted by a groundswell of support for the DPP’s
piggy bank drive.
And yet, the KMT still does not cease to amaze with its brazenness. Seeing how
well the DPP’s grassroots fundraising campaign has been received by the public,
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re--election campaign office recently also
launched a TV campaign spot calling on the public to make small donations.
How is it that a political party as rich as the KMT — which made NT$3.5 billion
(US$116.1 million) last year, NT$2.9 billion from stock dividends alone — can
have the heart to urge its supporters to donate money?
The truth of matter is that what the KMT fears is not the coins and notes
stuffed into the piggy banks; what it finds intimidating is the power behind the
piggy bank movement — the collective disappointments felt by piggy bank donors
in the face of the incumbent government’s poor performance.
It is fair to say that there is a movement building in Taiwan in which — little
could one imagine — piggy banks are becoming part of the nation’s electoral
lore.
Hopefully the DPP cherishes and takes to heart the message behind every dollar
pushed into a piggy bank. Each and every piggy bank represents not just support
for Tsai and her party, but, more than everything, a yearning for change that
will see people’s lives improve in a country that is becoming more unjust and
economically divided.
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