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EDITORIAL: Empty
words meet civic action
Despite the celebratory ambiance the government tried to project yesterday with
a dazzling array of Double Ten National Day parades, a spectacular firework
display and a speech by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) trumpeting his goals of
building Taiwan with “high highs” — a free economy with high productivity, high
value-added products and high incomes with generous welfare — many remain
skeptical about the competence of the Ma government and find it hard to view the
nation’s future optimistically.
The public has good reasons not to be thrilled with the government.
Besides holding a poor track record of translating pledges into concrete efforts
to improve the public’s standard of living, the Ma administration has also
managed to depress the nation every day by delivering ideas and catchphrases,
while failing to introduce any actual policies that might improve lives or
promote national development.
What the public witnesses are disturbing incidents such as the political
vendetta waged by Ma against Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) through
allegedly unconstitutional means and the Special Investigation Division’s
seeming presumption to wiretap the Legislative Yuan’s switchboard. All of this
is causing more of the public to be swamped by that sinking feeling that the
president and his Cabinet do not share the nation’s priorities.
“We must decide our own future. We should ask ourselves: Do we want a civil
society governed with reason and tolerance? Or do we choose political infighting
stemming from suspicion and confrontation?” said Ma in his speech yesterday as
he pledged to strengthen dialogue between the government and society to “promote
social progress and realize social reform.”
While Ma may be of the opinion that his words alone are sincere enough to put
the public at ease, he may not be aware that every word he speaks exists in
sharp contrast to what is actually happening. The public is rapidly losing heart
and losing faith in the nation’s direction.
Fortunately, there is a hope yet.
The hope lies not in the flowery and empty words delivered by the president, but
in the growing awakening of civic consciousness, which the world witnessed in
the streets of Taiwan yesterday, where ten of thousands of people called for
reforms and exercised their civic rights and responsibilities. It is here we can
see the future of the nation.
The hope for Taiwan also lies in people like the “Ms Lin from Taipei,” a
housewife who shot to fame recently for her outspokenness and poignant insights
criticizing the government and politicians in political call-in shows, debunking
the perception that the majority of Taiwanese are apathetic toward politics.
Granted, the nation will not suddenly change for better just because one member
of the public dared to explicitly express her anger with the government.
However, one more voice heard means one more step toward the realization that
the “people are the masters of the country.”
When citizens feel the most demoralized and hopeless about the course the nation
is taking, they will stand up firm and make their voices heard.
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