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EDITORIAL: Minds
without hearts
It is reassuring to see that the government wants to bridge the gap between the
Cabinet and the public.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last week said he wanted all Cabinet members to
make regular trips around the country to get a feel for public opinion and to
expand communication between the government and members of the public.
“Be genuine, engage in two-way conversation, keep a low profile and make a
long-term commitment,” are the four guiding principles reportedly handed down by
Ma.
Over the past two weekends, Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) has taken the lead with his
visits to factory owners in Taoyuan, and Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) is
scheduled to follow suit — he has said he will be making regular trips to the
countryside to visit Aborigines and the underprivileged, starting this month.
The initiative to better understand the lives and concerns of ordinary people is
certainly commendable because it takes high-ranking government officials out of
their comfortable offices in the capital to see and hear at first hand the
challenges and difficulties faced by people around the nation. Particularly in
light of recent controversies — such as the import of US beef containing
ractopamine residue, the safety of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao
(貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), protests over the storage of nuclear waste on Lanyu
(蘭嶼, also known as Orchid Island) and safety concerns at Formosa Petrochemical
Corp’s refinery plants in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) — there is no
shortage of places they could visit.
Some time spent “down on the farm” with the nation’s livestock and poultry
farmers might open the eyes of these officials to the real issues behind the
ractopamine controversy, and a week’s “home stay” would let them experience
first hand what residents in Lanyu or Mailiao endure daily.
It is to be hoped that these visits do not become out-of-town weekly field trips
that Cabinet officials treat as mere jaunts or glorified picnics, with the usual
political play-acting and photo opportunities against a wallpaper background of
concerned citizens.
There have been enough pictures and stories of officials kissing babies, hugging
senior citizens or trying their hand at using farming equipment. There has been
too much self-promotion by government officials already, and taxpayers should
not have to foot the bill for more.
The concern is legitimate: All too often, politicians appear to be more
interested in staging “political performance art” and to be more concerned about
how what they do and say looks and sounds to the media, as opposed to actually
listening to people’s grievances and solving their problems.
Not to mention that ultimately, without genuine empathy — the one key element in
effective human governance — all these planned visits by policymakers lose sight
of their true purpose, however good the original intent.
Until they are better able to express genuine empathy with the plight of the
people, these Cabinet officials should stay put in Taipei, instead of wasting
taxpayers’ money touring the nation.
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