It's the last weekend before people in Taiwan go to polls and vote for the next President on 22nd March.
Both Ma Ying-jeou and Frank Hsieh, who represent the nationalist KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) respectively, had major rallies on Sunday to energize the passion of their supporters.
On Sunday afternoon, I went to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall for a big rally to support Mr. Hsieh, who is the obvious underdog in the race.
When I arrived, I happened to see Ma's supporters in the hundred of thousands passing by, leading by several horses, the symbol of Mr. Ma's surname in Chinese.
"Wow, DPP's supporters are outnumbered 10 to 1," I thought to myself.
But then, maybe it's not that bad. A lot of people did come out to show their support for Mr. Hsieh.
I noticed something very different today. The crowd in general was definitely younger. A lot.
Newspapers that take a preference for KMT has been jeering the aging DPP electoral base, which they said were mostly composed of old farmers and workers from the south who didn't know better.
But that's not true from what I saw here.
Several horses led the way for Mr. Ma's campaign rallying.
Before entering the premises of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, one would encounter a sea of Mr. Ma's supporters marching on the same street.
Kids. They were everywhere today in this festive political rally for Mr. Hsieh.
Frank Hsieh, DPP's presidential candidate, exchanged a high five with his supporters. The high-five gesture was today's secret password for the crowd.
Mr. Hsieh's campaign slogan, Reverse and Win (逆轉勝), says a lot about his winning chance. It's pretty slim, and he surely needs a reversal of fortune to win this game.
The Winner sticker on the face of a beautiful young girl.
A giant Trojan horse. What the DPP tried to convey was that Mr. Ma, who proposes one-China common market, would bring disaster to local people when we open our market to China.
Along the marching route, you would be expected to slap endless raising hands of your fellow supporters. It had a lot fun, especially when you saw a lot of fresh young smiling faces.
Short of a miracle, Mr. Hsieh couldn't win it in this race against Mr. Ma, the super hero with a good-looking face from KMT. But the hope is not lost to all who took part in today's high-five party.
3 comments:
I was also there today. I agree with your observation of the participation of so many young people. Whether the DPP win or lose they have good foundations to build on in the future. I still wouldn't discount their chances either.
hi david,
i was totally in "awe and shock" to see Ma's crowd before I entered the Hsieh's rally at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. But was quite relieved afterwards. DPP's turnout was good. And just like you said, I beleive it's a pretty close call. I sure hope there's a "逆轉勝" on Hsieh:)
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