Taiwan, the Travails of President Ma Ying-jeou and His 400 policies??

Thursday October 13, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

As Taiwan's presidential elections draw near, all Taiwanese have to ask themselves the one basic question, do they feel that they are better off than they were four years ago? Are jobs better? Has your income gone up? Are houses easier to buy? Have you had a decent raise? How is your standard of living? Are prices going up?

Four years ago, Ma Ying-jeou entered office with the perfect situation; besides controlling the executive branch of the government, he had 75 percent of the vote of the Legislative Yuan; that meant he could override with impunity any veto of any of his proposals. So what has he to show for these four wasted years?

Ma first claims that he has already presented 400 policies in the past three years and that 90 per cent of them have been completed or achieved. Say what??? That means that 360 of Ma's policies have been achieved.

I ask you this, can any Taiwanese voter name what those 360 policies that were achieved are? Can you name even half of them? Are you better off because of those 360 policies?? Do you feel hoodwinked?

As for his failed 6-3-3, that is history; he blames the 2008 economic crisis for his failure. But if he failed there; then what supposedly are the 360 completed policies about? Do you feel hoodwinked again?

Or as was put simply in the beginning; after Ma's completed 360 policies, do you feel better off than you were four years ago?