Turn The Page, Don’t Be Hijacked by the Victimization Complex Card

 Turn The Page, Don’t Be Hijacked by the Victimization Complex Card

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

November 20, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

On the surface, the two candidates in the Kaohsiung City mayoral race were competing for momentum in their rallies in the last two days; in substance, what people have witnessed, however, is different atmospherics and stature. Han Kuo-yu, in the evening rally, used "inclusiveness" to define "Kaohsiung values," using "improper" and "declining the offer to stump on stage" in rebutting Wu Den-yih's misspeaking, and using "singing the opponent's songs" to lead the crowd to lay down hatred and embrace the opponent. Chen Chi-mai’s evening rally was crowded with top officials of the government, but he endlessly utilized Wu Den-yih’s misspeaking to play the victimization complex card, appealing to “anti-fabricating fakes,” “anti-bullying” and “Kaohsiung cannot be humiliated”; the public did not witness the spirit of forging ahead with dynamism.

What is most disappointing is that the DPP, having complete control of government for more than two years, in the end could only seize a single sentence of Wu Den-yih, and then began its perennial, never-changing "victimization complex card." This point has exposed the DPP’s most serious illness: not appealing to the "victimization complex card,” it does not know how to engage in a campaign battle. Let us ask, for such a political party obsessed with a victimization complex, is it really its predetermined destiny of self-pity? Or has it forgotten to pursue evolution in the waves of democratic politics?

This time, the electorate in Kaohsiung want a change principally because of the general public’s dissatisfaction with the Tsai government’s policy decisions, such as the fossilized cross-Strait policy and the biased revisions to the Labor Standards Act, causing difficulties in the economics and bread and butter issues for the mid- and lower brackets. In addition, the DPP has been in power in Kaohsiung for two decades, however, it put emphasis on the glamorous façade of big-ticket construction, neglecting the real needs of people's living, and even endlessly squandering fiscal resources to paint a rosy picture, piling up huge debts in Kaohsiung City and leading the economy into the doldrums, causing an exodus of population. Without exception, all these are veritable phenomena, and because of this, Han Kuo-yu has been able to call up citizens’ awakening. Lamentably, in the campaign battle up to this moment, the DPP has still been arrogant, relying on sophistry, without even an iota of willingness to engage in soul-searching, and even refusing to recognize its inability, during the DPP’s rule, to care for Kaohsiung’s holistic economy. Can this ruling party, which lacks ability to engage in soul-searching and cannot look squarely at the vox populi, continue to call up voters' support relying merely on its old and worn-out "victimization complex card"?

The DPP, holding all power in its hands, has been oppressing the people, yet are shouting “anti-bullying”; this is veritable hypocrisy. The people of Taiwan are prepared to turn over the page of the long-lasting victimization complex; if the DPP is not ready, let us all help it with a push!

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