As we count down to Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration, it’s time to assess Ma Ying-jeou’s legacy. Here’s one:
focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201605120012.aspx
74% of Taiwanese are satisfied with Ma’s “viable diplomacy” that saw a 3x increase in visa free travel. 164 countries now, not the least of which, is the USA.
blatant propaganda. They didn’t include views on the economy or salaries. I’ve not received any free childcare or kindergarten for my kids, that’s like winning the lottery here.
Pathetic failure in terms of promoting income equality or income growth.
Pathetic failure in pretty much every single department.
Obviously he’s not the only reason to the country’s piece of shit state, Taiwanese people ourselves and the stupid culture are account for probably the majority of the problems, but he, his administration, and his party simply didn’t give two shits about solving any of them.
And quite frankly I don’t think DPP has any intention to do well either, so people, sauve qui peut.
One of his legacies is that he helped to radicalize a whole generation of students. When I got here, I’d roughly estimate that my students were split 50/50 in terms of blue or green identification. Now, among the students I meet, only the outliers are pro-blue. This doesn’t mean they like the green side, but in many ways the Ma government (including his current Minister of Education) has helped to students to say: this is what we don’t want.
Guy
Lying Ma will be remember for his consistency.
You can judge from the lack of response to this question. He’s been a non-entity for years already.
Even Dirt isn’t bothering upping his support beyond that pathetic article.
Worst thing about Ma was he was just a bureaucrat with one direction. He didn’t have vision or the willpower or flexibility to change direction and do what needed to be done and be a real leader. Waste of space for last four years.
Well, visa free travel for Taiwanese increased from 50 some countries to over 140.
Yearly tourist arrivals jumped from 4 to almost 10 million.
Free trade agreements with New Zealand and Singapore.
A fishery agreements with Japan, which seems be to in trouble.
. . . . and he was awarded the Eisenhower Peace Medallion!
Hopefully the Ma Administration helped ingrain Hanyu Pinyin deep enough into the system that the DPP will forget about trying to reinstitute that gawdawful T*****ng Pinyin.
And benefits no one. :bravo:
He was the first President of the ROC on Taiwan to pay homage to the yellow emperor: even Chiang Kai-shek didn’t do that.
And he also acknowledged that indigenous Taiwanese were human, at least in his eyes, remember?
Give the guy some credo.
He has a legacy? I thought the govt gives him a bimmer to drive?
As I rode the MRT today, I thought of a positive and sometimes overlooked aspect of Ma’s legacy. As I recall, he was the one who banged his fists on the table and insisted that the then-Muzha MRT line extension would stop at Songshan Airport (this was not part of the original route). The current Wenhu MRT line route cutting from Fuxing North Road across to the airport then back in line with Fuxing to get up to Dazhi and Neihu is no doubt a bit odd, but in my view it was the right thing to do. Thank you for this, Mr Ma!
Guy
he he…
You should have seen Taiwan just after Chen Shui-bian left office. Yes, Ma went too far blue, just as Chen moved too far green. The middle is where most Taiwanese are.
Yup, the color of Sun Moon Lake (Blue/Green)
Tommy: I’ve been mistaken for many things over the years, but Dirt is not one of them!
Dirt: Yes, people of all stripes were pretty pissed at A-bian when he left office. But you will notice that this thread is called “Ma Ying-jeou’s legacy.” And in my view, his legacy is helping to kill off, once and for all, the China fantasy in Taiwan–a fantasy that could be sustained only by, you know, not actually meeting real people from China. Opening the doors to increased exchange has in this way helped to clarify what we are not.
Guy
They should give him a hearse so he can spend his retirement driving around with the 1992 Consensus in the back.
It’s like magic though, the "appearance " of an agreement is sometimes better then an “actual” agreement.
1992 is an Appearance of an agreement, or perhaps an Apparition?
Well, the DPP has been saying for years that they want to close Songshan Airport and turn it into a park. Now that they have the power to do so, I’ll be interested to see if they push through with that, or just pretend they never said it and hope everyone forgets. If it comes to pass, you can at least thank Ma for the “Songshan Park” MRT station, though I guess it won’t really be named that.
yahoo.com/news/clinton-disc … ction.html
Bill Clinton made $5 million last year from speaking fees. This is how Taiwan’s ex-presidents should also make money. Start lining them up, President Ma.
