Okay, so it wasn’t as cool as when I met Elton John back in 1999 in Gainesville, Florida, but it was still pretty awesome. He gave the opening speech this morning at an academic conference at the National Central Library, where I work. Some of my co-workers and I stood at the back of the auditorium to listen to his speech about the importance of Chinese characters to Chinese culture, and as he was leaving, I walked up to him, greeted him, and shook his hand.
He definitely has that “something” about him that sets him apart from us “normal folk,” call it charisma or whatever. He was very friendly, looks you right in the eye when he’s shaking your hand (well, my hand, in this case), and has a very approachable demeanor. Anyway, it was definitely one of those moments I’ll be telling my grandkids about someday … if I end up having kids, that is.
Ok, it’s not quite the same and I don’t mean to take away from your moment, but I felt similarly about a month ago in Taichung when I met Jackie Wu. We stayed at the Landis hotel and as my wife, daughter and I sat at our table in the dining room at breakfast, Jackie came in with a small entourage (3 or 4 young friends or relatives) and they sat at the table beside us. As he walked past he smiled at our daughter, told us she was pretty and mentioned that he has a daughter too. He smiled at us occassionaly during the meal and when we left we stopped at his table and had her wave bye-bye to him. I regretted that hadn’t brought my camera with me from the room, because I’m sure he would have granted a photo holding our girl (a memento for her). Like Ma, he too appeared handsome, friendly and charismatic – important attributes in one who strives for success.
I have see Ma speak several times (work related). I never really understood why people always said he is so handsome before I saw him in person–he is one of those people who is far better looking in person off camera than on. Not that he is unattractive on TV, but he is even more striking in person.
I was also impressed by his command of Taipei city issues-he was able to respond in detail regarding a small park in Tianmu when a foreign businessman asked him a question and he effortlessly reeled off a number of facts and statistics about the city that were actually relevant to what he was talking about. His deliver was smooth and humorous even if his English isn’t really as flawless as is often claimed in the fawning pro-China media. Granted it is very good and he has been back in Taiwan for 20-odd years. I’d be thrilled if my Mandarin was as good as his English.
I have been much less impressed with him when I’ve seen him give speeches in Mandarin. For some reason, he sounds much more uptight and wooden when speaking to home town audiences. At one speech in Kaohsiung Co. he seemed nervous about being in front of the large and boisterous down home crowd. He may be an example of the globalized elite who is more comfortable with other members of the global elite than he is with his own people.
The crackle of authority and competence LB is talking about is one that you will feel with any high-ranking leader in Taiwan. Frank Hsieh, Chen Shui-bian, and Lian Chan all have it. The one who really had/has it is Lee Teng-hui. You could practically feel his aura before he even entered the room.
Finally, I would point to the absurd and condescending topic of Ma’s speech as being indicative of his conservative Chinese nationalism. Next he’ll be showing his foreign friends how to use chopsticks.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]
Ok, it’s not quite the same and I don’t mean to take away from your moment, but I felt similarly about a month ago in Taichung when I met Jackie Wu. We stayed at the Landis hotel and as my wife, daughter and I sat at our table in the dining room at breakfast, Jackie came in with a small entourage (3 or 4 young friends or relatives) and they sat at the table beside us. As he walked past he smiled at our daughter, told us she was pretty and mentioned that he has a daughter too. He smiled at us occassionaly during the meal and when we left we stopped at his table and had her wave bye-bye to him. I regretted that hadn’t brought my camera with me from the room, because I’m sure he would have granted a photo holding our girl (a memento for her). Like Ma, he too appeared handsome, friendly and charismatic – important attributes in one who strives for success.[/quote]
I met him on a flight from Hong Kong last November, and he was incredibly gracious to everyone–giving autrographs, taking photos with people (including myself). Definately not the potty-mouthed jerk he is often made out to be.
I shook hands with Mayor Ma once when he visited the company I work for. He even spoke to me. He said, “Where are you from?” It was all I could do was to keep from giggling like a schoolgirl, and I said. “America.”
The man does not have an ounce of fat on him.
Ya know why candidates always hit the campaign trails and press flesh, right? There’s a whole psychology behind it – it makes you a million times more likely to be favorably disposed toward them / vote for them. When most people see a celebrity (be it politics or TV or movies) in person, they feel a rush of euphoria – add a handshake, and you get an intense, intimate emotional experience that typically results in a profound, deep, and lasting positive image of the person (no matter who the person is, what your previous disposition might have been, whether the person will ever remember you, or what the person is “really” like). Politicians all know this, as do garden variety celebrities. A good friend of mine once shook hands with Ma and voted for him, later shook hands with A-bian and voted for him, shook hands with a notorious gangster and said, “He’s not so bad. He’s actually very sweet” (the guy was a friggin’ criminal). It’s a common and very well known phenomenon. And of course it feels really good.
ABout a year and a half ago he and his entourage visited the Tonghua St. Night Market, campaigning for a local candidate. I met him there and shook his hand. He’s definitely larger than life, and was very amicable. His English wasn’t bad either.
I wasn’t very impressed with his entourage. He only had three bodyguards with him who didn’t look too tough. They were obviously bodybuilder types, but they were unarmed, and I thought that was a bit careless. They were wearing those traditional Chinese frog-button shirts, which I thought was cute, though. There was only one armed policeman there, but with the gut on him, I didn’t think he’d have been able to do much if there had been trouble. It was a little surprising, considering his status, and you’d think politicians (especially the really important ones) would be a little more cautious after the assassination attempt on Chen Shui-bian.
Black loafers, I believe, and not too well polished. They were nothing compared to the US Secret Service … those guys can be scary … but the bodyguards I’ve seen for Chairman Ma, and even the president, are pretty laughable.
I was once hired as bodyguard for a KMT official. So I can attest to the fact that the qualification to become a bodyguard is not as stringent as USA Secret Service.
But then again of the 2 assassination attempts against ROC presidents, none of them succeeded anyways. A testiment to the professionalism and dedication of ROC government bodyguarding service…did I mention bravery.
One can also get Ma Ying-jeou caligraphy scroll as wedding gift if one donates enough to his favorite charity. Also if you are ever invited to “jog” with him, challenge him to wind sprinting, he loves that.
I think because Taiwan is such a small island, accessibility to celebrities is not that big of an issue.
No money required - we sent him an invitation, and he sent the calligraphy. It’s quite nice, actually.
I met him twice when he first became mayor - once as part of a group, and then again one-on-one. He impressed me then, but I’m waiting to see how he handles his presidency before I start worshipping at his feet. The last president, whom I also had high hopes for, was a big effing disappointment. :stinkyface:
I bet he didn’t even send you a calligraphy scroll as a wedding present either.
However, all the democratically elected presidents of Taiwan have become less than ideal. We’re 0 for 2 now. No point letting Mayor Ma ruining Taiwan’s perfect record of disappointing presidents.
Do you think Mayor Ma writes those scrolls on demand? Or does he have a closet full of those things that are shipped as needed.
I had a chance to meet him as well, a few months before he became Guomindang Chairman.
I shook his hand and spoke Chinese to him (and my Chinese was shaky then) but he was polite, listened to me, and agreed with me on the subject of Hanyu Pinyin. I said I was extremely pleased that he implemented Hanyu Pinyin in Taipei City, that it made the lives of foreigners here easier, and that I thought it was a better way for foreigners to learn Chinese (as opposed to “bo po mo fo”)
