我看臺灣選舉 - 馬來西亞

這是一篇由馬來西亞同學 文傑所寫的文章,刊登在 Taipei Times.
對方目前唸師大國文系四年級



LETTERS: Watching Taiwan's election

Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008, Page 8

Kudos to Taiwan's democratic system, which showed the world the essence of
democracy in its 12th presidential election. I am glad that candidates of both
sides were able to humbly accept the outcome of the election. I see this
election as a victory for the Taiwanese people and the democratic system of
this wonderful island, rather than seeing it as a zero sum political battle
between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP).

As a Malaysian, I consistently support the democratic system, which allows the
people to decide whom they want to put into office. Taiwan has become a role
model in terms of democracy and it must keep this precious value to support
democratization in Asia.


I have always hoped that the KMT and the DPP would prove to be equally
competent and able to compete with each other healthily. Only with the
competence of both sides will the people be able to choose their leaders.


I do not wish to see any side fall apart and let the other side become

overwhelmingly strong. It would be frighteningly sad if the voters are left
with an overwhelmingly strong side and an incompetently weak side -- this
would herald the death of democracy. To put it into baseball terms, I hope
that the competition between the KMT and DPP is similar to that of the
baseball teams of Taiwan and South Korea. I do not think baseball fans would
want to watch a 9-0 game all the time.



I fully understand the feelings of the supporters of both sides. I sincerely
hope that they will calm down after all the celebration and tears for the
election. For the KMT, it's their opportunity to prove their ruling ability
to revive Taiwan's economy amid the fear of the world economy's downward
trend; for the DPP, they still have the chance to be in office again, if they
are able to rectify their mistakes and work harder to serve the people.


I think more young Taiwanese are colorblind in terms of politics and will
only vote for politicians who are able to serve the nation well. The young
voters are getting clearer that it's ability that matters.

The Malaysian general election earlier this month, which saw five states fall
to the opposition, has clearly indicated that racial politics is gradually
fading away (albeit with all the difficulties and at a snail's pace) in Asia.
All Asian politicians must bear in mind that it's meritocracy that counts in
this globalized era. More people will cast their ballot by evaluating the
candidates' ability and accountability rather than basing their decision on
which party the candidate belongs to and what their origins are.


Both parties must defend democratic values and stop all the unnecessary

political disputes -- Taiwan will improve, but only with a healthy democratic
system.

Yeow Boon-kiat

Kuala Lumpur

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