Ma felt typhoon victims were ungrateful, sister reveals
Lawrence Chung in Taipei 25 September 2009
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, already under fire over his government’s poor handling of the aftermath of a deadly typhoon, is in trouble again.
In a public statement that caught everybody off-guard, his eldest sister, Ma Yi-nan, said her brother found the typhoon victims ungrateful.
In an e-mail to her, the president complained that he had tried hard to help the victims, she said, but only “ended up being resented by those he was trying to help”.
“[Ma] felt very frustrated, and so he sent me an e-mail, saying he got only complaints from others despite all [the hard work] he had done,” Ma Yi-nan said while speaking at a book promotion event on Wednesday in Taipei. “And lastly [Ma] asked why good people get poor rewards.”
Her remarks were broadcast almost hourly by some news channels, prompting an embarrassed Presidential Office to apologise on Ma’s behalf yesterday. “If the typhoon victims or members of the general public found this uncomfortable, the president would like to express his apology,” said office spokesman Wang Yu-chi.
More than 760 people were killed when Typhoon Morakot hit southern and eastern Taiwan on August 8. The disaster resulted in the resignation of the premier, Liu Chao-shiuan, and a cabinet reshuffle on September 10.
Wang blamed a misunderstanding. Ma’s sister forwarded an SOS e-mail from a Catholic priest to the president. The priest, based in Wutai in the southern county of Pingtung, sought help after the mountain community in which he lived was cut off by flash floods. Ma’s sister received the e-mail - sent on August 10 - through a third party and forwarded it to the president.
Wang said that, after Ma received the e-mail on August 15, he telephoned the priest that night, and the priest told him they had already got supplies from the military. But Ma still went on an inspection trip there the next day. “However, the president read from the evening newspaper that the priest felt the president had come too late. The president felt there must be some misunderstanding,” Wang said.
The fiasco drew mockery from lawmakers of the Democratic Progressive Party, who called Ma a hypocrite after he publicly apologised to victims.
Lawmakers of the ruling Kuomintang hit out at Ma’s sister. “Is she nuts? Why such a big mouth?” said said lawmaker Chiu Yi.
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Ma felt typhoon victims were ungrateful, sister reveals
Lawrence Chung in Taipei
25 September 2009
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, already under fire over his government’s poor handling of the aftermath of a deadly typhoon, is in trouble again.
In a public statement that caught everybody off-guard, his eldest sister, Ma Yi-nan, said her brother found the typhoon victims ungrateful.
In an e-mail to her, the president complained that he had tried hard to help the victims, she said, but only “ended up being resented by those he was trying to help”.
“[Ma] felt very frustrated, and so he sent me an e-mail, saying he got only complaints from others despite all [the hard work] he had done,” Ma Yi-nan said while speaking at a book promotion event on Wednesday in Taipei. “And lastly [Ma] asked why good people get poor rewards.”
Her remarks were broadcast almost hourly by some news channels, prompting an embarrassed Presidential Office to apologise on Ma’s behalf yesterday. “If the typhoon victims or members of the general public found this uncomfortable, the president would like to express his apology,” said office spokesman Wang Yu-chi.
More than 760 people were killed when Typhoon Morakot hit southern and eastern Taiwan on August 8. The disaster resulted in the resignation of the premier, Liu Chao-shiuan, and a cabinet reshuffle on September 10.
Wang blamed a misunderstanding. Ma’s sister forwarded an SOS e-mail from a Catholic priest to the president. The priest, based in Wutai in the southern county of Pingtung, sought help after the mountain community in which he lived was cut off by flash floods. Ma’s sister received the e-mail - sent on August 10 - through a third party and forwarded it to the president.
Wang said that, after Ma received the e-mail on August 15, he telephoned the priest that night, and the priest told him they had already got supplies from the military. But Ma still went on an inspection trip there the next day. “However, the president read from the evening newspaper that the priest felt the president had come too late. The president felt there must be some misunderstanding,” Wang said.
The fiasco drew mockery from lawmakers of the Democratic Progressive Party, who called Ma a hypocrite after he publicly apologised to victims.
Lawmakers of the ruling Kuomintang hit out at Ma’s sister. “Is she nuts? Why such a big mouth?” said said lawmaker Chiu Yi.
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