‘OCEAN WAVE’: Puma Shen has invited citizens to share their opinions and get involved in discussions to shape the city’s future blueprint, a DPP member said
By Chen Yun and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) campaign has continued to garnered momentum and turned the spillover effect of the “Ocean Wave (洋流)” into a new movement, manifesting an extension of civic power, a DPP insider said.
“Ocean Wave” — a pun on 洋 (“ocean”) in Shen’s name and a nod to the “Han wave” (韓流) that led to Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) surprise 2018 Kaohsiung mayoral victory — refers to the campaign movement built around Shen’s Taipei mayoral bid.
The Ocean Wave has revived people’s expectations for a concrete policy vision for the city and responded to their hope for a new, policy-oriented election culture, the source said.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen, center, waves to the crowd during a motorcade in Keelung yesterday.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
People want to see candidates refraining from attacking their rivals and adopting new practices, such as whispering slogans at night to avoid disturbing residents, they said.
The core value of the Ocean Wave is creating a healthy election culture and demonstrating respect for citizens, they said.
Shen’s candidacy for Taipei mayor has triggered momentum for civic self-determination, they said, adding that rather than being an extension of last year’s mass recall movement, his campaign should be defined as a comprehensive expansion of a new citizen movement.
Shen has invited citizens to share their opinions and get involved in discussions to shape the city’s future blueprint, including the street-side soapbox sessions that invited people to voice their concerns, the Heart Policy Island interactive Web site launched last week and the “Municipal Debug Hackathon” that solicited ideas from the public, the source said.
Those efforts put the new movement into practice and have won growing support from moderate voters, they said.
While the mass recall movement fell short of its goal, it was still a display of civic will, they said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has become complacent over retaining its legislative seats, mistakenly interpreting the outcome as public approval rather than reflecting on its abuse of legislative power and arbitrary budget cuts, the source said.
The KMT has become increasingly unhinged and reckless, they said, citing KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling’s (翁曉玲) proposals to slash presidential discretionary funds as an example.
The proposals, passed by the Legislative Yuan in August, resulted in the Presidential Office canceling 15,000 orders of mooncakes from sheltered workshops and disadvantaged groups.
The KMT, with the support from the Taiwan People’s Party, has also pushed through amendments to the Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法) that would waive National Health Insurance premiums for most people aged 65 or older.
The amendments have exacerbated intergenerational division and increased the burden on young people, while once again drawing public attention to the opposition party’s indiscriminate budget cuts, the source said.
The KMT is seeking to consolidate its support base by continuing to stoke hatred, but a growing number of residents are comparing Shen’s municipal vision and personal character with those of incumbent Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), they said.
Chiang, seeking re-election, continues to rely on outdated thinking, repeatedly promoting his “three old campaign promises”: fresh milk for every child, a smoke-free city and the Taipei Dome, failing to genuinely address residents’ needs, they said.
His proposal to relocate Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) was abruptly announced without prior consultation with local residents or fellow KMT candidates, demonstrating his self-righteous approach that stands in stark contrast to Shen’s style, they said.