Power to the People! - PH

"More power for Taiwan!"

PhotoHunt theme : power

When I was in Taiwan this January, the Taiwan Presidential Election was then heating up. My Taiwanese students brought me to buy election souvenirs of the various political parties and even attended a couple of rallies.

Photo: Vincent Yu / AP

The Taiwanese Presidential Election is such a colourful affair. Holding balloons and waving flags, tens of thousands of Taiwanese paraded throughout the island to support their favored presidential candidates.The race was being closely watched by China and the United States.

I visited the election offices of the three presidential candidates : Ma Ing-jeou, Tsai Ing-wen and James Soong Chu-yu.

I was particularly impressed with Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) fund raising campaign 'Three Little Pigs' that sent round 100,000 piggy banks to collect small political donations for the party. I was lucky to own one of these piggy banks. :D

During the Taiwanese presidential election period, my Taiwanese students together with many voters, worked in the day and then attended rallies in the nights. Towards the end of the campaign, some voters even took leave from work or school to camp at the rally sites.

Even kitty wants to come to the rally!

Attending the rallies of the three candidates was an interesting and exciting experience. Surrounded by tens of thousands of screaming Taiwanese who were waving banners, flags, everyone was in high spirits. Luckily, the rallies were peaceful, no gunshots. :P

Eighteen million Taiwanese were eligible to vote in the polls, and about 80 percent of them were believed to have voted. On 14th January 2012, President Ma Ing-jeou was re-elected President of Taiwan by a comfortable margin.

Many countries are running Presidential Election in the year of 2012, including USA. If all goes well, I may be going to the USA to observe the Presidential Election in November. :)