Instead of participating in a countdown and watching fireworks, President Ma Ying-jeou spent New Year’s Eve with underprivileged children in a remote part of Taiwan, something he described as a “right decision”.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, the president revealed that he had a “memorable” New Year’s Eve with about 60 children with mental or physical disabilities in a Catholic home for children with special needs in Taitung, eastern Taiwan.
In the post, Ma said he had dinner with members of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross, a Switzerland-based charity which founded the children’s home, and of Societas Missionaria de Bethlehem (SMB), another Western church organization active in Taiwan.
The president’s choice of where and how he spent New Year’s Eve was of particular interest to people in Taiwan this year. In 2012 and 2013, Ma attended the New Year’s Eve countdown and saw the fireworks at the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper along with then Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, who is from Ma’s party, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT).
But this year, Hau is no longer the mayor after finishing his two four-year terms, and the KMT lost its bid to hold Taipei in local elections last November.