Happy New Year to everybody. I got my first surprise of the year when a blue truck with loudspeakers parked in my neighborhood blaring an advertisement for an upcoming political rally whose main event was none other than presidential candidate Ma Ying Jiu and a local politician. Here is the slideshow link to all of the Ma Ying Jiu Tainan special event photos.

All of the KMT events that I have been to so far have had loads and loads of presents to give away, and I even won some raffles before to score some lame prizes (like my new man bag). I was hoping this event would really open the floodgates of gifts, and had visions of nice small electronics, straight up cash and maybe even scooters or cars. This is the presidential election we are talking about here, so I figured the KMT would pull out all of the stops. I was sorely disappointed by the lack of gifts today. I may never go to another rally again because of it.

Droves of people from the neighborhood came to a small road between apartment buildings and waited anxiously for Ma to arrive. It seemed to me most people were either very old or very young.

Ma Ying Jiu arrived with the local politician on top of a specialized truck and went though a few cheerleading chants to rev up the crowd of supporters. If you vote for me, then you need to vote for her he was saying.

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Then he got up and walked over to where I was and I got several shots from less than 10 feet away. Thing is there was terrible organization and everyone wanted a handshake, photo, or autograph. In traditional Chinese style, everyone converged on him and began causing what I felt was a dangerous situation. He didn’t stick around for long either. I did notice him signing a bottle of Kaoliang. How appropriate for Taiwan. If he wins, that bottle could actually be worth something besides a public display of intoxication and ensuing hangover.