Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

It is time for the US to scrap its Electoral College system for choosing its president and simply go with the popular vote. Yes, I know, as soon as one mentions this, someone will pipe up with “but the founding fathers, etc, etc,” as if the US has not changed from the original 13 colonies and the first presidential election of 1789 and as if its electoral college process had not already been changed to be more realistic.

Democracy must continue to be representative. What was good in one age and under certain circumstances falls short under the new, and in this the US with its archaic system could ironically learn from the new kid on the block, the fledgling democracy of Taiwan.

Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was invited to speak at the World Chinese Economic Summit in Malaysia this month. Organizers not only gave him the honorific “His Excellency,” they also changed the title of his speech from Closer economic ties between Taiwan and ASEAN to The role of technology and culture for overseas Chinese in the world economy. Angered by what he saw as attempts to belittle him, Ma wrote his own name card — reading “former Taiwanese president Ma” — and complained about the pressure Beijing was exerting upon him, asking where China’s goodwill had gone.