Longtime Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu leaves a legacy of expensive vanity projects alongside failing public services and infrastructure.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/23
By: David Evans
Credit: Youtube Screenshot
Kaohsiung recently welcomed another cultural landmark when the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts was inaugurated on Oct. 13. The center, constructed on a former military training facility in Weiwuying Metropolitan Park, took an astonishing 15 years and a jaw-dropping NT$10.7 billion(US$346 million) to complete.
Given such a sizable outlay from public funds, perhaps it was inevitable that the Kaohsiung City Council and the Taiwanese government would go to such great efforts to make a fuss about it.
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, we are told, will be crucial in the transformation of Kaohsiung from an industrial port city to a vibrant cultural hub. The center’s chairman, Ju Tzong-ching (朱宗慶), claims it will draw an additional 250,000 visitors a year to the city.
In her speech at the grand opening, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) described it as being “a key part of the southern experience,” “the fruit of [her government’s] space democratization,” and a fine example of how public space is being returned to the people.
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