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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 President breaks precedent with visit to Taitung
Monks sound the bell on Lunar New Year’s Eve at 11:55pm on Thursday during the annual bell-ringing event at the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Temple in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District. Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
By Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter, with CNA
Taking advantage of the sunny weather on the first day of the Lunar New Year, people yesterday flocked to temples and lined up to receive greetings and red envelopes from President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） and other political heavyweights.
Tsai chose Taitung County’s Tianhou Temple （天后宮） as the first leg of her three-day plan to distribute red envelopes, which symbolically contain a NT$1 coin for good fortune.
As it was the first time a national leader has made Taitung their first stop for handing out red envelopes, Tsai’s presence attracted nearly 4,000 people who had started lining up before 6am.
Tsai offered flowers and fruits to the temple deity — Matsu the sea goddess — and prayed for a peaceful and prosperous year for the nation.
She also gifted the 127-year-old temple with a dragon-adorned plaque.
The president made four more stops, visiting temples in Pingtung County, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Chiayi County.
Premier William Lai （賴清德） visited Taipei’s Zhinan Temple （指南宮） to distribute red envelopes. He was accompanied by several Taipei city councilors and Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Legislator Pasuya Yao （姚文智）, who has announced his intention to run in the party’s Taipei mayoral primary.
“I used to come here with my grandfather when I was little... I am happy to be here today as premier and pray for blessings for the country on behalf of President Tsai,” Lai said.
“I pray that Taiwan will be prosperous and its people will be safe. I hope everyone is safe and makes a lot of money,” he said.
Meanwhile, former president Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九） attracted hundreds of people when he visited Taipei’s Xingtian Temple （行天宮） to hand out copies of his handwritten Lunar New Year couplets.
Asked what his hopes and dreams for the new year are, Ma said he only hoped that the coming year would see more days of good weather and fewer typhoons.
“I will be well if the country is well,” he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） Chairman Wu Den-yih （吳敦義） visited four temples in Taipei to distribute red envelopes and extend Lunar New Year’s greetings to local residents.
“I prayed to the gods to bless all their devoted followers and the Taiwanese public ... protecting them from natural disasters like the Hualien earthquake,” Wu said, adding that he prayed for peaceful and stable developments across the Taiwan Strait.
Wu was referring to the magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck the nation on Tuesday last week. Hualien bore the brunt of the quake, with 17 people killed and 285 injured.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
President Tsai Ing-wen distributes red envelopes to temple-goers at the Yuhuang Temple in Pingtung County. Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
Premier William Lai distributes red envelopes and greets temple-goers at Taipei’s Zhinan Temple yesterday. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
People gather at Kaohsiung’s Sunfong Temple to receive red envelopes from President Tsai Ing-wen yesterday. Photo: Ko You-hau, Taipei Times
