Monday 25 May 2009

don't they get it (again)?

Taipei Times: KMT legislator criticized over tea bought from brother


Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) drew criticism yesterday after she purchased tea from her brother’s tea plantation in China with caucus funds as gifts to her party’s legislators.

Yang said the money belonged to the caucus and should not be considered public funds.Yang drew criticism within the KMT after she gave each KMT lawmaker a 7kg brick of pu-erh tea in the shape of a gold ingot earlier this month.

... each caucus receives a monthly subsidy from the Legislative Yuan, with the KMT caucus receiving approximately NT$810,000 per month.
The caucus’ secretary-general receives about NT$300,000 from the fund for the caucus’ public relations, the story said.
... Yang said she chose the tea as a Dragon Boat Festival gift for fellow caucus members because many people consider drinking tea healthy.
... She also said she had covered part of the cost with her own money.“The tea came from a company jointly owned by my brother and his good friend. If anyone has a problem with the purchase, I will accept the criticism with humility,” she told reporters.

but not return the money, note.

The Liberty Times quoted an anonymous KMT lawmaker as saying that Yang’s purchase could be seen as a conflict of interest because she chose tea from her brother’s plantation.
.... "The fund is not granted to her to buy products manufactured by her family members,” the legislator was quoted as saying.
The legislator said Yang had made such purchases on more than one occasion since becoming secretary-general of the caucus three months ago.
“It is ridiculous for her to give [caucus members] tea leaves almost every month. Plus, the tea is made in China rather than Taiwan,” the legislator was quoted as saying.

actually, you have to laugh: "almost every month"
it seems that if she'd done it just a couple of times, KMT legislators would have connived with her, but they just got fed up with the same tea month after month.

1 comment:

  1. They must be disappointed in her, a KMT legislator who obviously doesn't know how to do her graft right.

    ReplyDelete