whose birthday?

TT: Crowd marks Sakyamuni birthday

Politicians gathered yesterday outside the Presidential Office to celebrate the 2,552nd anniversary of the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha.

No they didn't

The sunny weather attracted thousands of people including diplomats, religious leaders and politicians across party lines to the gathering on Ketagalan Boulevard.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday the birthday was an important day for the Buddha and all mothers. If it were not for Buddha’s mother, Queen Maya, who gave birth to Prince Siddartha, the Buddha’s teachings would not have enlightened the world and benefited mankind, he said.

what a piece of tosh
i've nothing against mothers, but if we're going to celebrate the mother every time her daughter or son achieves something, we'll never hear the end of it.
trust politicians (and TzuChi) to come up with some non-connection like this

Ma said he was happy to see religious groups from all around the world come together on this day.

hmm. some of them maybe, but even within buddhism there are various traditions, no one can agree which year he was born never mind which month and which day.

It symbolized that “the Republic of China is a country with religious freedom and is a nation that is open and diverse.”

'scuse me while i puke

"Over China’s long history, there was never a war caused by religious conflict,” he said. “It is a remarkable contribution to world culture.”

no, it is only remarkable how little history Ma knows of his own country (can i say that, he was born there, right?)

Before his speech, Ma performed the “bathing Buddha” ritual.
...Legend has it that when Prince Siddhartha was born, there were auspicious signs heralding his birth. They describe the sky as blue and clear on his birth, with dragons spurting purified water to bathe him. Since then, Buddhists have celebrated his birthday by using fragrant water to bathe the image of Buddha.

no, no, no
this is some latter day (tourism inspired? - well, maybe not) tradition
they didn't even have statues of the Buddha for the first half millennium or so, and the "prince" bit and "spitting dragons" stuff was all added later

The KMT chairman said yesterday’s gathering showed public support for the Ma administration’s efforts to improve the economy...

so, apparently, Chairman Wu thinks that what started off as politicians gate-crashing a religious event, is really religion gate-crashing a pro-Ma rally
you're kidding, right?