Look, The Ceiling Is Leaking!

The gender ceiling, that is. Taiwan, for the first time in history, just elected a woman as their next president. Her Ceiling1A1Tname is Tsai Ing-Wen 蔡英文. She joins Angela Merkel of Germany, Park Geun-Hye of South Korea, Sheikh Hasina Wajed of Bangladesh, and about 20 other women as heads of democratic states around the world.

A quick disclaimer is in order before some of my Chinese and Taiwanese readers get mad at me. Despite my Chinese last name, I am not a citizen of Taiwan or China. I was born in Hongkong and my Hongkong passport expired long time ago. I am an American citizen. I am an opinionated person but I am not political in terms of pro-Taiwan or pro-China. Neither am I biased toward or against different political parties in those countries/regions. As an American, I am not even registered as a Republican or Democrat. I am simply an “Independent” person.

I’ve never heard of Tsai’s name until recently. To me, she was just a foreign politician who happened to be a female. Then this week I heard from the news that she won the presidency – by a landslide. That piqued my curiosity. So I spent a few hours on Google and You-Tube looking at snapshots about this successful person. In terms of background, if she was interviewing for a job, she’s abundantly qualified. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of London, was a law professor, has been in politics in different positions over many decades. But can she lead? That is the unknown part that she, or any other president-elect, has to prove herself over the next few years.

Ceiling_F1

I am happy for her not because I voted for her. I am actually happy for all women and the whole human race in its long road toward democracy, freedom to choose your own leader, and equality between men and women. There are about 200 countries in the world – the number varies depending on the source you look at. Twenty female leaders out of 200 is a mere 10%. We all know that women make up about half of the world’s population. So perhaps one by one, more able women will take control of their own destiny and become all they can be, like being a president.

We are talking politics here. Some of you may or may not like what I just said. Tell me why.

*** The End ***

 

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