Taipei - A Taiwan women's group urged Monday the island's
future first lady not to give up her present career.
The Awakening Foundation issued the statement in response to a
public call for Chow Mei-ching, wife of president-elect Ma Ying-
jjeou, to give up her job as a bank executive and become a full-time
first lady.
Ma, 57, from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), won a
landslide victory in the March 22 presidential election. He will be
sworn in on May 20 when President Chen Shui-bian steps down after
serving two four-year terms, the longest tenure for a Taiwan leader.
Chow, 55, has been head of the legal section of the Mega
International Commercial Bank for 25 years and has indicated she
would continue working at Mega bank after Ma becomes president.
But some Taiwan lawmakers are urging Chow to stop working so that
she can help her husband and perform functions of the first lady -
such as receiving foreign guests and attending banquets.
'We protest those male chauvinist attitudes which force women to
sacrifice their careers. We confirm the value of career women and
women's independence. We demand legalization of gender equality,' the
statement said.
'The work of the first lady is not a career. In Taiwan, a
president can only serve two terms or eight years. When he steps
down, the first lady steps down too. But a woman's career is life-
long, is her rice bowl. Asking a woman to give up her job is not
asking her to make a small sacrifice, but asking her to sacrifice her
life,' it added.
The US-educated Chow, mother of two grown-up daughters, is
dedicated to her career and has led a low-profile life, despite her
husband's rise in the government and the KMT - justice minister,
Taipei mayor, KMT chairman and now the president.
Wearing jeans and sporting short hair, Chow never wears make-up or
brightly-coloured clothes, does not say much, and has shunned the
media spotlight except campaigning for Ma for one week before the
presidential election.
She has commuted to work using public transport for 25 years and
only stopped last week at the request the National Security Bureau as
several bodyguards and reporters followed her, putting her safety at
risk and inconveniencing fellow passengers.
Ma said it was up to Chow to decide, if she should give up her job
at the Mega bank. 'Whatever decision she makes, I am fully behind
her,' he told reporters.
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