Why does the same typhoon, the same Lai Ching-te, result in Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te first being respectfully called “Lai the God,” then degraded to “King of Bullshit,” or even “King of Empty Talk”?
🌪️ The Era of Lai the God: One Successful Political Gamble
First, let’s look at why Lai Ching-te was “Lai the God.”
On August 24, 2012, Typhoon Libra struck southern Taiwan. Then-Mayor Lai Ching-te, based on meteorological data from National Cheng Kung University’s Disaster Prevention Research Center, decided not to declare a typhoon holiday.
It turned out that Tainan indeed had no major wind or rain that day, and netizens crowned Lai Ching-te as “Lai the God.”
However, in typhoon seasons in subsequent years, Lai Ching-te made numerous completely wrong holiday decisions, earning him nothing but ridicule. This raised questions about whether his first correct typhoon decision was purely luck.
In other words, a city mayor gambled with the public’s holiday rights and corporate work efficiency as chips—all for his political career as a bet.
🗣️ The Exposure of the King of Bullshit
So why did Lai Ching-te become the “King of Bullshit” in many people’s mouths?
On July 31 that year, not until early morning 6:30 did Tainan hastily declare a full day off from work and school. The sudden reversal aroused Tainan residents’ suspicion of Mayor Lai Ching-te, causing “Lai the God” to fall to earth and receive the title of “King of Bullshit.”
As for why such titles as “King of Bullshit” and “King of Empty Talk” emerged—honestly, it’s not surprising at all!
On the day of the sudden holiday, Lai Ching-te actually emphasized to the whole world that he would “shoulder all decision responsibility.”
If everyone still remembers, we know that all politicians have basically two types of empty phrases: one is “I won’t run for president,” and the other is “I will take responsibility” or “I will shoulder decision responsibility.” Basically, these phrases could be compiled into the same instruction manual as fraud scripts used by scam groups.
September 12 addition: Look, what’s meant by “shouldering decision responsibility” is abandoning Tainan residents and getting promoted to the exalted position of Premier, then immediately running to pick a fight with the Central Weather Bureau (Lai the God & King of Bullshit: “Get your weather forecast right!!”).