TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taichung City politician over the weekend got into an argument with Taichung MRT staff because they denied her son entry to the station as his dinosaur-shaped balloon exceeded the legal length.
On Sunday (Dec. 18), Chen Mei-fei (陳美妃), an independent candidate in last month's Taichung mayoral election, who only garnered 1.72% of the vote, attempted to enter the MRT Songzhu Station with her children. However, an MRT staff member surnamed Fan (范) denied her son entry because the inflatable dinosaur he was carrying was more than 50 cm in length, exceeding size restrictions for objects on the mass transit system.
Frustrated, Chen began to live-stream her confrontation with MRT employees on her Facebook page. At one point, she apologized to the toy, which was apparently named Lu Hsiu-yen (盧秀燕), and said "I have wronged you."
Chen's son holding the balloon. (Facebook, Chen Mei-fei screenshot)
Chen tried to stuff the balloon in her bag, but it was too big to fit inside completely. Initially laughing, but becoming more vexed, Chen sarcastically asked, "Should I cut off the head or the tail?"
Dissatisfied, Chen complained that the font on the sign listing the size limits on items was too small to be read clearly and said "this is sick," and "treating people like fools." Chen eventually became so exasperated that she punctured the balloon.
She then bitterly pointed out that she had paid NT$150 (US$4.88) for the balloon, before exclaiming "We have elected a lunatic and a lunatic government in Taichung City!" As can be seen from the videos, the incident lasted over an hour, and police were eventually dispatched to the scene.
Closeup of balloon. (Facebook, Chen Mei-fei screenshot)
At one point, Chen even threatened to sue the MRT workers for obstruction of personal freedom (妨害自由) and coercion (強制罪). In response, the Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corporation stated that according to Article 29, passengers are not allowed to carry more than five balloons and no individual balloon may exceed 50 cm in length, reported SET News.
The corporation stated that these rules were put in place to avoid impacting the quality of the journey for other passengers and there was no deliberate intention on the part of staff to inconvenience Chen.
