Taiwan women's group urges future first lady not to quit job

Mar 31, 2008, 14:19 GMT

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.