Lai Fong-wei's Penghu Experience

Q: Which of your accomplishments as county commissioner are you most proud of?

A: Upgrading the pride of Penghu's people. I spent a lot of effort these past eight years in changing Penghu's image as an "island of sorrow" and a "second-class island". Now we've gotten second place in a survey of places which locals are most proud of (last year's China Times and United Daily News). We've also been named the county with the greatest well-being out of all the cities and counties in southern Taiwan (last year's CommonWealth Magazine) as well as the best place in the country to raise your children (last June's Reader's Digest).

Q: Where does the pride of Penghu's people come from?

A: I have emphasized that "help from others comes after you help yourself." Penghu's people cannot sit around and wait for government funding. They need to stand up on their own. Standing up does not necessarily mean spending lots of money. Some projects do not cost very much, but they bring great benefits. For example, take the "Green Grasslands" greening project. The Penghu County Government has engaged in the greening of over 300 locations with a total area exceeding 50 hectares. This translates to a 10% regreening of Penghu County overall, and 42% in downtown areas, with each person enjoying on average 14.2 square meters of green land. This has brought Penghu from the bottom all the way to first place in the nation.

Before I came on board, Penghu had a population of over 90,000, and there were also over 90,000 graves. This situation in which the dead and the living were competing for space was a travesty. We took great pains to successfully relocate 20,000 graves. We also put the garbage mountain through a greening and beautification process, planted over a million trees, and implemented a policy to combat cigarette-butt littering.

Besides that, we have actively cleaned up undersea garbage and proceeded with releasing fry in order to avert the exhaustion of fish stocks. This resulted in fish catches increasing from NT$1.7 billion seven years ago to last year's NT$4.7 billion. Fishermen were naturally happy to participate in conservation efforts once they saw the benefits they could gain from them.

These environmental and spiritual reform efforts have beautified Penghu. They have also brought the people of Penghu closer together and given them a sense of pride that comes from deep within their hearts.

Q: Do you think there are any areas for further improvement?

A: Due to the separation by the sea, in the past Penghu was regarded as a "cultural desert." In fact, Penghu has already existed as county for over 700 years and has an abundance of culture and historical background.

Two years ago, I had the commissioner's residence next to the county government office building renovated and rebuilt into the "Penghu Development Hall." This over 2000 square meter Japanese-style building was originally the residence of the Penghu prefect under Japanese rule. After Retrocession it was converted into the Penghu commissioner's residence. Afterwards, due to old age and disuse, it was put through restoration and now has become the first stop for tourists and locals looking to learn more about Penghu. This is also the venue for Penghu citizens' cultural and recreational activities. Whether it's a concert, speech, or exhibition, they can all take place over there.

Q: You have spared no effort in selling Penghu. How many tourists has the Sea Fireworks Festival attracted these past few years? What's special about it?

A: Fireworks are not a native product of Penghu. But Penghu has the largest number and widest area of basalt formations and could even be called first-class worldwide. They are also listed as one of the 12 potential World Heritage sites that Taiwan has striven for on the international stage. It's a pity that tourists rarely come to Penghu to see its basalt. Consequently, to sell Penghu we need to go down a path that has more mass appeal.

The fireworks festival has indeed brought a stream of tourists to Penghu. Last year, for example, the festival increased the number of tourists by 120,000 and created NT$900 million in business revenues.

Setting off fireworks over the ocean is, indeed, out of the ordinary. On top of that, the fireworks are especially dazzling in Penghu's clean and fresh air. The high-soaring and wide-bursting ten-inch high-altitude fireworks flash their brilliant colors all over the sea and across the face of the ocean. It really is a beautiful sight.

Q: Penghu's climate shortens the tourist season to only half a year. During the peak summer season, rooms are hard to get. On the other hand, during the slow winter season, there is hardly any business. Is there any way to improve this situation?

A: The powerful northeasterly monsoon winds have always been seen as a natural enemy of the development of Penghu as a travel spot during the winter, so we can only work for half a year and rest the other half. Consequently, developing winter travel offerings has become our biggest challenge. Last October we challenged runners to "race the west wind" and held the first ever worldwide Chinese marathon. This attracted more than 5,000 runners from all over the world and produced a great response. It also heated up Penghu's winter tourist market.

Other than that, the Kuanyin Pavilion waters are among the top three spots worldwide that are most suitable for water races. Penghu is always one of the stops for the Asian Windsurfing Tour every December. We focus on how to "convert obstacles into opportunities" when thinking of ideas for developing Penghu's winter tourist offerings.

Q: Recently you have pushed strongly for opening Penghu up to receive tourists from mainland China. What is your objective here? If the number of tourists multiplies, how would you solve the shortage of hotel accommodation during Penghu's peak season?

A: Besides Alishan and Sun Moon Lake, through the famous folk song of yesteryear, "Grandmother's Penghu Bay," Penghu is one of the places that mainland tourists most wish to visit.

Penghu's economy depends on sightseeing. Our product is sunshine, fresh air, and leisure. 40-50,000 tourists visit Penghu each year. If the "Silk Road of the Sea" between Penghu and Fujian's Quanzhou that has been cut off for 50 years could be reconnected again, this would bring even greater business opportunities to Penghu.

With regards to the inadequate amount of facilities during Penghu's peak tourist season, we are working hard on bringing in businesses. Take the 7-Eleven convenience stores for example. Twenty-one have been opened during the past three years and another 23 are planned. Starbucks has also opened up two coffee shops in Makung. Other than that, work is about to start on building two new hotels, and three other world-class hotels and vacation villas are preparing to enter. Once they open for business, we should see improvement in the accommodation situation during the peak travel season.

Q: One of the hottest topics discussed in Penghu these past few years has been whether to establish a "special gaming area" (tourist casino). What is your position on this? How do Penghu citizens view this matter?

A: On this issue, the county government has taken a neutral position from the beginning. It even held a consultative referendum in 2003. Although the turnout was less than 30%, there was a small majority in support of the casino. Moreover, the county government has promised that as long the number of yes votes is higher than no votes, even by just one vote, we will actively pursue the matter.

My personal belief is that establishing a special gaming area is a great opportunity for the development of local tourism. Recently Singapore has also decided to do this. In order to gain priority consideration from international gaming companies, we have already undertaken many preparations and much effort. For example, construction has been completed of the Makung International Airport, which opened two years ago, the seawater desalination plant, the Chienshan wind farm, and other basic infrastructure.

Although Penghu's future does not need to rely on the special gaming area, we believe that the opportunity will, in the end, come upon the location that has made the best preparation.

Locally born and bred county commissioner Lai Fong-wei graduated from the University of Missouri in the USA, and is Penghu's first PhD.

Salty biscuits, black toffee cakes, dried squid ... all these famous Penghu specialties can be found in the shop at the "Star of the Chrysanthemum Isle."

The President Group's twentieth 7-Eleven on Penghu opens, and even the owner's grandmother (middle) has turned out to cut the ribbons.