Singledom convenient for female politicians: DPP's Tsai Ing-wen

Being single allows Tsai Ing-wen to avoid the age-old battle of balancing work and home life

Tsai Ing-wen, the former chairwoman and presidential candidate of Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, said Monday that being a politician who is single has its advantages, especially sparing her the trouble of having to be "at war" both at work and at home.

In an interview conducted last week that she reposted on her Facebook page, Tsai said it would be a problem if she had a family that could not cope with the nature of her job.

It would have forced her to adjust her mindset at home to cope with "another team of people" separate from those with whom she deals as a politician, which would require a high degree of discipline and self-cultivation, she said.

Tsai also took issue with people who blame single women for Taiwan's birth rate, arguing that it is society that needs to establish a system to help women ease the "dual pressure" they face from their career and household duties.

Men and women should be allowed to compete fairly and women should not be discriminated against, but they also do not need preferential treatment, she said.

Tsai said she maintained a rather conservative attitude toward her role as a female candidate in the Jan. 14 presidential election this year because there are positive and negative impressions of female politicians in society. Now that women have been able to register achievements on the political front, however, it means that the idea of gender equality has taken root in society, she said.

Tsai said her party has been a pioneer in terms of gender awareness by nominating Taiwan's first female vice president, electing a female party leader and nominating a female presidential candidate.

Also, female officials accounted for a quarter of the cabinet when ex-president Chen Shui-bian was in office, she said.

Several of the party's leading women members have, like Tsai, never been married, including former vice president Annette Lu, Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu and former legislator Hsiao Bi-khim.