Shen Biyang Criticizes City Hall: Forcing Civil Servants into Weekend Political Battles is 'Not Normal'

In response to Taipei's Geotechnical Engineering Office issuing a press release today refuting the 'Great Taipei Skyline' idea proposed by DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen, Shen clarified that his focus was on establishing a transportation network and expressed concern over civil servants working overtime on weekends for political attacks, calling it 'not a normal thing.'

Puma Shen was canvassing for votes in Shilin District's Shezi Market this morning, before attending the opening ceremony of the 2026 21st Taipei City Amateur Community Baseball League at Shezi Baseball Field. He was accompanied by fellow party members and Taipei City Councilors Lin Shih-tsung, Chen Hsien-wei, Chung Pei-ling, Chen Tzu-hui, and Lin Yen-feng.

In a pre-event interview, the media asked for his thoughts on the Geotechnical Office's press release, issued today after Shen floated his 'Great Taipei Skyline' idea yesterday, which stated that much of the area is primitive, treacherous terrain and that building trails could damage the ecosystem.

Puma Shen stated they might have misunderstood his point about the skyline, explaining that he was talking about creating a transportation network. He added that he was concerned to see a Taipei City Government department issue a press release over the weekend, believing it amounted to using overtime to involve the department in political attacks, which is 'not a very normal thing.'

The media further asked for his view on Yin Wei, the head of Taipei's Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, recently launching a YouTube channel to comment on candidates. Shen called the matter 'unthinkable,' stating it was already inappropriate for rank-and-file civil servants to be pushed to the forefront of election battles. He said that when proposing a vision and discussion for the city, the expectation is for Mayor Chiang Wan-an himself to respond and engage in substantive discussion, which is what citizens anticipate.

Shen said that whether it violates administrative neutrality is for the Taipei City Government to judge for itself. He is more worried about the rank-and-file civil servants, whose work environment has always been excessively high-pressure, a reason for the constant brain drain. Some vacancies have exceeded 30%. If the top always has ideas but tells the grassroots civil servants to execute them while they still have their existing work to do, policy implementation will certainly fall short.

At the same time, it creates excessive pressure, causing many who have passed high-level civil service exams and are awaiting placement to not want to be in Taipei. This is the predicament they currently face.

Lin Yen-feng also said that Yin Wei's live stream was merely to generate buzz by attacking Puma Shen. As head of the RDEC, he should focus on his core duties of municipal administration and tracking and researching the mayor's policies. With him acting as Chiang Wan-an's mouthpiece to attack Shen, while Chiang hides behind him, she questioned if he was Yin's 'guiding spirit.'

The media asked if Mayor Chiang's government, by having civil servants issue press releases on holidays while also promoting a policy of reduced work hours for childcare and having just unveiled a 'Havel's Bench,' was demonstrating a contradiction between words and actions. Shen stated this completely violates the way employees are normally treated in the workplace. To substantively improve the working environment for civil servants, he suggested first allowing them flexible work hours and making a change, which Tokyo, Japan is already doing.

Second, setting up nearby childcare and nursery locations can substantially reduce commuting time for drop-offs and pick-ups. And third, regarding AI implementation, civil servants teaching themselves does not reduce work. Dedicated AI specialists should be placed in each department to help everyone solve AI-related problems, which is the only way to reduce work.

Shen said that only after reducing the pressure on civil servants can the city retain its workforce, and only then can discussions of governance and vision be effective. He also expressed his hope that Chiang Wan-an would debate and discuss municipal policies with him, otherwise, there would be a lack of effective communication.

He also shared his views on the six new major education policies promoted by Chiang Wan-an, believing that overseas study and optimizing teacher-student ratios are good things, but the plight of grassroots teachers is too much work and high pressure. Taipei's teacher shortage is high and their burden is increasing. The city government had already proposed late last year how to reduce their administrative work. However, school bullying and drug problems are severe, and this is the source of stress for many teachers, making it difficult to return to their normal teaching profession.

Puma Shen stated that National Taipei University's Olive Branch Center specializes in handling these incidents, and he believes that introducing a third-party mechanism is the most crucial step. It is not only detached and professional but can also substantially reduce the workload of teachers.