Ma also stressed that responsible officials “will be punished.” During the interview the president mentioned twice that one of the reasons for the seriousness of the situation was the unwillingness of some residents to evacuate from the disaster-hit areas.

Having read the above-cited interview, one can easily see why the public standing of Ma, once one of the most admired politicians in Taiwan, has slipped so badly in the eyes of locals in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.

First of all, even though he emphasized he would shoulder “all the responsibility,” the wording Ma had chosen to use clearly indicated he was a resentful leader with plenty of grievances. Secondly, the fact that he repeatedly pointed to the unwillingness of local residents to evacuate the stricken areas demonstrated that he believed people should share the blame.

This belief, plus his earlier statement that “responsible officials should be punished,” actually contradicted the overall emphasis of his willingness to shoulder all the responsibility.

What he ought to say was that, as the supreme leader of the nation, he was obliged to bear the “major” and “most important” responsibility.

A local television station played back the video showing how Wen Jiabao, the premier of the People's Republic of China (PRC), behaved when he visited southwest China last year after it was hit by a large earthquake.

The first words uttered by Wen to the victims, was a regretful greeting:” I come late.” Then a benevolent-looking and heart-broken Wen was seen comforting and encouraging people everywhere he went. Wen knew the ABC of disaster politics.

What is really shocking in Taiwan politics today is that more and more voices have been heard urging Ma to step down to take responsibility for the awkward handling of the typhoon disaster. Some have even gone so far as to compare mismanagement of state affairs by corrupt officials to that by honest but incompetent ones.

Ma has been faulted not so much for his personal intelligence as for his failure to recruit a knowledgeable and competent team good at coordinating and implementing policies.

Moreover, Ma's mentality in not fully understanding the distressing predicament suffered by people in southern Taiwan has become another major target of criticism.

Up to now, as one can see from his words, deeds and facial expressions, Ma still believes that much of his relief efforts have gone unnoticed and unappreciated and that many of the public accusations are not fair to his administration.

But, what he forgets is that people are the real masters in a modern democracy whose “desire should always be in the hearts and minds” of the leaders.