'Good luck' veggies flourish on Taiwan campaign trail

Voters gift greens with auspicious-sounding names and multiple meanings to candidates

In many parts of the world, a politician might hope for a picture-perfect moment with a voter's baby to boost his poll numbers.

But in Taiwan, vegetables are the kings of the campaign trail.

Whenever the democratic island of 23 million people goes into election mode, prospective candidates race to pose with a variety of vegetables - large white radishes are a favourite gifted by voters hoping to show their approval.

The reason is Taiwan's love of homonyms: words that sound identical or similar but can carry multiple meanings.

In a political culture infused with "good luck" symbols and superstition - where candidates often seek advice from Fengshui masters when deciding on the location or opening date of their campaign headquarters - photo-ops with the right vegetable are routine.

Garlic (suan) is immensely popular because when pronounced in Taiwanese, it sounds like the word for "chosen".

The daikon radish (Tsai-tao) is a winner because it is pronounced nearly the same as "good luck", while pineapple (Ong-lai) is a homonym for "prosperity comes".

Ms Ke Chiong-shu, 60, has been selling vegetables at Wuxing Street Market in the capital Taipei for more than a decade.

Many of her district's candidates have visited the market in recent weeks as Taiwan gears up to hold islandwide local elections on Saturday.