Taipei mayor apologizes over watch gaffe
TAIPEI: The mayor of Taipei apologized to a visiting British minister Tuesday for joking he would send a watch she gave him for scrap — compounding embarrassment after she broke a cultural taboo by presenting him with the timepiece.
The double diplomatic gaffe came when Ko Wen-je, the newly elected mayor of Taiwan’s capital, was given the watch Monday by British Transport Minister Baroness Susan Kramer.
She was apparently unaware that giving clocks or watches as presents is seen as bad luck in Taiwan, due to the similar pronunciation of “giving a clock” and “attending an old person’s funeral.”