加国头条 i4cc.ca ｜多伦多联邦议员谭耕应对其婚外情传言明确表态

MP Geng Tan must answer whether he engaged in an extramarital affair

“她开始天天在网上搜索，什么样的自杀痛苦少……她进入了深度的忧郁症和躁郁症……但他不让她去看医生……不让她和别人说……”通过微信美篇发表的庆祝母亲节的一篇文章中，一名为俞荧的作者详述了她在52岁的高龄怀孕和生产的恐怖经历。这场与一名男人“他”的婚外情使她备受情感折磨，无法忍耐的痛苦使她几乎试图自杀。俞称这位男子是一名“科学家”。

“She started to search on the internet everyday, to find what is the best way to commit suicide. She was in manic depression… however, he does not allow her to see a doctor, or talk to anybody…” Through a Mother’s Day story posted on WeChat, a writer named Yu Ying chronicled her terrifying journey of pregnancy and baby delivery at the age of 52, and her suicide attempt as she was torn by the love affair with a man – whom she referred to as a “scientist.”

华人社区普遍传闻称俞荧故事中的男人为2015年当选为Don Valley North的国会议员谭耕先生。谭在他的推特网站上称他是一名丈夫，科学家和自豪的父亲。在谭耕议员所在的多伦多华裔社区，关于他的婚外情传闻却不是什么新鲜事。在近乎两年期间，谭与一位名为俞荧的女子发展婚外情并生下一名女婴的故事，很多社区人士都有所耳闻。但出于保护首名大陆国会议员名声的目的，他们大都选择漠视。只是自俞荧的微信美篇在网上疯传后，使这一传言升温，并愈来愈成为一些人茶余饭后，电话粥和微信中谈论的话题。

Speculations abound in the Chinese community that the man in Ms. Yu’s story was Mr. Tan Geng, a Liberal MP elected in 2015 in Don Valley North. A husband, scientist and proud father, says Tan in his Twitter account. Rumors about Tan’s extramarital affair is nothing new for a community where the elected MP came from. For almost two years, tales about Tan’s relationship with Ms. Yu that resulted in a female child has continued to spread. Many choose to ignore it, in a bid to protect the reputation of the first Mandarin speaking MP. However, the rumour has picked up steam lately after Ms. Yu’s story began widely circulating online, propagated through dinner tables, over the phones, and on social media WeChat.

就谭议员婚外情的传言，一名不愿透露姓名的社区成员表示：“现在华人社区很多人知晓，这对谭议员的形象的确有所伤害！”

“Many people have heard about the rumour, which is harmful to Mr. Tan’s image,” said a community member who does not want his real name disclosed.

但对于那些具有公众形象的政客们来说，婚外情是引起广泛争议的丑闻。政客的行为有违道德水准则会失去公众信任，并会毁其政治生涯，让其仕途不保。包括自由党在内的加国所有政党都将家庭价值观作为竞选纲领，许多政客都会将一幅幅阖家美满的全家福通过各种渠道散发于选区，以显示他们是如何重视传统的家庭观念。然而，他们出轨的婚外行为将会彻底撕破这幅虚伪的面纱。

For politicians who hold a public image, having an extramarital affair is highly controversial. Failing to live up to the moral standards will ruin the public trust and endanger a politicians’ political career. All the political parties of Canada – including the Liberals make family values their core focus of the campaign platforms. Many would put their perfect looking families in front of the cameras to show how critical traditional families are to them. However, their assertions would only prove hypocritical if they committed adultery.

并且随着公众对政治领袖的道德水准要求不断升高，选民们对政客的婚姻不忠行为的态度也从宽恕到反感而不断发生变化。与此同时，自70年代以来，媒体对政客性丑闻事件的报道披露也不断增加。在北美历史上，包括肯尼迪，克林顿和川普等美国总统在内的政客都曾因性丑闻而陷入困境。但是，如果美国大众容忍了肯尼迪60年代初的有失道德水准的行为，大部分百姓却在几十年后对总统和他的小三之间的不耻之情不再姑息。克林顿就因暴露与白宫实习生莱文斯基的婚外情而险遭弹劾，这一事实就是公众这种不满情绪达到高峰的真实写照。

Moreover, the voters’ attitude towards politicians’ infidelity has changed over time – from condoning to disapproving, as the public increasingly demand higher moral standards from their elected officials. Meanwhile, the press has covered a growing number of politicians’ sex scandals ever since the 1970s. Throughout North American history, politicians – including US presidents -- have been caught with their pants down -- from John Kennedy to Bill Clinton to Donald Trump. However, If the Americans in the 1960s ignored Kennedy’s unethical behavior, most of them no longer look away from the mistress of their leaders decades later, with the climax reached at Bill Clinton’s impeachment amid his affairs with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

因此，对政客而言，他们的私生活干净与否都会处于公众的密切关注和监督之下。虽然政客可以就被控婚外情进行否认，做出道歉甚至引咎辞职，公众有权了解真相，并且成功的领导力有赖于政客们诚实和正直的人格品性。在对《大中报》有关谭耕议员是否确有婚外情的问询做出回应时，一位自称为谭议员办公室主任 (但拒绝给出其姓氏的)的女性在电话中反复声称谭议员办公室仅仅处理选区事宜，但不涉及个人私生活问题。

Today, the private life of any politician is under intense public scrutiny. While politicians can deny, apologize or resign from the office over the alleged affair, the public is entitled to the truth, and the leadership’s success depends on their honesty and integrity. In responding to Chinese News email seeking an answer of whether he had engaged in an extramarital affair, a woman claimed to be Tan’s office manager (who refused to provide her last name) repeatedly said over the phone that Mr. Tan’s office would only deal with constituency matters but not personal issues.

她说：“你所问的问题涉及个人私生活，我们不处理这类事宜。”她并补充说：“谭议员是一名优秀的议会成员，该区选民对其工作非常满意。”

“What you are asking is a personal matter, and we don’t deal with personal matters,” she said. “Mr. Tan is an excellent member of the parliament, and his constituents are extremely happy with him,” he added.

谭议员办公室拒绝对《大中报》提问做出回答令人失望。随着联邦大选迫在眉睫，且谭耕被自由党提名为下一届候选人，选民们恳请就他婚外情传闻做出迅速，诚实而明了的表态。他们希望谭议员能将此视为洗清自己名声或公开认错的机会。无论是承认还是否认，谭议员应该给公众一个交代，因为他的私生活不是纯粹个人问题，诚实才是保护他名声的最佳契机。

Tan’s office response – refusing to answer questions about the affair—is disappointing. With the federal election looming and Tan nominated as the next Liberal party candidate, voters expect an immediate, straightforward and honest answer from him. They hope Mr. Tan should take it as an opportunity to either vindicate himself or come clean about it. Either admitting to the affair or denying its existence, Mr. Tan should let the public know, because his private life is no longer a personal matter, and because honesty is the best protection for his public image.