Has the 'Information-Seeking Voldemort' Evolved Again? She Unveils a New Tactic: 'How Much Copy Paper Was Used in 5 Years?' Is This an Emergency Inquiry?

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chen Shu-pei, who recently engaged in a heated argument with Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an over information requests during a city council session, has once again sparked controversy by demanding that the city government provide photocopy paper procurement data from all agencies over the past five years. This has reignited public debate around the term 'Information-Seeking Voldemort.' Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Wang Hung-wei launched a scathing attack on the morning of the 22nd, accusing Chen of continuing to harass grassroots civil servants in a retaliatory manner under her new role as a DPP Central Standing Committee member. Wang questioned what kind of 'urgent political inquiry' requires the submission of photocopy paper usage data, suggesting this was an act of revenge for her aide being penalized.

Wang recalled that on July 20, Chen demanded that the city government provide detailed data within three days, including quantities of A4, A3, and recycled copy paper, broken down by supply contracts and individual agency purchases. If total sheet counts were unavailable, the government was required to calculate totals based on sheets per pack or per box. She noted that Mayor Chiang had recently expressed frustration in council over Chen's alleged harassment of civil servants, particularly after revelations that she had requested 100,000 data entries at once—seen as retaliation for her aide receiving a penalty. Online criticism labeled Chen a bully of frontline civil servants, dubbing her the 'Information-Seeking Voldemort.' Yet, Chen appears unfazed and is escalating her demands.

Wang further suggested that this latest request might be retaliation against an anonymous civil servant who previously recorded and exposed Chen’s demand to process 200,000 data entries (over one million sheets of paper) in a single day. She questioned the urgency of requiring all city agencies, including schools, to calculate five years’ worth of paper usage. She sarcastically asked whether the DPP should endorse such out-of-bounds behavior by its Central Standing Committee members, and whether they could similarly order all agencies under the Executive Yuan, including schools, to drop everything and count their photocopy or toilet paper usage over the past five years within three days.

KMT Taipei City Councilor Yu Shu-hui also criticized the move on Facebook, calling it not political oversight or legal supervision, but an abuse of power and bullying. She pointed out that instead of reflecting on the reasonableness of her requests, Chen recently issued another information request demanding the city government compile photocopy paper procurement data from 2022 to 2026 for all first-tier agencies, subordinate units, district offices, and municipal schools. Not only were amounts required, but civil servants were also instructed to manually calculate total sheet counts from individual packs and boxes. With 34 agencies involved and only a three-day deadline, Yu emphasized, 'The information request has become a soul-taking order!'

Yu questioned whether Chen was trying to prove she didn’t use a million sheets of paper by forcing the entire city government to conduct a three-day audit. She stressed that while councilors have the right to request information, it is not without limits. Using this power to retaliate against Chiang Wan-an or defend herself should not drag dozens of agencies, hundreds of schools, and countless civil servants into administrative chaos. This is not strong oversight—it is power abuse and bullying of powerless frontline workers. Even if paper usage can be counted, how do we quantify the loss of civil servant morale and manpower wasted on political theater?