Death metal frontman singing a softer tune as Taiwan legislator and champion of democracy in Asia
Freddy Lim, longhaired rocker screaming lyrics into a microphone, has an alter ego, white shirt covering his tattoos, who has tempered his outspokenness as he seeks to draw young Taiwanese into politics and defend Asian democrats
On the face of it, he’s an unlikely champion for Asian democracy.
A longhaired rocker with a gothic taste in myths and legends, he sings in a rasping scream, backed by a fast-paced riffs and frenzied drumming, his face decorated in menacing black paint, his arms and chest emblazoned with tattoos.
But Freddy Lim Chang-zuo has an alter ego – a transformation as complete as Clark Kent’s into Superman. These days, he is one of the rising stars of Taiwanese politics, a progressive breed of politician breathing new life into the island’s democracy.
Two years ago, Lim swapped black leather for a black suit, covered his tattoos beneath a clean white shirt, washed off the face paint, tied his hair back into a neat ponytail and entered Taiwan’s parliament as a founding member of the New Power Party, a third force in the island’s polarised politics.
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Today, at the age of 42, he aims to make Taiwan a model for the rest of Asia, proof that democracy can still work.