Out on a Lim: Taiwan hard-rocker finds transition to parliament tough

By Sarah Mills

LONDON (Reuters) – After two decades in make-up fronting one of Asia’s biggest heavy metal bands, Freddy Lim is finding the transition to the more formal surroundings of the Taiwanese parliament harder than expected.

Six months after being elected legislator in Taipei’s 5th District, the long-haired political activist and lead singer of Chthonic is still trying to get his new colleagues to overlook his “weird” appearance in parliament.

“It’s not just that I was shocked, I think the entire system and the office and the people in the parliament were shocked,” Lim told Reuters of his political arrival before the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards in London this week.

Chthonic’s music often focuses on Taiwan’s identity, with graphic music videos such as 2013 hit ‘Supreme Pain for the Tyrant’.

But he told the London crowd after picking up the Global Metal Band award that he now channels “the anger from my metal head persona into parliament”.

The human rights campaigner, former chairman of Taiwan’s Amnesty International and co-founder of the political New Power Party, said he had found the switch to politics more difficult than expected.

However, he believed rock stars were “strong” and therefore effective at tackling issues, even if they impacted on his music.

“I just can’t tour like I used to,” the 40-year-old singer said.

(Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by Nick Macfie)