On campuses, the fervour of students seen in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections for the DPP's Mr Chen Shui-bian is no longer as apparent this time round for the ruling party's candidate, Mr Frank Hsieh.

Now, less than 20 per cent of students profess support for the DPP, said Professor Yen Chen-shen of National Chengchi University.

Students who once were embarrassed to profess support for Kuomintang candidates are now more open in backing KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou, noted Prof Yen.

Corruption scandals involving Mr Chen and his family, and the high unemployment rate among young people are some of the factors attributed to the DPP's waning support.

Professor Huang Cheng of Taiwan Normal University said: 'Now young people feel uncertain about their future. They can't find jobs, and if they do, the income is low.'

Noting that young people have a strong sense of social justice, he said that DPP government officials' display of poor moral character has also put young people off.

As for women, they are attracted to Mr Ma's good looks and his image as incorruptible.

'He comes across as trustworthy,' said Ms Chen Yan-chen, 48, of Tainan city when asked why she supported Mr Ma. She had voted for Mr Chen in 2000 but did not vote in 2004.

Prof Chen said younger women are also looking at Mr Ma's wife Chow Mei-ching, and they see an independent woman whom they can emulate.

'She wears no make-up, takes the public transport and is a career woman' who shows that a woman can have her own identity that is separate from her husband's, he noted.

Ms Chow, 54, a Harvard law graduate, has stayed out of the limelight throughout her husband's political career. She works as a legal executive. The couple have two daughters.

Now that Mrs Ma has come out to stump for her husband for the first time, she is attracting a lot of attention - and admiration - for her lack of airs and straightforward manner.

On the other hand, the rough and ready behaviour of DPP government officials has put women voters off.

An example is Chief Education Secretary Chuang Kuo-jung, who used an expletive when criticising Mr Ma's late father at an election rally.

There are more than 4 million voters aged between 20 and 29 - or about a quarter of Taiwan's 17 million eligible voters. Nearly half of all voters are women.

The voters now need to make a key decision. They can choose the same political gridlock of the past eight years but a better balance of power - or a more efficient government but with power concentrated in one party and therefore more potential for its abuse.

The KMT now dominates the legislature and if there is a KMT president, it means that there will be smoother functioning of government, but no check on the power that the party will wield in government.

The KMT has argued that this is the case in parliamentary systems such as Singapore's and that it works well.

But the DPP is arguing that there is a need to balance the power of the KMT to prevent one dominant party from doing as it will in government, and therefore a need to have a DPP president.

The sentiment on the ground seems to be that the people are ready for change.

Mr Lee Tian-syn, 55, a petrochemical plant worker in Kaohsiung who voted for Mr Chen in 2000, thinks it is time to have another party in power after what he saw as ineffective DPP rule.

suinoi@sph.com.sg