Police Motto: Make Study, Not Protest

Oh my goodness, the mess on my desk is that bad! I'm referring to the foot-high pile of papers and assorted documents that has been sitting there, well, for over a year according to the date on a news clipping I just unearthed midway through the pile.

I see why I saved the article. I was interested in a front-page Taipei Times (4 December 2008) piece titled "Losheng Activists Block Demolition." The article is about the last holdouts of protesters and residents of the Losheng Leprosy Sanatorium in Taipei County (Sinjhuang City). The sanatorium was partially demolished to make way for an MRT line extension, despite protests and also despite promises from Ma the Incompetent who as a candidate promised to preserve the Japanese colonial era landmark (and the only home ever known by many or most of the patients).

The quote that caught my eye was:

"Sinjhuang Precinct Chief Hsu Yung-sheng said through a loudspeaker (to the students barricaded inside and protesters outside) ... "You shouldn't be htere. You should stay home and study."

Yes, once again our brave men in the police corps are leading the way toward democracy and the responsibility of the youth. Where were these brave heroes of "education" when students joined the zombie hordes of the Red Shirt "movement?" Did they swat down (or up) the thumbs of enraged but generally non-thinking students who wasted their time (when they should have been home studying) over an issue that served to improve the lives of absolutely nobody? No.

But when students stand up and defend the rights of some of Taiwan's weakest members of society, the brave guardians of peace come on full force, saws and backhoes ready at hand.

Makes me proud to be a New Taiwanese.

Comments

"Invisible Nation" and the Indivisibility Difference

Invisible Nation will probably disappoint Taiwan audiences, largely because the documentary was produced for is intended for international audiences, though the film is pragmatically “for Taiwan.” Completed in 2023 and made available to the global documentary film circuit last year, Invisible Nation finally found its way to movie screens throughout Taiwan on June 13, 2025 — a Friday the 13 th release, to be precise. Produced and directed by Vanessa Hope , Invisible Nation was filmed with the cooperation and encouragement of Taiwan’s first democratically elected female president, Tsai Ying-wen (whose Administration of the Republic of China spanned two terms, 2016-2024). Hope could easily be understood as something of a “China hand,” though she would probably not be comfortable with the label. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Hope had been a scholar of international studies for the Council on Foreign Relations in her hometown of New York City. She also earned a doctorate from C...

Trauma, Silence, and "Woman Islands"

Here’s a selection of excerpts from the 2011 English translation (by C.J. Anderson-Wu) of Chung Wenyin’s 1998 novel, Woman Islands ( 女島紀行 ). I provide it here in the hope that it might entice students and scholars, especially those with an interest in Women’s Studies and Feminist Literature, to consider taking up this book as a subject for literary criticism. I have straightened up the grammatical style of the original translation that had attempted to portray the “untranslatable” style of the Chinese text and the author’s insistence upon “maintaining the awkwardness of her writing instead of smoothing it out for English readers.” Although I can appreciate that desire, I chose instead to alter some of the sentence constructions that might come across as more a result of poor proofreading than of conscious choice by the translator. I’m going to hope this won’t be a problem, and I apologize in advance if anyone is offended by my editing choices. But then again, if you want to see...

Man of Peace Unwelcome in Taiwan

A heavy fog enveloped the mountain range this morning, hiding the green forests behind a wall of grayish blue shadow that the morning sun has already begun to burn away. Even this “mystifying” beauty, however, was not enough to dispel the rage brought on by the newspaper headline: Dalai Lama Not Welcome to Visit. The attention-grabbing headline was connected to a very short bit of news from the news conference offered by the ineptitude that was elected to lead this independent nation for the next four years. At his news conference yesterday, The Ineptitude was asked for a response to the Dalai Lama’s expressed interest in visiting Taiwan next year. The Ineptitude responded: “We generally welcome religious leaders from all over the world to visit Taiwan, but I think at the current moment the timing isn’t appropriate.” As recently as March 23, 2008, The Ineptitude had stated he would welcome the Tibetan leader’s visit to this island nation. For their part, the spokespersons of the Dala...

My Life as Adoga

Search This Blog