Individual perspectives on issues
What started out looking like any other simple interview blew up into something that touched some controversial past history. Last month Hung Su-Chu (洪素珠), a contributor to the People Post citizen journalist platform, was shown on a video chasing an elderly man at the 228 Memorial Park in the southern city of Kaohsiung. She questioned … Continue reading Taiwan: Who Are You?
Wawa no Cidal - A Story about Self-Identity In the movie Wawa no Cidal, Panay (Lin Hsio Ling) tells a story of how she had been forced to introduce herself with “Hi, my name is Lin Hsio Ling” in order to hide her aboriginal identity. However, through the experience of returning to her village she … Continue reading Wawa no Cidal: What is in a Name? Explored from an Taiwanese Aboriginal Experience
Last May, when Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien (侯孝賢) won “Best Director” at the Cannes Film Festival for his wuxia film “The Assassin” (《刺客聶隱娘》), my interest was immediately piqued. As an avid martial artist, I wanted to watch a martial arts film that was highly praised by international film critics, especially since it had been produced … Continue reading “The Assassin” Review
Featured Photo Credit: Ted Thai/TIME Magazine Last semester, I applied to attend a conflict resolution conference that brings together young representatives from China, Taiwan, and the U.S. to discuss cross-strait relations. Having spent much of my life studying the controversial status of Taiwan and the various perspectives surrounding it, I was excited to use my … Continue reading Don’t Ask About My Ethnicity; Ask About Me
Feature Photo Credit: www.dronethusiast.com In the wake of the Occupy Parliament movement that was led by Lin Fei-fan and Chen Wei-ting, I met with congressional aides in Washington D.C. One of the legislative aides asked me, “How do I explain to people the legitimacy of the students since they are illegally entering and occupying a government … Continue reading Stop Storming Government Buildings, Start Storming Voting Booths
Last year I attended Strait Talk at Brown University. Strait Talk, in simple terms, is a closed-door weeklong session on Taiwan’s future. The method is through citizen-to-citizen dialogue, without political jargon, in an open space. In one week we, a group of fifteen divided into “delegations” of five (China/PRC, Taiwan/ROC and the US), opened up to each other. … Continue reading Figuring out Taiwan: Strait Talk
ABC Television Network’s Fresh Off the Boat (FOTB), inspired by Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name, has been widely praised and has just kicked off its second season. As a Taiwanese American, I appreciate that ABC maintained Huang’s Taiwanese heritage and that the show puts Taiwan in the minds of the viewers around the … Continue reading Fresh Off the Boat delivers a Taiwanese American experience
“Do any of you know what this is?”, I asked as I held up a small cut-out felt stencil of the shape of Taiwan. The kids from the Tiny Tots program of Taiwanese American Next Generation (TANG) sat in a circle, curiously looked at the shape, and eagerly started exclaiming their ideas of what the … Continue reading Hanging out with TANG : A Reflection
"Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” – Mahatma Gandhi There have been a lot of civil unrest regarding police brutality and social injustices around the country. We see riots and protests on the news, most recently in Baltimore. When seeing these current events, have … Continue reading Turning the Tables for the Model Minority
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