Youth can change Taiwan!

My recent letter in the Taipei Times ended by saying that youth must speak out to protect freedom in Taiwan. After I posted a link to my letter on Facebook Michael Turton commented that the youth also need to vote.

It seems very timely that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) just released a campaign video featuring rapper Dog G* (大支) titled “Change Taiwan” (改變台灣). The DPP writes in the description (see full text and translation below) of Dog G’s video that they want youth to actively participate in and contribute their ideas to the election campaign. They go on to write, “the DPP wants to promote an overall increase in the youth vote. It is not just concerned with the overall breakdown of votes between the parties. The key point is that youth should play a key role in this election!”

The description also says that the video seeks to overthrow older people’s stereotypes about the younger generation. The lyrics intend to highlight how young people are actively engaged in society. For example, mobilising to help after the Typhoon Morakot floods and their role in the Dapu Land Grab Incident.

The video is also interesting because although it was created for the DPP, it doesn’t actually mention the DPP anywhere in the video. This follows an earlier campaign video from the DPP which also appealed to the centre ground. Peter Martin at Sinocentric noted the earlier ad, “pitches strait to the political centre-ground and tries to talk past the highly partisan debates which often characterize Taiwanese politics.”

The lyrics of the song represent a paradigm change from the ethnic-based politics of the past to a younger generation who have gone beyond ethnicity to just identify with Taiwan. Dog G sings:

我們不管藍綠綠藍這些

[We don’t care about blue versus green and green versus blue]

我們很簡單就是關心台灣，關心社會

[We just simply care about Taiwan and care about the society]

我們也沒有什麼族權問題總總

[We also don’t have a problem with different ethnic groups]

The V-sign in the video represents the word “vote”. I also suggest that V can represent “voice”. The combination of youth using their vote and their voice can change Taiwan.

*At the time this article was published rap artist 大支 used the English name Dog G. He now goes by the name Dwagie.

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Chinese-language text from the video description. English translation by David.

年輕選票成為這場選舉的關鍵力量！

Let the youth vote become this election’s key power!

對於台灣的未來，年輕人應該擔當的是有主導權的關鍵者，而不該是在一旁唱唱跳跳的旁觀者。因此選戰以來，民進黨不僅鼓勵年輕人主動參與、規劃各項競選事務，由他們按著自己的想法來主導，對於青年族群在選舉中的影響，民進黨更關心的是整體青年投票率的提升，而非僅僅於政黨的得票比例。重點是年輕人要在這場選舉裡扮演關鍵角色！

Regarding Taiwan’s future, youth are taking on a key leadership role and not just standing on the sidelines as spectators. Hence, since the election campaign began the DPP has not just encouraged youth to participate in planning every aspect of the campaign, it has also let their ideas lead the way. Concerning the influence of youth groups on the election the DPP wants to promote an overall increase in the youth vote. It is not just concerned with the overall breakdown of votes between the parties. The key point is that youth should play a key role in this election!

這首[改變台灣]由知名的HIP HOP歌手大支創作，MV則由來自五都，包括多個大學HIP HOP社團學生、運動員、藝術工作者等各行各業超過150位年輕朋友在月前透過網路揪團拍攝。[改變台灣]歌詞推翻年輕人被大人世界加上的[草莓族]、[政治冷感]刻板印象，特別以88水災時年輕人發動比政府更有效率的救災行動、日前成功爭取社會注目，最後逼得馬政府退讓的「大埔農地」事件為例，強調年輕人不僅不是冷漠的旁觀者，更有領導時代，改變台灣的雄心與能力。而改變台灣的方式，mv當中則以[v]手勢，作為年輕族群揪團投票(vote)的默契，邀請所有年輕人用選票打造自己的理想五都。

The song “Change Taiwan” was created by well known hip hop artist Dog G. In the music video there are students from university hip hop clubs, athletes, artists and workers of every kind from all five cities* who seized the chance to film last month. The lyrics overthrow older people’s stereotypes of the youth as being the strawberry generation or indifferent to politics. The lyrics especially mention the youth response in providing disaster relief during the Typhoon Morakot floods was more effective than the government’s response. The way youth argued with the Ma government over the Dapu Land Grab Incident is another example. This emphasizes that youth are not just indifferent spectators. They are leaders with ambitions and potential to change Taiwan. The V-sign in the video means “vote” and signifies youth recognising the power of the vote. We invite every young person to use their vote to create their ideal “five cities”.

*Five cities refers to the five cities holding elections: Taipei City, Xinbei City (Taipei County), Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung.

Tears and transitional justice

I saw Tears (眼淚) last year at the Golden Horse Film Festival. My review is posted at the end of this article. The movie is officially released in Taiwan today. The movie tells the story of Guo, an old policeman who employs some unethical policing methods and eventually has to face up to his past.

The movie is being widely discussed in Taiwan for its theme of transitional justice. I have selected a couple of articles on the topic and translated part of them. In the Liberty Times (自由時報) Wang Dan (王丹), who recently spent six months in Taiwan as a visiting professor at NCCU, wrote:

做為「轉型正義」三部曲的第一部，鄭文堂並沒有去處理白色恐怖這個政治性的轉型正義議題，而是從員警執法的 社會層面入手，我認為這是很值得肯定的努力。關於轉型正義的議題，我一向認為過去的討論太政治化，反而不利於這個議題的深入進行。其實在社會層面，也有很多轉型正義的面向要去處理，這些面向涉及的是人性和人與人之間的關係的問題，因而來 得更加復雜。同時，這也是政府和國家權力無從處理，而需要公民社會本身來處理的問題。

In the first of a trilogy of films about transitional justice, Cheng Wen-tang didn’t deal with the issue of the White Terror period. Instead he began by looking at how the police enforce the law in society. I think this is a commendable effort. With regard to the topic of transitional justice I always believe the discussion in the past was too politicised and it’s not really favorable to discussing this topic deeply. Actually at the social level there are many issues of transitional justice that need to be faced. These involve human nature and the problems in relations between people. As a result they are more complex. At the same time this is something that the government or the power of the state can’t manage. It requires the citizens and society itself to manage.

Freddy Lim has an article about the film on his blog:

像老郭一樣的老警察、老法官、老檢調們，台灣市面上不知道還有多少，他們可能像老郭一樣進行著一個人的贖罪，也可能毫無愧疚地過著自由自在的生活；威權政 府下的受害者，成千上萬像小雯一樣的底層人民，每天都在掙扎著。這是民主國家「轉型正義」工程要處理的課題，然而，台灣政府的轉型正義工作還沒開始，就已 經結束。所幸，電影工作者用一部好電影，提醒著台灣，我們還有一件事情沒有解決。

No one knows how many old policeman like Guo and old judges and prosecutors there are in Taiwan. Like Guo they might be experiencing judgment for their crimes or they might be living their lives feeling not the least bit guilty about what they have done wrong. Countless people like Xiao Wen [the betel nut beauty in the movie] make up the society and face struggles every day. This is the problem of transitional justice that a democratic country needs to deal with. However, the work of transitional justice by the Taiwan government still hasn’t started, it’s already over. Fortunately a filmmaker’s work reminds Taiwan that it still has some matters that haven’t been resolved.

For those who can understand Mandarin check out this video on YouTube with Freddy Lim, T.C. Chang (張鐵志), former DPP legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) and executive director of the Judicial Reform Foundation Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正) talking about the movie.

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A tough police drama – movie review

Tears (眼淚) directed by Cheng Wen-tang (鄭文堂) is a tough and gritty police drama. The style is quite a contrast to Cheng’s previous film, the teen romance Summer’s Tail (夏天的尾巴), which I reviewed earlier.

Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) plays Xiao Wen, a betel nut beauty who works alongside Xuan Xuan played by Doris Yeh of ChthoniC. Enno’s previous acting role was in Summer’s Tail but Tears puts her in a far more challenging role and she acts with much more maturity and range.

The other main character is Guo, the old detective, played by Tsai Chen-nan (蔡振南). Guo is a tough and wily police officer who wants to show his younger colleagues how things are done. He doesn’t always play by the rules, but is revealed as a complex and sensitive character as the plot develops.

The plot revolves around Guo working on the case of a young woman killed by a drug overdose. Guo is determined to solve the case while his colleagues become increasingly distanced from him and his sometimes unethical policing methods.

The film raises some important points about how police do their work — the issues are not just unique to Taiwan but common in many countries. More broadly it also engages with social issues looking at people on the margins of society — drug addicts, drug dealers, betel nut beauties — and the way police interact with them.

The film is set in Kaohsiung with many of the scenes shot in abandoned areas and run down buildings.  Most of the dialogue is in Hoklo Taiwanese. The cinematography is also well done with the camera kept in sharp focus on the actors.

Tears is a great police drama. It’s tough and smart like Guo in the leading role.

Subtitles translated for TAEDP

I translated the English-language sub-titles for this video for the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP). The video is about a case in Korea where a woman was able to forgive the man who murdered her daughter. TAEDP have worked tirelessly to abolish the death penalty in Taiwan. While they haven’t yet been successful they and done a lot of work to ensure legal review of death penalty cases and build international pressure on Taiwan.

Lin Hsin-yi (林欣怡), the executive director of TAEDP, is a great human rights activist. Campaigning against the death penalty in Taiwan does not help one to win any popularity contests. However, Hsin-yi has shown great dedication and extraordinary equanimity even when she has been threatened. She speaks about her work in this video.

Translation of Buddhist book

After the INEB study tour Venerable Hong-Chih (釋鴻持) from Ling-Jiou Mountain Monastery (靈鷲山無生道場) asked me to assist her with translating a book of Buddhist verses by Master Hsin Tao (心道大師). The book, titled Mountain, Ocean, Space, People (山海天人 心遊法界) is a collection of the Master’s teachings in short verses.

Venerable Hong-Chih and I worked together translate the book in quick time. The Master’s teachings are very concise and the translation required precision and economy of language. The book also includes many beautiful photos of Ling-Jiou Mountain which is located on a mountain top overlooking Taiwan’s spectacular northeast coastline.

Meeting Mr 6

Earlier in the week I had the chance to meet with Mr 6, one of Taiwan’s top bloggers. The meeting seemed timely as Michael Turton and Scott Sommers have both recently blogged on the lack of connection between Chinese-language and English-language bloggers in Taiwan.

I had an interesting conversation with Mr 6 and one of the topics we talked about was how to create more links between the Chinese-language and English-language blogospheres in Taiwan. We also discussed English teaching and Web 2.0.

Mr 6 has published an article based on our meeting on his blog today. For those who can read Chinese I suggest you go directly to Mr 6’s blog. For those who prefer English I’ll write a summary and translation of part of the article.

The first part of the article discusses “kiss and ride”. I have already covered this topic extensively on this blog, so I probably don’t need to say anything more about it.

The second part of the article gives an introduction to English language blogs in Taiwan. This might be nothing new to people that regularly read this blog, but there are a huge number of Taiwanese people blogging in Chinese who are probably not aware of these blogs.

The Chinese text below is from Mr 6’s blog and is followed by my translation in English.