It can be dispiriting to get too hooked up in the minutiae of political skulduggery and the mire of cross-strait shadow theater, so here's a curious story that might give readers a little boost. The boost comes from the knowledge that despite all of the administrative and political challenges facing Taiwan, low-level processes can and do function democratically and respectfully and can deliver results for the average person and community.
Kuangfu Township (光復) lies in the Hualien-Taitung valley, roughly in the middle of Hualien County, and is famous for its Amis Aboriginal community, Tabalong, one of the largest on the east coast.
A few months ago, the Directorate General of Highways decided that road signs referring to the Tabalong community should be updated to better approximate the sound of this Amis word, which means "white crab." But this progressive and respectful motive had a controversial result: the change in Chinese from Taibalang (太巴塱) to Dabalang (大巴塱) encouraged speakers of Hoklo (more commonly known as Taiwanese) to read the signs backward -- or forward, depending on your vintage -- as "huge penis."
This naturally dissatisfied a number of locals, and media reports indicated that the women in the area were particularly concerned (even if it is still not clear why only the women of the township should find an accidental reference to male genitalia troublesome, or indeed that women should necessarily find this troubling at all).
It is also true that some locals preferred the new Chinese version because of its more accurate rendition of the Amis pronunciation.
Nonetheless, a critical mass of community dissatisfaction brought a slew of Hualien County officials and agencies together in April. But they were unable to agree on a resolution.
After further consultation with residents and discussions with the national road authority, however, it was decided that the original name, Taibalang, would be retained.
And so, on Thursday last week, the amendment was duly made, and motorists have been left with one less amusing sight as they travel to and from Kuangfu and the east coast, and the residents of Tabalong can sleep easier knowing that they are less likely to be made fun of by travelers or in the mass media.
Regardless of the outcome, long gone are the days when a former president such as Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) could walk into an Ilan Aboriginal community and order that the name of a village be changed more or less on the spot, regardless of local sentiment, because of a perceived indignity or inauspiciousness in the traditional pronunciation. Or when the villages of an Aboriginal township -- Sanmin (三民) in Kaohsiung County -- could be named after the Three Principles of the People at the expense of far more beautiful names.
Even with the renaming of Taipei's Ketagelan Boulevard from Jieshou ("Long live Chiang Kai-shek") Road, which pointed to a nativization process and recognition of extinct and surviving Aboriginal culture, there were actually no "locals" involved -- just ideologues of various hues.
The experience of Kuangfu Township, on the other hand, is a small but encouraging reminder of what democracy means at the community level and how it can smoothly accommodate diverse local, ethnic and bureaucratic interests. Let there be more of it.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under