She used to be a singer and actress, winning international acclaim in the film The Wedding Banquet (喜宴), in which she portrayed a tough woman from China who tried marrying a gay Taiwanese man in Manhattan to get a green card. Now she is the female Atayal warrior, wearing the tradition sleeveless garments of her people, questioning Premier Yu Hsi-kun (游錫) with a stern face and powerful voice.
She is legislator May Chin (
Two weeks ago, accompanying her as she questioned Premier Yu, were a group of activists from different aboriginal tribes. Together, they sang traditional fight songs. Most of the singers likely had sung and protested in front of the Legislative Yuan many times before, but their voices were scarcely remembered.
But now, with Chin singing with them, the spotlight was focused on them. And thanks to the media attention, the long-neglected nuclear waste problem on Orchid Island was finally being heard by the general public.
"It is important that the needs of Aborigines be expressed through her," said Chin Chiu-yen (
This is a role that Chin herself -- as well as her many fans -- had never imagined her playing during her 20 years as a singer and television and movie star.
"This was never in my career plan," Chin said. Before stepping into politics just a few months ago, she claims she did not even know the names of many government officials.
"If it wasn't that fire, which gave me the chance to take up the responsibility, if it wasn't for my liver cancer, which made me re-examine where my life belonged, I would not have become what I am now. I feel my ancestral spirit has quietly led my life in this direction," she said.
Chin's look today usually includes little or no make-up. Only in her gestures and expressions can one find her star quality.
Stepping into the entertainment field at the age of 20, Chin began as a singer on variety shows. After publishing a few records, she began acting in soap operas in the 1980s. A drama called Love, in which she played a hard-working and devoted mom, made her a household name and earned her up to NT$20,000 per episode.
Chin also began a series of concerts with sexy and sensational performances, and her name became associated with many famous men, from Hong Kong stars to business tycoons. "Earnest and emotionally expressive" were the usual media comments about her.
"I was very conscientious about work. I would ask the director to shoot the scene again when I wasn't satisfied with my performance, even if the director said it was okay," Chin said. "I felt strongly about every person, every small thing that happened around me. Expressing more emotion and feeling resulted in feeling hurt afterward," she said, referring her days in show business.
Perhaps because of her expressiveness, she landed a role in Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet, playing a poor artist from China jealous of her fake husband and his boyfriend. The film won the Golden Bear at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival and earned her international fame.
"In that past, I never had a strong awareness of my Atayal identity. Not many people knew of my aboriginal background," Chin recalled.
During the height of her show business career, Chin was involved in a tragic accident. Her wedding costume and style company, May-lin Weddings, at that time a luxurious, up-scale boutique, had a fire. Five people were killed and the five-story building housing the company was destroyed. She herself was injured by heavy smoke. Chin faced a lawsuit for compensating her employees who died and she was forced to give up her career as a singer and actress.
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