Chang Tao-fan (張道藩) gave up his high-paying but stressful job at Next magazine last year to take a break in the mountains. One year later, he’s emerged with his third book about the police. The stories are not adrenalin-pumping tales of car chases and gunfights, they are tales about how village policemen and women, mostly Aborigines, protect forests from poachers, rescue lost climbers and preserve tribal culture.
“I have no intention to write about how [they] go about doing their jobs as police. That constitutes only part of the stories. There is a lot more: their lives, families, friends and communities. It’s about people and how they live and perceive life,” said Chang, author of the Police Story (警察故事) series of books.
Chang began his journalism career 26 years ago as a reporter who regularly covered the police and crime. The job enabled him to become friends with both beat cops and high-ranking officers. His interest in biographies and observing people has made him an adept profile writer.
After nine years of working as the head of the crime desk (社會新聞中心主任) at the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper), the veteran newsman resigned in 2000 to return to what he loved most: reading and writing. It didn’t take long before Unitas Literary Monthly (聯合文學) approached him about publishing a book on the police.
At first Chang had his doubts.
“I like buying and reading books. It never occurred to me that I would one day write one, because who would want to read it?” he said.
The publisher persisted with the project that eventually evolved into Chang’s first Police Story about nine former directors or deputy directors of the National Police Agency (警政署), as well as four other retired high-ranking officers and how they rose to the top.
“Some said there was a lack of critical writing in the work. But as far as I am concerned, I was telling stories, not writing history,” Chang said. Instead, he wanted to understand the traits that allowed these men to become so successful.
Chang’s long journalism career reads like a miniature history of Taiwan’s media. It began at the long-defunct Universal News (環球日報), United Evening News, Liberty Times, Era News (年代電視台), followed by Apple Daily and Next. During his time at Era, he finished the second volume of Police Story, which is about families whose fathers, sons and husbands were killed in the line of duty.
One of many things Chang learned from police veterans is that one should never be content with fame or past achievements, and one should never leave until the job is done.
And Chang did leave, this time to the mountains in Taitung and Pingtung. His hiatus, however, didn’t last long because he began to work on a project that had been brewing in his mind for some time — a book about unsung heroes in small towns and villages.
Chang didn’t set out to focus on Aboriginal cops. But as he traveled extensively to distant villages to research and find sources for his book, he discovered there was something extraordinary about them.
“I found out that if they didn’t enter the police force, they would have been excellent tribal hunters just like their fathers and brothers. What makes them so special is the hunter’s spirit that is passed down through generations in their culture,” Chang said.
Cinunan, meaning hunter in the Paiwan (排灣) language, are those who understand the language of the Earth and nature, respect all creatures and never act in their own self-interest. This spirit runs in the blood of all the protagonists in Chang’s book, including the charismatic Paiwan writer, Aboriginal leader and forest patrolman Ahronglong Sakinu; and Giyu Rutalengan, known locally as “God of the Mountain.”
Chang said Rutalengan made the strongest impression on him. “He is so ordinary but does very meaningful things … He’s taught me that as long as you have faith, you can accomplish anything,” he said.
Throughout the book, Chang tries to convey the earnestness and sincerity with which these policemen treat everyone, even to strangers, which he believes enables them to have empathy for others and put the community’s well-being before their own.
“I often think of them. Sometimes when I appear lost in thought, my wife will say: ‘You are thinking of your friends in the east again, right?’” Chang said, laughing.
Chang has clearly changed as a result of his experiences with the “hunter” policemen. At the invitation of the National Police Agency, he has recently taken up a new career as a consultant and now travels across the country to train police officers in areas including how to deal with the press.
The media veteran has found new meaning in life through his educational work, even though he makes less money than he used to as a senior journalist.
“There are things in life that can’t be measured by money. People form values and new meanings in life, and during that process, they change and evolve. To me, that’s the most essential thing,” he said.
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