At a media gathering to launch her new book yesterday, Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) said transforming herself from a writer and social critic to director of the Taipei City Government's new Bureau of Culture was no small task, but she hopes her undertakings will influence the Chinese-language community worldwide.
Lung, who calls her absence from from Taiwan since 1987 "exile," returned from her base in Germany just last Thursday. Today, she takes her post as head of the culture bureau, now under the auspices of a preparatory committee.
One day before her new assignment, however, Lung said she wanted to retain her role as a writer and interact with her readers.
PHOTO: DAI LI-AN, LIBERTY TIMES
But the occasion yesterday perhaps gave her a taste of the future. Although she prefers to think of herself as an expert in "avoiding cameras and reporters," she was welcomed by just that -- a roomful of journalists -- together with her "readers."
"Sitting here, I have already started to adapt myself to my new role," Lung said.
"As a writer, I try to avoid TV coverage as much as I can because I am afraid of being recognized when I walk down the street. But as the director of the Bureau of Culture, I cannot do this. I have to articulate my concepts through the media so as to make myself understood," said Lung.
One of her colleagues offered her some words of caution at yesterday's event. Writer Yang Chao (楊照), who was invited to speak to the audience with Lung about her new book, warned of a "transformation" after taking her new post.
"Maybe three and a half years from now, she will be like [early 20th century writer and social critic] Lu Xun (
Lung, renowned for her sharp observations on social phenomena as well as her idealism, returned his comments with a smile.
"Perhaps from tomorrow [meaning today], I'll start attending the `cram school on darkness' ... In history, although idealistic, passionate people have ended up frustrated, I still appreciate a sort of human glory [in these precedents]; it's something I am willing to pursue," she said.
"Taipei nowadays sits at the center of the Chinese-language community worldwide, not at its margin. If the cultural projects in the city go well [after I lead the bureau], then my influence on the Chinese-language community will no longer be through my writings but through other means," she said.
Meanwhile, Lung said even her readers in China have shown concerns over the fact that a KMT-run city government is willing to recruit a writer like her -- someone famous for her criticism of the KMT -- as a civil servant.
The city's plan to establish the bureau had been aborted by partisan disputes in the city council under former mayor Chen Shui-bian (
The dispute was finally settled when Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) beat Chen last December. The council decision passed a resolution to establish the bureau in July.
The bureau, which will begin operations in November, will be Taiwan's first cultural bureau at the local government level.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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