Village's fate a question of preservation

The remaining 1.3 hectares of the south village has survived eight unexplained fires and now sits abandoned as the Hsinyi Elementary School continues to push the city government to fulfill its promise.

Chen Pan (陳板), chairperson of the Community Construction Society (社區營造學會), said there is a reason for wanting to conserve the empty and dilapidated village.

"It's a place full of history. It helps us remember how wars and political power struggles created hardships for the people," he said. "We need to keep something for our children to see."

Yu Kang-ping (虞勘平), a movie director who served as one of the judges for last year's design contest for the area, agreed.

"We have to have the courage to face the lessons of history. The next generation has the absolute right to see with their own eyes how history was written," he said.

Hu Tai-li (胡台麗), research fellow at the Institute of Ethnology at the Academia Sinica and another panel judge, said the area is unique. "The village chronicles the culture of some two million mainlanders who withdrew to Taiwan with KMT troops in 1949.

If we manage to save it, we will be setting an example for future military village conservation efforts to come," she said.

Huang Lan-hsiang (黃蘭翔), research fellow at the Institute of Taiwanese History at the Academia Sinica, said the village stood for more than just a collection of old buildings.

"The village tells a vivid story of a social phenomenon -- poverty, which is embarrassing for modern Taiwan but significant in the history of Taiwan's urban development," he said.

Other side

of the story

Despite the efforts and concerns of cultural conservationists, long-time resident Wang says he is not too keen about conserving the area.

"If they really care about so-called ethnic culture, why do they still discriminate against mainlanders?"

A volunteer at the Hsinyi Elementary School, Wang said he would like to see the village made into a place integrating cultural and commercial features.

He also thinks the remaining land should be given to the school: "It's their land after all."

Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), DPP city councilor and a supporter of the conservation idea, said Wang's concerns are understandable.

"It's natural that residents want to see more business opportunities there, but I doubt it's the right way to go," he said. "However, we can certainly talk things over and compromises can be made."

What bothers him, however, is the city government's attitude, he said.

"The city government has been playing a terrible role throughout the incident. It says one thing but acts in a completely different way. It just doesn't seem able to stick to what it promises."