Chen honors five humanitarian award winners

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday received the winners of this year's Lai Ho Awards, lauding their contributions to Taiwanese literature, medicine and society in general.

The annual awards are granted by the Lai Ho Cultural and Educational Foundation (賴和文教基金會) to those who have distinguished themselves in literature, medicine and the civil community.

Lai Ho (賴和), widely regarded as the father of Taiwanese new literature, was also an accomplished doctor and a prominent social activist during the period of Japanese occupation.

Chen told the honorees, who included poet and columnist Li Kwei-chien (李魁賢), Su Yi-jen (蘇益仁), chairman of the pathology department at National Taiwan University Hospital as well as Huang Wen-chu (黃文車) and Wu Pin-chien (吳品賢) -- both graduate students majoring Chinese studies -- that "the spirit of Lai Ho must be exalted."

Lai Ho's spirit, Chen said, refers to his devotion to medicine and Taiwanese literature and his steadfast opposition to Japanese colonial rule.

"[He] always had hope and goals ... for the future of [his] homeland," Chen said, encouraging the honorees to continue in their efforts.

In addition to the four recipients attending yesterday's ceremony, senior advisor to the president Lee Cheng-yuan (李鎮源), a founding member of the Taiwan Independence Party and a member of the Medical Professionals Alliance (醫界聯盟), was the other of this year's honorees.

In July of this year, Li was nominated as Poet of the Millennium by the International Poets Academy.

He has also been told by the academy that his work may one day win him the Nobel Prize for Literature.

A poet, novelist and a catalyst of human-rights awareness in Taiwan, Lai Ho was born in 1894 in Changhua County.

In 1909, he entered Taipei Medical School (now the medical department of National Taiwan University) before beginning his career as a doctor, claiming he wanted to help his fellow Taiwanese.

Lai went on to practice medicine in Xiamen (廈門), China, but returned to his hometown to open a clinic in 1916.

Lai never sought to profit from his profession, often discounting medical fees and providing free treatment for the poor.

Lai's literary talent emerged during his childhood. He learned Chinese earnestly in his youth and developed a mastery of the language.

Although living under Japanese rule his whole life, he insisted on composing all his works in vernacular Chinese, making use of the language to fight against Japanese rule.

In 1921, he joined the newly formed Taiwan Culture Association (台灣文化協會), an organization aimed at promoting Taiwanese literature which was founded by another democracy activist Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水).

He was arrested and incarcerated for the first time in 1923, along with Chiang, for the alleged violation of a security law.

Lai published his first poem in jail, thus beginning a long career in literature.

His concern for humanitarian issues and criticism of Japanese ruling are displayed in more than a thousand poems and around 20 novels.

He has been branded "the father of Taiwanese new literature," as his writings have become a guidepost and inspiration for Taiwanese writers both past and present.

Lai died in 1943 of a massive heart attack and faied to see his beloved nation returned to Chinese rule.