Taipei's cultural head makes good with two books

Incoming director for Taipei City Government's Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Liao Hsien-hao (廖咸浩), shared his sentimental side with the public at a press conference to announce the publication of two of his books.

A Lost Butterfly (迷蝶) is a collection of autobiographical and nostalgic essays, while Beautiful New Century (美麗新世紀) is a collection of essays that explore tradition and modernity.

"I've always been a sentimental person and I think through the two books, people will have a better understanding of me," Liao said at the press conference yesterday.

Appointed by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in late January, chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at National Taiwan University Liao Hsien-hao (廖咸浩) would assume the directorship of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs today following the resignation of Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), who wishes to return to her vocation as a writer.

Asked by reporters whether he would develop a sense of pessimism after serving as a government official for four-years, Liao said that he would work not to let his official role "suffocate" his usual sentimental self and writer's perspective.

Lung had once noted that, over the past three years as the director for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, she "was like a goldfish in a goldfish bowl. Being an official is suffocating. I could hardly breathe."

At the presentation, writer Yang Mu (楊牧) and editor-in-chief of the Journalist Magazine Yang Chao (楊照) advised Liao not to lose himself while in government service.

"We see his assumption of the directorship as being like that of a boy who has been drafted into the army," Yang Chao said.