Thu, Mar 01, 2007 page3

• The 228 Incident: Sixty years on - Web-based project commemorates the 228 Incident

  HOMAGE Taiwanese from around the world put the collaborative nature of the Internet to good use by creating a joint tribute to the victims of the 228 Incident

  • By Loa Iok-sin / STAFF REPORTER
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  Ninety people from different corners of the world -- most of whom have never met each other -- joined forces to commemorate the 228 Incident by creating an online video.

  The project focused on the idea of justice for the victims of the incident and all interested parties were invited to submit their contributions, organizers said.

  "Hosting the project online made it possible for people from all over the world to participate," said Miawko (妙子), a project organizer who wishes to be known only by her online nickname.

  Submissions were accepted between Feb. 1 and Feb. 20, during which time organizers received hundreds of photos, drawings, video clips and poems as well as a recorded interview and a theme song for the project.

  "In addition to the 10 to 15 organizers, about 80 people submitted their works. Altogether about 90 people contributed [to the making of the video]," said Takayuki, the video editor who also wishes to be known only by her online nickname.

  "I really don't know the ages or occupations of the participants, since most of us don't even know each other," Miawko said.

  The completed video was posted online on Monday. Although it is only four minutes and thirty-six seconds long, it was still a big challenge to complete the editing process on time.

  "The most difficult part was to find a central theme for the video. I had to find a way of linking all the materials together," said Takayuki, who spent the entire Lunar New Year holiday working on the video.

  "One night, I began watching the interview with Chien Tang (簡唐) at about 9pm and finished editing it at about 6am," she said.

  Chien is a division director at the 228 Memorial Foundation.

  Ultimately, only 20 seconds of the 90 minute interview with Chien were included in the video.

  Writing and recording the theme song, Lily, in the space of just 10 days was also a challenge.

  Tsao Hsin-wen (曹馨文), a Taiwanese musician who lives in Vienna, Austria, was put in charge of the music.

  "I had no hesitation in agreeing to work on the song but I was busy with another project, so I asked my uncle to write the lyrics," Tsao said.

  Tsao's uncle, Kufao, proved himself more than equal to the task, as many who listened to the song were touched by its lyrics.

  Kufao finished the lyrics in just two days and Tsao composed the accompanying music in three days.

  "The most challenging part was finding the right singer," Tsao said.

  She had to find a singer who was able to sing in Taiwanese and would do so pro bono.

  "I eventually turned to Taiwan's representative office in Vienna for help," Tsao said.

  Tsao was able to arrange studio time through her husband, Hans Doellinger, a professor at a conservatory in Vienna and ultimately the song -- ?and the video -- were completed on schedule.

  The video begins with these words:

  "The night was long and horrifying. When daylight broke the next morning, dead bodies were found floating in Keelung Harbor and on the Tienliao River."

  The video then shows contemporary footage of sites on a small island near the Keelung Harbor where people were murdered 60 years ago.

  It is notable that there are no signs to indicate what happened all those years ago.

  "Why is there no evidence of the 228 massacre here?" the narrator asks.

  After slide shows of 228 monuments across the nation and various art works depicting the violence that took place, the video shows scenes of Nazi massacres of Jews during World War II, the Nuremberg Trial and how European countries have dealt with these grim events.

  "So what about Taiwan?" the narrator asks.

  The project organizers explained that they were calling for an honest confession and a sincere apology from the perpetrators of the 228 Incident. Only then could there be reconciliation, they said.

  "The Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] keeps asking people to forgive," Takayuki said.

  "If you strike a person, you can't just tell him to forget about it. You have to apologize first, then it's up to the victim to decide whether or not to forgive you. It's ridiculous that the perpetrator of the crime keeps telling the victims to forget about it," she added.

  All of the contributors to the video were volunteers.

  The video can be viewed at http://blog.roodo.com/showtaiwan.
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