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Rice bomber calls for more concern for farmers, kids

''Rice bomber'' Yang Ju-men and his grandfather Yang Yung-tu yesterday pray to their ancestors at the grandfather's home in Erlin Township, Changhua County. PHOTO: WANG PAI-LIEN, TAIPEI TIMES

Newly released "rice bomber" Yang Ju-men (楊儒門) shunned the media limelight on Thursday but called for more public concern for the well-being of the country's children and farmers.

Yang arrived in Taipei late on Thursday after he was released from a prison in Hualien County after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) formally granted him a special pardon.

Responding to press inquiries about his feelings after regaining freedom, Yang, who had planted bombs around Taipei City as a way to air his grievances, said that he was "only an ordinary person" unworthy of media attention.

He said he hoped to see the media and the public turn their attention to welfare services for children and farmers.

Yang then traveled back to his home in Changhua County in the company of his brother.

Yang's father, who lives in Keelung, expressed his gratitude to Chen for granting a special pardon for his son.

"I hope Ju-men can find a job in Changhua and will never break the law for the rest of his life," his father said.

Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧), a freelance writer from Changhua who has regularly corresponded with Yang during Yang's incarceration, said she planned to publish a book next month about his career as the "rice bomber" and the plight of local farmers.

The book is based on more than 100 letters Yang had sent to her over the past few years, Wu said.

The proceeds from book sales will be donated to provide school lunches to children from impoverished families, she said.

Yang was sentenced in 2005 to seven-and-a-half years in prison and fined NT$100,000 for planting 17 explosive devices in public places around Taipei over a one-year period.

Identifying himself only as an opponent of the government's rice import policy, Yang always sprinkled small amounts of rice in his homemade explosives, which resulted in his nickname.

Nobody was injured during his year-long bombing campaign.

Yang first served time at a prison in Taipei and was transferred to a prison in Hualien early this year based on his good behavior. He worked on a farm in the Hualien prison.

A spokesman for a pro-Yang advocacy group said the special pardon was "belated justice."

Also see story:
Editorial: The `rice bomber' and mercy politics

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