"I have been seeking, seeking a window opened by God that can lead to a promising future for farmers and seeking a pathway that can offer hope for disadvantaged children," reads Rice is Not a Bomb, a book written in semi-autobiographical style by Yang Ju-men (楊儒門), also known as the "rice bomber."
The book includes more than 100 letters written by Yang to Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧), a freelance writer based in Changhua County, during his incarceration.
In the letters, Yang describes the motivation behind his year-long bombing campaign that led to his arrest.
The book also includes two letters written by Yang to friends and the public following his release from jail after President Chen Shui-bian (
In those two letters, Yang calls for greater care for the disadvantaged -- particularly farmers and children -- and expresses his gratitude for those who appealed for his pardon.
Yang was sentenced in 2005 to seven-and-a-half years in prison and a fine of NT$100,000 (US$3,000) for planting 17 explosive devices in public places around Taipei over a one-year period.
He turned himself in on Nov. 26, 2004.
Describing himself as an opponent of the government's rice import policy, Yang added small amounts of rice to his homemade explosives -- hence the nickname.
Nobody was injured during the year-long bombing campaign.
"What kind of social structure do we have that has made elderly farmers' desires to lead a peaceful life in their rural towns in the company of their children and grandchildren become a luxury and an impossible dream?" Yang asks in the book.
Growing up in a Changhua farming community, Yang said he had witnessed the decline of agriculture in rural Taiwan.
"I have a deep emotional affinity with rural elders who are living below the subsistence level after imported rice and other produce eroded the market share of locally grown crops," Yang writes. "It is against this backdrop that I had to resort to means available to a disadvantaged individual like me to express the grievances of farmers."
Yang also writes about meeting a teenage boy selling coconuts on a street in Hualien City with a schoolbag on his back.
"I stopped cycling and asked him whether he would mind eating a meal with me. The young boy told me that he had to choose between going to school or making a living. The encounter let me see clearly the predicament of those living at the bottom of society," Yang writes, claiming that the boy later died at his home as he could not afford to see a doctor.
The episode reinforced his determination to stand up for farmers and the disadvantaged, Yang writes.
Admitting that he has little knowledge of agriculture, Yang writes that he remembers crops of watermelons and carrots being given away because they could not fetch a reasonable price.
A truckload of cabbage was often sold for less than NT$500, he writes, adding that it was not uncommon for many grape vines to be chopped down when farmers' associations or wholesale dealers stopped buying the fruit.
"What I did was purely aimed at helping farmers and children. It is my humble hope that farmers can make a living on their own land and receive due respect, while children can go to school and eat their fill without losing dignity," Yang writes.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS