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Exhibition features art by teenage cancer survivor

Ma Han-chung and his mother sing songs together yesterday. The 15-year-old cancer fighter is one of the 26 winners of this year’s Love of Life Awards by the Chou Ta-kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation. PHOTO: CHEN YI-YU, TAIPEI TIMES

Ma Han-chung (馬漢忠), a 15-year old Bunun Aborigine who has fought a 14-year battle against cancer, saw his dreams come true yesterday when an exhibition of his artwork opened in Taipei.

Ma, who was diagnosed with brain cancer at 11 months old, has long dreamed of becoming a writer and a poet and has documented his fight with the deadly disease through painting and writing poetry.

Exhibition

The exhibition, which is sponsored by Chou Ta-kuan Cultural & Educational Foundation (周大觀文教基金會), opened yesterday at the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (台灣民主紀念館).

The foundation is a charity organization dedicated to helping young cancer patients and other severely ill children.

The foundation’s chief executive, Chao Tsui-hui (趙翠慧), said at a press conference yesterday that the foundation had nicknamed Ma “smiling sunshine” because he remained optimistic even during the worst moments of his illness.

Poetry

Chao said the foundation would soon publish Ma’s poetry. Ma was also one of the recipients of the foundation’s Love of Life Awards (全球熱愛生命獎章) this year.

Ma said: “When sand gets into an oyster shell, it irritates the oyster at first, but the grain of sand eventually becomes a beautiful pearl. I think my cancer is similar to a grain of sand. Although it caused me a lot of emotional and physical pain, I had to overcome it and become stronger.”

He added that his parent’s positive outlook on life gave him the strength to fight the cancer.

The art exhibition runs through next Thursday and will also feature the calligraphy and poetry of the late Chou Ta-kuan (周大觀), in whose memory the foundation was created.

Born in Taitung to a Korean pastor father, Sun Chang-wu (孫昶吾), and Bunun Aboriginal mother, Ma Chiu-chin (馬秋琴), Ma has just passed the high school entrance exam and will attend National Taitung Senior High School.
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