Determined to use music to raise awareness of Tibet’s struggle to regain independence and to introduce his culture, Tibetan musician Techung has been touring the world and made his first pubic performance in Taiwan at the Tibet Freedom Concert in Taipei last Wednesday.
“I actually never wanted to learn music — I was put into a music school when I was little,” Techung said in an interview with the Taipei Times in Taipei last week.
Techung was born on the border between Tibet and India in 1961 when his parents escaped from China-controlled Tibet.
PHOTO: LAI IOK-SIN, TAIPEI TIMES
As Techung reached school age, his parents decided to send him to the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government in-exile.
The institute was created in 1959 with the goal of preserving the traditional Tibetan performing arts.
Although Techung did not choose to study music, he said that music has had a profound impact on his life.
“Music is an easy way to connect to people and to spread your ideas,” Techung said. “Most of my musical works are combinations of traditional Tibetan melodies and lyrics about my feelings for Tibet, the Tibetan culture and my experiences of being in exile.”
One of the songs he performed at yesterday’s concert describes how people hang wind horse flags — or Tibetan prayer flags — atop a mountain to express gratitude for blessings from gods for their safety during a journey.
“It’s a very good representation of the Tibetan culture, because respecting nature is an important part of the Tibetan culture,” he said.
Traditional Tibetan lyrics are usually either about religious beliefs or about respecting the environment.
“We express our love for nature, our gratitude towards the gods for gifting us with the beautiful environment, reminders to protect the environment and warnings about punishment from the gods if you damage it,” Techung said, adding that along with the seemingly “harder” topics in Tibetan music, there are also many folk songs praising romantic love.
“For those of us born in exile and living in exile, I also wrote a lot of songs about my experiences in exile, and my feelings for Tibet,” he said.
Using mostly traditional Tibetan instruments, Techung has won the best modern and traditional music award at a Tibetan Music Awards ceremony in Dharamsala in 2003, and a best Asian folk album title in the US.
After being trained at the TIPA and touring with the institute for 17 years, Techung moved to the US when he was 30 to pursue studies in theater and has been living there ever since.
“After having performing in concerts in the west, I decided in recent years that it’s about time for me to come back to Asia,” he said.
Before coming to Taiwan, he also performed in Japan earlier this year.
Traveling with the Students for a Free Tibet executive director and deputy director to several universities around the country since his arrival last week, Techung has a very good impression of Taiwan.
“The people here are very friendly, and I was excited about the interest that university students in Taiwan have taken in the Tibet issue,” he said.
However, he also wanted to warn the Taiwanese about developing a relationship with China.
“In general, we believe that when we’re nice to others, they’ll be nice to us in return — but that’s not at all the case with the Chinese,” he said. “It may be a little difficult for the Chinese to change their attitude, so be very careful.”
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
RSS