Longtime resident of Taiwan and singer-songwriter Robin Dale from Scotland said he wrote to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) a year ago to suggest that a museum be built in memory of foreign doctors, nurses and missionaries who helped Taiwan fight poverty.
He has yet to receive a reply, he said.
When Dale was born 61 years ago, his father, Donald Dale, a doctor, settled down in Taiwan. His grandfather, Chalmers Dale, was also a doctor. During an era of material shortages in Taiwan, his father and grandfather entered the poorer areas of the country armed with altruism and the sense of mission to provide medical assistance, Robin Dale said.
Robin Dale did not follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and instead chose a career as a musician. He led a rock band in the US in the 1970s and later, when he was doing business in Hong Kong, he considered investing in China.
After the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing on June 4, 1989, his sense of justice prompted him to write a song in support of the democracy movement, We Hear You Call China, which advocated democracy and freedom. It soon became a hit in Hong Kong.
The song, however, angered Beijing and he was forced to leave Hong Kong, he said.
Robin Dale said he has spent a total of 34 years in Taiwan and that he is emotionally rooted here. In particular, he likes the simple life and friendliness in the rural villages.
He has also seen how Taiwan’s value system has become distorted.
There is no positive force to bring it back on track, he said. His work is based on the hope that love can once again become part of the mix.
Robin Dale said many foreign missionaries and doctors like his father and grandfather dedicated their lives to Taiwan. They have gradually been forgotten, but their selflessness encouraged a positive force throughout society and the government should include their stories in history books and build a museum in their memory. If could perhaps help today’s doctors understand that aside from making money, there are other goals that are more worth pursuing, he said.
Robin Dale said that after he wrote his letter to Ma, the Presidential Office sent a lawyer to gain a better understanding of Dale’s idea. The lawyer thought the idea was meaningful, but he never contacted him again, Robin Dale said.
Wondering why no action was taken, Robin Dale said that as long as he lived, he would promote the creation of a memorial museum and plant the seeds of love together with other people who supported the idea.
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