What does a veteran who had cancer and a group of elementary school students have in common? Though it may seem like they come from completely different worlds, they actually developed a close relationship that touched the hearts of many in Taiwan and overseas.
Sixth-grade students from Chung Hsiao Primary School sought the help of 82-year Liao Kuang-yuan (廖光元) for their class on “Understanding the Media” last year — they filmed a documentary featuring Liao growing pomelos.
Their work won them a creative video award from the Ministry of Education and a cash prize of NT$10,000.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Teacher Chiu Yu-ping (邱玉萍) told them that the money should go to “Uncle Liao,” saying that Liao, who had planned to give up his orchard because of his poor health, instead decided to keep working for another year to help the students.
Knowing that Liao, weakened by the cancer, had difficulty maintaining the orchard, the students decided to take the initiative and help him with fertilization, irrigation, harvesting, boxing and home deliveries.
“The tenaciousness of the students was stunning,” Chiu said.
This year, the students decided to shoot a sequel and moved from behind the camera to acting in their own production.
Because the small orchard did not have an irrigation system, the students mobilized their peers and parents to bring buckets of water one-by-one from a water storage tank. Then the harvest season arrived and selling the fruit became a problem.
“We had no money, so we had to sell them in a way that required no money,” student Weng Ching (翁婧) said.
Chiu said the students recounted the story of the orchard and “Uncle Pomelo” on Facebook, and it moved many people. Orders flooded in and people from as far away as the US sent nutritional supplements to Uncle Liao to wish him well.
After the harvest, Liao checked in and out of hospital many times. Recently, when he was readmitted, the students visited him on a weekly basis. However, they did not think that their meeting last week would be their last, because Liao hanged himself on Thursday.
During each visit, Chiu and the students would give him nutritional supplements and six bottles of chicken essence, advising him to drink one bottle a day.
Student Tseng Shan-fan (曾善繁) said that Liao would show them the empty bottles, saying on the last Saturday before he died that he would drink all of the new bottles. The students left him with a large get-well card, filling it with their wishes.
As Liao was illiterate, Weng read the wishes to him, leaving the veteran in tears, a student said.
Liao then asked to shake hands with each of the students and even asked for a group picture, which became their last such photo.
Chiu said the students burst into tears upon hearing about Liao’s death, asking their teacher:“Didn’t we say we would meet each other tomorrow?” “How could be break his word after he promised that he would check out Friday and meet us?” “Why did he do that?” and “Did he leave in peace on his bed?”
Liao’s wife said her husband had suffered from lung cancer for nearly a decade and his health had deteriorated after the cancer spread to other parts of his body.
Last month, he developed pneumonia, making breathing difficult, and he had expressed a wish to end his life several times.
Liao is survived by his two daughters and his wife, who said she would continue to grow pomelos.
The students said their bond with Uncle Pomelo would not end and vowed to continue to help harvest and promote the produce.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it