Although he is battling terminal cancer, 62-year-old Liu Tai-hsiang (劉泰祥) is determined to do everything within his power to help promote Hakka culture.
Sitting in a wheelchair, wearing an oxygen mask and with severe edema in his hands and legs, Liu seemed to be defying his poor health as he pulled out a huqin (胡琴) spike fiddle and performed two iconic Hakka songs while his wife, Lin Chien-ying (林建英), sang along in the lounge of the Miaoli General Hospital on Saturday.
Though he had to pause after every few sentences to catch his breath because of his pleural effusion — fluid buildup in the lungs — Liu performed the songs to promote his latest audiobook, titled Kiou Dong (撬冬).
Photo courtesy of Miaoli General Hospital
“This is my legacy and I hope it can be yours as well,” he told those assembled in the lounge.
The book features seven-word Hakka proverbs, ranging from the ancient to the modern, and also includes rhyming sayings, Liu said, adding that it was a good primer for beginners learning the Hakka language.
“Life is short, so don’t waste any of it,” Liu said, adding that he wanted to devote the time he has left to doing something for the Hakka people.
Liu said that although he has written at least six books — the first in 2008 — he had no channels through which to distribute them, adding that he has between 600 and 700 copies of his books at home.
Before he was admitted to the hospital, Lin had driven him around tirelessly so he could distribute and sell the books, Liu said.
The promotional event on Saturday was organized by the hospital and Liu expressed his gratitude to the hospital staff for trying to help him realize his dream of spreading Hakka culture.
Liu’s sister, Liu Chu-ying (劉菊英), said that the 62-year-old dropped out of school after junior high and sold pork his whole life, but had always tried hard to promote Hakka culture.
She said he was “the bravest Hakka man” she had ever met for continuing to pursue his goals even after he was diagnosed with cancer.
Liu Tai-hsiang was diagnosed with a malignant tumor after noticing a lump close to his knee while he was delivering pork to Miaoli County’s Sihu Township (西湖) 13 years ago.
Liu Chu-ying said that after her brother was diagnosed, he continued to dedicate himself to Hakka studies, studying hard to obtain the Hakka Council Affairs certificates for Hakka language and literature.
Prior to being hospitalized, Liu Tai-hsiang was also certified to teach Hakka language in elementary schools, Liu Chu-ying said.
Liu Chu-ying said her family had always been proud of their heritage and it was this pride that inspired Liu Tai-hsiang in his quest to ensure that the Hakka language was not constrained solely to colloquial conversation.
“My brother’s greatest wish is to promote Hakka culture,” Liu Chu-ying said, adding that “Liu Tai-hsiang’s way of life embodies the ngng giang (硬頸) spirit of the Hakka people.”
Translated literally into Chinese, ngng giang means “stiff neck” and originally carried a negative connotation, but since 1988, the term has increasingly been perceived to mean “being stubborn about maintaining good qualities.” More recently, the phrase’s significance has evolved to mean that the Hakka are a hardworking people who are able to weather all difficulties.
“He is the pride of our family and also the pride of the Hakka people,” Liu Chu-ying said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching