Preparations to present a commemorative graduation certificate to 93-year-old Hsiao Tao A-ma (小桃阿嬤), who was used by Japanese forces as a “comfort woman” during World War II, have been postponed after she fell ill and was taken to a hospital, a National Tainan Girls’ Senior High School spokesman said.
The school was planning to present the certificate on Thursday, he said.
“To avoid disturbing her, the school has postponed conducting the conferral until A-ma [“grandmother” in Hoklo, commonly known as Taiwanese] is feeling better,” the spokesman said.
Hsiao Tao A-ma, whose real name is Cheng Chen Tao (鄭陳桃), had said she passed the Tainan Girls’ Senior High School entrance examination at the age of 19.
At the time, Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule and the school was called the Second Girls’ Senior Middle School of Tainan County.
However, she never got to graduate from the school, because she was abducted by Japanese policemen on her way to school and taken overseas against her will to serve as a comfort woman, providing sexual services to Japanese military personnel during the war, A-ma said.
Throughout her life, she wished to receive an apology from Japan and to complete her studies at the school, A-ma said.
After learning of her wish, the school decided to present her with a commemorative graduation certificate, despite some academics saying that she had not been actually enrolled at the school, because there is no official record of her enrollment.
A-ma’s story is told in a documentary, titled Song of the Reed (蘆葦之歌), which chronicles the later years of Taiwanese comfort women during World War II.
The Taiwanese government is negotiating with Japan for an official apology and compensation for comfort women.
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