The Ministry of Education’s youth development administration granted Yunlin County camp volunteers a subsidy for their work last year revitalizing the now-deserted Jianguo Veterans’ Village (建國眷村) in Huwei Township (虎尾).
Jianguo Village Revitalization Association director-general Lu Yun-hsiang (魯紜湘) said the village is a large complex of four communities and had once been home to more than 5,000 veterans and their families. The village was mostly deserted in 2007, with only a few families still living in the area, she said.
Some of the buildings were dormitories originally built for Japanese naval air group pilots during the Japanese colonial era, Lu said, adding that since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) came to Taiwan from China, the village had been converted into units for veterans and their families.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education
The village also has underground bunkers with telecommunication facilities, which were installed after the KMT came to Taiwan, Lu said.
“The village has seen cruel times, but it is modern history. It should not be forgotten,” she said.
Youth group member Liu Chih-chien (劉志謙) said that while efficient use of the land is a good thing in the eyes of governments, it means great changes to the living conditions and relationships of the few residents in the area.
“With our efforts, we hope to bring the village back into the spotlight,” Liu said.
Yunlin County Government Cultural Affairs Director Lin Yuan-chuan (林源泉) said the county government has listed the village as a “cultural settlement.”
The county government is applying to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Interior for funding to conserve the village and revitalize the area, Lin said.
“The village and its history, especially its ties to Japanese naval air groups — many of which became Kamikaze pilots — are collective memories of the Huwei townsfolk,” Huwei resident Lin Hung-wen (林鴻文) said, adding that if the county government could conserve the area, he would be glad to see it.
During the latter stages of the war, the Japanese Empire resorted to suicide attacks on the Allied forces in the Pacific — mainly US forces — after having lost its aerial superiority in the theater following a crippling loss at the Midway Atoll.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS