Veteran pro-localization advocate and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Tuoh (王拓), who had been hospitalized since July 30 after a heart attack, died yesterday. He was 72.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is also DPP chairperson, said Wang’s death saddened the party.
“His continued efforts to improve Taiwan will forever be something that party members aspire to,” she said.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of Tsai Shih-ying’s legislative office
Wang, a Formosa Incident victim, served as legislator for three consecutive terms and chairman of the then-Council of Cultural Affairs in former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration.
He also served as DPP secretary-general when Tsai first assumed leadership of the party in 2008, following the party’s massive defeat in the legislative and presidential elections that year.
The DPP said that Wang volunteered to take on the position of secretary-general for free in 2008, sacrificing time with his family.
Wang’s devotion to the party during a time of difficulty was impressive, the DPP said, adding that during his tenure, he eased the party’s financial burden by paying off NT$150 million (US$4.8 million) of the party’s debts.
“Wang’s courage in the face of hardship and his selfless sacrifice set an example for the party,” the DPP said.
DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) visited Wang’s family and offered the party’s assistance.
DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應), the head of Wang’s office for eight years, said Wang was like a father to him and he was greatly saddened by his passing.
Aside from being a political figure, Wang was also a renowned writer.
His novel Wang Jun Zhao Gui (望君早歸), describing life in Keelung’s Badouzih Township (八斗子), has been cited as a model literary representation of life in Taiwanese fishing villages. His other works, such as Jin Shui Shen (金水嬸), are representative of “nativist literature” (鄉土文學).
Wang was not a prolific writer, but his works were solid and his diction clean, writer Chu Yu-hsun (朱宥勳) said.
There are few writings on life in Taiwanese fishing villages, which is one reason Wang became the representative figure of this subject, Chu said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS