The Taoyuan City Government’s restoration of novelist Chung Chao-cheng’s (鍾肇政) former residence has “obliterated the memory” of the family’s home, the novelist’s son Chung Yen-wei (鍾延威) said on Tuesday.
Chung Chao-cheng, 93, widely considered the doyen of Taiwan’s “nativist literature movement” (鄉土文學), penned The Dull Ice Flower (魯冰花), the Turbid Waters Trilogy (濁流三部曲) and the Taiwanese Trilogy (台灣人三部曲), among other classics of Taiwanese literature.
The city’s restoration of the residence, a teachers’ dormitory in Longtan District (龍潭), was meant to commemorate his contribution to Taiwanese literature.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
However, Chung Yen-wei wrote a scathing review of the project after he and his father toured the completed site at the city’s invitation.
“As father and I entered the dormitory complex and walked toward our old dorm, we were dumbstruck by the sight that greeted us,” he wrote in a Facebook post that was later deleted, but not before being quoted by the Chinese-language Apple Daily and the United Daily News.
“I felt an almost physical blow to the chest; was this supposed to be the dorm I lived in?” he wrote. “Stealing a glance at my father, I saw he seemed to have fallen prey to a confusion of gigantic proportions.”
When the city and the Ministry of Culture decided to restore the dormitory at the family’s prompting, officials had conducted a detailed survey of the building’s layout, fixtures and furniture, with which he and his father had helped at many points, Chung Yen-wei said, adding that the contractor had apparently ignored all of the family’s input in the restoration work.
The post sparked a series of responses by city officials, as well as a statement of apology and promises to improve from the Hakka Affairs Council.
Chung Yen-wei later that day deleted the post, saying that certain aspects of his remarks were erroneous.
He said that while he originally claimed that the city government approved the project without evaluating the contractor’s work, the project is awaiting final inspection by city officials and no formal decision has been made.
The Chung family thanked Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) for leading efforts to recognize Chung Chao-cheng’s literary accomplishments, Chung Yen-wei said, adding that he would continue to provide constructive criticism of the project.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
RSS