A museum dedicated to independence activist Ong Iok-tek (王育德) yesterday opened at his former residence in Tainan, where he lived with his elder brother Ong Iok-lim (王育霖).
Born in 1924, Ong Iok-tek was a spiritual leader and forerunner of the Taiwanese independence movement in Japan. He was also an expert on the Hoklo language (commonly known as Taiwanese).
Ong Iok-lim, who was born in 1919, was the first Taiwanese prosecutor in the Japanese Empire.
Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei Times
After World War II, he returned to Taiwan and served as a prosecutor in Hsinchu City, but resigned after investigating then-Hsinchu mayor Kuo Shao-tsung (郭紹宗) for corruption.
Ong Iok-lim was killed during the 228 Incident in 1947.
In 1949, Ong Iok-tek fled to Japan through Hong Kong with only one suitcase in hand.
In 1960, while in Japan, he founded the Taiwan Youth Society, a political group that published a magazine titled Taiwan Youth (台灣青年).
In 1969, he received a doctorate from the University of Tokyo for his studies on Hoklo, becoming the first person to do so.
In 1974, he began campaigning for the rights of Taiwanese who had served in the Japanese military during the Japanese colonial era, but died of a heart attack in 1985, at the age of 61, before he could see the result of his efforts.
In 1986, the Japanese government passed a resolution to pay ￥2 million (US$18,017 at the current exchange rate) to each of the families of the Taiwanese soldiers who were killed in combat or to survivors who had been severely injured.
In 2002, Avanguard Publishing House published the complete works of Ong Iok-tek in Chinese.
Originally written in Japanese, Taiwan: A History of Agonies (台灣 — 苦悶的歷史), which has also been translated into English, is one of Ong Iok-tek’s most important works and is made up of 15 volumes.
Ong Iok-tek’s 93-year-old wife, Wang Mei-hsueh (王雪梅), daughter Wang Ming-lee (王明理) and granddaughter Aya Kondo, as well as other family members, traveled from Japan to attend yesterday’s plaque hanging and opening ceremony at the museum.
Several Japanese reporters were also present.
Many of Ong Iok-tek’s personal belongings are exhibited at the museum, including the suitcase he carried when he fled Taiwan, his report cards from school, photographs, manuscripts and clothing.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS