In the aftermath of the recent 921 earthquake, people naturally want a return to the normal routines of their lives. The lucky ones who did not lose loved ones or homes hope for a quick return of electrical power, phone service and other common amenities of modern life. The unlucky ones long for a return to the times when their loved ones were alive and their homes intact. These are the normal and understandable wishes of disaster survivors.
However, as a nation and as a society, Taiwanese should not hope for a return to "normalcy;" one should not try to go back to what was normal. Normalcy in this sense means a return to the patterns and ways that, in some sense, contributed to the recent disaster's devastation. The fact is that many things that were considered a "normal" part of Taiwanese life directly contributed to the death toll, the suffering and the destruction. I am referring to such things as building contractors using substandard materials, government inspectors taking bribes to look the other way, prosecutors talking about fighting corruption but failing to carry out investigations and so on.
These were all part of "normal" life here in Taiwan.
It is often the case that when people experience great tragedies in their lives -- the death of a child or a spouse -- they undertake a fundamental reappraisal of the way they were living. Such reappraisals sometimes lead to basic changes in the way people live, their priorities, their attitudes and their actions.
As a nation, Taiwan has suffered a great tragedy and now is the time to reappraise things -- as a country, as a society. What have our priorities been, what have our attitudes been, what have we done and what have we not done.
Such reappraisals should not be concerned with trivial matters but rather the basics. It is pointless, after the fact, to blame a certain politician so-and-so for not doing such-and-such. We need to reappraise how we elect our officials, not what one specific politician did or didn't do. It is the same for other areas of the nation's life.
And remember this: reappraisal per se is pointless. A long honest look at Taiwanese society only has meaning if it is followed up by real change. Otherwise it is just a meaningless way to fill newspapers and talk shows. Unfortunately, as a nation, Taiwan is long on talk and short on action. One tends to soon forget the things that happen here. As Merlin, the sage magician of the King Arthur story said: "It is the bane of men that they forget."
Let us not forget.
Brian Kennedy is a member of the boards of directors of Amnesty International Taiwan and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
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