A student who had campaigned against the Ministry of Education’s controversial adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines was found dead yesterday in an apparent suicide at his family’s residence in New Taipei City.
Dai Lin (林冠華), a member of the Northern Taiwan Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance, was found dead by emergency workers who were summoned by his mother after her son failed to respond to calls outside his bedroom, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. After police arrived and broke down the door, they saw Lin lying in bed with a pan of charcoal lighted on a nearby desk, in an apparent suicide.
Yesterday was his 20th birthday.
Photo taken from Lin Kuan-hua’s Facebook account
Lin was a second-year student at the continuing studies division of the New Taipei Municipal Juang Jing Vocational High School. He applied for a leave of absence last month so he could devote more time to the anti-curriculum changes campaign.
Lin had been a prominent activist within the Northern Taiwan Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance. While alliance members refused requests to confirm his exact role, Lin periodically served as one of the group’s spokespeople, with alliance convener Chu Chen (朱震) and other members deferring to him throughout a press conference earlier this month at the Legislative Yuan.
He was among the students who were arrested on Thursday night last week for breaking into the ministry’s compound to protest changes to the curriculum guidelines. Protesters have urged the ministry to withdraw the changes — which are to take effect tomorrow — because of their “China-centric” focus and questionable approval process.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
In a final Facebook post, Lin wrote: “Wish me happy birthday. 8 5 12 16. I have only one wish: Minister [of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華)] withdraw the curriculum guidelines.”
Lin’s friends later “decoded” the numbers 8-5-12-16 as corresponding to the letters for “h-e-l-p” in the English alphabet.
New Taipei City Department of Education Commissioner Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said that Dai Lin had suffered from long-term “emotional problems.”
His mother had stayed with him until 2am yesterday, while his school’s military instructor waited nearby, the commissioner said, adding that it was “unfortunate” that Dai Lin had chosen to end his life in the early morning while his family was sleeping.
Juang Jing Vocational High School principal Lin Shu-kuei (林淑貴) was quoted in the Chinese-language United Daily News as saying that Dai Lin had been emotionally unstable since the start of last semester and had received counseling from teachers.
His mother, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily, said that Dai Lin had been “depressed” since being released on bail last week for entering the ministry building.
“I very much regret that I was not able to stop this,” she said in a statement, denying that her son had been pressured or threatened by ministry officials.
Separately yesterday, a tearful Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) made public screenshots of a conversation on the messaging app Line, which suggested that Dai Lin had planned his suicide as a way to stop the implementation of the curriculum guidelines.
In the conversation between Dai Lin and a friend on June 1, which Chen displayed at a political commentary show yesterday afternoon, Dai Lin told his friend he had an idea that could “very possibly stop the curriculum guideline adjustments,” adding that he would exercise his plan on July 30.
“When I do it, the media and the public opinion would go crazy about it,” Dai Lin said in the Line conversation.
When his friend asked what he planned to do, he replied: “I cannot say it, there are just some things that you can only do, but not say.”
“Don’t worry. What I am going to do will give you some force to stop the curriculum guideline adjustments,” he added.
The friend replied: “I know what you are going to do,” and “Please don’t die.”
“You think too much,” Dai Lin said.
“Mistakes committed by the government should not be shouldered by students,” Chen, in tears, said after showing the screenshots. “If the Ministry of Education was sincere about communicating with the students, why would this happen?”
Additional reporting by Weng Yu-huang
REACHING OUT: President Tsai expressed condolences to the deceased man’s family and wished a speedy recovery to those who were wounded in the shooting The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) on Monday called on the US to label organizations associated with the suspect in the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church shooting as domestic terrorists, following accusations that he was a member of a group backing unification with ties to the Chinese government. David Wenwei Chou (周文偉), 68, was arrested on Sunday and is being held in lieu of US$1 million bail at the Orange County Intake Release Center over a mass shooting at the California church that left one dead and five wounded. Local police suspect the shooting was politically motivated after they found notes in
NO CONSENSUS YET: Local governments and the CECC have agreed to change the ‘3+4’ self-isolation policy, but are still mulling what to replace it with The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and local governments have agreed to ease restrictions on close contacts of COVID-19 cases, although the details are still being discussed, the center said yesterday. The discussions follow Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Saturday approving a proposal to shorten the “3+4” policy — three days of home isolation followed by four days of self-disease prevention — for close contacts who have received booster doses. “We did not reach a consensus on how to revise the current restrictions, but we all agreed that the administrative burden must be reduced and the intensity of restrictions must be eased,
OPPOSING CHINESE ‘HOSTILITY’: The bill orders the state secretary to create a plan to regain observer status for Taiwan, saying Taipei is a model contributor to world health US President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill into law to help Taiwan regain observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA), demonstrating Washington’s support for Taiwan’s international participation. Friday was the deadline for Biden to sign the bill (S.812), which directs “the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization (WHO), and for other purposes.” The 75th WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, is scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday next week to May 28. The bill, introduced by US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate
‘DAMOCLES SWORD’: An Italian missionary said the arrest of cardinal Zen is a blow for the church in Hong Kong, China and the world, signaling great danger ahead China yesterday defended the arrest of a 90-year-old Catholic cardinal under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, a move that triggered international outrage and deepened concerns over Beijing’s crackdown on freedoms in the territory. Retired cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, was among a group of veteran democracy advocates arrested on Wednesday for “colluding with foreign forces.” Pop singer Denise Ho (何韻詩), veteran barrister Margaret Ng (吳靄儀) and cultural studies academic Hui Po-keung (許寶強) were also arrested, the latter as he attempted to fly to Europe to take up an academic post. Cyd Ho (何秀蘭), a democracy
RSS