After leaving behind his life as an underworld boss to care for his ailing father more than 10 years ago, Yu Jung-ching (尤榮慶) is content to pass his days as a wood carver in his hometown of Kaohsiung’s Liouguei District (六龜) and has even obtained a patent from the Ministry of Economic Affairs for his multilayer carving technique.
Yu said he left home after finishing junior-high school, wound up in Taipei with friends and joined a gang.
Yu said his personality and willingness to get his hands dirty won him the favor of one of the gang bosses.
However, this meant he was sent to jail twice: once for battery and causing injury, and once for breaching the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例).
He gained serious street credibility because of his time in prison, so once he was free, he became very involved in gang-related affairs in Taipei, Yu said.
“One night, about 10 years ago, the memory of my aging and ailing father suddenly overwhelmed me,” he said, adding that in that instant he decided to return home.
He gave up everything in Taipei, but upon returning home he found it hard to find work, as he had not cultivated any skills, Yu said.
“I certainly did not want to survive off the money I brought back from Taipei,” Yu said, adding that after some thought, he submitted an application to the local Forestry Bureau to remove driftwood along the Laonong River (荖濃溪).
That was the start of his driftwood lumber trade, and he continued to clear driftwood for about five to six years, he said.
One day Yu was absentmindedly toying with a piece of driftwood and began carving into it using a box cutter, he said.
“It was my first wood carving, and I have been carving ever since,” Yu said.
He developed his multilayer carving technique because he wanted his carving to stand out from others on the market, Yu said, adding that those who collect his carvings have said they remind them of classical works.
“I am proud to say that my carvings are one of a kind in Taiwan and cannot be duplicated,” Yu said.
When asked if he misses being a gang boss, Yu said some gang members visited him two years ago after his father had passed away and tried to talk him into returning.
Yu said he was sorely tempted.
“My adopted sister and friends talked me out of it, and those days — the violence, the bars — are history,” he said.
Obtaining the ministry patent was very encouraging, Yu said, adding that he wants nothing more than to continue his days as a wood carver.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS