People wandering around Futian Village (福田) in Pingtung County’s Jhutian Township (竹田) might notice the murals on the homes, each of which has a different theme.
The artist, 20-year-old Lin Yu-wei (林育緯), said he was given the opportunity by Futian Village Warden Fu Min-hsiung (傅民雄).
“I have always had a penchant for drawing,” Lin said, adding that at school, he would often doodle in his textbooks while his classmates were busily scribbling notes.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Lin speaks fluently, but has trouble reading, said his mother, who declined to be named.
“While it was difficult for him to grasp the meaning of the text, he could easily tell you a story from a drawing,” she said.
That caused him great difficulty at school, where he was often bullied by classmates and considered a thorn in the side by teachers, she said.
She said she was once called to the school, where one of the teachers told her: “Your son is nothing but a troublemaker.”
“That was never how I saw him,” she said, adding that as a single mother raising two children, she was busy earning enough money to keep the family afloat.
As long as her children’s behavior was not criminal, she left them free to do as they pleased, she said.
However, his experiences at school took a toll on Lin’s self-confidence and he became increasingly reclusive and withdrawn, she said.
His homeroom teacher noticed this trend and after talking to him learned that his attitude was not due to recalcitrance or laziness, but because of wrong learning methods, Lin’s mother said.
Lin visited a tattoo parlor when he was in junior-high school, which incidentally became his introduction to the world of tattooing and design, he said, adding that the tattoo artist, after seeing his interest in drawing, offered to buy his designs.
Lin said he walked into the parlor to have the name of his deceased father tattooed on his back.
“I have always believed that he never left and is with me always,” he said.
Lin’s family freed up a warehouse for him to turn into a workshop, so that he could turn all his attention to artistic creation. That drew the attention of Fu, who discovered his talent and encouraged him to use it to for the benefit of the community.
After discussing with neighborhood residents, Lin painted their walls with their most beloved memories and motives.
“One of the neighbors likes images of fish and birds, and another missed their hometown in Kinmen,” Lin said, adding he painted his own house with carps and lotus flowers, for his mother and father, respectively.
Pointing to his tattoos, Lin said that, aside from the name of his father on his back, they are all of his own creation.
The words “Never give up” on his chest are a reminder to himself, he said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
RSS