Spiritual inspiration
The visit of the Dalai Lama is the most inspiring event that has happened in Taiwan recently.
We know we have to deal with the pain of losing loved ones and the difficulties of reconstruction caused by Typhoon Morakot on our own. Still, the Dalai Lama understands what we have been through, shares our pain and comforts our souls.
Taiwanese welcome him with our hearts.
Unfortunately, it appears that because of pressure from Beijing, the incompetent President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his fellow Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members succeeded in making the Dalai Lama cancel an international press conference and public speech just before his arrival.
We are extremely angry. We understand the pressure faced by the Dalai Lama and hope he will not be bothered by these unpleasantries.
However, as Taiwanese, we do not accept Ma or China insulting the Dalai Lama. Beijing has no right to dictate who Taiwanese can listen to. Ma is Taiwan’s president and should work on behalf of Taiwanese, not for China.
Taiwanese want to listen to the Dalai Lama and expect a guest to enjoy freedom of speech in Taiwan.
What bothers us most is that Ma is distancing himself from the public. International media credit Ma for improving relations between China and Taiwan, but he hasn’t done anything about the more than 1,000 Chinese missiles still targeting Taiwan.
Should Taiwanese keep silent about the cancelation of the public speech by the Dalai Lama, Taiwan will be handed over to China quickly and quietly.
We would highly appreciate if the Taipei Times could keep an eye on this event, and verify what Taiwanese really want, and how many Taiwanese stand with Ma in this decision.
MENG-MEI CHEN
Lausanne, Switzerland
Cleaning up their act
The community-service sentencing program introduced under an amendment to Article 41 of the Criminal Code (刑法) is a positive development in criminal justice.
Under the program, convicts serving terms of six months or less can be released on probation to do community service.
Somebody please tell me that at least a significant proportion of these convicts will be put to work cleaning up the appalling amounts of garbage that can be found scattered by roadsides and virtually everywhere in the country, both urban and rural areas.
Littering and illegal dumping are among the most serious blights afflicting this beautiful island.
I hope the government will see the wisdom of taking advantage of this new pool of “free” labor to tackle this massive problem, improve the natural environment and help Taiwan to look as beautiful as it deserves to.
JASON GRENIER
Hualien
Jody Chiang deserves award
Jody Chiang (江蕙, also known as Judy Chiang) is a great singer of Hoklo songs.
Her debut stadium performance last year was a great success.
She sang with full emotion and danced very well.
Jody is comparable to Misora Hibari, the late Japanese singer, in vocal quality and singing skill.
Jody started her singing career in 1972 when she was only nine years old to help support the family. One of the first songs she sang was Lonely Girl’s Wish (孤女的願望), about a country girl asking the way to Taipei to look for a job — reflecting her early career traveling from town to town.
Taiwanese songs consist of classical Taiwanese ballads like Flowers in the Rainy Night (雨夜花), which Jody has performed with Placido Domingo, Japanese-style songs like Lonely Girl’s Wish and modern Taiwanese songs.
Many of these are romantic and lovelorn songs. Jody is very good at singing these songs and they usually become hits.
Last year, Jody shared her inner feelings with everyone in the audience. She was expert at motivating the audience to sing along with her.
When they sang Housewives (家後), many people broke into tears. On the other hand, when they sang Sad Bar (傷心酒店), everyone was very happy in singing “I am not drunk, not drunk.”
Overall, orchestras and dancers gave excellent performances and stage decorations were superb.
This was the outcome of between six and eight months of hard work by the entire team.
I highly recommend that the Ministry of Education give a Taiwan Culture Award to Jody for her accomplishments in promoting vocal art in her mother language.
CHARLES HONG
Columbus, Ohio
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