Fifty years after it was renamed to conform to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) political ideology, local councilors in Sanmin Township (三民), Kaohsiung County, yesterday unanimously voted for a new Aboriginal name for the township, effective Jan. 1.
"The seven-member township council has ... unanimously agreed to change the township name to Namasiya Township (那瑪夏)," Mayor Husong Istanda told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview.
"Namasiya" is a southern Tsou Aboriginal name for the Nanzihsian River (
"Our ancestors called this place Namasiya, after the river, more than a hundred years ago," Husong said.
The three villages will also have their original names restored: Nanisaru (
Home to Aborigines of the Bunun and southern Tsou tribes, Sanmin was called Mayatsun under the Japanese rule and then Maya Township (
A similar process took place in Kaohsiung County's two other Aboriginal townships, now called Taoyuan (
The three villages in the township were renamed Mintsu ("nationalism," 民族), Minchuan ("democracy," 民權) and Minsheng ("livelihood," 民生) at the same time.
In recent years, locals have discussed the viability of changing the name, but there was disagreement on which one the township should adopt.
"Although we all knew that our ancestors called this place Namasiya, the only name we could find on written documents was `Maya Township,'" Husong said. "So we planned to use the name `Maya Township' at first -- but many residents objected."
A 34-member name restoration commission then looked for a way to resolve the dispute, Husong said.
"Finally, the commission found historical documents dating back to the Qing Dynasty with the name `Namasiya' written on them," Hu said.
"As everybody agreed on the name, we submitted it [to the township council]." he said.
The Democratic Progressive Party-controlled Kaohsiung County Government has supported the move, though the residents of Sanmin Township, like other Aboriginal townships, have been strong supporters of KMT candidates in national elections.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS