Wu Chung-yueh runs a modest vegetarian cafeteria in Kaohsiung, helped only by his mother and an employee. The hours are long, the kitchen is hot and the pay isn't that great.
But 22-year-old Wu loves every minute of it. After spending more than a quarter of his life in juvenile detention, the restaurant has given him a new lease on life, a refuge from the cell he occupied for six years before his release just over a year ago.
"I want a new life in 〝Kaohsiung. I said goodbye to the old days," said Wu, a native of Tainan County, recalling his life of crime as a teenager.
PHOTO: CNA
Wu was sent to jail when he was 14 after committing several crimes with a group of friends. He was sentenced to six years in jail after being convicted of selling drugs, blackmail and kidnapping.
Wu's life changed, however, when his father died during his second year in prison. As an only child, Wu had to attend his father's funeral in handcuffs and leg irons, and was overcome with embarrassment.
"From that instant, I knew I was wrong and that what I had done had shamed my family," Wu said, sobbing as he recalled the trauma felt at the time. "I vowed to be a good man and I started to study hard in jail because I wanted to go back to school."
He earned his senior high school diploma before being set free and spent a lot of time thinking about his future.
After regaining his freedom more than a year ago, Wu, with assistance from and training by the Taiwan After-Care Association, a non-governmental organization that provides drug rehabilitation and care services nationwide, got obtained a bank loan and began operating the small restaurant he took over from a friend.
He does almost everything on his own, including purchasing and cleaning the food and cooking around 40 dishes.
"I only have one idea in mind now, and that is, I don＊t want to hurt the ones who love me and live a life of fear and dread again," he said.
"I treasure very much what I own now, because I feel great and secure about having a new life. But I will not shun my past if someone asks about it," Wu said.
Fully committed to his business, Wu tries to create new dishes that appeal to his customers and also conducts telephone surveys to gather their opinions.
Wu smiled when talking about his business, which he said had gotten better in recent months.
"This may have something to do with my Buddhist faith, which drove me to eat vegetarian and compels me not to kill animals," he said.
Wu said he hopes to go to college and repay his loan as soon as possible, confident that the temptations of the past are behind him.
"Although I don't earn that much, I'm sure I will never want to lead that kind of life again," he said.
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