With a mix of traditional and pop music, Amis Aborigines native to Taitung County and guest musicians from other tribes gathered at the Amis village of A’tolan yesterday for the first Amis Music Festival.
“It has always been my dream to hold a concert in my hometown, and now that dream has come true. It’s not just a concert, but a music festival,” Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter Suming Rupi (舒米恩·魯碧), a native of A’tolan, told the crowd at the music festival.
“I’m proud to have organized this music festival with my fellow villagers, and implant elements of the Amis and A’tolan culture in the performances,” he said.
Photo Courtesy of the Suming Studio
“Through the performances of my tribesmen, their handicraft, local specialties and cuisine, I hope everyone who traveled from afar to take part in this music festival will enjoy the village’s beautiful way of life, while also creating tribe-oriented economic development that will keep young Amis in their home villages,” he said.
The festival started around midday with a ceremony to raise the festival’s flag, followed by a traditional ritual to bless the event performed by three elders in the village, Halu, Panay and Sofin.
“Prior to the music festival, Suming visited everyone in the village — young and old — to seek our support, and we would also like to give our best wishes to the event,” Halu said. “I would like to take this chance to tell all the young people here to look after their elders and learn our culture.”
After the ritual, A’tolan villagers invited the hundreds of festival-goers to join them for a Malikoda, a traditional Amis group dance.
Many popular Aboriginal singers and bands — including A-lin (real name Huang Li-ling, 黃麗玲) Dakanow (達卡鬧), Matzka (瑪斯卡) and Totem (圖騰樂團) — performed at the music festival.
Audience members were in tears when Suming sang I am Singing Over There (我在那邊唱), which recounts his story of leaving his hometown, searching for the way to go home and finally returning home.
The Amis Music Festival is part of efforts by Amis in Taitung to promote tourism and develop the local economy based on their traditional culture, following campaigns opposing large-scale development projects, such as the controversial Miramar Resort Village construction project on Taitung County’s Shanyuan Beach (杉原沙灘).
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
RSS