Ideas for Commemorating 228

Everyone has their own ways of celebrating Christmas or Lunar New Year. You might not be a certain how to commemorate 228. The following are some ideas:

• If you have relatives who were murdered or imprisoned during the 228 Massacre or the White Terror period, please click on the comments section below this post and write a brief paragraph with details. It always helps to make historical events real to a new generation when there are specific people testifying their own or their relative's experience with it.

• Some will fast and pray for Taiwan.

• Buy white lilies and place them in your home. Give white lily bouquets to your neighbors and friends with a simple card attached -- "Remembering our loved ones February 28, 1947" or simply write "228." (Please note that the Wild Lily Student Movement was a push democratic reform in Taiwan.) Taiwan's Formosan White Lily, Lilium formosanum, is a species endemic to Taiwan that has come to represent freedom, democracy and the hopes of Taiwan's people for a sovereign democratic future free and independent of colonialism or annexation by another country.

• Put up white lights at night remind people that 228 is a special significant day.

• Wear T-shirts with a logo of Taiwan or 228, or wear green. Again, this will begin to be noticed and people will realize that 228 is a special day.

• Remember by reading history: e.g. eyewitness accounts like Formosa Betrayed by George Kerr of the United States, Formosa Calling by Allan Shackleton of New Zealand

• Taiwan Publishing Company has republished both of these books and you can purchase them and give them to your friends.

• Purchase copies of the Mandarin-language translation of Formosa Betrayed 被出賣的台灣 and give these copies to your Taiwanese or Chinese friends. You can find it in the Taiwan Shop and also I have seen it in Eslite Bookstores. Many Taiwanese have no idea about their own history because information negative about the KMT was omitted or suppressed from the education system.

• Buy Taiwan Tug-of-War a PBS documentary and give it to your English-speaking friends.

• Go with family and friends to visit historic sites in Taiwan related to the 228 Massacre. There are some all over Taiwan.

• In Taipei you can visit two places in particular, (1) the 228 Peace Park and 228 Memorial Museum, and

• (2) The site of the February 28, 1980 assassination of Lin I-hsiung's family members which is now a church. They hold a memorial service every February 28th at 9 A.M. in the morning. Then at 10 A.M. everyone heads into the mountains to go to the grave site of the murder victims at a memorial park 慈林紀念林園 maintained by the Chilin Foundation. That is a beautiful place to visit up in the mountains about an hour away. It is on highway 9 just over the border into I-Lan County from Taipei county. Also, the foundation arranges many cultural activities that day including poem recitations, music performances, etc. Though memorializing a sad part of Taiwan's past under authoritarian oppression, the event is also a joyful celebration of Taiwan and its present culture and people.

• Identify with other countries that have faced similar situations. You can rent and watch at home that evening movies like "Braveheart" (Scotland), "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" 吹動大麥的風 and "Michael Collins" 邁克爾Collins (Ireland), Katyn (Poland). You can also rent the Korean miniseries 모래시개 The Sandglass about the May 1980 Kwangju Indicident where many students and taxi drivers were murdered by the Korean dictator's troops. And who can forget the shrill Communist propagandized female voice over the radio announcing the Chinese would "liberate" Tibet from the foreigners in the 1997 movie, "Seven Years in Tibet" 七年在西藏 ?

• Go with your friends to watch movies opening in theaters in Taiwan this weekend that portray fights against tyranny and oppression: "Gran Torino" Gran 托裡諾 and "Defiance" 聖戰家園. As your Taiwanese friends walk out of the theater with you after the movie ask them one simple question, "If these kinds of things happened to you in Taiwan, would you be able to stand up against them?"

• Visit the Taiwan Democracy Movement Museum 台灣民主運動館 at the Chilin Foundation Building in I-Lan County. There is also a research library there with original source material on democracy and social movements in Taiwan.

• Learn the (unofficial) Taiwan National Anthem, Verdant Taiwan. You have a choice of Amis, Hakka, or Taiwanese.

• Fly an (unofficial) flag of Taiwan (hint -- flags other than the R.O.C. flag)

給支持馬英九的朋友們﹍

給支持馬英九的朋友們﹍

２８年前的世界人權日當天，台灣發生了震驚全世界的「美麗島事件」，我家也因此24小時都在警方的監視之下。在228那天，國民黨派了位兇手，奪走了我親愛的阿嬤和兩位雙胞胎妹妹的生命。這麼多年來，我還是多麼的想念她們。

看到無數的人，都用跑的去近靠有錢有力的國民黨。我實在是不清楚，為什麼有這麼多人會支持這麼邪惡的國民黨。難道他們真的不知道國民黨是如何造成無數台灣人民的悲劇嗎？

今天的國民黨跟２８年前的國民黨有不一樣嗎？

今日的國民黨利用媒體和廣告，說服台灣人民要自願放棄公投的權利，自願放棄台灣的國際地位。更奇怪的是，台灣人民不只放棄自己應有的權利，還學媒體批評公投和加入聯合國的作為，說這都是「無聊，跟我的日常生活沒關」而繼續的批評經濟。這世界歷史上不知有多少人犧牲了自己的生命為同胞爭取公投的權利。台灣的人口雖然有瑞士的三倍，可是在國際上沒有聲音，其實這都會影響我們的日常生活，這都會影響經濟的。其他的國家都把這幾項權利當作寶，而只有國民黨沒有。

國民黨並不愛台灣人。國民黨並不疼惜這塊土地。

還記得「真善美」這電影嗎？。它是一部關於崔普(Von Trapp)家庭真實故事的電影。崔普(Von Trapp)艦長是一位非常有權勢，非常有錢的海軍將領。只要他願意變節投靠納粹，他將可以繼續保有他的財富與權勢。但是他卻堅持自由和正義的理念，拋棄了既有的權勢與財富，離開他的故鄉Austria，逃亡到美國去。他寧肯失去他所有的地位和財富，就是不肯變成邪惡納粹的一份子。而因此，崔普(Von Trapp)艦長成為了一位真正的英雄。

真期盼台灣有多多的人能成為這樣子的英雄。

以下是我表哥寫給我雙胞胎妹妹的信。我表哥的回憶，讓我流淚不停。我表哥的回憶，也大大的安慰我，讓我知道，還有剩下一些人，沒有忘記親愛的阿嬤，亮均、亭均。

林奐均

[English translation with a few additional comments:]

Dear Ma Supporters,

28 years ago, when Taiwan was still under martial law, my father Lin I-Hsiung was arrested for alleged involvement in the Kaohsiung Incident. With my father's arrest, my house was placed under 24 hours police surveillance. It was under such police watch, on the significant date of February 28, that the Chinese Nationalist Party KuoMingTang (KMT) sent an assassin to my home. In an attempt to annihilate my father's family, my paternal grandmother and my two sisters who were twins were cruelly murdered. I was sent to the hospital with six stab wounds. And by the grace of God, I survived.

Though it has already been 28 years, I still deeply miss my grandmother and sisters.

Everywhere I look, countless Taiwanese are trying to associate themselves with the KMT. It is baffling to me why so many still support the KMT though they are responsible for so many lost lives and tragedies in Taiwan.

The main question is this:

Is the KMT of today any different from the KMT of 28 years ago who murdered my family members?

1. I was the sole surviving eyewitness of the murders that took place in my home. I alone saw the assassin. Yet in an effort to divert attention away from the KMT, the KMT controlled media of that time began to circulate a description of a 'man with a bushy beard.' Though I never once mentioned the assassin as having any beard, every media reporting repeated over and over again this image of a heavily bearded man. Eventually, a bearded foreigner was exiled from Taiwan. The assassin in my home did not have a beard and was not a foreigner.

Fast forward to the year 2003. Just four years ago, 24 years since the murders of my family members, I accepted an interview with TVBS Magazine. I appeared on the cover of the magazine and was their main story for that issue. In large captions, the headline of the article stated: Judy Lin says, " I have forgiven the bearded murderer." Though I never once used the word 'bearded', 24 years later, some one from the KMT still wants to make sure that the murderer is not associated with the KMT.

Several months after that interview, the reporter who penned the article saw me on the street and came running up to me. She wished to ask for my forgiveness. She said it was the decision of her superiors to put words in my mouth, but she still felt responsible. All I could do was smile, expressed my forgiveness, and pray to God for ultimate justice.

2. In the last 28 years, the KMT could no longer resort to such scare tactics as reigned under the era of White Terror. They have had to resort to other means. Instead of oppressing human rights, the KMT has used their unlimited wealth to buy media and advertisements to persuade the common Taiwanese to give up their rights. Just a few months ago, the KMT used media and countless ads to confuse and encourage the people of Taiwan to NOT vote in the referendum. Amazingly, they told the people that referendums were a ploy of the DPP to create chaos in the election process. The pan-KMT media told the people that the referendums have nothing to do with our daily lives and we should regard them as useless trash. And many people believed the KMT propaganda and gave up their right to referendum.

If the KMT loved the Taiwanese people, they would encourage the people to hold on to their democratic rights of referendum, and not urge them to give them up.

3. In the last 28 years, Taiwan has had no voice on the international stage. Instead of striving to preserve the Taiwanese identity and striving to win Taiwan's seat in the UN, the KMT has continued to tell the Taiwanese that joining the UN is a worthless aspiration. Even in light of the Tibetan crisis, the KMT still refuses to protect Taiwan, yet continually invites closer relations with China. Although China continually lays claim to Taiwan and continues to threaten violence on Taiwan, the KMT still leads Taiwan closer to the menace of China.

If the KMT loved Taiwan, they would protect Taiwan from the sure and constant oppression of China.

I do not personally hold any hatred towards the KMT. And if the KMT had indeed changed to be loyal towards the people of Taiwan, then there are many of us who would be willing to let bygones be bygones. However, we have seen over and over that the KMT has not changed in the last 28 years. They continue to lie to the people of Taiwan to give up their human rights, to give up their international status. Over and over again, we see that the KMT's loyalty lies with oppressive China, and not with Taiwan.

All the money in the world cannot buy freedom or justice.

When I think of how wealthy and powerful the KMT still is, I think of Captain Von Trapp whose real life story the movie "The Sound of Music" is based on. Being a navy officer, Captain Von Trapp had status and wealth. Yet instead of changing allegiance to the Nazis, he forfeited all his wealth and status and fled penniless to America, all because he would not associate himself with the evil Nazis. Captain Von Trapp is a real hero in my eyes.

Wishing for more heroes in Taiwan,

Judy Lin Linton

(Lin Huan-Chun)


＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
給離開台灣 28年的 228 雙胞胎姊妹
(林奐均的表哥所寫的信）

亮均、亭均：

時間過得真快！轉眼之間已經過了 28 年了，這28年來你們雙胞胎姊妹在天上的國度是否安好？

讓時間回溯到 1980年的2月27日，還記得這一天晚上，你們雙胞胎姊妹到我們家玩，已經記不得是誰的提議了，居然玩起了扮演「醫生與病人」的遊戲。依稀還記得姊姊亮均扮演護士的角色，妹妹亭均扮演被壞人追殺的病人，我扮演醫生。當亭均被壞人追殺之後，送到醫院來急救，「護士」亮均還很疼惜的說：「乖不痛，貼一下 OK 繃就好了」… 。真不知道這是「巧合」還是「預兆」，想不到這一場「生死遊戲」居然在現實的生活當中實際上演了。

那一年國中二年級的我，在隔天學校上完課之後，一如往常的匆匆的吃完晚餐就趕著去補習了，當下並未察覺家中有任何不尋常的氣氛。當我拖著一身的疲憊回到家中的時候，突然獲知這突如其來的噩耗，真的把我嚇壞了！「這…，怎麼可能?」，明明昨天還到家裡來一起玩遊戲的，怎麼 ….，該不會是作夢吧！但是此時看到所有的電視新聞都在報導這一則震驚當時整個台灣社會的「滅門血案」，我不得不面對現實，這一夜我真的是徹夜難眠 …。原本你們的大舅媽要留你們姊妹兩在家裡過夜的，但是因為隔天還必須到幼稚園上課，所以最後還是由阿媽親自來將你們姊妹兩帶回，但是卻是萬萬想不到這是最後一次見到阿媽以及你們姊妹兩個最後的身影了….。如果當時有把你們姊妹兩留下來過夜或許就可以逃過一劫了…，但是再多的如果卻也挽回不了你們的生命。

隔天一到學校，所有的人都在談論這一個震驚整個當時台灣社會的事件，這其中有很多以訛傳訛或是惡意謾罵批評的言論，雖然我心裡明白，但是卻也不方便辯白或是澄清些什麼，只能靜靜的聽，心理默默的流淚。

接下來的幾天，整個台灣籠罩在「陰謀論」的不安與恐懼當中，每一天聽到不同的市集耳語與跨大不實的媒體報導，心裡實在很難過。在這個「白色恐怖」時代，人人對於美麗島事件的「惡徒」避之唯恐不及了，一個國中生那有能力替自己的親人做辯白呢？

還記得小時候，每一回到你們家去作客時，慈祥親切的阿媽都會煮他拿手的瓜子肉湯(外面一圈黃瓜，裡面包碎肉)給我們吃。你們家三姊妹還會一起彈琴、唱歌、跳舞 …，如今這一些都只能成為兒時的記憶了 …。每一年的 228 這一天，我都會去參加在義光教會的追思禮拜，望著教會內那架泛黃的鋼琴，聽著你們小時候最愛唱的「我的邦妮」，兒時的記憶一幕又一幕的呈現在眼前，此時往往會不由自主的潸然淚下。

28 年過去了，算算日子今年也應該有35歲了吧！哇！35歲？對於我們大家來說也只能停留在你們孩童時候的印象。如果你們也可以平安順利長大的話，現在應該也會跟你們姊姊奐均一樣的成熟嫵媚，或許也早就為人母了吧！不知道你們在天國上面是否還是一樣的彼此相親相愛呢？還記得小時候你們雙胞胎姊妹，只要其中一個被人欺負，另外一個絕對會挺身而出維護彼此的權益，令我印象非常深刻。

雖然，來不及看到你們長大的模樣，希望你們還是能夠保有孩童時代的天真無邪!無憂無慮的在天國生活，我們會永遠的祝福你們！

泊汾哥 於 2008/02/28