Joyce with all the food:
Chinese beef stew w/ star anise
Radish cake (Luo-bo gao)
Beef w/ chinese BBQ sauce (Sa-cha niu)
Baked Maple Salmon w/ pecan crust
And cookies!! (Chocolate chip oatmeal pecan) mmm...
YUM!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Food!
We cooked and everything was so delicious! Julia, Joyce and I all decided try some new recipes and they all turned out delicious!
Joyce with all the food:
Chinese beef stew w/ star anise
Radish cake (Luo-bo gao)
Beef w/ chinese BBQ sauce (Sa-cha niu)
Baked Maple Salmon w/ pecan crust
And cookies!! (Chocolate chip oatmeal pecan) mmm...
YUM!
Joyce with all the food:
Chinese beef stew w/ star anise
Radish cake (Luo-bo gao)
Beef w/ chinese BBQ sauce (Sa-cha niu)
Baked Maple Salmon w/ pecan crust
And cookies!! (Chocolate chip oatmeal pecan) mmm...
YUM!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
v for vendetta
We watched V for Vendetta in movie club today and it just got me thinking about some of the things I learned about the Taiwanese government nowadays. When we went back, it was all people were talking about - that, and the economy. A new president took office in May, and there was sort of a flip where a different party (KMT) took control of office. And whether or not I agree with the KMT's political stance, there seems to have been a gradual but disturbing loss of freedom/liberty since this new government took office. There were a lot of things that I didn't understand; I had a hard time understanding the news, my Chinese is still not that great yet.
The movie raises the question - if your government starts to falter, if your freedoms start to slip - are you willing to stand up and fight against that (even in the face of fear of disaster)? And an underlying question, which I don't think the movie addresses - is how hard do the people need to fight for the government to listen?
Things I learned when I was in Taiwan -
- In Taiwan, most of the media is controlled or monitored by the government. Only one newspaper is privately owned - and it was able to be started because an incredibly rich man funded it and lost money for a long time, but was willing to pay.
- There are only one or two TV stations that are not monitored/censored by the government. When we were there, on the news, there was a large protest because the public educational channel (that is largely funded by the government) was being threatened to be shut down - either they allow the government to screen and censor all their programs, or else the government would shut down their funding.
- A friend of my parents works to collect historical Taiwanese items and had made a mini museum displaying the items, many of them are significant to historical events in Taiwan that many Taiwanese people don't even know about, because they never learned about them in school. They have kept the place hidden, because they are afraid the items will be confiscated if the government finds out.
- When a Chinese official in charge of Taiwan-China relations came to visit the island, people were forcibly forbidden to display the Taiwanese flag. in order to please China? This comment from a blog echos many sentiments I heard: "There are no other ethnic groups on earth would discriminate against themselves besides Taiwanese. Shame on you, my fellow Taiwanese!!"
- I've heard rumors about the political party in control/executive branch of government starting to take control of the judicial court as well.
- The previous Taiwanese president was arrested and handcuffed at 2am from his home. for suspected charges of corruption. About to go on trial soon. Many other officials who had connections with the former president have also been detained for questioning.
- Taiwan had been previously rated as one of the most "free" countries by Freedom House (an international human rights org). Holding clean and peaceful elections, and a high level of politcal freedoms and civil liberties. But it has been flagged by this organization for monitoring because of recent events.
“The latest events appear to signal a disturbing erosion of civil liberties and human rights in Taiwan.”
— from a letter signed by 14 members of the US Congress to President Bush
What can you do? It makes me scared and sad at the same time. Yet I feel as if the people are so powerless. So many people are in an uproar. Yet the government seems to still march on, unhindered because their political party holds the power/control now. The only power that the people have is by the way of the media (gradually becoming more controlled by the government) and through freedom of speech/assembly (being met by more and more police brutality). My dad says that if things keep continuing on they way they are, there's going to be a big riot. But it is true, that many people still remain complacent. That on many issues the Taiwanese are still letting things happen to them (I saw a news report about a gas leak in Gao-Xiong that was making people sick. The gas leak was right near an elementary/middle school. They knew people were getting sick, but kids were still going to school anyway; they only stayed home if they were already sick. And it took them weeks to try to track down the source. why???)
So the only thing I can do is become informed. And remind myself of how thankful I am to be living in a country where we do have a lot of freedoms. In a society that holds those freedoms as our human God given rights, and that I faith will stand up and hold the government accountable if those freedoms start to falter.
The movie raises the question - if your government starts to falter, if your freedoms start to slip - are you willing to stand up and fight against that (even in the face of fear of disaster)? And an underlying question, which I don't think the movie addresses - is how hard do the people need to fight for the government to listen?
Things I learned when I was in Taiwan -
- In Taiwan, most of the media is controlled or monitored by the government. Only one newspaper is privately owned - and it was able to be started because an incredibly rich man funded it and lost money for a long time, but was willing to pay.
- There are only one or two TV stations that are not monitored/censored by the government. When we were there, on the news, there was a large protest because the public educational channel (that is largely funded by the government) was being threatened to be shut down - either they allow the government to screen and censor all their programs, or else the government would shut down their funding.
- A friend of my parents works to collect historical Taiwanese items and had made a mini museum displaying the items, many of them are significant to historical events in Taiwan that many Taiwanese people don't even know about, because they never learned about them in school. They have kept the place hidden, because they are afraid the items will be confiscated if the government finds out.
- When a Chinese official in charge of Taiwan-China relations came to visit the island, people were forcibly forbidden to display the Taiwanese flag. in order to please China? This comment from a blog echos many sentiments I heard: "There are no other ethnic groups on earth would discriminate against themselves besides Taiwanese. Shame on you, my fellow Taiwanese!!"
- I've heard rumors about the political party in control/executive branch of government starting to take control of the judicial court as well.
- The previous Taiwanese president was arrested and handcuffed at 2am from his home. for suspected charges of corruption. About to go on trial soon. Many other officials who had connections with the former president have also been detained for questioning.
- Taiwan had been previously rated as one of the most "free" countries by Freedom House (an international human rights org). Holding clean and peaceful elections, and a high level of politcal freedoms and civil liberties. But it has been flagged by this organization for monitoring because of recent events.
“The latest events appear to signal a disturbing erosion of civil liberties and human rights in Taiwan.”
— from a letter signed by 14 members of the US Congress to President Bush
What can you do? It makes me scared and sad at the same time. Yet I feel as if the people are so powerless. So many people are in an uproar. Yet the government seems to still march on, unhindered because their political party holds the power/control now. The only power that the people have is by the way of the media (gradually becoming more controlled by the government) and through freedom of speech/assembly (being met by more and more police brutality). My dad says that if things keep continuing on they way they are, there's going to be a big riot. But it is true, that many people still remain complacent. That on many issues the Taiwanese are still letting things happen to them (I saw a news report about a gas leak in Gao-Xiong that was making people sick. The gas leak was right near an elementary/middle school. They knew people were getting sick, but kids were still going to school anyway; they only stayed home if they were already sick. And it took them weeks to try to track down the source. why???)
So the only thing I can do is become informed. And remind myself of how thankful I am to be living in a country where we do have a lot of freedoms. In a society that holds those freedoms as our human God given rights, and that I faith will stand up and hold the government accountable if those freedoms start to falter.
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