Serializing my posts

I'm going to try to do something different here by serializing some of my posts on specific topics since I realize that people don't always have the time or attention span to read long blog posts.

Su Beng at his noodle shop in Tokyo

Today I called Su Beng who is currently in Tokyo at his noodle shop in Ikebukuro. Though he needs to use a wheelchair to get around, he still manages to swim every day. He's been back there since late June, trying to reestablish his noodle shop's business. It's been tough. Business is just not the same.

After recently completing a draft of a sample chapter for his biography, I felt that I needed to talk to him to clarify a few things pertaining to the chapter. As always, he welcomed my call. His seemed to be in good spirits and his voice sounded strong.

He told me that it's pretty hot there in in Tokyo where the temperature is around 36-37 degrees Celsius, but he has no air conditioning there, just an electric fan. Being able to swim every day makes the heat a bit more bearable for him.

Sounds like he is planning to stay in Tokyo until November or December in order to try to get things up and running again at his noodle shop.

I am concerned about him being over there in the heat in his advanced age, but there is someone there looking after him. I also wonder how he can turn things around and what could possibly be done to improve the noodle shop's business.

In the coming months, I plan on having more telephone conversations with Su Beng, as I work through writing each chapter for the biography.

Swimming Upstream

Su Beng has been a lot less ambulatory since he was hospitalized for kidney failure in Japan last November, but just recently, I heard from his assistant Bin Hong that he has taken up swimming in the mornings again. I am so heartened to hear this. For as long as I have known him, swimming has always been a part of his morning routine.

This man really has an amazing stamina and memory for his age. Most of my interviews with him, which were conducted at his residence in Sinjhuang, lasted nearly 6 hours. We'd start around 10:00 am, break for lunch and continue until 4:00 pm. As he talked to me about his life, he'd provide me with a historical context, effectively giving me a short history lesson in the process. I have found him to be extremely consistent as we have delved deeper into more detailed discussions of his key life experiences and many adventures. He has always been extremely generous- providing me with lunch in his home and has always accommodated my requests to meet and speak with him.

Since I have relocated to New York, we have continued to communicate via Skype and I look forward to more "virtual conversations" with him in the coming months. At times I am humbled by the magnitude of knowledge required to truly understand and tell this man's story.

In this caricature Su Beng is standing on the island of Taiwan which is surrounded by three sharks symbolized by the flags of China, the Kuomintang (aka Nationalist Chinese) party and United States of America. In his hand he wields a pen on one end and an ax on the other. The pen is one of his "weapons" to protect Taiwan; by writing Taiwan's 400 Years of History, he has awakened the political conscience of the people of Taiwan, giving them a sense of purpose and the will to fight for a free, and independent Taiwan. The ax is a weapon to kill the sharks circling Taiwan. And the globe has landed on Taiwan, symbolizing the need for the international community to keep it's eye on Taiwan. Su Beng believes that Taiwan needs more attention and support from the international community.

On May 20, 2010...

The Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade (獨立台灣會) and Su Beng called for a referendum on the free trade act between Taiwan and China (aka the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement) and participated in a silent sit-in protest.

A protest to coincide with the second anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) inauguration, was set to begin at noon in front of the Legislative Yuan on that day. Protesters planned a three day sit-in to increase pressure on the government to hold a referendum on its proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.

Read more about the 5/20 protest in these Taipei Times articles:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/05/20/2003473411
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2010/05/21/2003473518

Here are some photos from that day:

The sign on this Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade truck reads:

Want freedom
Have to be independent first



The sign on the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade truck reads:

Want democracy
Have to be independent first

Finished first draft of sample chapter for Su Beng's biography!

I have finished writing the first draft of an exciting sample chapter for the book proposal for the biography of Su Beng. The chapter I've chosen to highlight covers Su Beng's escape from Taiwan after his involvement in a plot to assassinate Chiang Kai-Shek was discovered. In early 1952, after months of working as a laborer loading bananas onto the boats of a banana trading company, Su Beng was able to stow away in the cargo section of one of these boats en route to Japan. I've written briefly about his escape and the noodle shop that he eventually set up in Japan in a previous blog post here.

Of course I'll be sharing this first chapter with Su Beng himself and looking forward to some discussions with him over Skype about it, and other chapters that will be in the works soon.

Yesterday was the beginning of Taiwanese American Heritage week, and there's a facebook campaign going on to coincide with it. Participants are posting an image that reads "Taiwan is NOT part of China" as their profile photo to increase awareness of Taiwan's situation.

I've invited the tech-savvy 91 year old Su Beng who is on facebook to participate. So far it has generated some interesting comments and discussions for me on my facebook page.

More on Su Beng's March 14 appearance at Taiwan University

Lately I've noticed some new comments from people who have visited this blog and I want to thank everyone for their interest and encouragement. It is really very much appreciated. It is always amazing to see that people are finding my blog, reading it and interested in my project to document Su Beng's life.

Below are some photos from 文輔 許, which were taken at the Taiwan University event on March 14. You can see a slide show of photos from the event here: Bunhu Natea's album





Su Beng signs copies of "Crossing The Red Tide"

The March 14th event was reported on the evening news in Taiwan and you can watch it here:

Crossing The Red Tide

At 9:00am on Sunday, March 14, 2010, Su Beng will be speaking at Taiwan University about his new book 紅色浪潮-封面初稿 (Crossing the Red Tide) and sharing some of his life experiences. Here's a brief translation of the above schedule of events for the day:

09:00-09:30 Registration and check-in

09:30-09:40 Opening remarks by Professor Lai (賴義雄) & Professor Chen (陳儀深) of the Taiwan Association of University Professors

09:40-11:40 Discussion panel/Paper presentation about Su Beng’s life and the Taiwan independence movement

Moderator: Professor Chen (陳儀深)
Panelists: Professor Lan (藍士博), Mr. Lin (林嘉立), Mr. Chen (張之豪), Mr. Yeh (葉紘麟), Mr. Wu (吳乃德)

11:40-13:00 Lunch break

13:00-13:30 Documentary screening

13:30-13:40 Singing performance by Wang Ming-Zhe (王明哲)

13:40-14:40 Su Beng talks about some of his life experiences

Moderator: Professor Liao (廖宜恩), Vice President of the Taiwan Association of University Professors
Panelists: Professor Liao (廖偉程), Professor Tsai (蔡丁貴), Professor Chen (張信堂), Bin Hong (敏紅, Su Beng’s assistant)

14:40-15:30 Question & answer session with Su Beng

15:30 Closing

This event is being organized by the Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP)

For more information:

Call: (02)2362-8797

E-mail：taup@seed.net.tw

Register online here: www.taup.org.tw