Tuesday, May 20, 2008

When I arrived at the Daan Park music stage on Tuesday for the rally to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty, Su Beng's assistant, Bin Hong told me that he wasn't there. She told me that that morning he had felt too weak to even stand. I knew that it must have been something major- to keep Su Beng away. I also know that these past few weeks he has not been feeling well. He had a cold and has had a fever, chills, aches and pains. Bin Hong told me that he has even been on an IV for a few days.

I had planned to meet with Su Beng the following day (the 21st), but I wasn't sure if Su Beng would be up to it. Bin Hong insisted that we still meet, since it would be our last visit before I leave to return to New York.

More on that in a few days, as I am now frantically packing up the remaining remnants of six years of my life. This is phase two I suppose, of my move back to New York (which was initiated last summer).

In the meantime, you can more about the rally, in this Taipei Times article.

Though Su Beng was not at the rally, his presence was felt as these photos show:

The cover Su Beng's recent booklet "Taiwan Should Be Independent" - on one of the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade propaganda trucks

Taiwan Independence Action motorcade taxis were out in force

Bin Hong and her powerful voice- speaking over a megaphone to passersby

The rally ended at the National Taiwan Democracy Hall. I had to take a picture of this, since it will probably be "restored" to its former name, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Did you know?

There's going to be a rally on May 20th (the day of Taiwan's presidential inauguration) at 2:00pm in Taipei's Daan park in support of safeguarding Taiwan's sovereignty.

The rally is mainly organized by the Taiwan Association of University Professors along with several other pro-Taiwan independence groups. The rally will start at the Daan Park music stage at 2:00pm. For the first hour there will be some speakers, among them Su Beng. Then at 3:00pm people will walk to the Democracy Hall/CKS Memorial Hall. Of course, I will be there "armed" with my camcorder to capture things.

Su Beng on FM 97.3 Today 5-6pm

Su Beng was interviewed in Hoklo/Taiwanese on radio station FM 97.3 today from 5-6pm.

I've recorded the interview in two parts since there was a commercial break at the halfway point. The first recording begins with six minutes of the tail end of a previous program. Fast forward ahead six minutes to the first half of the interview with Su Beng, which you can listen to here: http://www.box.net/shared/2orq7mts8g and listen to the second recording i.e. second half of the interview here: http://www.box.net/shared/3rkksc4kk0

Translation issues

Translation is a huge issue that I have to deal with. My Hoklo/Taiwanese skills are sufficient for most conversational purposes, but during the interview process, my language skills are definitely put to the test. No matter how well I prepare for our interviews, unexpected things inevitably pop up- which is most definitely something that I welcome! At these times, I sometimes find myself in need of clarification or translation of what Su Beng has said; sometimes it is hard to react quickly enough in formulating follow up questions, and at times when I need to probe more for details, I find myself at a loss for words in trying to rephrase my questions.

Throughout this project I have almost always had someone who is a native Hoklo/Taiwanese speaker accompany me to my interviews with Su Beng. Lately, that has been my Mom. She has committed herself to being my personal translator during my interviews with Su Beng. I couldn't think of anyone better to help me with this since Su Beng speaks in his special mix of mainly Hoklo/Taiwanese, with a smattering of Mandarin Chinese and Japanese phrases. My mother has a very proficient understanding of Japanese, and of course, she is fluent in Hoklo/Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese. Also, the type of Hoklo/Taiwanese that Su Beng speaks is definitely better understood by someone of my mother's generation.

All of my interviews with Su Beng have been audio recorded. So the first step before even putting together the story of this man's life, is translating all the interviews. Anytime I get stuck with a translation question while going through this arduous process, I consult my special team of experts* for clarification or suggestions.

*My team of experts includes my parents who have been on the "front lines" with me throughout this project, and my aunt- who has been doing freelance Chinese-English translation for years.

Standby for Su Beng on Skype

Just got back yesterday from Taipei. I had another fruitful meeting with Su Beng last week. Before I even had a chance to ask him if we could schedule regular Skype meetings when I'm back in New York, he told me that anytime I need to talk to him, if I "saw him online" I could just feel free to Skype him. This basically means Skyping his assistant, Bin Hong, and so if he were available at the time, he said he'd come and talk to me online!

I've been trying my best to get all the details necessary to fill in the telling of this man's incredible life. I've asked him several times over, for clarification about certain key events in his life, and I am always impressed by his memory and consistency. In my quest for accuracy, I have found some incompleteness regarding the sequence of certain events in Su Beng's life. So what I need to do is understand how to connect everything together, and to add in the missing details. Su Beng definitely keeps me on my toes and corrects me if I've misunderstood the particulars of a certain situation. And sometimes, when I go back over our previous interviews, I realize that I had actually misunderstood or mistranslated what he said.

Making progress... and history

On Tuesday, Su Beng and I talked via Skype for the first time! With the help of his assistant Bin Hong (敏紅), he (in Sinjuang) spoke to me (in Kaohsiung). This is a crucial development- to be able to interview him via Skype. It actually worked surprisingly well since I think that Su Beng can actually hear me more clearly through the headset he wears to converse with me via Skype. During our live, in person interviews at his home in Sinjuang, I sometimes need to be reminded to "turn up the volume" since I'm a little too soft spoken.

With every interview I'm more and more excited about the details I'm able to "unearth" about Su Beng's life story. I am really beginning to see how I've earned Su Beng's trust.

Su Beng has been so generous with his time from the outset. When I first approached him about four years ago, I simply asked if I could talk to him about his life experiences as inspiration for a possible novel. He agreed, simply saying, "Yes, this is to further things for Taiwan."

And now it has all grown into a project to document Su Beng's life. I have so many people to thank along the way- for helping to make things happen with this project.

I'm planning to schedule regular Skype interviews with Su Beng as I continue working on his biography while I'm in Kaohsiung and later, after I return to New York in late May.

How it all got started (Part I)

Since deciding to take a year off or so to focus exclusively on working on Su Beng's biography, I often find myself explaining who Su Beng is and how I ended up working on this project. The answer is not really a simple one. So first, let me start with how I first heard of Su Beng. It happened nearly five years ago when I read this article written by Su Beng; it had been translated into English and appeared in the Taipei Times newspaper.

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What is the legal basis for human rights?

The UN Declaration of Human Rights is the backbone of many constitutions but still enjoys scant respect under the world's authoritarian regimes

By Su Beng

Friday, Dec 12, 2003, Page 9



The idea of human rights did not exist in ancient societies based on slavery and feudal societies in the Middle Ages, when people were not treated as human beings.

This idea only started to take shape when the feudal system began to collapse, the existence of "humanity" was discovered during the Renaissance, and capitalism began to develop.

Only after the British philosopher of liberalism John Locke and the French philosopher of naturalism Jean-Jacques Rousseau theorized the rights of freedom and equality in the 17th century were human beings deemed entitled to "human rights" as soon as they are born.

After the human rights declaration in the US Declaration of Independence was published in 1776 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was made public in 1789 during the French Revolution, the idea of human rights started to develop extensively across Europe.

Since then, citizens' rights to property, and freedom of speech and publication have been institutionalized and popularized. They were also recorded in the constitutions of democratic nations.

'Real freedom,democracy and equality are still unseen in colonial societies and authoritarian countries because what they advocate is fake.'

By the end of World War II, member states of the UN believed that basic human rights were an important factor in maintaining world peace and international order. Therefore, on Dec. 10, 1948, the UN's General Assembly passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and designated the day as International Human Rights Day.

The concept and systems of freedom and human rights finally secured a stable basis in the constitutions of various countries.

The preamble of the declaration states:

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

"Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind.

"Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom..."

In addition to general concepts about freedom of speech, assembly and residence, the declaration's 30 articles also include some important human rights clauses:

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."

"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude."

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. "

"All are equal before the law."

But real freedom, democracy and equality are still unseen in colonial societies and authoritarian countries because what they advocate is fake -- freedom, democracy and equality in name only.

Su Beng (史明) is a Taiwan independence activist and founder of the Su Beng Educational Foundation.

Translated by Jackie Lin