#228 大屠殺 & 反抗受難紀念日 #You got 3 shots just by getting the breakfast — 228 Massacre & Resistance Memorial Day in Taiwan
— Excerpt from Formosa Calling 1948 —
My father, Allan James Shackleton, wrote “Formosa Calling” in 1948, immediately after his return to New Zealand. He was strongly motivated by “interests of peace, justice and humanity” and the need for the conditions in Formosa to be more widely known. For fifty years “Formosa Calling” has lain unpublished among our family’s memorabilia…My father was an extremely moral man in the old-fashioned and Christian mold. Presbyterian by upbringing and later a Quaker with strong pacifist convictions, his surprise and abhorrence of what he considered to be immoral activities in Taiwan in 1947 can be clearly seen throughout the text. The corruption of the Nationalist regime, the abject poverty to which they reduced the Taiwanese population, and the vio lent behaviour of the Nationalist soldiers and the bloodbath they created are clearly outside the moral limits he set for himself and others. Being a Westerner of the old school, he had a different perception of how a society should conduct itself even in times of upheaval. He himself fought in a war that was so “civilised” (if that may be said of armed conflict) that the two sides agreed to stop for Christmas and had to be goaded by their officers into starting again! Given this background, his disgust and sadness for what he saw in Taiwan in 1947 is understandable…
“…Allan was one of only two in his original unit of several hundred men to survive. His survival and several narrow escapes from death, strengthened his religious faith and convinced him of the futility of war. Following the war, he attended Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand, and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical). He was awarded a postgraduate apprenticeship at Metropolitan Vickers, which at that time was a large and thriving heavy electrical engineering company in Manchester, England. A few years later, the prospect of unemployment at Metropolitan Vickers during the Great Depression of the early 1930s compelled him to return with his family to New Zealand in search of better employment opportunities. Shortly before the Second World War, he was appointed head of the engineering department at the local high school in Gisborne. During the Second World War, he was unwillingly conscripted into the local “Home Guard” but, owing to his age, was ineligible for a further period of active duty overseas. In 1946, he successfully applied for the position of Industrial Rehabilitation Officer with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (China Mission). Initially, he worked in Shanghai but at the onset of the communist uprising in China was posted to Formosa (Taiwan). After his arrival in Taiwan, the Formosans rebelled against Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek’s military regime. On 28 February 1947, he again found himself in a war zone. During December, 1947, at the end of his term of duty he left Taiwan to return to his family in Gisbome…”
Here are some of the important first hand books about Taiwan in the recent history, I haven’t finished all of them though, just some chapters, one (From Far Formosa 1895) has been translated into Tâigí Taiwanese, and the others are still waiting to be translated than Mandarin Chinese.
#228 大屠殺 & 反抗受難紀念日
#228 Massacre & Resistance Memorial day
What I was doing at the 228 (massacre & resistance memorial day) music festival for freedom, justice and our future, it’s one of the important tragedies of Taiwan’s history for sure, if you want to know more about what happened from the perspective of the foreigners back then you can check the books like “Formosa calling”, “Formosa betrayed” or some of the first-hand witness newspaper, telegraphy back then.
Yes, the real stories of the natives are still on their way to be translated, and at the end of the day, after countless someone sacrificed for freedom, democracy with Taiwan independence as the only way to achieve our basic rights… we’re getting better for sure.
Instagram: @taigitaiwanesediplomat
Meaningful inquiries：https://0rz.tw/IYxGZ
＊台文外交、郵政、翻譯、創作有志 tng 募集！台灣店家－友志共好地圖，歡迎補充。https://0rz.tw/lQNCR
& The hospitality platform which is developing：https://revpub.org/
https://openhospitality.network/ (The network of the hospitality platform)
I also plan to make a hospitality social media platform with a built-in feature to emphasize everyone’s cultural/history/interest background so people can learn from each other without borders. (ok you can be anonymous for sure as other platforms out there.)
It gonna work by using the “calendar” function for the different groups and individuals to know each other without any prior requirements, to hang out together, build something from scratch, the opportunity to meet the people who are different than your background and bridge the differences in a reasonable, peaceful way to solve the urgent issue in our society and world, details in discussion so feel free to share your ideas and help.
Tâigí Taiwanese：我嗎有計劃愛來做 共好分享 + 一款世界各族群人生活基礎內建 ê 社群平台，平台用內建曆日型態 ê 社團方式來乎各傳統家族宗教 + 新型興趣/認同/理念族群使用者 攏有法度共同活動、對人分享、互相了解 （鼓勵世界各族人去無邊界 ê 交流了解 ánne，詳細閣愛設計討論，歡迎來講）
Ongoing project: @taigitaiwanesediplomat
Meaningful inquiries：https://0rz.tw/IYxGZ
