http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/02/27/2003437097
Reading the title of the article actually gave me a shudder. Uncover truth?! Does the KMT government have the ability and credibility to do so? If we look at the past record of how KMT uncover "truth," we all know they are really bad at it.
And there was an incident back a few years ago that makes me really, really doubtful of KMT's sincerity and intentions. There was this TV call-in talk show, and the current head of Government Information Office (GIO), 蘇俊賓, was one of the guest of the show. I think it was just before 228 and the shows topic is also about the history during those era. It was a few years ago, so my memory might not be totally accurate, but I remember very clearly that when I heard some of the stuff Mr. 蘇 said, I felt an sense of unease and disgust.
Up to that point, 蘇 seems to be a reasonable and friendly person, and indeed a lot of people that call-in has something good to say about him. But when he talks about this history, my opinion of him suddenly changed. It's not because he denies 228 or anything like that. No...the problem is the way he tried to "theorize" history and making "connections" between Taiwan, China and KMT. If I remember correctly, he even openly said that what they (KMT) try to do is explaining the history, conceptualize it and making connection with KMT and Taiwan. To many, this might not matter. But I intuitively felt that this is a terrible...and indeed terrifying way of thinking.
History should not be studied in this way. And my intuition seems to be correct. In the book "The Road To Serfdom," it has some account on how Nazi studied history, and it seems to me to be the exact concept of "theorizing" history. "Truth" becomes meaningless and every study is there to support National Socialism's goal. This is exactly what 蘇 was trying to do. It seems truth is less, or not, important to 蘇, but how to theorize and make connections is his primary objective.
If it's a personal thing, perhaps it's not a big deal because all you will have is perhaps a misguided fool. But when it's some public figure as influential as 蘇, and indeed now his the head of GIO...it really creates another danger for Taiwan. They way they try to study history could misguide the whole nation.
And indeed, wasn't this what KMT always do? They "study" history in ways that only serve KMT goal. They theorize, sometimes even fabricate, history to establish a firm grip of Taiwan through media and education.
So when Ma "promised to uncover the truth behind the 228 Incident," it only sends an alarming chill down my spine.
Reading the title of the article actually gave me a shudder. Uncover truth?! Does the KMT government have the ability and credibility to do so? If we look at the past record of how KMT uncover "truth," we all know they are really bad at it.
And there was an incident back a few years ago that makes me really, really doubtful of KMT's sincerity and intentions. There was this TV call-in talk show, and the current head of Government Information Office (GIO), 蘇俊賓, was one of the guest of the show. I think it was just before 228 and the shows topic is also about the history during those era. It was a few years ago, so my memory might not be totally accurate, but I remember very clearly that when I heard some of the stuff Mr. 蘇 said, I felt an sense of unease and disgust.
Up to that point, 蘇 seems to be a reasonable and friendly person, and indeed a lot of people that call-in has something good to say about him. But when he talks about this history, my opinion of him suddenly changed. It's not because he denies 228 or anything like that. No...the problem is the way he tried to "theorize" history and making "connections" between Taiwan, China and KMT. If I remember correctly, he even openly said that what they (KMT) try to do is explaining the history, conceptualize it and making connection with KMT and Taiwan. To many, this might not matter. But I intuitively felt that this is a terrible...and indeed terrifying way of thinking.
History should not be studied in this way. And my intuition seems to be correct. In the book "The Road To Serfdom," it has some account on how Nazi studied history, and it seems to me to be the exact concept of "theorizing" history. "Truth" becomes meaningless and every study is there to support National Socialism's goal. This is exactly what 蘇 was trying to do. It seems truth is less, or not, important to 蘇, but how to theorize and make connections is his primary objective.
If it's a personal thing, perhaps it's not a big deal because all you will have is perhaps a misguided fool. But when it's some public figure as influential as 蘇, and indeed now his the head of GIO...it really creates another danger for Taiwan. They way they try to study history could misguide the whole nation.
And indeed, wasn't this what KMT always do? They "study" history in ways that only serve KMT goal. They theorize, sometimes even fabricate, history to establish a firm grip of Taiwan through media and education.
So when Ma "promised to uncover the truth behind the 228 Incident," it only sends an alarming chill down my spine.
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