Human rights mark closed

January 11, 2009

Taipei Times

Last March, I came back to Taiwan from the US as part of an election observation tour. During the tour, I had the privilege of visiting the Taiwan Human Rights Memorial Park in Jingmei. I have longed to take my parents to the memorial, as it is a place they would appreciate.

I am back in Taiwan this month, and today I decided to take my mom to this under-appreciated memorial that many Taiwanese citizens have never heard of. After an hour’s bus and MRT ride, we arrived there, only to find the place surrounded by yellow tape with a small sign that said it is now temporarily closed for reconstruction. We saw a guard and asked him for further details. All he told us was that the memorial needed to be checked for fire alarms and so on. We asked him when the memorial would be reopened, and he said he had no idea.

It is hard for me to not link the temporary closure to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) taking over the government. The KMT would seek to close the memorial for obvious reasons, as the memorial brings up the KMT’s wrongdoings in the past.

In writing this letter, I want to let all the readers know about this. I personally find it unacceptable and I hope the media will investigate the matter.

Jessie Lin, Silver Spring, Maryland