Journal

The other day I visited my friend at Tunghai University in TaiChung. I was amazed by how big and beautiful the campus is. Tunghai University is a Christian school. And they have special requirements for the freshmen. For example, all the freshmen have to live at the dormitory at Tunghai and each of them is assigned to take care of a part of the campus. This is a very interesting demand. Usually students think that they are already college student, not at primary or high school anymore, they don't need “cleaning task” for them to experience the moral lessons behind it. But somehow I discovered that students in Tunghai are more likely to enjoy their life around the campus and they are happy to recognize themselves as a “Tunghai person.”

On the contrary, I think students at Fu Jen don't really like their school very much. More to say, they hate to come to school because of the crowded campus, terrible traffic and the uncomfortable surroundings. Occasionally I hear FJU students complaining they pay fairly high tuition fee but receive such education service. Comparing to National Taiwan University, FJU has less support from the Ministry of Education, but still we have professional teachings and good students. And we have relatively more cultural resources because FJU is right next to Taipei while Tunghai has few cultural sources such as bookstores and museums.

Compare to Tunghai, I think our campus is already over-loaded, we need a bigger land for FJU students. And I hope the terrible traffic will change after the MRT start working. I'm very glad that I have the opportunity to visit Tunghai.

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Is country development more important than preservation?

Start from the end of 20^th century, Taiwan government promotes a series of urban planning and urban renewal projects every year. They claim that old buildings and mansions are not applicable for modern people’s need. Hence they torn down the old ones and built the new ones. It seems to be reasonable because Taiwan has limited land and it is inevitable that people have to make a choice between their living land and preservation of historical sites. In my opinion, there is no conflict between country development and preservation and I think there is a third way to make a balance between the two. That is to live along with the good old days while people are still working on with our bright future.

People say that country development is much more important than preservation because we have to make sure that we can feed ourselves first and then talk about whether to preserve the building or not. But I believe that we are not such snobbish people who only see money in our eyes. We shouldn't ignore the profound meaning and cultural resource from the past.

I think common historical memory for the people in the nation is very important. It will be dramatically sad if the people of the nation can't share the same history background of their own country. Hence, preservation of the past is important.

Around us In the Taipei city, there are old buildings being torn down because the government promote the urban renewal project. For example, due to the newly-built MRT system, Lo-Sheng sanatorium is almost torn down. Some traditional houses at DanShui area are also torn down because the governor want to build up a new activity center.

Besides the sad news, we also have a successful case in Taipei, the old wood-peeling factory area called Bo Pi Liou at Wanhua district. Originally the Taipei City government was planning to get rid of the old street so that the urban renewal project can be completed. However, under groups of people's protest, the government decided to preserve the old street and even reconstruct the old street to make it better. Therefore today we have a Heritage and Culture Education Center of Taipei at Wanhua district, providing recreational and educational functions.

I think Bo Pi Liou at Wanhua district is a good example for both the government and the people of the nation. We have to understand the value of preserving our past. And it is possible to live along with the good old days while people are still working on with our bright future.