David on Formosa

The 2010 Justice For All Concert (正義無敵音樂會) was held in Pingtung yesterday. I arrived at the venue in the mid-afternoon while the bands were still doing their sound checks. The venue was a park in the Pingdong Sugar Factory — a big grassy area surrounded by palm trees with a banyan tree providing some nice shade.

In the late afternoon the crowd began to build as the first band Windmill (風籟坊) took to the stage. Windmill’s Hoklo rock was followed by the Hakka folk of Lin Sheng-xiang (林生祥). Sheng-xiang is well known as a protest singer and lives in Meinong, not far from Pingtung. Read more »

It was three years ago that I first attended and photographed a cosplay event at NTU. I went to NTU again today to photograph some of the cosplay action at Fancy Frontier 15. This was also a photowalk event for the Taiwan Photo Club. It was nice to see some other photographers there including Mei, Craig, Dilip, Neil and Pei.

This man made a good strong pose. Read more »

Monga (艋舺), directed by Niu Chen-zer (鈕承澤), is a classic gangster tale. The scene is set when Mosquito, played by Mark Chao (趙又廷), a new boy in the high school finds himself being picked on. His brave response catches the attention of Dragon, played by Rhydian Vaughan (鳳小岳), who is the son of Geta, the boss of the Temple Front. He is inducted into the gang and forms part of the group of five that also includes Monk, played by Ethan Ruan (阮經天). Monkey and Dog Boy complete the line up.

The film, set in Taipei’s Wanhua district in the 1980s, evokes a nostalgia for a not so distant past. It perhaps represents a time of innocence, a world on the cusp of old and new. This sets up the plot with outside gangs seeking to move in and change things, while the Temple Front resists change.

Mosquito has grown up without a father and looks up to Geta, played by Ma Ru-long (馬如龍), as a father figure. Xiaoning, played by Ke Jia-yan (柯佳嬿), is Mosquito’s love interest. However, she plays a fairly peripheral role. This is essentially a film about a male world of brotherhood and betrayal. There are quite a few fight scenes, some of which are quite violent. However, the real focus is on the relationships between the gang members.

Overall Monga is a well executed production that successfully builds dramatic tension and sympathy for the key protagonists. With the benefit of a wide opening Monga has already enjoyed success at the box office and will no doubt draw big crowds over the Lunar New Year holiday. It is an entertaining film and the audience will certainly enjoy it.

*The film has English subtitles in cinemas screening the non-digital version.

Links

• Monga – official blog
• Monga – trailer at YouTube
• What tangled webs they weave – Taipei Times review
• Monga – China Post review
• ‘Monga’ beats ‘Avatar’ on first-day gross – Focus Taiwan
• “Monga” box office success feeds local tourism – Taiwan Today

The High Court yesterday passed down a not guilty verdict to three men from the Atayal village of Smangus. The verdict follows the Supreme Court decision in December last year that sent the case back to the High Court for another hearing.

The case concerned the use of wood from a tree that fell over on the road to Smangus in a September 2005 typhoon. The Forestry Bureau later removed the main part of the tree. The three men from Smangus then took the remaining tree stump for use in their village following a decision made at a community meeting. They were subsequently charged with theft of forest products under the Forestry Act.

Regarding the decision the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (台灣人權促進會) wrote on their blog:

This is not only victory and justice for Smangus after a long battle. It will also have major influence on the autonomous development of all indigenous communities. It also means that the nation’s justice system attaches importance to the basic human rights of indigenous peoples. [translated from Chinese by David]

The decision ends a legal battle that has gone on for more than four years. During this time the community of Smangus has consistently asserted its rights under the law, in particular Article 15 of the Forestry Act and the Indigenous Peoples’ Basic Law. The decision to bring the tree stump back to the village was also in accordance with the gaga, their system of traditional law.

Freak Out Beast (吵年獸), a music festival featuring a huge line up of Taiwan indie bands, took place on Saturday and Sunday in the space around the Red Theatre in Ximending. I attended both days last year but this year I was only able to attend for one day on Sunday.

The event took place on multiple stages around the Red Theatre. At the entrance there were turntables and mixing decks set up for DJs to perform. I had seen this crew performing in Ximending a couple of months earlier. In the evening Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) performed their Taiwan-style hip hop. Read more »

On Saturday the Amis community of Sanying (三鶯部落) in Sanxia held its end of year celebration. The event attracted a crowd of about 500 people which was more than last year’s event. The community had also undergone a lot rebuilding after its demolition in February 2008.

The afternoon began with dancing by members of Sanying and also the nearby riverside community of Saowac. As the evening approached the dancing ended and there was a generously catered meal enjoyed by everyone in attendance. Read more »

The Taipei International Book Exhibition opened yesterday. I visited the exhibition today at the Taipei World Trade Centre to see what was new this year. This year’s special guest exhibitor is France. Francophones will be sure to enjoy the large range of French literature on display. There is also a selection of French films screening every day.

One of the new things on display this year is e-readers. I was curious to have a look at them and get some idea of how they look and operate. The one pictured above is the BenQ nReader K60 which was on sale for NT$8,990. It is operated via buttons and also a touchscreen. Books can be downloaded via wi-fi. Several other e-readers were on display including Greenbook, the Amazon Kindle and iRex. Read more »