Prison museums offer valuable lessons: panel
　

By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, May 10, 2008, Page 2

　

Preserving infamous former prisons and turning them into museums may help to teach future generations important human rights lessons, speakers at a panel on prison museums said yesterday.

The panel — part of the Green Island Human Rights Arts Festival — was held yesterday by the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) at the Taiwan Human Rights Memorial in Jingmei (景美), Taipei.

The Jingmei human rights memorial park is home to the courtrooms where political prisoners were tried during the 1960s to the 1980s period of the Martial Law era, and the facilities where they were imprisoned.

Political prisoners from the former Jingmei martial law prison stayed in very small cells with toilets located inside the cells.

They were often tortured, abused and forced to work as cheap labor, former political prisoners said in a video shown prior to the beginning of the panel.

“It’s important to preserve these buildings so that people can be reminded of what once happened here — if we don’t know our history, it may repeat itself,” CCA vice-chairman Wu Chin-fa (吳錦發) told the audience.

“If we’re unaware of it, human rights abuses could continue to happen in any corner of society — maybe in different forms — even in a democracy,” he said.

Guest speaker, Rich Weideman, public affairs chief for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California, agreed that former prisons have important educational value.

He has worked as a tour guide at Alcatraz Island prison since 1980 and participated in the design of education curriculums about the prison.

Alcatraz was first used as a military base to protect San Francisco from attacks in the 1850s. It was turned into a military prison in 1909, and then a federal prison in 1934.

The prison was closed in 1963, and it was officially inaugurated as a tourist attraction in 1972.

“People have many misconceptions about prisons, because Hollywood movies and the media glamorized life in Alcatraz,” he said. “Therefore I think a tour of the prison presents a very good educational opportunity.”

To show what life on Alcatraz was really like, visitors follow in the steps of prisoners from the moment they arrived on the island. The tours are accompanied by voice recordings of former prisoners, guards and their families, telling their stories, Weideman said.

“It’s very important [for tourists] to get into the mindset of these prisoners — and some actually leave the place in tears,” he said.

“If what we do keeps even one kid out of prison, it’s worth the effort,” he said.

Park Goo-yong, a philosophy professor at South Korea’s Chonnam National University, and one of the planners of the May 18 Liberty Park in Gwanju, South Korea, shared similar views.

The May 18 incident happened in 1980 when tens of thousands of South Koreas demonstrated against military dictator Chun Doo-hwan — who had just taken control of the government following a coup — but were faced with a violent crackdown.

In order to commemorate the event, the May 18 Liberty Park was created in 1998 to preserve the martial-law courtroom and the military prisons.

“For many Koreans, the May 18 incident belongs to the past, and people only think about it every May,” Park said. “With the park and preservation of the historic space, we intend to educate our children about the history, so that they can learn about the core values of the uprising.”

Responsible academics don’t need restrictions
　

By Chen Mao-Hsiung 陳茂雄
Saturday, May 10, 2008, Page 8

A proposal by Soochow University’s board of trustees to limit the frequency of appearances by faculty on political talkshows has provoked widespread criticism.

People argue that the proposal infringes on freedom of speech, but I think it is far-fetched to associate appearing on these talkshows with freedom of speech. It would be more appropriate to see it as “political activity.”

Pan-blue academics stress the pan-blue camp’s advantages and the pan-green camp’s shortcomings in these talk shows, while pan-green academics do the opposite, and some even get involved in the Democratic Progressive Party’s internal squabbles. This is political activity, and not just a matter of freedom of speech. What should be addressed is whether faculty members should become entwined in politics.

Faculty members should be encouraged to talk about academic issues on TV or participate in activities relating to public welfare, but if they get involved in political or other activities, it should be asked whether this would affect the quality of their teaching and research.

It is mistaken to assume that the work of academics consists only of teaching and that they can do whatever they want outside the classroom. They must also conduct research and prepare classes.

The work of public servants can be divided into two types: the nine-to-five system and the responsibility system. The latter does not impose specific working hours as long as you finish your designated work. You do not need to clock in when coming to work or clock out when going home. At the same time, there is no overtime because the total workload is regarded as part of one’s basic duties. The work of academics is similar: They do not have mandated working hours as long as they do well in their teaching and research.

I was the first professor to overtly participate in the Taiwanese independence movement in Kaohsiung and Pingtung. In the early days, National Sun Yat-sen University was generally recognized as affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), thus many of my friends were worried that I would suffer oppression.

Instead, I was treated very respectfully. The reason for this was that I finished the work I had to do and did not cause any trouble. When participating in political activities outside the campus, I taught and did research at school and managed to conduct at least one project for the National Science Council every year. At the time, restrictions on applying for council projects were not very strict, and I had two projects in the works every year while supervising an adequate number of graduate students. In addition, my research papers were published in prestigious international journals every year. Because I had met my responsibilities at the university, the school did not interfere with my political activities off campus.

Teachers should be devoted to teaching and finish their work before engaging in other activities. Academics who do not participate in political activities will tend not to be noticed if they do not perform very well in their teaching and research. But if they start participating in political activities, their teaching and research will come under immediate scrutiny. If they are found to be neglecting their duties, taking part in political activities will give them a negative image.

What Soochow University should do is emulate other prestigious universities and establish minimum standards for teaching and research rather than impose restrictions on the number of times academics appear on political talkshows. If an academic’s teaching and research is above par, it doesn’t matter if he or she participates in political activities.

Chen Mao-hsiung is a professor at National Sun Yat-sen University.