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Lung criticizes CKS ¡¥family
happiness¡¦ contest
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter
Images of toilet paper printed
with portraits of late president Chiang Kai-shek are shown on a Web site
yesterday.
Photo: Tseng Wei-chen, Taipei Times
Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (ÀsÀ³¥x)
yesterday criticized a product design competition organized by the National
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, saying it was ¡§very inappropriate¡¨ for the hall
to sponsor the contest, which she said had been promoted in a ¡§frivolous¡¨
manner.
The ¡§CKS Design Competition¡¨ invited participants to submit designs inspired by
the life of former president Chiang Kai-shek (½±¤¶¥Û) and his marriage to his
second wife, Soong Mayling (§º¬üÄÖ), or the image of the memorial itself.
The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which falls under the ministry¡¦s
remit, administers the monument honoring Chiang.
Lung had declined to comment on the contest on Monday when questioned by
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (¬q©y±d) during a meeting of
the legislature¡¦s Education and Culture Committee.
Tuan had lashed out at Lung and National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall boss Wu
Tsu-sheng (§d¯ª³Ó) over the contest, asking how Chiang could be used as a symbol of
familial happiness when he had ¡§destroyed many Taiwanese families with death and
tragedy [stemming] from the 228 Incident and the subsequent White Terror era.¡¨
Lung said yesterday she would take the matter up with colleagues at the hall,
but did not say if the ministry would demand that the contest be revised.
The contest¡¦s official Facebook page said the competition, along with a series
of forums about the history of Taiwan under Chiang, was aimed at promoting
Chinese culture and building ways for people to understand the history of the
monument and to connect with it.
Participants were also asked to think about how commemorating Chiang and Soong¡¦s
50-year marriage, and the 10th anniversary of Soong¡¦s death could promote
feelings of love between spouses and family happiness.
Lung said it was a historical fact that many families had been torn apart under
the Chiang government and so the advertising for the contest was inappropriate.
If the contest was held by a private organization, it could do whatever it
wanted in a kuso (´c·d, parody or satire) way, but it was inappropriate for a
government agency to do so, Lung said.
However, she disagreed with Tuan¡¦s characterization of Chiang¡¦s role in history,
saying it was too simple to label a development in history as the guilt of one
individual.
Meanwhile, Wu said that in light of the controversy, the memorial hall was
considering scrapping the ¡§Chiang Kai-shek element¡¨ from the contest and
focusing on the cultural and creative aspects of the hall itself. A decision
will be made later this week, he said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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