CKS Memorial's wall -- what should be done?

Should the wall around the CKS Memorial be torn down?

  • yes, tear it down
  • no, leave it alone
  • no opinion

0 voters

The government is proposing tearing down the wall around the CKS Memorial. What do you think?

This thread is just about the wall. Other issues related to this should probably be posted in the thread in Taiwan Politics: [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/all-hail-the-taiwan-democracy-memorial-hall/36135/1 hail the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall![/url]

Be it known that the plan to tear down the wall includes tearing down the main gate.

I say NO! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The statue sure, the walls…!!!

Was this idea from the same guy who wanted to make a Chinatown in the neighborhood surrounding the CKS Hall?

It’s not just a wall - it’s a covered corridor running round most of the CKS memorial park. It offers cool shade in the summer sun and shelter from the rain and wind. It muffles traffic noise from the roads that run close to the park. It directs park visitors to cross the roads at legal crossings with traffic lights. Many people use the corridor for such pursuits as singing, playing instruments and playing chess. It may offer shelter to some fauna such as starlings. It is not an absolute barrier, punctuated as it is by intricately designed lattice windows.

The wall and corridor are an essential part of the park. Yes, the park could be bordered by hedges and trees like Daan Forest Park, but tourists don’t come to Taiwan to visit Daan Forest Park, do they? Whoever thought of pulling down the CKS Memorial Park wall needs his or her head seen to.

[quote=“Juba”]It’s not just a wall - it’s a covered corridor running round most of the CKS memorial park. It offers cool shade in the summer sun and shelter from the rain and wind. It muffles traffic noise from the roads that run close to the park. It directs park visitors to cross the roads at legal crossings with traffic lights. Many people use the corridor for such pursuits as singing, playing instruments and playing chess. It may offer shelter to some fauna such as starlings. It is not an absolute barrier, punctuated as it is by intricately designed lattice windows.
The wall and corridor are an essential part of the park. Yes, the park could be bordered by hedges and trees like Da’an Forest Park, but tourists don’t come to Taiwan to visit Da’an Forest Park, do they? Whoever thought of pulling down the CKS Memorial Park wall needs his or her head seen to.[/quote]

I agree with Juba. :bravo:

I had some of my wedding photos taken in that corridor.

Leave it alone.

leave the wall alone. pull down the big fugly megalomania monument in the middle, with its poor taste rip-off of the abe lincoln statue and the shiny headed guards doing homage to the dicatator.

maybe you could call it Taipei TaoYuan International monument in future…

They should plant bin lang trees around it, then dig a big hole and pour all the country’s money into it. Then pave it over with green bathroom tiles.

Can I be president?

[quote=“urodacus”]leave the wall alone. pull down the big fugly megalomania monument in the middle, with its poor taste rip-off of the abe lincoln statue and the shiny headed guards doing homage to the dicatator.

maybe you could call it Taipei Taoyuan International monument in future…[/quote]

Take down the statue (replace it with one of Koxinga, Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Ching-kuo or even Jolin), but leave the monument itself - it’s also a symbol of Taipei and a major tourist draw. The design of the entire area is an integral whole and I’d hate to see it changed.

What about a bouncy castle?

Pull down the statue and leave the wall up. What’s wrong with the wall anyway, and which numb nut thinks that attention and money should be paid towards pulling down one of the most the most aesthetically pleasing wall in the whole of Taiwan? Is it too pretty against the adjacent landscape perhaps? Well if they are going to pull it down, then I suppose they should do it properly and in that case I have a few ideas.

Firstly they have needed for some time a freeway which connects the South East corner of the park to the North West corner. It has always been too far a walk and many people, such as myself have complained since the very beginning that the two ends were not connected with a through road.
Secondly another design flaw that existed since the beginning, was that the beautiful sounds of Taiwan were shrouded out by the huge, but magnificent statue of the late Mr. Jong Jun. The statue and building should have been built to be no more that ten feet high, preventing too many tourists from visiting at any one time, and also allowing for much shorter guards to strut their stuff without feeling belittled by the humongous building and bronze man. A smaller statue would also allow for much clearer pictures with less camera flash; an afterthought after digital camera had been developed.

Thirdly, and not to be taken disrespectfully, the Chinese naming and wordings scattered around the grounds are simply confusing to most visitors and it doesn’t seem to make much sense. Some of it is even written backwards!! Very confusing in deed! The name and signage will have to all be changed to English and French, this way more foreigners will want to come to Taiwan to save the Taiwanese, and kindergarten students can learn even more English when out on valuable, informative field trips, as well as having a valuable introduction to the language of the French people; This will be of great use in future demonstrations and strikes, as everyone knows that in such situations, the French language “kicks ass.”

Why tear it down? Just wait for the missiles to do the job for you for free.

I voted no, for reasons I mentioned in another thread, and which sound the same as Juba’s.

As to the statue inside, can we replace it with a glass box containing a betelnut babe?

and

Sound like the best two ideas so far. Is there any way to combine them?

The Chiang Kai Shek Adventure Park: pay your money at the big fancy gate and then go play in the bouncy castle with the betelnut babes.

I agree 100% with Juba. This is a nice wall. It’s pretty. It’s aesthetically pleasing in a country that seems to have little clue about that sometimes. It’s not visibly concrete.

Also, I second the idea of a Jolin statue. That would rock. I’ll pass that idea along to her :wink:

it’s a nice wall, and walkway. tear it down? that’s insane. i expect the demolition teams are on their way.

It’s a part of Taiwan’s history. Whether you like the history or not, it’s still something you can’t ignore.
Taiwanese always tear down nice things - traditional houses, Japanese era stuff. If they tear down the wall and gate, there will be some concrete monstrosity ready to take its place. Maybe there will be enough room for a 7-11 and a Starbucks too.

Hooray! He’s got one year left and no chance of a career of any sort after this! How much of Taiwan can he replace, rename, or tear down in his remaining term?

Pile all the bricks on Chen Sui Bien’s head if they’re going to tear down the wall. In fact, I bet you could bury all the people who want to tear down the wall with all them bricks.

So, who are the three people who favour removing the wall (I’m assuming one of them is Michael Turton - he really hates anything that smacks of authoritarianism … :slight_smile: )?

The wall should stay; why spend money breaking something? However, I think there ought to be be more entry points. So, I say keep the wall but add a few gates.

The CKS statue could go to a 1950s-1970s theme park.

I vote for keeping the CKS Memorial just the way it is…leave the statue and the walls…