A city council member today pointed to a hidden camera tape of party held at the Huashan art center on Bade Road and ZhongXiao E. Road. There was a drum jam and bonfire there. He made it clear to point out that there were foreigners on the tape and said that the people on the tape had taken drugs. Then he went on to say that foreigners in Taiwan are all drug users, implying that they should be scrutized (racially profiled) for it.
The reason this is an issue is that Huashan art space is government funded. I was not there, but I do know that that art space is used for many, many wonderful and productive artistic endeavors.
A very very good friend of mine (who is one of the curator-types who will be helping develop the art space) is gathering a group of people to protest this councilmember’s implications, improper conduct and accusatory behavior on a number of fronts. She needs a member of the foreign community who can stand up and protest the statement that foreigners here are druggies.
Is there anyone who wants to or knows anyone who would want to help out?! My friend is a wonderful woman with a big heart, excellent English ability and very much fun to hang out with besides!
Thanks.
P.S. post edited to reflect accuser was a councilmember, not a legislator.
I’m interested in learning more (though I don’t want to play exemplary foreigner on TV and doubt I would fit the part anyway).
Who is the legislator? Why the hidden (as opposed to clearly visible) camera?
quote[quote]Then he went on to say that foreigners in Taiwan are all drug users, implying that they should be scrutized (racially profiled) for it.[/quote]
Well, that's already the situation (the scrutiny, that is). Drug tests are part of the standard package for any foreigner wanting to remain on Taiwan. Not that I like it one bit. What change is the legislator suggesting? Is whatever the lawmaker is spouting likely to get turned into a bill?
quote[quote]The reason this is an issue is that the art space is government funded.[/quote]
I don’t follow you. Is this about a lawmaker calling all foreigners druggies or about a venue possibly losing its government funding because of some blowhard with power? I would have thought both.
Unless the media play this up like an important, serious issue, is it really best to make a big noise about it? There are plenty of politicians who justify their existence only by manufacturing “scandals” for them to “expose.” A reaction, if not considered carefully, could just be playing into the hands of the grandstander, who would then, revelling in the attention, push things even more. It happens all the time.
I don’t advise inaction, just caution – esp. because this is something you said just happened today. Or is there more to the story already?
These sadly stupid geek legislators! Do not have any fun, in public – that seems to be the implication… If you want to enjoy life, I suppose, change the color of your skin, first. I don’t know. We need to liberalize Taiwan’s archaic laws, but so long as there are these tight-ass dorks with power – forget it… What a bunch of simpletons. What a bunch of snooty clowns.
I heard that Whashang has had trouble with a neighbourhood chief, or whatever you call him, for quite some time. Supposedly, this is the person who leases the parking space area in the front there and he’s been harrassing them for years because he wants control of the whole space. But Whashang has gained a little support from the government as art space, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this bastard had something to do with this latest tidbit and may have some nasty legislator friends. Unfortunately, Whashang is probably not mafiosa connected, but I may be wrong.
When you think about it, it’s amazing that the
!COOLEST! space in Taipei is still allowed to thrive. For artistic purposes, it’s dirt cheap to rent a space there, well, it’s free really because you only pay for clean up. We rented the space two summers ago and ended up donating a percentage of the door take to them in order to support their interests because the goverment only gives them about $100k per year as funding. Besides, the Whashang management group is really just squatting on the land, and so is this bastard who has control of the parking section.
It’s all a dirty legal battle about who keeps the space and Whashang’s days have been numbered since its onset.
So, perhaps this creep has found that appealing to the press by making Whashang a drug haven for foreigners, he may have found new grounds to get them out.
It will all be very sad if and when that happens.
Quirky,
I’ll lay you odds that the “council member” is the parking space thug at it again. He’s been harrassing Whashang for years. I hear he hangs onto his position as neighbourhood chief because noone in that district will challenge him.
I just wish I could recall his name, but I got the details first-hand from someone on the Whashang mgmt team a couple years back.
I’m thinking this whole thing is Whashang targeted, not just aimed at the foreign community, although it is always nice to have a scapegoat.
We are launching a protest and my friend will have a press conference at Huashan.
There is a meeting tonight at 9 p.m. to identify what aspects of the China Times report were incorrect (i.e. classifying a bonfire/drum jam as a RAVE PARTY and making it sound like foreigners invaded a public art space).
Cranky: if you don’t want to be on TV, you may come to the strategy session tonight.
Strategey Session
Location:
A-liang and Friends.
B1 #15 Alley 345 Lane 15
RenAi Road Section 4.
Directions:
You can enter YanJi Road from RenAi and turn left on the second alley at the Nico mart. The place is on your right.
leave a post here if you intend to come, so I can get an idea how many people are interested.
Well, I would love to see this news footage because I’ll bet I was in it, tall, white, shirt-less and gasp totally fugging sober. Hmmm… I also had my shirt off last week at the Dragon boat festival not yards from Mayor Ma. Didn’t get on TV then. Anyways, the bonfire was hot, and from what I could see tons of the (Taiwanese) kids there also had their shirts off. Maybe it was those hairy shoulders that piqued their interest! But seriously, “no shoes, no shirt, no…” If only they could see me in a tie holding up my lily-white drug test results. What a joke!
quote:Originally posted by Alien:
I heard that Whashang has had trouble with a neighbourhood chief, or whatever you call him, for quite some time...
That is correct, and this is what the issue is about, as attested to by my girlfriend (see my posting in the open forum.) The neighbourhood chief (lizhang) is not the same person as the councillor who made the drugs allegations, but they are in cohoots. The male concillor is in the DPP - I don’t know about the woman councillor and the lizhang.
By the way, the name of this place in Hanyu pinyin is Huashan - is “Whashang” what the people who run it call it, or is it just a guess at how it might be spelled?
I knew this HAD to have something to do with that crazy neighbourhood chief. In the early days of Whashang (that’s what they call it there, so forgive the mispinyinization, not my call!) this beligerent SOB gave them all sorts of shit. And yes, as I heard, he has his fingers in lots of political pies, and his major claim is the parking lot.
I also heard that he’s not the owner and has squatted JUST LIKE Whashang has squatted, but he’s making money renting that space, and Whashang is NOT making a thin NT. They’re barely keeping the place afloat with the government funding they get. You know it’s only $1000 to rent a whole warehouse or other space there for one day, don’t you? It used to be $500…
So, with this anti-foreigner sentiment which is getting to be quite rampant these days it appears, even if Whashang stays open for another year (the contracts go from August to August), there may be serious limitations on the kinds of events which would be allowed there. The artists and hipsters who volunteer their time to keep it going, are the ones who’ll suffer over this. And if they close it up, raze it, and toss up yet another pink tiled office building, we’ll all lose out. This is what I’m sure is in the cards for that fine space. Taipei never has appreciated their architectural history. They seem to prefer eyesore office tower blocks to dilapidated breweries housing some of the most interesting and avant garde artistic celebrations this side of the Pacific.
I’ve always thought the government should support Whashang in order to establish the space as a major international center for the Arts.
But nooooooooooooooo…
I have a suggestion for anyone who is writing letters or organizing press conferences or anything else in reaction to the Huashan events. I would focus on recent events being an attack on Huashan and the arts rather than on defending foreigners. If the main issue is whether foreigners are bad or use drugs, there is nothing to stop people from finding more unsubstantiated allegations and footage of foreigners acting ridiculous to support their cause. This is a media battle so the issue needs to be framed well. It would really be a shame to lose Huashan.
Also ironically, on the night the footage was taken, I heard a foreigner who occasionally puts on events there talking about having a performance at Huashan to raise money to renovate the warehouses that are not being used.
Has anyone considered that the huashan area would be a great place to build a few hundred luxury apartments? Too bad it’s used as an artist performance area. Now if only there was some excuse to close down performance area, and convince the government to zone it for housing …
The city councilor’s name is Wang Shih-chien. He’s the same cat who, in April, came up with a list of the top 10 places in Taiwan where Ecstasy is readily available (Texound and Sonic Lemon were curiously not listed).
The lichang’s name is, I believe, Lin Yung-feng. He was actually ousted from his position about two week’s ago (ooh, the plot thickens).
i’m curious if any of the incriminating pictures or footage can be seen here. does anybody have a link to this video or something?
i was at the party and into about as much illicit goings-on as anybody and the whole thing was relatively tame. i’d just like to see what they caught and puffed up. i wouldn’t mind seeing if they circled me as a pasty shirtless devil either.
quote:Originally posted by Juba:
...as attested to by my girlfriend (see my posting in the [url=http://oriented.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=21&t=000422]open forum[/url].) The neighbourhood chief (lizhang) is not the same person as the councillor who made the drugs allegations, but they are in cohoots. The male concillor is in the DPP - I don't know about the woman councillor and the lizhang.
Seems to go like this: The lizhang is in the KMT. He has been making stacks of money out of the parking lot in the front part of the area occupied by the Huashan cultural centre. Now, however, his contract to run the parking lot has come to an end, and he isn’t very happy about it. He wants those bloody artsy-fartsy people out, so he and his lackeys come up with all these blurry photos and allegations about the drum circle and feed them to the media, who in turn feed them to these two DPP councillors Wang Shijian and Yan Shengguan. As anticipated by the Lizhang, Wang and Yan imagine that Huashan is run under the authority of the Taibei City Government’s cultural division. Looks like a good opportunity for Wang and Yan to have a go at Ma Yingjiu and the rest of the KMT-run Taibei City Government, so out come Wang and Yan with all guns blazing. Little do Wang and Yan realise that Huashan is actually run under the authority of the cultural ministry or whatever it’s called of the Central Government, which is run by their own party, the DPP. Duh - s-u-c-k-e-rs! So the clever KMT lizhang has managed to smear Huashan and take Wang Shijian for a ride in one fell swoop! But now Wang and his mate have been all over the media screeching about drug-crazed foreigners and they can’t retract their allegations because that would mean losing face and looking even more idiotic than they already do. Now you have my girlfriend, who was at the drumfest, telling me not to criticize the councillors too much, because it was all the media’s fault, really. Why? Because Wang, Yan and my girlfriend are both members of the same political party. I’d be crying if it weren’t all so funny!
Oh, Alien - Now you force me to step in in the man’s defence. This is a man of culture. He plays the violin and has a master’s degree in applied chemistry (really!) OK, I know MSc’s are a dime a dozen in Taiwan, and maybe his thesis was on “17 fun things you can do with a cup of binglang juice and a sheaf of litmus paper.”
