Lo Sheng Controversy

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

A plan to demolish the Lo Sheng Sanatorium (a leprosarium) to make room for an MRT depot has angered many people in Taiwan and internationally. The Sanatorium is a beautiful and historic site. It is also the home of the leprosy patients who live there, and now the government wants to cram them all into an ugly new hospital building and leave them there to die.

http://www.tzuchi.org/GLOBAL/news/articles/20000908_1.html

http://www.nowpublic.com/lepers_in_taiwan

Save Lo Sheng

http://www.pcschool.idv.tw/savelosheng/

I am a student at Fu Jen Catholic University, which is near the Lo Sheng leprosarium.
Like most of the people live in Xin Zhuang or the students who have to travel a really long and painful way to school (one and a half hours for me, sometimes more), I, too, hope that the MRT line could be finished soon so that we no longer have to suffer from the bad traffic every single day.

Now they are saying that the reason this MRT Line isn’t finished is because these old people from the sanatorium are refusing to move to the new hospital the government has built for them. But if you could see how beautiful the sanatorium is, and how ugly and cramped the new place is, I think you’d refuse to move too.

I’m told that these old people are the last generation of leprosy patients (since the disease is now preventable), and after they pass away, the land where the leprosarium is now can bring the authority that owns it a handsome sum of money. So now they have built an ugly new sanatorium which is actually going to become a local hospital later when these people have died, and they plan to just dump these old people there to die. These poor people are already sick and isolated from society, but they still should have at least a little dignity and the opportunity to enjoy the last years of their life with their friends in their beautiful home. Once they have moved to the new hospital, they’ll be separated in different rooms just like what they do in normal hospitals, without the intimate contact with each other and natural surroundings they now enjoy.

The MRT line wasn’t going to be finished early if they moved out from the leprosarium anyway. The government is just taking this as an excuse to force those old people to move so they can make a profit of it later. But what they never consider is that this leprosarium is a valuable building which deserves to be kept for cultural purposes, and it is one of the few beautiful sites Taipei has. Do we really want to tear down such places and replace them with more ugly concrete?

I am Taiwanese, and I always feel that our government only cares about money rather than saving our culture.

2

Well said. You have my vote. :notworthy:

3

Sorry, but one morbid question: How old is the youngest resident?

One practical question: How much trouble is it to reroute the MRT line?

4

I followed the story a bit, it’s a shame that so many people protested to actually get the building complex torn down … narrow sighted bastards … uncle ‘buck’ has a lot of power.

I was planning on going to take some pictures there, but don’t know the exact directions. I know where Fu Jen is. But maybe I can’t get access to it.

5

[quote=“MaGwaiFan”]Sorry, but one morbid question: How old is the youngest resident?

One practical question: How much trouble is it to reroute the MRT line?[/quote]

I don’t think that’s a point … the point is, it’s all about money and the place is a heritage site according to many.
They should have planned rerouting the MRT even before they planned it … but I guess they were thinking that the place and the people were disposable …

6

Well said BP. I also would like to find out where it is. Photos of it would be of historical and cultural value, especially at this stage.

7

[quote=“MaGwaiFan”]Sorry, but one morbid question: How old is the youngest resident?

One practical question: How much trouble is it to reroute the MRT line?[/quote]

It’s ok.

I don’t know exactly how old the youngest residents are.

The location where the leprosarium is now is planned to be the maintenance station for the MRT line, and maybe a small airport(?). The government chose the plan which is to tear down the whole place when they had another option which is to save 90% of it and also have the MRT built.

It might take another one or two more years for the latter choice, but I think it’s worthwhile. Once the main part of the leprosarium is preserved, we could make it a museum or something educational, and with a reasonable ticket price. This way the government is still doing something good and not losing anything. (Well, yeah, they lose the chance of making a huge amount of money from it.)

8

I thought leprosy was cured decades ago. People still have leprosy in this day and age? Wow.

9

No la!

Did you or didn’t you read my post?!

(These people are the last generation of leprosy)

10

Yes, I read your post and all the links. None of them explained why these people are still segregated from society. Indeed, most of the articles elaborated on how unjust such a policy is, and how awful their living conditions are. So why the campaign to stay? They’re not infectious, their condition has been treated. Why continue such a policy? Why not treat them equally as other patients? The article blames the KMT for continuing the policy, but doesn’t mention that the DPP is in power now, and when the decision to demolish the place was made, Taipei County’s magistrate was DPP, and also all the way up until just recently.

However, the pictures of the place look lovely, I have to say. Individual houses with yards and gardens are simply a dream for most people here. I suppose I can’t blame them for wanting to stay when the cost of moving to modern facilities would mean leaving behind a life so close to nature with so much space.

11

Some good basic info on leprosy here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy

12

[quote=“Poagao”]Yes, I read your post and all the links. None of them explained why these people are still segregated from society. Indeed, most of the articles elaborated on how unjust such a policy is, and how awful their living conditions are. So why the campaign to stay? They’re not infectious, their condition has been treated. Why continue such a policy? Why not treat them equally as other patients? The article blames the KMT for continuing the policy, but doesn’t mention that the DPP is in power now, and when the decision to demolish the place was made, Taipei County’s magistrate was DPP, and also all the way up until just recently.
[/quote]

Although I posted the link, I am defending neither KMT nor DPP.

No matter which decision was made and under which government was it made, the fact that these people are isolated from the society is still there.

I guess I am trying to emphasize on the “keep the leprosarium and also have the MRT built” part rather than critizing what each government did, because that’s just not going to make the situation any better.

:notworthy:

13

If I were them, I would want to stay segregated out of fear of how I would be treated by the ignorant masses who would treat me as some kind of deadly infectious freak if I was anywhere near them. Peace and quiet, in natural surroundings without any bigots annoying me? Bring it on.

14

The question that arises in my mind is this: are they required by an ignorant government to stay in an isolated facility, or is it a place provided to them so they can optionally retreat from the prejudices of an ignorant public and have each other for mutual support (plus perhaps convenient access to specialized medical treatment, rehab and so on)?

15

You’d think the Tzu Chi would just step in there, buy the whole place, and do it up. They have more money than the KMT, for goodness’ sake.

16

Well, if TRTS was just going to stash a maintenance depot up there (which admittedly are huge) and not a connector station between three lines, they ought to just reroute and put the depot somewhere else. I’m willing to pay higher MRT fares and put up with the traffic that comes from the delays in construction.

[quote=“Fortigurn”]You’d think the Tzu Chi would just step in there, buy the whole place, and do it up. They have more money than the KMT, for goodness’ sake.[/quote] I know Tzu Chi has a lot of scratch, but all joking aside, more than the KMT?

17

Ever since the KMT lost power they are claiming financial hard times. It definitely makes me wonder what the hell they were up to when they were in power. While in power, people claimed they were the richest party in the world. Then they lost and all of a sudden they’re broke.

18

All joking aside, probably not. But if they can mount relief expeditions in Turkey and arrive shortly after an earthquake, even before the media, then I’m sure they can scrounge up a few bucks to buy this place.

19

[quote=“Gilgamesh”]
Ever since the KMT lost power they are claiming financial hard times. It definitely makes me wonder what the hell they were up to when they were in power. While in power, people claimed they were the richest party in the world. Then they lost and all of a sudden they’re broke.[/quote]

Well I guess if you no longer can count the National government’s assets as your own, that could be a financial problem.

20

take a trip to Tibet and you’ll find some in their 30’s.