The Hope of Salt Spring Island

Dock at Ganges, Salt Spring Island

I came back to Vancouver last Thursday to, amongst other things, watch the World Cup of soccer. Vancouver is one of the two Canadian cities hosting. Toronto is the other. I ran into a bunch of Swiss fans downtown at an Irish pub called The Shamrock, in for Switzerland versus Algeria. One of the Swiss wanted to know why nobody in Vancouver speaks French. I asked who they were going for, Switzerland or Algeria. 

The nationalistic chanting, flags and Canada-themed clothes (hoodies, scarves, jerseys with a maple leaf) and Canada clamor has a way of tiring me out. I don't know how many times I have had to express being Canadian is not achievement -- we were simply lucky enough to be either born here or to have found a way in. Being Canadian is random. There really is no call for us to be a proud of where we were squeezed out on the map. We must be lucky not to have been born into extreme poverty or a rigid society that discounts minorities or the rights of the in-group. I decided to leave the celebration, flags and shirts, beavers and moose, behind for respite on one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands: Salt Spring Island. 

The Gulf Islands are situated between Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Salt Spring Island is closer to Victoria than the mainland. The island, as with the other Gulf Islands, is known for its beauty, with beaches and a laid-back counter-culture atmosphere. Draft dodgers from America, looking to sit out the Vietnam War, often showed there. Mifflin Gibbs, publisher of Mirror of Times, California's first black newspaper, led a group of 800 disenfranchised African Americans to Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island in 1858. Gibbs went on to become British Columbia's first black elected official. Japanese immigrants started coming to Salt Spring in the 1880s. They worked mainly on farms or as fishers. According to Charles Khan, Salt Spring: The Story of an Island, 77 Canadians of Japanese descent were interred into concentration camps set up by the Canadian government far away from Salt Spring Island during World War II. The land owned by these Canadians was to be held in trust, to be returned later. Seems only one family of Japanese descent ever regained their land on Salt Spring Island.

Getting to Salt Spring is a lot easier now. There is a double decker bus from the Bridgeport Skytrain Station in Richmond to the ferry dock at Tsawwassen. The ride takes 35 minutes. At Salt Spring Island, it was trickier. The city bus from the dock to Ganges, the major town on Salt Spring, comes infrequently and is actually just a van. My sister and I lined up. There were a few Taiwanese people in front of us. When the bus-van finally did arrive, their traveling companions came out of the woodwork and took a place in front of us in the line. I am not really sure if that is cutting in line. I guess it is not. We could not get on the busvan now. The city busvan driver explained every rider must remain seated during the trip. The distance from the ferry to Ganges is around six kilometers. An employee working BC Ferries said we were still lucky because we came on a Monday. She never goes downtown on weekend. "Too much traffic" she explained. The island's population is around 11,500. 

My sister ordered a cab and two travelers from Beijing asked if they could share. I should have asked what they were doing this far from home. They were so amazed I could speak Chinese that we could hardly move on to a different topic. One of the guys has been to Taipei four times. That is not such an easy feat these days; Taipei used to be open to Chinese tourists during President Ma's tenure.  That was in the last decade. I gave that guy the business card for my restaurant in Taiwan. I hope he can visit.

I picked up T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Other Poems from the Rotary Club's "Take a book or leave a book" table at the Salt Spring Island ferry dock. I want to quote Eliot as a way of extricating myself from this blog post. I cannot find a verse in what I have read so far of The Waste Land and Other Poems that I care for. OK. Let's do it this way then: "And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!" Afternoon and evening are not really the same thing. If a thing were peaceful, why punctuate it with an exclamation mark? "Smoothed by long fingers." Are you talking about the yellow fog that rubs its fingers on everything in the city again? "Asleep . . . tired . . .  or its malingers." The ellipsis might be the laziest device in writing. You fill in the blanks on the dots I left. If you come up with something meaningful, I truly meant that. "Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me" writes T.S. Eliot. 

This duplex was across the road from where we stayed, up Rainbow Drive into the hills.

Three books for $10 total. One book was claimed from the Rotary table. 

Shopping for Scales in Taiwan

 

I took these shots of a scale shop near the Chiayi Night Market. The store has a lot of old fashioned scales. 

Inmates' Ingenuity vs. Officers' Vigilance

 

Prison Grounds

When we were in Chiayi (嘉義), Taiwan, last week, my family visited the Chiayi Old Prison. Established in 1919, the prison was originally called Chiayi Branch of Tainan Penitentiary. In 1945, in stride with the expulsion of the Japanese colonial government following WWII, the jail was relabeled Chiayi Prison. From 1924, Chiayi Branch of Tainan Penitentiary was known as the First Branch of the Third Prison. Thinking of the Japanese, the penitentiary system like so much of Taiwan's infrastructure was established by them. Prior to 1895, when the Japanese gained Taiwan from China, crimes were punished by torture (including crucifixion), corporal punishment, body parts' removal and what have you. Money it seems was not squandered on locking up criminals. I took this picture of a picture while I was at Chiayi Old Prison (below). 

Chiayi Prison was set up in a radial style typical of the 19 Century. With an observation tower in the middle, the buildings fan out like the spokes of a wheel. There is an exhibit dedicated to the constant maneuvering between the guards and inmates. The information placard called it: "Inmates' Ingenuity vs. Officers' Vigilance. The inmates wanted things they were banned from having. Contraband included drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and gambling devices. Drugs were smuggled in while alcohol was often brewed on the inside. Cigarette smoking was prohibited for all inmates in Taiwan until July 28,1993, when the Executive Yuan (Taiwan's congress) passed an amendment to Article 47 of the Prison Act. When the rules were changed, inmates were allowed to smoke after meals in designated areas. Rewards are still offered today for those who do not smoke or quit: better visitation rights and/or good grades for behavior records, which much figure in parole hearings. Prisoners cannot booze or chew betel nut. Porn is disallowed. 

I think the grounds at Chiayi Prison are nice. I took a picture (above top). Cell conditions were miserable.

Inmates were included in Taiwan's national health system (NHI) January, 1, 2013. According to the information provided, the tab is "borne by the state."

Heping Island and an Island on an Island, on an Island

 

I used my phone to take this shot yesterday at Heping Island (和平島), outside Keelung, Taiwan. Shufang and I came upon a sign. The sign indicated Spain controlled Heping first, then Holland. Holland never controlled any part of Taiwan. The Dutch East India Company, supported by mercenaries from all over Europe, landed here in 1624 with a charter from the Dutch government to earn and export, exploit and convert. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) expelled the Spaniards from Tamsui in 1640. Why the VOC would cross over to Heping Island, past boundaries that separated Chinese settlers from head-hunting aborigines as much as 250 years later is hard to fathom. 

The sign said the French captured Heping Island when the Sino-French War spilled into Taiwan in 1885. Over a dozen French POWs were beheaded on beachhead in the vicinity that year. Caves are punctured under beach cliffs (see above pic). The caves may have been occupied by Ryukyu fishermen, thought to have sailed off or melted into the local population once the Japanese arrived in 1895. The Japanese called the shores of Heping Island "Tatami Flats" as they resemble tatami mats placed side by side. 

A sign beside the trail also said the Japanese colonial era of Taiwan's history was a "Japanese Occupation." I looked up the difference between colonization and occupation. Seems they are different, and Taiwan was ceded to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (April 17, 1895): "Purpose and Intent" was the reply. "Colonization is usually driven by economic gain, territorial expansion, or the spread of culture and religion, often aiming to exploit resources and establish lasting influence over the local population." Done. The Japanese had the railroads built, hospitals and banks opened, schools and a university started, disease and squalor scrubbed out, livestock banished from livingrooms, the light let in. Learning Japanese is popular in Taiwan to this day. Japan is a major tourist destination of Taiwanese people. "Occupation, in contrast, is often motivated by strategic, political, or military reasons, such as securing a region." A foothold in Taiwan did not secure Asia or even Southeast Asia for Japan. Japanese airplanes did attack the American military at Clark Airbase in the Philippines the same day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Japanese Zeroes flew from Tainan, 46 years after the Japanese arrived in Taiwan. Yes, Taiwan's shipping lanes are valuable now. In 1895, no Asian country had any meaningful shipping to speak of. Japan was just starting to build a navy. We have to remember Japan did not emerge from isolation until 1868 with the Meiji Restoration. When Japan tried to attack Taiwan six years later, Japan moved her forces on British steamships.  

I asked what a small island on a bigger island is called: an islet; meanwhile, an island in a river may be referred to as an ait or eyot. Holms are small islands near the coast. 

Raw tuna and barreleye fish. There is some raw salmon and wolffish on the other side of the boat. 

Afternoon in March

This shot showed up on my social media last month. According to FB, I took this photograph in March 2012, over 14 years ago. I remember taking this shot, representing apartment buildings and businesses, with Taipei 101 (Taipei's tallest building at the time) at the end of the hall. I was on Chungshiao East Road (忠孝東路) in the afternoon, outside the door of my daughter's preschool. I took Afternoon in March on a smartphone, an iPhone, I think. 

POW Taiwan

My wife and I have been scouting on Mondays, our day off from The Hammer. The plan is to first realize a place of historical significance. Then we go there and look at it. 

Shufang and I went to "Municipal Historic Site -- Remains of Taipei Prison Wall." In 1899, the Taipei Prison was constructed in the vicinity of what is now the Guting MRT Station by Taiwanese labor under the guidance of a Japanese colonial government. All that remains in 2026 is part of a wall (above). There are some markers, such as the following, planted under the advisement of a POW Taiwan group, I suppose: 

. 
On June 19, 1945, 14 Americans captured from a downed plane were executed in Taipei at this location. These soldiers were blamed for fighting Japan. Japan and the US were fighting WWII at the moment, and Taiwan was a colony of Japan and fighting alongside. In fact, 200,000 Taiwanese individuals served in the Imperial Japanese army with 30,000 losing their lives. I do not know what the civilian numbers were. My wife's great aunt died age 19 when the market she was in was hit from the air. Shufang's grandma, who lived to 100, told me about it.

How we behave toward each other during war has been a matter of concern for some time. From 70 to 85 million people were killed during WWII, but the general idea is there should be a vein of decency running through the murder and mayhem. We have established the Geneva Convention, reminding the world there are rules. Poisonous gases on the battlefield are prohibited. Killing with bullets and bombs are not. When an enemy surrenders, he/she needs to be fed, sheltered and protected. The execution of 14 American POWs at this prison in Taipei, Taiwan defies that spirit.

The Geneva Convention dates back to the 19th century. Japan, which provided Taiwan's government up until 1945, signed the Geneva Convention in 1929, more than a decade before her attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). So, Japan agreed to this point regarding executing POWs: "The Geneva Convention prohibits the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples." Japan did not ratify the Geneva Convention until 1949. I looked up "what is the difference between sign and ratify." I discovered:

"Signing a document expresses intent to agree, while ratification makes the agreement legally binding." For the latter, we are talking about it getting approved by a board, congress, parliament and so forth. I was talking about this with my history professor at NCCU in Taipei a long time ago. He figured Japan did not even read the Geneva Convention fully or at least with any sincerity. He figured Japan just wanted to sit at the table with what she perceived were the big boys -- the West.

The code of the warrior in Japan, the Bushido, stresses a samurai should not be taken alive. A warrior should fight to the death, as surrender means dishonor to oneself and one's family. This has turned into another excuse for not honoring one's word (see signing the Geneva Convention but ignoring it). Samurai law? Some three to four percent of American POWs taken by the Germans perished. Make that 40% taken by the Japanese (and the Taiwanese, who served in Japan's colonial system). One common line of defense for acting dishonorably while espousing honor is this: we did not regard them worthy of life, these POWs who did not fight to the death. 

Looking at atrocities committed on POWs around Taiwan during WWII, other things besides the Bushido way of the warrior crap could be considered. Taiwanese men often wanted to get into the Imperial Army as the pay was around three times the average. Taiwanese men could get in from 1931 and applicants were regularly rejected on merit. As Japan's numbers thinned, conscription came about. Even then, a meritocracy existed. The most useless, the stupidest and the least manageable could not make the regular ranks. They were often assigned as guards in jails around Taiwan instead.  

The Bushido was a concept of the elite. The people in power in Japan understood what it meant, had memorized the precepts. Maybe they truly understood its power and could make a case. Maybe they were brainwashed. Maybe they used the Bushido as a tactic to control the poor and uneducated who did the fighting and dying. One can liken option three to the "I Ain't no Senator's Son" complex of America, thank you for your service manipulation. Surrendered Japanese enlisted men normally ended up in POW camps in Australia and New Zealand. They probably could have cared less about the way of the warrior. They were drafted. They were the sons of farmers and fishermen. They could happily wait out a war learning how to make sandals, going to class and farming, getting out of the humidity, away from malaria. 

Luodong Forestry Culture Garden

My wife and I took the train from Taipei to Luodong last Monday. The Luodong Forestry Culture Garden ( 羅東林業文化園區) is about a ten-minute walk from the station. A logging community at the base of Taiping Mountain (太平山) was established, according to a guide, 31 years before 1945. 

There is a traditional home on exhibit, with a kitchen, bedroom, cooking utensils and information. The employees normally ate yams with a dash of rice -- rice was considered a treat. Once a month, fish and sake were distributed by the Japanese bosses. The Luodong Forestry Culture Garden opened up during the Japanese colonial era (1895 - 1945). A train station opened in 1926 for tourists. There used to be a gondola. I am not sure it still exists. 

I got a kick out of this exhibit. I imagine they were running out of stuff to display. Then a museum organizer noticed this yellow truck parked on the road. "Hey!" he shouted. "Drive that thing over here." They slapped a plaque at the front of it (below).

There is a night market within walking distance of the Luodong Forestry Garden. Google Maps has the open time at 15.00 daily. Not exactly.