2.28 memorial truly captures my heart

2.28 Memorial Captures My Heart

            If I can remember back to sophomore year when I took a class pertaining to the culture, history, and politics of Taiwan, I remember how excited and engaged I was by the content as it inspired my curiosity about a place I now call my new home (temporarily).  I was engaged by the history of Taiwan’s struggle to be an independent democratic nation and I am moved by how the Taiwanese achieved this feat as it involved many years worth of bloodshed and consumed countless lives.  When I learned about 2.28, I was terrified by how the police brutally beat senselessly a woman who was desperately making a living by selling contraband cigarettes.  As inspiring and engaging I found the content of the course, I could not help but think that I can only learn more about this history in Taiwan through others who have experienced it before me.  I wanted to learn more about how Taiwanese people felt about their history, their culture, and their relationship to mainland China.  My wish was granted when I was offered the unique opportunity to visit the 2.28 museums and memorial park. I was honored to listen to a man who represented the victims of the incidents and passionately spoke to the observers on how this incident changed his life and his family’s life and how it changed what he believed about Taiwan.  I did not break out in tears but when I listened to him explain this incident and what it means to Taiwanese people, I felt their deep admiration for bravery and genuine patriotism of those who died to liberate Taiwan.

This memorial captured my heart because it speaks to me of the relentless courage and the sense of duty the older Taiwanese felt to liberate their beautiful nation stricken by the hand of terror and oppression. It spoke to me that in times of difficulties people don’t give up what they truly believe in and that justice is a battle everyone fights for.  In my opinion, the 2.28 incident is truly tragic but I also believe that cries for the liberty after the incident was inspired by the 2.28 incident. In other words, without the 2.28, there would not have been a democratic Taiwan. Although I have gathered this much from the memorial, I may encounter the question of why this incident would matter so much to an American. It matters to me because this incident reflects the fact that no matter how powerful an oppressive regime may seem, it will always remain vulnerable to its people. No matter how powerless a group of individuals may seem against a government backed by powerful armed forces, it has always been a group of committed, passionate individuals that have changed society for better or worse.