No doubt everyone's seen us in the news, protesting against high tuition fees or the construction of the Kungliao nuclear plant, or for reductions in the price of rice wine or perhaps for cutbacks in working hours. By getting these sorts of issues out there, we're gradually laying the groundwork for our ideal country, and we've caught the attention of the media.
NewYouth Taiwan was started in 1999, from an idea of mine. Our membership includes lawyers, teachers, public servants, members of other activist groups, and general workers, and we've got a total membership of over 30. We all shared a common interest when we were at university, which is why we all got together. In 1994, various private universities' student activist groups joined forces over issues like tuition fees and disparities in the distribution of resources between public and private institutions. Groups like Soochow University's "Zofia," the "Black Ditch Club" at Fu Jen University, "Tsaoshan" at Chinese Culture University, and Tamkang University's "Forum" joined together to form an inter-campus coalition, and as this coalition acted together, we developed a kind of "revolutionary fellowship." Then, as we all started graduating, we began to work on developing and expanding our old coalition to keep up the momentum we'd built. We did this through study groups and Internet forums, keeping our youthful dream alive.
The basis of our study groups is capitalist theory, and they branch out from there into subjects like education, labor, conservation, the WTO, and China studies. Each sub-group studies materials related to their topic. One strict rule we have is that members must attend their weekly study meetings.
When I first came up with this group, a lot of people looked down on it, saying that the days of student activism had been and gone, that we were "stuck on the good old days." I even had people mocking me on our Internet forums. But we've managed to achieve a few things over these past few years, and those older friends from the forums, the ones from the old guard of student activism, have long since been drawn into the "machinery of state" now that the KMT is out of power. They're having trouble adapting to the change from being activists to being politicos. It's really quite a shame.
Actually, it's not that we have anything against public officials per se, but we as an organization do reject being co-opted by any political party or other political pressure. This stronger stance is probably the biggest difference between us and the old generation of student activists.
NewYouth Taiwan is my dream, but I have another dream, deep in my heart, that I very rarely mention to anyone else. I hope that I can find my life's true purpose; these past few years I've felt more and more that life is an opportunity for spiritual growth, one that we shouldn't just fritter away.
I inherited my mother's spiritual leaning, and ever since I was small I've been quite aware of the supernatural, and it has greatly puzzled me throughout my life. It even had an effect on my performance at school. Right through to graduation from high school, I felt a great need to connect with the spiritual side of things, so I prayed to be accepted into Fu Jen University's religious studies department. But my grades were too low, so I hemmed and hawed over which of several other vocational schools and universities I could attend. Eventually I did manage to get into Fu Jen. I quickly became disillusioned with religious studies though-none of the doctrinal education in the course could answer the real questions about life, so I changed tack and joined the student movement, trying to find the meaning of life through action.
I recently did something I'm quite proud of-I was appointed to the staff of Kai-Ping Vocational School, and I've helped them repeal the old regulations and establish new ones giving the campus more autonomy.
I really think this world is an amazing place. I believe in science, I believe in the spirit, and I believe that as long as you have a dream, not only will the power of that dream lead you to ways to make it come true, but it will also help elevate your life to heights previously unthought of.
Yu Yung-chih,
born 1975.
Sociology graduate from Shih Hsin University,
head of NewYouth Taiwan.
"Unlike the student activist generation, we refuse to be coopted!"
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