LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor:

In my time off from work, I love to do field work on Malaysian and Southern Fukienese customs. Because the customs of Southern Fukien, Taiwan, and the overseas Chinese communities of Southeast Asia are largely similar, I have read the articles in your magazine about Taiwanese customs with great interest.

Reading the November article "Every Number an Omen," I found myself agreeing with Li Henglih's statement that "numbers have no connection with fortune good or ill." It's really all in people's heads.

Take eight and four as examples. Because in Chinese, "four" and "death" sound similar, Taiwanese, Hongkongese and many overseas Chinese all have taboos about it. But I have been given numerous gifts of red envelopes with four dollars inside because the Fukienese in Malaysia have no taboos about "four." And some people have tried to get a "4444" license plate when they marry because "four" and "happy" sound alike.

Because "eight" sounds like "prosperity," many Hongkongese and Cantonese are particularly fond of it. But because the Chinese have the expression, "seven ups, eight downs" (which means unsettled state of mind) and "seven wins and eight loses," seven is also a lucky number and eight an unlucky one. In the Fukienese and Cantonese pronunciations, besides sounding like "prosperity," "eight" also sounds like "white,"' which is a color used in funerals, one that represents death and nothingness. In this reading, "quadruple prosperity" becomes "quadruple death." "Becoming wealthy" (three-eight) is turned into "becoming broke"--rather inauspicious. "I will prosper" (five-one-eight) and "continual prosperity" (one- six-eight) become "I will have nothing" and "continually nothing." And what was "wealth forever" (eight-eight-nine) becomes "forever nothing."

From this you can see that it's just superstition to believe that one number will always bring good or bad luck.

Li Tao-li, Malaysia

Dear Editor:

I listen to Japanese language broadcasts of Voice of Free China and read Sinorama every month.

In the October (overseas edition) report "Taipei Transit!" you wrote that "roads should be an important open municipal space in which people can understand the city and enjoy its activities." I very much support this view. I have vacationed in Taiwan for a week each summer of the last ten years. Your country's safety, its friendly and interesting people, the affordable prices, its extensive bus system, etc. have kept me coming back. I have found only the city streets and traffic to be lacking, and in this regard I would like to list some of my experiences and suggestions.

I am a great lover of walks, especially when traveling. Communicating with a pen and paper and my limited English, I stroll about asking directions and meeting people. I greatly value this kind of direct contact with people when traveling. But when walking in your country, I have found many pedestrian overpasses or underpasses. Even for people with four strong limbs like me, these are inconvenient--I am sure that they pose great difficulties for the disabled or the blind. Could the city government stipulate that pedestrian walk-ways must be level? While the measure might be deemed as too strict at first, it will prevent a chorus of voices later saying, "Why weren't there regulations like this from the start?"

Walking in your cities, I discovered newly rising high rises everywhere--the clearest indication of your country's economic development. At these construction sites, the walls extended out beyond the sidewalks, forcing the pedestrians to walk out in the street.

Your report also said, "Real plans to give pedestrians more space are limited with expanded tiny sidewalks becoming spaces for illegal parking . . . . Roads making people feel uncomfortable and insecure is where the conflict between cars and people arises from." It is indeed like this. For a lover of strolls like me, the enjoyment is cut in half. I believe that if you really want to travel, you've got to come in actual contact with a country, such as by walking and talking to the natives, visiting unrenowned temples--spending two or three days to enter deeply into the society.

Finally, I believe that it is necessary to enforce traffic regulations. This is a simple matter, but if the people don't respect a law, it won't have any effect.

The above were some of the thoughts I had from reading your report "Taipei Transit!". As a lover of the Republic of China, I have offered this advice with the hope of making suggestions for improvement.

Morita Toru, Japan