First-hand site experience
Our guide’s name is Lin Yaqing, and he has written a book of the stories of workers’ lives from his vantage point as a construction-site supervisor.
Lin published his first book, We, the Laborers, in 2017. It authentically describes construction-site life as he saw it, and in its first year achieved impressive sales of 40,000 copies. The next year he published The Laborers’ Lives, incorporating workers involved in nightlife businesses and those who have suffered occupational injuries into the book, which gave it even greater impact.
In 2012 Lin Yaqing began posting essays on Facebook. At first he wrote about strange things that he encountered at work. For example, a client wanted a technique to change out the tiles in a bathroom without workers going into the bathroom, on which Lin ironically commented that what was needed was not a technique, but magic. At first few people took notice of these essays.
As Lin continued working at sites, over time he dealt with owners, health and safety inspectors, and police, and got to know the lives of the workers. He lent money to laborers to tide them over emergencies, and spoke out boldly in defense of justice when the police issued citations. His frustration at being powerless to change the system and at deeply held prejudices among the public made it hard for him to sleep at night. His outlet was to write the workers’ stories down. In the end, the more essays Lin wrote, the longer and more in-depth they became.
In 2016 Lin wrote “The Bagajiong Generation at Construction Sites” in an attempt to reverse the general prejudice against people associated with temple performance troupes.
At that time Lin had fewer than 500 friends on Facebook, but his essay got nearly 10,000 likes and was shared more than 1000 times. Encouraged by this response, Lin went on to write essays about betelnut girls and the use of painkillers by construction workers. Lin had observed up close these marginalized workers who were so often targeted for criticism by people holding mainstream values, and he used his pen to speak out on their behalf. His writings attracted the attention of a publisher, and he became Taiwan’s first author with a background as a construction supervisor.
Tours guided by Lin Yaqing offer a different perspective on seemingly ordinary street scenes. For example, at right in this photo is an outdoor staircase, which is an architectural rarity in Taiwan.