When I was in the United States, if I tried to join the overseas Taiwanese club they said I wasn't from Taiwan and if I wanted to join the mainland club they said I wasn't from the mainland. Many people from Kinmen have encountered this problem, and it's one of the reasons I was stimulated into returning to Kinmen to contend for a place in the National Assembly.
I had a friend once told me he was afraid that the Kinmen bowl would be too small for a goldfish as big as me but, as far as I'm concerned, it's one's personal feelings and perceptions that decide the size of a place. Otherwise, after living next the Great Lakes for such a long time Taiwan would have seemed small. But I often thought, "I not only want to return to Taiwan, I also want to return to Kinmen."
Too many talented people have moved away from Kinmen--I'm an example myself. For many people the problem isn't that they don't want to return, it's that a person with a doctorate or masters degree would find it difficult to fulfill their personal potential there. I found this opportunity to return with difficulty and, if elected to the National Assembly, will perhaps be able to do something for Kinmen.
Although the total population of Kinmen is only 40,000, there perhaps four or five hundred thousand Kinmen people, in Taiwan and S.E. Asia who are concerned about its development. Many of them return every year to visit.
This is an important time for Kinmen. It has to learn to be its own boss. But noboby knows just how to do this. In the last two months in Kinmen I've conducted a survey and found that there are differences in opinions as to how island should develop. Some hope that it could become the axis for trade and transport between Taiwan and the mainland, but really they just aren't sure how to make the best choice.
Consequently, I hope to bring together all the people who care about Kinmen and, through discussion, think up a path forward. I personally feel developing a leisure center or holiday paradise is a feasible direction to take. Of course, to reach this stage a lot of problems have to be overcome. However we Kinmen people need to let the government know that developing Kinmen will not be investment without return. We want to be selfdependent, not a loss-making item.
If, five or ten years hence, along with the changes in relations between Taiwan and the mainland, Kinmen is no longer a militarized zone, no longer needs martial law and all the soldiers have gone, leaving Kinmen a wasteland, who will be to blame? It would be every Kinmen person's responsibility. Kinmen people need to look forward, to go for it--winning or losing is a different matter. Regardless of whether Kinmen's future is bright or bleak, the people have no right to be pessimistic.
[Picture Caption]
Wu Chergn-dean, a Kinmen scholar who lives in Taiwan, wants to do his bit for his birthplace. (photo by Vincent Chang)
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