An expensive shell game
The Chang family may have grown wealthy from the shell trade, but in truth when Chang Yi-hsien began planning for his museum, he didn't realize that his scariest test was just beginning.
In order to turn their home into an exhibition space, the Changs borrowed machinery to knock down walls. They did everything themselves--from opening up the space, to spackling the walls, to decorating.
The Green Expo's wooden shelves and water tank system were designed for short-term use. Once he moved them home, Chang discovered that the wood had already started to mildew and rot, so he built new metal stands for the aquariums. And the pump was of poor quality and often broke down, so he just went ahead and replaced it. It didn't take long for Chang, this young museum director, to use up all his savings.
An even bigger burden was electricity: Deep-sea mollusks are best suited to live in waters of a temperature of 20 oC. Hence, Rumphius' slit shells, common nautiluses, and cowries all require their own chillers. This necessitated another NT$200,000-plus outlay. And then there's the monthly NT$25,000 electricity bill.
In order to conserve electricity, Chang, who lives on the third floor of the museum building, is reluctant to turn on his own air conditioning. When he simply can't stand the heat, he goes down to the first floor and camps out beside the mollusk tanks.
Our human forerunners treasured shells and used them as currency. On that basis, 28-year-old Chang Yi-hsien ought to be considered one of the richest people in Taiwan. Yet, when you add everything up, with no public funding, he's spent nearly NT$10 million over the last five years to take care of his guests from the sea. As he's gone from the black to the red, incurring debts of NT$3 million, his girlfriend of six years dares not marry him, and even his father, who had originally been very supportive, is now beginning to suggest that he apply the brakes and return to simply being a shell dealer.
"Right now I'm in an anxious state wondering whether this is the right time to suspend museum operations," says Chang, his voice full of struggle and frustration. Acting as director at the museum, while at the same time working toward a degree in marine environmental informatics at National Taiwan Ocean University, Chang is awaiting the result of a recruitment test he took with the fishermen's association in November. If he passes, Chang will become a nine-to-five office worker, and the museum will only offer tours on vacation days by appointment. If he can't get work with the fishermen's association, then he'll look for other employment. Either way, the museum will come to the end of an era.
"It's not that I've given up, but right now I'm using my energy and money to cultivate my skills," says Chang, as he bends down quietly to observe the Rumphius' slit shells breathing. Chang insists that finding some beautiful place along the coast where he can breed vigorous Rumphius' slit shells and return them to the sea will forever be his dream.
Sea anemone / On the deep ocean floor off Taiwan live many extremely beautiful mollusks. Many living examples can be viewed in the aquariums at Chang's Nanfang-ao Shell Exhibition.