Dear Editor:
After reading your article on Miss Peng Su-hua ["Peng Su-hua: Verbal Arts Advocate," May 2003], I would like to salute the Secretary-General of the Speech Communication Association of the ROC.
How true that one turn of phrase can make people laugh, just as one turn of phrase can bring people to tears. Words can even show people to the realms of the dead. It is certainly no coincidence that Secretary-General Peng has come into the good graces of Executive Director Yu Yu-chao. It reminds me of an old story:
Mr. A was about to be married. Mr. B asked his friend C: "Have you been invited to the reception?" In a huff, C replied: "What do I care if I'm invited-if I was, I'd need to bring a gift." (Obviously, he hadn't been invited.) C then asked B: "What about you?" B replied with a laugh: "I'll be more than glad if I'm invited. If not though, I'll still be glad." Now that is verbal artistry.
As well as giving my regards to your magazine, I also hope to make more people aware of the situation in my adopted country, France. France may appear to be an advanced nation, and a society that grants the utmost freedom to its people, but what goes up must inevitably come down.
Recently the French economy has been in trouble, and the government has implemented labor reforms that have angered the entire population. Workers and students alike have been on strike for more than two months, and tradesmen of all industries have taken to the streets, carrying banners and placards in protest marches on more than a dozen occasions to date. The situation is still unresolved, and some striking workers have seized the opportunity to destroy shops and steal property, and the authorities can do nothing. Unfortunately this leaves the shopkeepers suffering for the perceived wrongdoing of the government, despite their own innocence. Two weeks ago pharmacies, goldsmiths, medical clinics, and gas stations were robbed, and the shop owners themselves have reached their limit. The security forces have no choice but to use tear gas on the rioters; they can't open fire on them, because France holds to a doctrine of humanitarianism. However, the rioters pay this no heed and hurl stones in retaliation.
On the afternoon of Monday, 30 June 2003, on Avenue General de Gaulle in the city of Lorient, a crowd of over 600 gathered to protest at the limits of the city proper. The group was composed of Chinese and other nationalities, men and women, and encompassed all trades and occupations, from shopkeepers and their employees, to traders, to physicians. Led by the president and vice president of the local merchants association, the deputy mayor, the chief of the gendarmerie and over a dozen officers, they and others marched along the main road for about 20 minutes to the Council building. There the president and vice president presented the mayor a statement on the current situation, with the general-secretary from the provincial government office and other VIPs also in attendance. They protested in silence, and carried no placards. Today, shops and factories citywide have closed their doors for the day, in solidarity with the masses; the city looks like a ghost town, and everyone is out protesting the government's lack of effort in protecting its people.
The French population has the utmost freedom-workers' strikes, student strikes, even prisoners' protests over the quality of their food are common occurrences. However, this event is unprecedented, with shop owners of many nationalities, Chinese and others alike, joining the protests. Having been through these protests, and the accompanying lawlessness, I am pleased to report that the authorities are now about to increase the strength of the gendarmerie and night-time patrols.
We're very grateful that the Chinese community has Sinorama to act as a communication bridge between us, and hope that you will include more coverage of the stories of overseas Chinese. Thank you.
