Dear Editor:
In last month's Sinorama you introduced Wan Sha-lang in your regular column about old pop stars. Because I am rather familiar with Wan's cousin Li Mei-chih and I know a thing or two about Wan himself, I am taking this opportunity to share my knowledge with your readers.
In the Puyuma language, Wan Sha-lang's name means "a heroic youth brimming with energy." Wan's mother chose it as a stage name for him, and it represents the high hopes that his family held for him.
The article discussed how Wan was determined to go to the mainland in 1987 against his family's wishes and how his children emigrated to America. In fact, Wan was a singer with a strong tribal consciousness. From early on, one could see how he boldly identified with his aboriginal heritage. He sired one son and three daughters with his first wife. According to their divorce agreement, after she became well established in the United States, the children were to join her to pursue their studies there. The children first lived under the care of Wan's mother in Taiwan and then went off one by one to live in America several years later. Eventually, Wan's mother also went to America to live with her sister. As a result, Wan was left without mother or children in Taiwan, and he felt depressed. At his friend's suggestion, he went to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia on vacation. Then his recording company arranged for him to take a foreign passport so that he could make a tour of mainland China. With the cross-strait political situation of that era, he didn't dare come back to Taiwan. He also ended up losing touch with his children in America.
When Wan Sha-lang returned to Taiwan and reemerged on the music scene, he resolved on principle not to compete with pop singers but instead to contribute to his tribe's musical culture. He made plans to make collections of traditional Puyuma songs, as well as write songs in the traditional style. Unfortunately, he fell off the second floor of his Pine Bamboo Garden Restaurant in Taitung and severely injured his brain. After two operations and several years of physical therapy, he made great improvement, but he never recovered his ability to read. Last year, after his mother died, he again fell into depression and often had thoughts of suicide. But in January of this year, as a result of arrangements made by his cousin and her constant encouragement, he once again got up on stage to sing at a benefit concert for the Taitung Catholic Retarded Children's Home, St. Cross Kuanshan Elderly Home, and Taitung Mother Mary's Hospital, groups which have spared no effort in providing care for aborigines and the poor. And as far as I know, he did not participate in the founding of the National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung, as your article states.
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