30th anniversary of martial-law-removal in Taiwan 台灣解嚴30年

我們又要開會談會務及展望了。這是一段很不容易走的路。每一個組織都需要，但，卻是每一個會員最不喜歡的一段。為什麼我們不專注於舉辦娛樂性的活動，讓大家樂得參加呢？台灣同鄉會算是組織嗎？好像不是又好像是。「不是」在於我們沒有進行任何「組織」的行動。「是」在於法令要求我們既然立案，就要由至少三個人代表營運。而我們以章程規範自己必須有會員，經由會員投票的組織行為產生代理人（領導人）。					We will hold a meeting to deal with the business and the outlook again. This is an uneasy roadway. It is needed in every organization but also least liked by every member. Why don’t we simply concentrate in activities of entertainment and let everyone participate with joy light-heartedly? Is TAA-STL an organzation? No and Yes. No, because we have not done any kind of acts of organizing. Yes, because we are required by laws to be managed by at least three individuals. We also regulate ourselves by stating in the bylaws that we need to have members to elect officers (representatives and leaders).
我們很無奈地需要開會確定組織還活著，明年有人負責、帶頭。因為我們已經脫離被飼養、被奴役的日子，一切事情都要自己來，也不希望有人獨斷獨行濫用資源了。				We are meeting reluctantly to make sure that the organization is still alive, someone will be responsible for the next year and take the lead. Because we have been out of the days of “being fed, being enslaved”, everything should be handle by ourselves, and we do not want someone to arbitrarily abuse the resources alone.
更有趣、更重要的是我們需要透過紀念/慶祝解嚴30週年來檢討戒嚴跟解嚴對台灣人的影響，看看我們可能如何從中學到功課，如何超越桎梏開創新局。因為那是來自台灣的人共同的因素，一直在影響著我們的認同、思考、與作風。			More interestingly and importantly, we need to review the 30th anniversary of being free from martial law, to commemorate the impact of martial law on the people of Taiwan, and also to see how we may pick up new homework from the old pain, how to move beyond the shackles to create a new perspective. Because the martial law is a common factor of those from Taiwan, has been affecting our identity, thinking, and styles.
每個國家、社會、組織、一群人都有歷史的包袱跟優勢。有趣的是每一件難過的事情都有可能引發正向的能量、致蔭到一些正向的成長。這要看遭遇過的人如何處置、提煉經驗、找出新方向與步驟了。到底在台灣的戒嚴跟解嚴有什麼話題可談、可用呢？	Each country, society, organization, group of people has the historical burden and advantages. Interestingly, every sad thing is possible to be trigger of positive energy, facilitating factor to some positive growth. It depends on how people encountered the treatment, refine the experiences, and derive new directions and steps. Related to the martial law and the ending of the martial law, in Taiwan, what kind of topics can talk about, available as sources of our inspiration?
1.          首先，我們難免會想到戒嚴跟解嚴到底包含哪些東西。民視台灣演義有個專輯在介紹戒嚴及解嚴。https://youtu.be/dy1Xx7QAgNA 。雖然沒有任何文獻或影片是完整又完全正確的，這裡提出一個特別為這次餐會加工過的專輯把前述影片分成26個段落，讓你方便選擇內容，研讀，準備在十月十四日的餐會上參加有關解嚴30週年的討論。http://tinyurl.com/mlaw2017 。						First of all, we will inevitably think of what the martial law in Taiwan contains. The Formosa TV，FTV has an album that introduce the martial law in Taiwan. https://youtu.be/dy1Xx7QAgNA. Although none ot the literatures or films is complete and completely correct, here is a special edition for the dinner party dividing the aforementioned video into 26 sections, so you can easily select the content, study, and be prepared to participate in the discussion in the gathering on October 14.
原來我以為已經知道的事情竟然還有許多從沒聽過的部分。我們都知道戒嚴的核心是當場殺、抓去殺、抓去關，釋放之後無立足之地，等等。雖然大部分的人沒有被殺、被關，可是絕大多數的人都生活在「怕」之中，因為沒有任何人確實知道那些「抓、關、殺」的決斷是怎麼進行、怎麼完成的。沒有人知道那些有關的訊息是怎麼形成、怎麼傳遞、怎麼裁決的。這表示沒有人知道如何避免遭殃。以致，「避免遭殃最重要」成為全民共識，大家都努力在落實「大事化小事、小事化無事，無事最好」的策略。				I am surprised to find many new knowledge from the video against what I considered common sense in the past. We all know that the core of martial law is to kill on the spot, grab to kill, catch off, hard to survive after being caught and released, and so on. Although most people are not killed nor imprisoned, but the vast majority of people are living in the "fear", because no one really know how the the decision to "catch, lock-up, kill" is processed and how the procedures are implemented. No one knows how the relevant information is formed, passed, and judged. This means that no one knows how to avoid the incident and the "avoidance is the most important" has become the consensus of the whole people. Everyone has tried to implement the strategy of "reducing big issues into small issues, turning small issues into no-issue".
2.          其次，我們也需要打開視野看看有哪些周邊事務，無論是並行的、共存的、圍繞的、或是衍生的，雖然不是戒嚴跟解嚴的內涵，卻與戒嚴跟解嚴互動、糾纏在一起，嚴重地影響我們。當我們在探討戒嚴的內涵時，難免會分辨某些事情算不算是戒嚴的一部份，是不是戒嚴帶來的。（這一點，我從來沒有聽過，也沒有在文獻中注意過，而是在最近的討論中領悟到的。因此，也可能是我們在討論時最值得著墨的。）比方說，「記住答案的教育」本來就是古老的傳統，也是幼兒教育的重要關節。可是戒嚴，尤其是長期「跨世代」的戒嚴之下，背書及樣版思考（只求「正確」答案）成為攸關生命的措施。許多人曾經重過一種毒，就是「非聖賢之書不讀」。後來延伸到「非權威之書不讀」、「非經典之書不讀」、「非正經八百之書不讀」、「非正確無誤之書不讀」、「非考試範圍之書不讀」。慢慢地就變成「目前沒興趣之書不讀」、「無利可掏、無油可揩之書不讀」、「無立即效益之書不讀」、「沒人逼我之書不讀」了。這樣的「不讀」與「選讀」風氣也自然成為在戒嚴中生存下來的人共有的特質。無形中，「怕人」、「怕事」、「怕出名」也成為文化的核心之一。人人各自努力、各顯神通、隨時警戒身邊有告密求榮的人。				Secondly, we also need to open the horizon to see what peripheral affairs, whether they are parallel, coexistent, around, or derived, although not the core content of martial law, but having been interacting with the martial law intensively, even to some extent being entangled together and seriously affecting us. When we explore the meaning of martial law, it will happen inevitably that we try to clarify whether some things are exactly be part of the martial law, or emerged as the consequence of the martial law practices. (This viewpoint is what I have never heard of, nor have I noticed in my reading, but emerged in some recent discussion. This view might be worthy included in the commemorative discussion.) For examples, “momorize the right answers” in the education system was originally an ancient tradition, and also an important part of early childhood education but during the martial law, especially the long-term cross-generational martial law, has evolved into memorization and standardized thinking that (handling only the "correct" answer exclusively) has become life-and-death measures. Many people have beenn so addicted by the teaching that they should not read the books not written by the saints. And the addiction extends to avoid the "non-authoritative books", "non-serious books”, "non-perfectly-correct books", "the books not in the ranges of educational examinations". Gradually, people would not read “the book they are not currently interested in", "books that won’t lead them to profit nor fringe benefit", "books appear to bring no immediate effect", "books not demanded by anybody".The resistance and the selectiveness toward reading naturally become the common characteristics of the people who survive the martial law. In fact, "fear of people", "fear of event", and "fear of fame" has become part of the core of culture. Everyone depends on indifividual efforts, exercises efforts separately, watch around and keep distance from the people who might play the roles of informers for their immediate benefit.
3.          我們的紀念活動不是在進行學術研究，打破砂鍋問到底、找出真相、辨別是非功過、比賽聰明才智，都不是我們的目的或功能。我們不必把自己侷限在「只談『對』的事情與見解」。在有限的討論時間內，我們希望能記得我們的共同歷史、曉得如何傳續、抒發情緒、獲得啟發、發展心得、看見希望、…等等。一旦發現有些資訊或見解不見得正確，提出異議讓人比較就好，不必爭版面非要對方閉口不可。也不必擔心從此天下大亂，因為二戰結束以來，言論跟思路就都亂不停了。那也是鄰國高明的的文化特質之一。					Our commemorative activities are not for academic research. The acts of finding out the truth, distinguishing the merit, and comparing the levels of intelligence are not our main purpose or function. We do not have to confine ourselves to "just talk about" things and opinions". In the limited discussion time, we hope to be reminded of our common history, know how to pass information and express emotions, get inspiration, develop experience, see the hope, ... and so on. Once we suspect that some information or opinion might not necessarily be correct, presenting the objections is good enough. We do not have to shut off the mouths of the other sides. We don't need to worry about generating chaos in the world from the discussion, because since the end of World War II, speech and ideas have been chaotic, anyway. It is also one of the cultural characteristics in our  neighboring countries.
4.          一切的討論、紀念或慶祝活動都值得提升到探討「然後，怎麼辦」的層次與格局。因此，鼓勵大家努力從別人的發言中尋找靈感，嘗試去碰觸「怎麼辦」的話題。不管對不對、效果，談看看再說。通常，話講出來以後，想法就可能會修改。這是聊天的最重要效益。也是同鄉會活動最有價值之處。昨天，在台灣人學者協會的事業發展演講中聽到 small talk 的重要性。忽然領悟到同鄉會或許需要好好發展、發揮small talk機會與平台，促成鄉親們走出木訥，透過親和力互相啟發，拓展前程。讓聖路易台灣同鄉會成為大家都想，也都需要插一腳，提升個人技能同時提出貢獻的地方。		All discussions, commemorative or celebratiive are worth mentioning and be elevated to the level and pattern of "then, what can be done". Therefore, encourage everyone to try to find inspiration from someone speeches, try to touch the topic of "how to handle", regardless of whether they are right or effective, expose them first. Often, after speaking out, ideas may be modified soon in the speakers’ mind. This is the most important benefit of chatting. This could also be the most valuable part of the activities of the Taiwanese Association. Yesterday, the importance of small talk was brought up in the speech regardless career development of the Taiwan Scholars Association. Suddenly I realized that the Association may need to develop to provide opportunity and platforms for learning and practicing “small talk”, to encourage and facilitate the home-country folks to get out of the state of being “stiff in speech and expression”, learning to inspire one another and expand the future through affinity. We hope that the Taiwanese Association in St. Louis become a place that everyone likes, willing to join hands to enhance personal skills at the same time to contribute everywhere we are.