Thursday, September 8, 2011

what taiwan's militaristic streets sign really say

yes, any city you're in in taiwan, the street signs are all the same: zhong zhen road, chong ching road, dzong shiao road, ai gouh road, etc.
these names all come from either places in mainland china (which the KMT at the time missed and had aspirations to return to as conquerors), or nationalistic slogans.
it's like the KMT can't think any farther than zong zhen this and zong zhen that- "we're building a new park, let's call it..... zong zhen. hey, a new street.let's call it zhong zhen!"
then the DPP can't do any better- "we're building a new park, let's call it 228!"
do these names keep the taiwanese from having to actually think up a good name for something? or are they for a deeper purpose, ie, to keep the military mindset embedded on this island?
personally, i'd like to see some nice names like " lan mei jieh" (blueberry street), "song su jieh" (pine street), "fong su lu" (maple road), etc. anything but goddamn motherfucking zhong zhen!
i'm sick of living in a police state!

10 comments:

  1. A lot of Taiwanese don't realize they are in an oppressed society though. Freedom of speech, the most outer layer of a "free" society is well preserved, but the core is just rotten as hell. (Educational System, Political System, Economy driven by a few KMT-selected families, etc)

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  2. well said. and the girl who recently did jail time for criticizing a noodle shop is proof that we live in a police state.
    thanks for coming by.

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  3. The general population doesn't care about individual freedom and thought. Conformity and obedience is a listed as a "competence" on my performance appraisal.

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  4. yep. bought sums it up. thanks for coming by.

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  5. so that woman did jail time for criticizing that restaurant on her blog....damn, i thought she just had to pay a huge fine.

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  6. the internet article i read said she also had to do a onth in jail, AND apologize. these laws are designed to stop taiwan people from criticizing anyone, especially politicians. total facsist if you ask me.

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  7. well, taiwanese are not famous for accepting critics, just take a look at their Senate fist fight sessions. It s a young country, it has to be treated as such until it s mature enough.

    i feel lucky to be married to my wife, her family is quite traditional but very very open minded....

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  8. i disagree. taiwan has plenty of state examples to follow. the only thing holding them back is taiwan culture itself. and taiwan is not a young country. they've had since 1949 to get their shit together.

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  9. i come from europe, a country born in 1949 is still young. the US is still a young country for us. 500 years for a country is not much, let alone 60 years.
    Plus the fact that chinese culture is quite fucked up very often.I mean,FUCKED UP!!
    and most people dont know shit about their own country thanks to many years of KMT and a total control of informations - how can they talk about miss X or mister Y s popcorn stand in a nightmarket while the same day the news could actually report a bombing or something that would actually matter.
    taiwan is slowly evolving, probably slower than the rest of the world but still evolving.
    Many things piss me off on a daily basis but even if i can complain about it i dont think i ll change anything, all i can do is step aside and enjoy the show.

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  10. hey MMA,
    you know lately i've been thinking the same thing. can't change it, so might as well enjoy watching. it's like a parade of stupidity everyday.

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