Turning the Lens on Taiwan with the MS JEDI Team

By Lindsey Kundel, Director of Communications & Marketing

During the most recent professional development day, the middle school JEDI team hosted a meeting with all middle school employees to better contextualize the school's larger commitment to the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion by reminding employees that this work doesn't just apply to recognizing forms of diversity outside of Taiwan. Rather, there is a beautifully diverse and complex mix of identities within our home island that can and should be explored as part of the school's JEDI work.

The middle school JEDI team prepared videos that explore what it means to be Taiwanese and how Taiwan has changed from a wide variety of employee perspectives. After viewing this video, employees discussed their major takeaways in small groups.

The purpose of this session was multifaceted. First and foremost, the session was designed to celebrate the people of Taiwan and to learn more about our host country. It was also designed to highlight the diversity and complexities within the Taiwan community and to look past the generalizations that we often rely on to understand our community.

"Among my discussion group members, we were particularly humbled by the reminder that our colleagues in the video presentation had lived through the dramatic shift from martial law to the hard-won democracy Taiwan enjoys today," said middle school teacher Kristin Rowe. "On the one hand, the pre-democracy era can seem so far away in time, and yet it is the lived experience of many members of this TAS community. We felt both humbled and proud to see and hear Taiwan's journey to freedom personified in these videos."

All participants in the video were attempting to answer two crucial (and related) questions: what does it mean to be "Taiwanese" to you, and how has Taiwan changed from when you were young?

To middle school Mandarin teacher Yiwen Kao says that being Taiwanese means that she identifies herself as a Taiwanese citizen. "I see Taiwan as an independent country," she said. "I'm very proud of my Taiwanese history, culture, and language."

Fellow Mandarin teacher Dawn Loo agrees with this aspect of pride. "I'm very proud of it because I think it is because of the Chinese civil war," she said. "Taiwan is a really small island, but I grew up with a multicultural background that included people from the North and South of China. We have so many different cultures here - especially different styles of food - so I always felt very lucky."

Middle school secretary Rennie Hsieh also says that pride is one of the most important emotions she feels as a Taiwanese woman. "But I didn't feel this until I was a little older," she said. "I remember one of my foreigner friends told me that he thinks Taiwan is his second home after he has traveled around the world. I was happy to hear that because Taiwanese people are friendly. We like to be helpful to others with our smiles. We embrace people from different cultures and from different countries. That's why there are many different diverse lifestyles and cultures here." Hsieh is proud that her home is one with a long tradition of embracing, instead of running away from, differences.

Security Manager Ming-Der Huang says that he defines being Taiwanese as anyone who lives here. "People who try and want to live here longer. Although we have different languages and backgrounds, we need to eliminate those differences and focus on the future and the way we want to live."

Even though Shirley Chao, middle school Mandarin teacher, identifies as Taiwanese, she feels a deep "appreciation" for her family's background in China. She said that when her family went back to China on a trip, even though they don't have any relatives there anymore and she doesn't speak the same dialect anymore, she said it was powerful to know the place where her grandparents could think about going back to one day.

This type of complex relationship between self-, country, and family was often repeated by other video participants.

Yiwen Kao said that the complexity was intensified for some families because of different government regimes throughout history. "During Martial Law, in general, we lived under a subtle fear, and I remember one night, a university student who lived in the same apartment building as me, was taken away in the middle of the night because he had books on Marx and Communism." She said that in the days that followed this incident, the whole neighborhood was very scared and worried about getting into trouble. because many of them also had books that weren't allowed at that time.

"There is a long history of Taiwan being ruled by different cultures, which have ultimately galvanized our unity because we have perpetually faced adversity," said Kao.

Shirley Chao says that the mixing of different cultures has led to even more diversity in this land. "I really appreciate and enjoy the diversity in Taiwan and the many different people who have different stories behind it," said Chao. "I think this is the most amazing part of Taiwan."

Middle school teacher Weston Wang Cooper ('08) says that, to him, being Taiwanese is a "privilege," that he doesn't take for granted. "It has given me an understanding that the world is not always a fair place," said Cooper. "Even though I feel like I belong here, every day I'm reminded by other people that I don't. And to them, it doesn't matter what I think about myself." 

Cooper says that being Taiwanese has helped him to understand that there are many other people in the world who feel marginalized in the same way, often for different reasons. "Many people feel like they can't belong to the country that they identify with - or that even the country that they identify with is told internally that we don't exist, that we're not supposed to exist."

Cooper says that whenever he sees the Taiwanese flag anywhere in the world, he is filled with joy and pride. "I take pictures of it, and I tell people about it," said Cooper. "In college, every textbook I got on world history or politics, I would flip to the back and look for the word Taiwan. Do I show up? Do I exist?"

For Cooper, the diversity on this island has been problematic for many years leading to conflicted identities and a lack of inclusion by other countries. "We were told that we were too Chinese to be Japanese. We were told that we were too Japanese to be Chinese," said Cooper. "And out of that came the sense that if we can't be either, then we have to be Taiwanese. We have to develop our own identity and our own sense of who we are."

Communications office staff member Futing Fish Tung said that, like other participants, every time she is asked these types of questions, it is very complex for her to answer, especially since she is a member of the Amis indigenous tribe of Taiwan.  "I cannot be so sure as to say that I'm Taiwanese or I am Amis," said Tung. "I think that's not something I can take for granted. I often think that my identity is never complete and is always in process. It has to do with a strong connection that my body experiences within the land and the people I interact with. I recognize what I've been given or born with, but I also know I can consciously and constantly learn from the land and experience more. I did not have my indigenous name until I really spent time in the tribe in my village, to live with the people there and to do things with them, and to learn from the elders."

Tung says that although it has been hard to navigate her multiple worlds and communities, she says, "Now I'm more comfortable to see myself as a person that moves between different roles and identities that are somehow interdependent with the land and also with the people."

Middle school secretary Josephine Lin says that in order to answer that question, it reminds her of a small memory from her childhood. "One day, during literature class, we had a big map, a world map, on the wall. We were waiting and as the teachers came in, one of the kids asked me, 'Where are you from, Josephine? Show me on the map.' And I said that I'm from Taiwan, over there, right next to China. The students couldn't see it. 'This is weird,' they said. I repeated, 'Over there!' And then one kid said, 'That's just a dot.' It really hurt me and shocked me. Later, when I went back, I thought about Taiwan and my own identity. Where should I stand? China and Taiwan, we know that China is bigger, a lot bigger than Taiwan. But I thought about growing up in Taiwan and all of the treasures from Taiwan. What I have is freedom, a unique experience, just like the students here at TAS. We have so many different backgrounds and experiences, and we should cherish it."

Middle school Mandarin teacher Roxanne Cho said that although she grew up in Taiwan, when she went to college, she double majored because she really loved learning about foreign cultures. "For that reason, I decided to study abroad," she said. "During that year abroad, it really broadened my horizons because I was the only person from Taiwan but I had a class of 15 other students from China. They were truly lovely classmates. But they asked me a lot of questions about Taiwan. They would ask me, 'In Taiwan, do you really have the freedom to talk? We cannot say anything we want.' And I would say 'Yes, it really is. It is us.'" Cho says that the pride that she felt at that moment is because here, in Taiwan, her voice is listened to. Her ideas are considered. "Even though sometimes I need to take more responsibility for the freedoms that I have, I think it is good compared to many places around the world. I feel lucky to be here as a Taiwanese."

Mandarin teacher Shannon Hsu was one of the final speakers in the middle school JEDI presentation. In a moment of beautiful inclusivity, Hsu said, "I think whoever loves being Taiwanese is Taiwanese. People who stay here long enough and want to be a part of us and a part of this land, I think they are Taiwanese."

 

 

Whether you are Taiwanese by passport or not, on behalf of the entire Taipei American School community, we hope that each member of our school takes time to appreciate Taiwanese culture and history this spring. 

This video was produced and shared with middle school employees as part of ongoing JEDI professional development.

The production committee included the middle school JEDI committee composed of Anisha Vinod, Savanna Kuisle, Sherry Boyle, Chrisanne Roseleip Fossouo, Weston Cooper, and Megan Pettigrew and joined by communications officer and upper school teacher, Sophie Tsai. The project was filmed and edited by video production and archival specialist Tobie Openshaw.. The team is grateful for the honesty and bravery of those who participated in the video project and looks forward to continuing the conversation with our wider community.