Thinkers' Club

Just came back from my second 清華思想沙龍 (Thinkers' Club) event. Like the last one on North Korea, the evening devoted to Rwanda and Africa was quite a learning experience for me, and I am sure, everyone in the room. It's a student-organized event founded by my favorite thinker, writer and activist, Prof. Long Ying-tai, for the purpose of opening the minds of students--including high school students-- and Hsinchu area residents. In the process, it trains a group of Tsinghua students to organize an event and conduct relevant research. What an admirable idea in action.

I agree with Prof. Long that Taiwanese students in general need a broader world view, much beyond the political fights between the Blue and the Green in Taiwan. When the documentary film ("Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of General Romeo Dallaire") and the ensuing lecture introduced the genocide, the ethnic hatred, the cold, selfish ignorance of the West including the UN, you heart twitches with sadness and anger, and you realize how trivial many of our problems are. You also see how much we can and should be learning from history, and yet how we fail, letting the same atrocities take place time and time again. Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East Timur, Dafur, North Korea, Iraq....

In 1994, the US was much more obsessed with the OJ Simpson trial and the horrific killings of 800,000 innocent Rwandans (in three months time!) was much outside public consciousness. Even though the West (in particular Belgium) partly contributed to the ethnic divide, it stood there doing nothing to prevent it or to protect the people. A massacre even took place in the sanctuary of a Catholic church!

What makes me despair is that the same atrocities are happening as we speak today, and you and I are doing little to stop them.

I did feel a comforting sense of hope during the Q&A session. The students, including some from area high schools, had excellent questions to raise. They are thinking, reflecting on lessons learned, and contemplating on the situation and ethnic divide and politicization that we are experiencing in Taiwan. As painful as it is to spend three hours learning about the horrible side of human kind, I came away feeling somewhat empowered as I saw 300 young people feeling equally touched or even compelled to take some action.

One question I always have for myself after this kind of thought-provoking event (book, film, lecture, discussion) is always "So what can I do?" I felt that today I had many potential answers for myself. From thoughts/consciousness to practical actions, from private conversations to class discussions, to blogging. I feel that I, like everyone, do have a voice.

Is it wishful thinking? Or blind faith?