Monday, 9 April 2012

Misdirected Courage

“I’ve heard that your respected company has filed a slander lawsuit against Huang for the remark. If this is so, please also file a slander lawsuit against me, thank you...”
That statement, quoted in a lead story in today's Taipei Times is attributed to Taiwanese film director Leon Dai (戴立忍) and refers to an allegation by NTU student Huang Hui-yu (黃慧瑜) that the company which requested the demolition of the Wangs' home in Taipei - Le Young Construction - have connections to the mafia.

Now, whilst I applaud the principle of defiance tactics in general, they must still nevertheless be applied correctly, and I say that both Leon Dai and Huang Hui-yu, brave though they may be, are making a serious and unforced error.

What must be confronted here is not any connections Le Young may or may not have to the mafia, which if they exist are in any case incidental, but the sanctioning of theft through democratic principle. That is what the real issue is here, and it is sad to see courage go to waste like that.

That is but one instance of why critical reflection on ideology is so important.

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