Nantou primary school stages NTM reunion

2015/06/29

A group of indigenous Bunun alumni and teachers from Nantou County’s Dili Elementary School reunited June 25 at National Taiwan Museum in Taipei City, marking the anniversary of a historic graduation trip 64 years ago. The NTM was a memorable stop on that trip, which is immortalized in a photo currently on display at the museum. It shows nine students and teacher Liao Jui-teng posing with the facility’s iconic copper ox statue. “Our trip was a special opportunity for the pupils from a remote corner of Taiwan’s highest mountain Yushan,” said Wang Jiang-huai, the DES teacher who took the picture in 1951. “It was indeed a grand tour, as the teachers had to conquer all odds like financial difficulties and threadbare travel arrangements to bring those kids to Taipei.” An anecdote from the NTM visit serves to highlight the significance of the eye-opening experience for the Bunun schoolchildren, Wang said. “One of the students tried to shout down a limousine thinking it was an oversized water buffalo. Cars were rare even in the city, as Taiwan was still relatively underdeveloped at that period. They must have resembled monsters in the kids’ eyes.” Jin Bao-feng, 76, the sole surviving member of the students, was accompanied by the families of her classmates at the event. She enjoyed an emotional reunion with teachers and remains eternally grateful for the indelible memory of the trip. The former student also thanked the NTM for organizing the gathering and enabling the group to relive that moment in time heralding a future brimming with possibilities. A similar experience was repeated by a new generation of DES graduates and teachers. A total of 19 students from the class of 2015 are on a round-Taiwan tour June 21-27, and they showed up at the Taipei reunion to pay respects. “It is an honor to take up the torch and carry on the tradition,” one of the current pupils said. “We are proud to be part of the DES story and will try our best to do justice to their legacy.” Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=231982&ctNode=413)