STRONGER - THE SUNFLOWER MOVEMENT

     It was Tuesday, as I clearly remembered, when the day the movement broke out.

     On March 18th, 2014, Taiwanese, mostly college students, occupied the Legislative Yuan in order to block the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement from passing in only a ridiculous period of 30 seconds.

     As you may not know, the protest against the agreement had last for over a year, however, it had never been taken seriously until one legislator past the agreement in a chaos on purpose. People on the Internet or, more precisely, on Facebook and ppt, gathered instantly at the Legislative Yuan at midnight and successfully rushed into it regardless of the police's attempt to stop them.

     The non-cooperation took place at once, including occupying the Legislative Yuan and the streets near it, the angry people called for the government to face the problems the agreement might bring about. However, the government remained silent, not only did they ignored the popular discontent(民怨), but also propelled the silent majority to blame on those who put aside their academics and work to participate in this movement. 

     On March 23rd, the grievances again broke out, some of the people made an attempt to occupy the Administrative Yuan. Nonetheless, their attempt did not succeed, instead, it turned out to be a bloody night.

     The police first drove away the media, and then started beating the people, again mostly college students, who were barely armed, with baton(警棍), when they could have just dragged them away.

     The evacuation aroused all kinds of comments from the public, criticisms and applause alike. In spite of this, however, the government still did not give any explanation to the agreement, which made the people attending the movement even more raged. A week later, the people already in the movement launched a demonstration on March 30th. By official figures, there were estimated 116 thousand people in total, while 500 thousand people estimated by the organizer.

     There was struggle for the people in the movement to decide whether they should wait until the government face the questions or not since the occupation had led to the shut-down of much public transportation. On April 10th, after a bit compromise of the government, the people finally made the tough decision and gave back Legislative Yuan to the legislators, promising that they would not halt fighting against the agreement until it could be carefully examined by the public.

     The movement was quoted the Sunflower Movement after it broke out, for someone accidentally lay some sunflowers in the Legislative Yuan. The unbending flower soon became the symbol of the movement. Just like the beautiful flower suggests, the movement also showcased the unbending spirit of Taiwanese and the forever pursuit of democracy.

     I believe that some  of  you might wonder what this event has to do with my topic, photography. But as I have mentioned in the very first post, photographs have so much to do with our daily lives. Take the Sunflower Movement for example, if there were not the photographs sent out on the spot, many people wouldn't have been aware of the serious event.

     Here I would like to recommend some of the websites I browse often to learn the news. There are 新聞e論壇, newtalk, and a website designed especially for the movement, Democracy at 4am.

     Most of you must have heard the theme song of the Sunflower Movement in Taiwanese version, so I would like to introduce you the English version sang by Sherry Cheng(鄭雙雙), and also the Taiwanese version as a comparison.

     At last, I would like to show you one of my favourite quote that I saw on the spot.

Pictures found from Google.

Figure information from wiki.

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