Thursday, November 26, 2009

Linking KinMen island with Singaporean

The above photograph was taken at a single storey former primary school in ShuiTou水頭 village. It was converted into a museum by the Taiwan National Park Authority. In fact, the whole of KinMen island is in fact, gazetted as a National Park. Due to its historical warring bakground, much of the OLD facades are retain in its original condition.
Exhibits showing migrating pattern of past generations moving southward to南洋. How migrants live in their new home, setup schools and collection of donations in support of KinMen. How migrants remit their hard-earned money back to relative ("widow" wife) back home in KinMen using the Chinese Medicine Hall as remittance bank. It also stressed the "Widow" life when their husband away in a foreign land and hope to come back home one day. The peom written on the wall is beauty and touching.
Part of the exhibit includes the daily life in typical home, with fire wood stove and old-style wooden bed. Life is so comfortable in modern day Singapore. One cannot imagine the life with so little foods or selection to eat. People used to greet each other "Have you eaten", it has its reason behind. Food is hard to come by in KinMen where only peanut is farmed in early days. KinMen now has a golden goose, their county-owned Liquor Factory. All KinMen citizen above 60s is given NT$6,000 per month for just being a KimMen resident.

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