In 1963, a 32-year-old American grad student in Taipei wrote a newspaper editorial complaining that Taiwanese people were great at treating friends kindly, but kind of awful in public.
Within days, he had unintentionally launched a nationwide student movement for civility, morality, and self-awareness. But this student-led push for better manners would also lead to arrests, prison time, and even psychiatric detention.
In this episode, we tell the strange true story of the “Self-Awareness Movement,” how it exploded from one opinion piece, and explain how it contributed (or didn’t) to Taiwan’s public behavior transformation. Listen as we go from the sharp-elbowed chaos at bank counters and bus stops of the 1960s to today’s orderly lines and the quiet pride of the MRT.
SHOW NOTES, TRANSCRIPTS, pics, links, and more at formosafiles.com
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files