Taiwanese cultural icon in town
Author, intellectual and cultural critic Lung Ying-Tai will talk about her latest book, which was inspired by her experience of caring for her mother.
FOR 15 years, Lung Ying-tai travelled to Pingtung every two weeks to spend time with her dementia-stricken mum.
She commuted from Taipei, where she lived, or Hong Kong, where she serves as the Hung Leung Hau Ling Distinguished Fellow in Humanities at the University of Hong Kong since 2008, to the southern county in Taiwan until she came to a decision at a three-day silent meditation last year.
Instead of the bi-weekly visits, Lung, an influential Taiwanese writer, intellectual and cultural critic, moved to Pingtung with her two cats to live with her 93-year-old mother, Ying Mei-jun. (The “Ying” in Lung’s name came from her mum’s surname.) While 18 years of dementia has robbed Ying of her speech and memo- ries, Lung, 66, eased into the rural life in Pingtung and began to mull over the idea of a new book, which eventually took shape in the form of 19 letters to Ying.
The book titled Forever And Ever: Letters To Mei-Jun was published in April this year by CommonWealth Magazine, adding to the list of bestsellers under Lung’s belt, which includes The Wild Fire, Children Take Your Time , and Big River,
Big Sea – Untold Stories Of 1949.
Lung, who is the former director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taipei (September 1999 to March 2003) and Taiwan’s inaugural Minister of Culture (May 20 to Dec 21, 2012), will be in Kuala Lumpur this weekend to promote Forever And Ever.
Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to parents who fled mainland China after the communist victory there, Lung obtained a doctorate in English Literature from Kansas State University, United States, and later lived in Europe for 13 years.
She is celebrated for her critical sociopolitical views and her warm, poetic writing style. In her books, she skilfully weaves histories – often dark, painful ones – into her engaging essays.
But she is not one who only wants to present an image of cold, sharp intelligence. Her playful side, boosted by naivety and childlike inquisitiveness, is often shown through her casual and honest exchange with her two sons, Andreas and Philip.
An example is from the last chapter in her new book, where she regales her sons with a story of how she purchased a vibrator from a store in Pingtung out of curiosity!
“Her curiosity has reached a dangerous level,” Philip is quoted as saying.
The new book contains more than just personal sentiments. The letters are punctuated by five chapters of historical tales from around the world as well as her personal stories, from the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 to a page from her mum’s diary in 1942 to a text conversation with Philip in 2017.
“I want to let the readers see for themselves that every father and mother is three-dimensional. We can see what shaped them to be who they were. Behind the personal sentiments are breadth and depth,” she says in an interview with CommonWealth Magazine.
Lung will be meeting readers and signing books tomorrow at the BookFest@Malaysia 2018 exposition currently ongoing at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre; she will be at Level 1, KLCC Plenary Hall from 2pm to 5pm.
Entrance tickets to the sessions can be obtained at BookFest@Malaysia or selected Popular Bookstore outlets. Readers are entitled to two tickets with every purchase of Lung’s Letters To Ying Mei-Jun by showing the receipt.
On Sunday, Lung will visit Han Chiang High School in Penang.
BookFest@Malaysia 2018 is on daily, from 10am to 10pm, until Sunday at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Admission is with purchase of the BookFest catalogue at RM2.50 per entry or RM10 for multiple entries over the nine days. Catalogues are available at all Popular and Harris bookstore outlets nationwide and also at the event’s entrance.
Entrance is free for students who are 18 years old and below and for senior citizens aged 60 and above. For more information, visit bookfestmalaysia.com.
Star Media Group Bhd is a media partner of BookFest@Malaysia 2018. Visit The Star ’s booth in Hall 3 (Link Hall) to subscribe or renew subscriptions to The Star bundle, ePaper, and StarBiz Premium. All subscribers will receive freebies and lucky draw items.