Taiwan Church News
3506 Edition
May 6 – 12, 2019
Headline News Mourning A Never-Met Father Reported by Lin Yi-yin Accompanied by Ms Yang Tsuei(acting chairwoman of Transitional Justice Commission) and Rev Alang Islituan(a retired pastor from Central Bunun Presbytery), Mr Bukun finally located the tomb of his never-met father(Avali) at Taipei’s Liuzangli cemetry on April 30. Bukun laid down the flowers of white lily before the tombstone and emotionally expressed his heart-felt missing words to his father. “We will bring you home. No more suffering. Mom and brothers are all gone. Only us left”, whispered Bukun. After a brief memorial service at site, Ms Yang Tsuei asked Bukun, “Is this your first time here?”, Bukun nodded and said “It is just good we can find him here”. Yang Tsuei promised Bukun to help bring the remains of his father Avali back to his hometown at Nantou. Under the White Terror Era, Avali was maliciously charged of attending a treason group together with Hong Cheng and Woo Lie in 1952. In the subsequent court ruling, because of his occupation as a policeman in Japanese ruling, Avali was sentenced to a 10-year jail with an additional charge of “carrying lethal weapons”. Due to a serious illness, Avali was unfortunately died in 1953 after spending 5 mnths and 18 days in prison. As Avali was wrongly spelled a Hokklo surname in the official record, in addition that his remains was also randomly buried in anonymous Liuzangli hill, his family had never received any death notice from KMT government. And Avali is the first White Terror indigenous victim found in Liuzangli cemetery established since in 1993. The amazing story of Bukun’s reunion with his never-met father is due to the great support from Rev ‘Eleng Tjaljimarwaw, who is also a commissioner of Transitional Justice Commission, and many enthusiastic good-wills from Rev Alang Islituan, Mr Bai Soqluman(general secretary of Central Bunun Presbytery) and many pastors and elders of Tong-Pu and Tong-Kwang Presbyterian Churches. Translated by Peter Wolfe |