Discovery Channel, GIO team up to spotlight Taiwanese icons

Story Type:Arts and Culture; Byline:Rita Fang
On Christmas Day of last year, the Discovery Channel began broadcasting a series of six 47-minute documentaries in 23 countries across Asia that tell the stories of outstanding Taiwanese in different fields. The ROC Government Information Office (GIO)--the publisher of Taiwan Journal--and the Discovery Channel finalized an agreement on the "Portraits: Taiwan" project in early 2005, contracting six production teams to shoot the stories of Lin Hwai-min, King Liu, Chen Wun-yu, Henry Lee, Master Cheng Yen and Chang Huei-mei.

Speaking at a press conference in Taipei, GIO head Pasuya Yao said that the six films would show the international community that Taiwan is not only a place of economic vitality but one blessed with people who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of excellence and betterment of humanity. The project reflects the GIO's and the Discovery Channel's efforts to invest in and nurture documentary filmmaking talent by providing local filmmakers with an international platform on which to present their work, he said.

The first episode of "Portraits: Taiwan" featured the renowned Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai-min, founder of Taiwan-based Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, who was born in 1947. Time Asia recently included him in its 2005 list of "Asia's Heroes," characterizing him as an "iconoclast" in the world of dance. In the documentary, he says that his choreographic creations have been inspired by Chinese calligraphy and painting, in which water and ink flow onto paper "with unpredictable beauty," adding that he hoped the art of dance can some day equal such fluid beauty.

While the documentary was being shot, Lin was busy preparing for the November 2005 global premiere of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre's latest production "Cursive III," a work inspired by the spontaneity of cursive Chinese calligraphy. In the film, Lin noted that one of the most profound influences in his life was his father, who urged the young Lin to think more about others' welfare and worry less about his own.

King Liu is the founder and CEO of Giant, the world's largest bicycle maker. Established in 1972 and based in Taichung County's Dajia Township, Giant markets its bicycles through outlets in over 50 countries. He is one of the most oft-cited models of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Taiwanese people. "Think of bicycle, think of Taiwan" is one of his favorite slogans.

Liu's goal is not just to retain Giant's No. 1 status; he wants it to be "the only one," he said, expressing his refusal to rest on his laurels and ongoing drive to excel. Despite such vaunting ambition, he said he felt surprised and honored at being selected as the subject of a Discovery portrait.

Another of Liu's favorite slogans goes "Walking is too slow, driving a car too fast, riding a bicycle just right." In that spirit, in recent years, he has actively promoted biking for health and enjoyment.

Nicknamed "Taiwan's watermelon king," the 81-year-old Chen Wun-yu won fame as a great mover and shaker in Taiwan's agricultural industry. Born into a poor farming family, Chen was determined since childhood to help farmers everywhere get out of poverty. One of the best ways to do so, and the accomplishment on which his fame rests, is the improvement of vegetable strains and mass production of the seeds of most superior hybrids.

To that end, at the age of 43, Chen established the Known-You Seed Co. Ltd. In the 1970s, the company entered into cooperative arrangements with companies and organizations in many countries, to collect vegetable seed samples, develop superior strains, and market their seeds. Currently, the company annually exports over US$3 million worth of seeds.

One of the main focuses of the company's research and sales has been watermelons, of which it has developed over 600 hybrid varieties. Its research and seed production have greatly benefited farmers in Taiwan and the more than 100 countries to which its seeds have been exported. Known-You has become the world's largest watermelon seed supplier, and it is estimated that one-fourth of commercially produced watermelons are grown from the seeds of Chen's hybrids.

"In my view, each strain of watermelon is a work of art, requiring a devoted heart to produce," Chen said, adding that the development of a new hybrid can take many years. He said that the hybrid he dubbed Diana, after the British princess whom he greatly admires, took him 12 years to perfect. In memory of her blond hair, most of his research on this strain was spent on developing its golden skin.

Reputed as a "modern-day Sherlock Holmes," Henry Lee was born in China and migrated to Taiwan at the age of nine. He started on his career path in the field of criminology as a student at a police college in Taiwan. After serving several years with the Taipei Police Department and attaining the rank of captain, he went to the United States, where he received a bachelor's in forensic science, a master's and doctorate in biochemistry from New York University and special training with the FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other organizations.

Having served as Connecticut's Commissioner of Public Safety from 1998 to 2000, and currently as the state's Chief Emeritus of Scientific Services, Lee is globally renowned as a forensic scientist extraordinaire. Over the past four decades, he has had a part in solving over 6,000 murders around the world--including countries such as England, Columbia, China and Brunei--and has played prominent consultative roles in the investigation of numerous high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson trial, the Jon Benet Ramsey murder, war crimes in Bosnia, reinvestigation of the John F. Kennedy assassination and the attempted assassination of ROC President Chen Shui-bian in March, 2004. He has received hundreds of awards for his contributions to criminal investigation, law enforcement, the forensic sciences and education.

In 1966, Master Cheng Yen founded the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, an organization that has helped millions of people in need in Taiwan and many other countries in the fields of humanitarian aid, education, cultural development and medicine. She received the Eisenhower Medallion for her selfless contribution to world peace and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Master Cheng Yen's story, often summed up as "the little Buddhist nun and the big hospital," is well-known throughout Taiwan. The Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien City was opened to the public in 1986. It was the first hospital in Taiwan to unconditionally provide medical treatment to anyone, irrespective of financial ability. Today, Tzu Chi hospitals operate in five additional locations around the island.

Born in 1972, Chang Huei-mei is a Taiwanese pop singer belonging to the Puyuma aboriginal people of Taitung County. Noted for her sultry voice and high-energy performances, she embarked on her singing career by entering a contest held by a television station in 1992 and released her first album "Sisters" in 1996. Almost overnight, her name--most people call her by the nickname A-mei--became a household word in Chinese-speaking communities throughout the world.

"I only want to sing," said A-mei, explaining the inner power that boosted her into stardom and put her face on the cover of the Time Asia's "Asian Heroes" special issue in 2002.

Talks on cooperation between the GIO and the Discovery Channel started in late 2003. Subsequently, more than 30 production companies in Taiwan competed for the right to shoot one of the six "Portraits: Taiwan" episodes, each making its own proposal for which Taiwanese hero to spotlight. Although, as might be expected, the heroes themselves often felt uneasy during the shooting process, the final products have succeeded in letting them reveal themselves in a natural, unforced manner that makes the documentary series moving and definitely worth viewing.