最近得知一則北部女學童遭到殺害後的心情相當沉重，我想用客觀而非帶主觀意識來探討這件事，或許可以提供一些獨特的觀點，社會上發生的暴力事件，尤其是對於孩童的暴力事件真的使我們難以接受，而每當我們在觀看報導的同時常常遺忘一件事，為什麼各家媒體都從他們帶有邪惡的觀點出發，而非單純交代事情的始末。
不少人都認為歐美的西方價值觀優越於台灣，尤其是在文化及教育的方面，這種想法使他們一股腦的想前往美國，而引領這種情況發生的開端來自於國民黨撤退台灣的時期，當時的中國和美國在教育及商業上彼此往來頻繁，當共產黨於1949年統治中國時，許多隨著國民黨撤退至台灣的有錢人家都不認為台灣禁得起共產黨的攻擊，他們只把台灣當成一個短暫停留的地點，隨後便拋棄台灣前往紐約等地。
而引領這個風潮的不乏國共內戰時期的知名人物，像是蔣中正妻子宋美齡的哥哥宋子文和孔祥熙，這些人和他們的妻子、隨扈最後都選擇前往美國且在那邊度過餘生，由於他們是游走於頂端的人物，他們的所作所為帶給下一代知識份子和商業領導者無可抹滅的影響：西方是安全且較有優勢的。
二十世紀初的黃色新聞佔領了西方媒體，這裡的「黃色」，並不等於色情。而且最初的黃色新聞並沒有色情成分，主要以聳人聽聞著稱。後來的黃色新聞則不僅限於色情一隅。在理論上，以煽情主義新聞為基礎；在操作層面上，注重犯罪、醜聞、流言蜚語、災異、性等問題的報導，採取種種手段以達到迅速吸引讀者注意，同時策動社會運動。而黃色新聞的播報手段仍延續至今，因此當我們回頭看到這次的悲劇，我們是不是該思考新聞頭版上加害人的臉部表情為何是帶著喜悅而得意的，而媒體想營造的這個事實究竟是否為真？我認為媒體想傳遞一則訊息給社會大眾：年輕人是暴力、無法控制自我、而沒有道德觀的。若光看照片及敘述確實會使人深感恐懼，不免使人增生一種想法，台灣是陰暗且危險的。是嗎？
答案當然是否定的，百分之百否定。台灣絕對是世界上最安全的國家之一，我無法否認總會有不好的事情在兩千三百萬人當中發生，但問問你自己，上一次被威脅、恐嚇甚至遭到攻擊而危及生命時是什麼時候？我可以確定大多數人的答案都是「從未」，能肯定的是我們的媒體受到黃色新聞相當大的影響，一個缺乏認清媒體操作的人很容易被誤導，我們必須要求這些媒體只提供正確訊息，我們必須和這些企圖製造不存在東西的媒體說不，生命是美好且充滿著愛的，我不認為這些你無法理解在社會上只占小部份的瘋狂行徑份子需要被刊登在新聞頭版，印度民族主義運動和國大黨領袖甘地說道：「你不能對人失去信心；人就像海洋，不會因為幾滴汙水而被汙染。」
It was with heavy heart that I recently learned of the inexplicable murder of a young elementary school girl in Taipei. I am a permanent resident of Taiwan so my comments must be seen in the context of a long-term boarder or guest, rather than as a citizen. From this vantage point, I feel that I can offer a unique perspective. Issues such as violence, violence in particular against children, are truly visceral and gut wrenching. That being said, seldom questioned is how the news media presents its view of a particular event, however heinous.
Many local people consider the West, especially America, to hold superior values to those held by the Taiwanese: especially in areas such as culture and education. They, in turn, continue the exodus or brain drain (1) to the US’s far-off shores. This deluge began with the collapse of the KMT in China and its retreat to Formosa, but China has long had fraternal links with American universities and businesses. After the communists seized power in China in 1949, many wealthy Chinese did not believe that “Fortress Taiwan” could withstand the communist onslaught. They made but a cursory local stop and continued on to environs such as New York City.
These included the “trend setters” from the interwar period. Perhaps two of the most notable were T.V. Soong (1891-1971), the brother of Chiang Kai-Shek’s wife, Soong Mei-ling and H.H. Kung (1881-1967), the richest man in early 20th century China. (2) Both these men, along with their wives, entourages and lackeys, eventually moved to “the states” and died there. Due to the fact that they were among the cultural elite of China, it would be impossible to divorce their actions from their influence on their generation of Chinese intellectuals and business leaders: the West is safe and good!.
On a more insidious side, by the early 20th century, yellow journalism (3) dominated the Western news media, i.e. the aggrandizement and perhaps, exaggeration of a news story, and has remained so to this day. Therefore if we return to our tragic story, we must ask why that young attacker’s face was shown to be virtually gleeful and sardonic. Was that the truth? At least in the English language papers, you could only say yes, but was it? Further: Young men are violent, uncontrolled and morally bankrupt? But, are they? Certainly seeing those pictures and reading the articles would leave a person shaken. Taiwan is a dangerous and dark place. But, is it?
The answer, of course is, “No, it isn’t.” Taiwan is among the safest countries in the world. Yes, in every society of 23 million people bad things do happen. But ask yourself, “When was the last time I was assaulted with a weapon, shot, stabbed, blown up, etc.?” I am sure that we all have the same answer: never. It can only be concluded, therefore, that our media have also adopted a form of yellow journalism. Now: news stories must be reported, of course. A lack of media openness can only lead to tyranny. We must force our purveyors of public information, in spite of this, to give us balanced coverage; we must say no to fear mongering – the creation of something that need not exist, if we so desire. Life is a wonderful experience mostly filled with love and goodness; people are usually kind and good. A tiny group of sociopaths or psychopaths don’t have to be front page news in an Eastern culture; we can leave that to the West. The great politician and pacifist, Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), leaves us with a thought: You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
A small joke: One day a man said to his doctor, “Doctor, every time I drink coffee my right eye hurts, what should I do?” “Take your spoon out of your cup,” the doctor replied.
This week, please reflect on the way you view “the stream of information” that envelops your life.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: If I choose to view life as an exciting, dynamic experience, it is. Conversely: if I choose to see it as a fearful, terrifying experience, it also is. My reality is my choice.
Footnotes:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_capital_flight