The whole
performance was driven by various love songs by Teresa Teng interrupted
frequently by a communist patriotic song (Praising the Motherland
歌唱祖國) which is often used in the celebration of the 10th anniversary
of Hong Kong's Handover. Video was shown on the television on stage
with footage of Hong Kong official celebration of the 10th anniversary
of the Handover inter-cut with news footage of Taiwan's recent revisionist
campaign.
Surprisingly and interestingly enough, the audience was totally
absorbed in my seemingly amusing yet political action. After mimicking
the patriotic song in Putonghua, I tried to pick the plum blossoms
from the audience but they had never resisted my action while listening
to and moving with the rhythm of the sweet song by Teresa Teng.
Following my "Love me, love me not" statement, I vacuumed
up the flowers scattered on the floor, and again, the audience had
not resisted my return of flowers to them buried in the dust and
trash inside the vacuum cleaner. After all, is the so-called national
identity just something imposed by the authority and can be disposable?
What does it mean to be a Chinese or Taiwanese culturally, ethnically
and politically? What to be kept or discarded that represent our
national identity and that are connected to ourselves? The answers
seem to dialectic and paradoxical... |