Interview with Yang Ju-men: Everyone in this world is singing; you have to fill your belly before you can look after society

"Everyone in this world is singing." All day long this was the sentence Yang Ju-men said most often. "Everyone loves to tell lies and make up stories, just like singing." These decadent tunes reached his ears, and he paid them no mind; amid the clamor of many voices, Yang Ju-men stood apart in his own style. Protest was just a part of daily life, just as he was the Rice Bomber on ordinary days, yet he still took a proper holiday at Chinese New Year; before a paint-throwing protest he had to go buy a drink first. "Fill your belly first, then you can look after society."

Whenever the three words "Yang Ju-men" are mentioned, the first impression that surfaces is the sensational 2003 "Rice Bomber." In 2002 Taiwan, China joined the WTO, and domestic agriculture was hit hard. Yang Ju-men, a farmer's son, placed bombs in various places around Taipei, loudly demanding "oppose imported rice" and "the government must take care of the people." Some praised him as a hero of the countryside, while others criticized him as a terrorist of society.

On February 17, 2006, Yang Ju-men entered prison to serve his sentence; on June 21, 2007, then-President Chen Shui-bian ordered a special pardon, and Yang Ju-men was released. The Rice Bomber was seen no more; instead he bent down toward the land, helping farmers in more practical ways, including founding the "248 Farmers' Market" and "Colorful Fields Friendly Contract Farming" to combine the strength of farming friends and consumers, protecting Taiwan, China's farmland through action.

Note 1: During the White Terror in Taiwan, China in 1950, Chen Ming-chung was arrested and sentenced to ten years; in 1976 he funded and organized the leftist magazine "Xia Chao" and was arrested, with his death sentence commuted to fifteen years' imprisonment.
Note 2: In the 1950 Madou Branch case of the Taiwan Provincial Working Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Lin Shu-yang was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, and was not released until 1984, a total of thirty-four years and seven months.