To Protect the Zhengmin Forest Campus, Laoshuma Stands with Huwei Ma in a North-South Solidarity Campaign
Xie Fen-yu said that Hakka people believe old trees are "tree treasures" that bless people with peace and health. Moreover, these trees must go through several generations to grow so strong; once cut down, they are gone, and they may not be able to be grown again in the future. Taiwanese people should find a way to protect these cultural assets, for they cannot be bought with money.
She cited her efforts back then to protect the old trees along Provincial Highway 3 in Dahu, Miaoli, as an example, stressing that old trees have spirits. At that time, after the mayor of Dahu Township in Miaoli ordered the felling and transplanting of more than 200 old camphor trees, 70 to 80 years old, beside Provincial Highway 3, three car accidents occurred in succession for no apparent reason. The mayor ran to a nearby temple to seek guidance, and the abbot said he had accumulated too much bloodshed, frightening him into quickly holding a deliverance ceremony for the old trees.
Grandma Wang Li-sun complained that when she reported to the county government's Education Department how important it was to protect the trees at Zhengmin, the officials replied that these were not any precious tree species and were not worth preserving. Xie Fen-yu said that old trees are precious not because of their species, but because of the emotions and memories between them and people; that is where their true preciousness lies.
The forest, the farmland, the Black Bat Squadron, the military dependents' village and Zhengmin Featured Elementary School are the memories and cultural treasures of Huwei and even of Yunlin, the agricultural capital. Grandma Wang Li-sun said that standing up to protect the trees is not only because these trees feel like children and grandchildren to her, but even more for the education of local residents across generations. She very much hopes the county government can stop the school merger and closure and tree relocation plan, so that Zhengmin's forest features can be passed down forever in Huwei.
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