The ’tattoo geezer’ that made news at the beginning of this week is making a comeback. In a strong worded post, posted last night he challenged patrons to come and visit him at his bar. He instructed them that seeing him face to face is better than grouching online.
The Taiwan Independence supporter is back in high spirits and ready for business today, so he claims. His latest drunken antic made global news and many demanded him to open the bar for business. His bar hasn’t been opened for a few days because he reportedly was taking a little time off to regroup from the hordes of people determined to see him.
This is the Halloween weekend coming and many revellers are planning a party out in the cities across Taiwan. A photo emerged of a person mimicking the tattoo geezer’s tattoos, it won’t be a surprise seeing many partygoers following the suit and copying this iconic now facial tattoo.
Another piece of information that has been voiced out by him was that a beauty clinic agreed to remove man’s tattoo for free. It shall take several laser tattoo removal sessions but eventually the masterpiece should disappear from his forehead.
This week – and today specifically – marks the 72nd anniversary of Japan’s surrender of Taiwan to the Chinese Nationalist forces in the wake of the former’s defeat in World War 2. The arrival of Nationalist administration, however, was not and has not been universally embraced, and today, some issues remain unaddressed. Among those is the subject of the on-going protest sit-in by Aboriginal land rights advocates at National Taiwan University Hospital MRT Station in Taipei. Originally located on Ketagalan Boulevard, a short distance from the Presidential Office, in June the protesters were driven out and relocated to their current site, which plays host on weekday evenings to various talks on Indigenous issues by a range of speakers.
On Monday, October 23rd, protest leaders Panai Kusui, Nabu Husungan Istanda, and 馬躍．比吼 Mayaw Biho led a small group on a “short journey” to three government locations around Taipei City: the Executive Yuan, the Forestry Bureau, and the Government Office Building (home to the Department of Land Administration), to again state their case. Led by the wheelchair-bound Nabu Husungan Istanda, the group marched along the streets to the sound of traditional Aboriginal chants and to loud explanations of the situation; “This week marks the 72nd anniversary of Taiwan’s retrocession, and we Indigenous peoples of Taiwan wish to be able to celebrate alongside our Chinese brethren. However, Retrocession Day is not a day in which we can also take joy, as what has not been retroceded is the rights and lands that have been stripped from us.”
Speaking with the director of the Forestry Bureau’s Forest Planning Division Chang Tai, Panay Kusui laid out their case, including questioning the reduction in Aboriginal land to be set aside by the government from 1.8 million hectares (equivalent to Aboriginal territory at the time of the Japanese turnover of Taiwan) to just 0.8 million, about the replacement of logged natural forests with single-species artificial forests, and questioning the director-general on statistics regarding Aboriginal people arrested for exercising traditional rights of hunting and collecting plants. Nabu Husungan Istanda, for his part, was more impassioned; “This is our home! We lived here for thousands of years before you arrived! You should be learning from us, not from other countries or from things you’ve just made up! We don’t want your pretty words, we want action!”
From the Forestry Bureau, the group made their way to the Government Office Building, met by rows of several dozen police officers at the gates, including several wielding riot shields. Again, the case was set out, with the activists demanding that the friendly words made by President Tsai in her apology to Taiwan’s Aboriginal peoples be more than just words. Finally, they returned to their adopted home at NTU Hospital MRT Exit 1, where their “Nobody is an Outsider (沒有人是局外人)” sit-in continued into its 242nd day, with no sign of an official response from the government.
The man that made national news yesterday got caught last night by a random police patrol. After a quick investigation it turned that the man was under the influence of alcohol. Breathalyzer test revealed that he had more than a couple as it showed 0.82 mg/l. The acceptable level breath alcohol content in Taiwan is 0.25 mg/L.
He got taken to the police station where he apparently got very loud and belligerent. The man was put into a cell where he got extremely boisterous and distressed. He even tried to destroy cell’s toilet seat cover. Because of a rather “action-packed” previous day he quickly ran out of energy and decided to get some shut-eye. After a few necessary procedures police officers decided to release him without bail. In a normal situation this wouldn’t have happened but taken men’s “high recognizability” officers decided to make an exception.
Taiwanese reporters were quick to find out where the famous “tattoo guy” has his bar and interviewed him.
The renowned now Kaohsiung’s resident had his moment of fame when upon opening his bar’s doors in the morning he looked into numerous paparazzis’ lenses. He made a little statement speech and proceeded to be interviewed by separate news networks.
An expat residing in Taiwan for more than a decade has decided to prove his support for his adopted country by tattooing words saying “臺灣“ (Taiwan) in traditional mandarin characters and a little flag on his chin. The flag isn’t the commonly used flag for Taiwan but rather the flag for support of Taiwanese independence.
He had the tattoos done in a 24 hours Tattoo parlour in Southern Taiwanese City of Kaohsiung on October 18th. The tattoo artist at the shop was reportedly very happy to do the job and was amused that a foreign man was getting the tattoo. Some netizens were angered that the tattoo artist would agree to do something like this. While others pointed out the pitfalls to alcohol.
The man has long a history of pro Taiwanese independence and often uses facebook as a way to voice his support. Many netizens who have a differing opinion have been confronted publicly by him and have had to vigorously defend their points when talking with him.
He is also known in Kaohsiung for owning a little pub and an athletic club in Yancheng, Kaohsiung. “The Kayak Club” is located at Number 4 Lane 24 Xinghua Street, Yancheng Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The club is situated a stone’s throw away from a clean canal suitable for kayaking, hence the name.
The man is confident in the success of his bar business. He claims that daytime drinking has not yet a thing in Taiwan and he wants to encourage it by offering alcoholic drinks to customers nine to five and beyond. He also claims to have been very drunk when getting the tattoo done and that he is a full fledged Taiwanese citizen. He does acknowledge how stupid it was and clearly regrets his actions, but says he is happy if this brings more eyes to his “Kayak Club” and the Taiwanese independence movement.
A netizen in the comments of his post showed him a picture of a local clinic offering to help him remove the tattoo if he wants. The net is abuzz with this, the latest of antics from the foreigner down south.
(Disclaimer) This article was approved, and all the information included was also approved by the man himself.
Taiwan Observer 