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kid (disconnected with the local people) like I used to be who just came back and watched the Masalut (without
participation).”
Some people from outside of New Tjuvecekadan were curious about the project.
Most of the feedback John received was positive. For John’s Han-Taiwanese graduate school classmates and friends, the project was “cool.” He also received positive feedback from one of his graduate school professors, who thought the project was beneficial for the future development of New Tjuvecekadan and was glad that young people would like to implement such a project.
5.6 After the Tjuvecekadan Youth Project, 2017 onwards
After his one-year participation in the Project, John realized that young people who grew up in New Tjuvecekadan and those who grew up in urban areas could all contribute to New Tjuvecekadan in their ways by complementing each other’s respective advantages. Urban young people might know more about city resources that they could use to promote local New Tjuvecekadan issues to a larger population.
However, they did not know the New Tjuvecekadan living experiences of the local youths who were more knowledgeable in the local culture. For John, it was crucial for both local and urban young people to coordinate together.
Through the project, John also extended his social network with the local and urban young people, such as Yusuf, while deepening relationships with some whom he already knew, including me. John would not have known Yusuf if without the
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project.
“Although we [John and I ] went to the same high school, you [I] were my senior, and I was your junior, we did not associate with each other in school nor New Tjuvecekadan.
It was not until we did the Project [Tjuvecekadan Youth Project] that we started to know each other better.”
The project allowed him to listen to different perspectives on New
Tjuvecekadan as the project members brainstormed together to find solutions to the issues facing New Tjuvecekadan. Additionally, he developed a significant sense of belonging to Tjuvecekadan, the slate stone house village, as the project provided like-minded partners to work together to care for both communities’ future
development. In summary, John said, “The difference [before, during, after the project]
was not drastic; instead, it was a matter of the depth of involvement [with New Tjuvecekadan].”
Growing up, New Tjuvecekadan was more of a recreational place for John. He was not active in New Tjuvecekadan affairs, such as the Township Sports Game, and Masalut, before he took part in the Tjuvecekadan Youth Project. As John engaged in the Tjuvecekadan Youth Project, he slowly began connecting with local people. He became more motivated to learn about local issues. He felt more connected to New Tjuvecekadan, both mentally and physically. His growing interest in New
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project was a catalyst for him to contribute his professional skills to the future development of both New Tjuvecekadan and the slate stone house settlement of Tjuvecekadan.
John thought that urban indigenous young people had knowledge from things they learned in school and could contribute directly to the development of both New Tjuvecekadan and Tjuvecekadan. However, he did not receive feedback from any local young people after his participation in the project on what he and other urban indigenous could do to help. It would take time to develop mutual trust between the local and urban young people:
“For sure, many young people may not listen to a well-studied urban young person. Some indigenous seniors from other communities told me that ‘do not rush things with your knowledge and passion when doing a project with the local population. Otherwise, you will get hurt’.
Knowledgeable young people from outside can change the local community. Local people may have different ideas, and they may not care for your passion and way of doing things.
It would take time for an urban person to do things in
indigenous communities. If you rush it, it would be difficult.”
Meanwhile, John also understood some nuances among the locals, such as familial conflicts and distrusts between people. The conflicts were mainly due to
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people's interests and cultural disputes over chiefly families. Such disputes could also potentially happen among young people.
Additionally, there were disputes among the urban indigenous youths. John heard Cooper, an urban young person who was not a member of the project, complaining about Mika. John found the complaints about Mika to be rather subjective, as Cooper had a long-established feud with Mika’s family.
“Sure, the wise do not buy rumors, I did not think his [Cooper’s] opinions were absolutely right. He [Cooper]
thought that Mika was only using young people to do things to consolidate her chief position temporarily. [Anyway], she was not living in the community with people. So, some local people thought, why do things with her?”
John also thought about the identity issue that challenges all urban
indigenous youths when they return to their hometown. As John grew up, he realized there were respective pros and cons of living in New Tjuvecekadan and a big city.
Originally, before he entered college, John had a strong longing to live in and wanted to make a difference for New Tjuvecekadan. However, his graduate school internship experience in 2018 made him think differently. When he was working as an intern, John realized that it was not necessary to be physically in New Tjuvecekadan to make a difference. People could do something beneficial for their hometowns in their own
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development of indigenous communities located in Hsinchu City. With the knowledge learned and network gained from his future work, he hopes to contribute his expertise to facilitate the industrial development of Tjuvecekadan and New Tjuvecekadan.
John stated, “Based on my observation while I was in children Sunday school [in New Tjuvecekadan], I found that many kids may be good at singing and sport. However, when they grew up, probably due to the environment or the path they choose, they started to smoke and drink at a young age.
Such a situation made me want to go back and reflect that as a senior with skills, what can I provide for those kids?”
John hopes to bring resources into New Tjuvecekadan to better the environment for local children and to provide better chances for their future development. John understood that the economic constraints of the local people could limit young peoples' careers. A majority of local young people decide to enter the army as career soldiers to finance their families; therefore, even as children, they may not achieve what they want to do. To sum up, overall, John had a better understanding of the local issues among New Tjuvecekadan and was motivated to firstly tackle the industrial issues of New Tjuvecekadan, and secondly, care for the young people's future development. Meanwhile, he also acknowledged the necessity of coordination between urban and local New Tjuvecekadan young people.