The Birth of the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California
Author: May-Sing Chang
To have a dream is a beautiful thing, for with it comes hope. For more than twenty years, many Taiwanese Americans in Northern California, who are concerned about Taiwanese democracy and are passionate about Taiwanese American associations and their activities, have continuously discussed the establishment of a Taiwanese American Center. The Center would be the symbolic home of all Taiwanese people in Northern California, and by condensing the collective force of Taiwanese of all generations, we can integrate ourselves into mainstream American society, establishing our critical role with a force that cannot be overlooked. Since those of us who immigrated from Taiwan constitute a small minority of the American populace, only through collective action, self-reliance, and through building a powerful force, will we have the chance to survive and obtain others’ respect. At the same time, our children and grandchildren will be proud of the struggles we overcame with our dedicated spirit as first-generation Taiwanese immigrants.
Though there is already an overseas Taiwanese cultural center in the Bay Area, it belongs to a Taiwanese government agency and there are a lot of people who use this center, so it has long been insufficient for our purposes as a community. If you look at large cities across America, all of them have already established Taiwan Centers, leaving only the Bay Area without one. Taiwanese Americans should have a symbolic spiritual center, one that brings us the same warmth as our own homes, which can also be used to hold meetings for our various local Taiwanese associations, to host various social gatherings, and to receive VIPs who come to visit. On one hand, trying to build a center might seem too late, but on the other hand, if we don’t build it now, it will be too late to do so later.
The year 2000 marked the first change of political parties in Taiwan. I remember that on May 20th of that year, after attending a celebration for the inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian, my good friend Yuan-na encouraged my husband, Dr. Shinn-Sheng Chang, and I to start recruiting and gathering like-minded association members to work together to create the Taiwanese American Center. She promised that she would also find some friends who also had the inspiration and dedication to come join the project. At the time, I was drunk with excitement about the political party rotation and didn’t take immediate action. After a couple months, I was once again encouraged by another passionate association member and pious Christian, Brother Te-hui. He told me that his business was doing just okay, but his whole family was living as simply and frugally as possible. He said that he sees money as something external, something which should be used in the most meaningful way possible; thus, he was willing to give as much as he could to help. When my husband and I heard this, we were extremely moved, and we began to invite those who had generously contributed to the Taiwanese Democratic movement to our home to meet and prepare for the Taiwanese American Center.
At the beginning of this year (2003), Federation President Davis Chang heard that Dr. Chang spent the last couple years planning a permanent Taiwanese American Center. A week before the thirtieth anniversary of the Federation, he called to encourage us. He also shared his analysis of the last couple years’ economic downturn, saying that the stock market is plummeting, everyone’s pockets are empty, property value has shrunken, many computer companies have gone bankrupt, and rent was cheap. Thus, he advised that it would be better to start by renting a property, which we could maintain for two years by fundraising $30,000. During this period, we would be able to keep looking for a permanent location. He said that if we agreed with his proposal, he was hoping that at the Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration, I would be able to announce that the Taiwanese American Center would open in three months, which would be more meaningful. Confucius said, “at thirty I took my stand.” After being encouraged by President Davis Chang, within the span of a week I quickly found more than ten enthusiastic community members who each promised to donate $2500 to the cause. Overflowing with excitement, I got on stage at the Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration to announce that within three months, fulfilling the hopes of President Chang, we would establish the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California. An upright person does not use their words lightly. After the annual meeting, we hurried about, searching for potential locations while simultaneously inviting our good friends and like-minded peers who had contributed money and effort all year round, Te-hui Chen, Ching S. Shir, Kuang-po Chen, Tien-tun Shih, Shu-chen Kao, Tien-mo Lin, Davis Chang, Hwalin Lee, David Weng, Chun Chiu, Kuang-I Chiu, Chen-Ho Wu, and Shinn-Sheng Chang to come together and organize the Taiwanese American Center Preparation Committee. We also invited the director of the Taiwan Center of Southern California, Dr. Simon Lin, and former President of the Taiwanese Canadian Center, Mr. Hsing-kuo Shih and his wife, to provide information about their experiences managing a Taiwanese center. I also asked various Taiwanese centers throughout the U.S. and Canada to send their charters so that we could use them for reference. I asked my good friend Chi-shuo Teng to help draft our own charter in Chinese and put Tien-tun Shih in charge of the English version of the charter, as well as completing the application to have the California State government recognize us as a tax-exempt non-profit organization as soon as possible.
The search for a location was greatly aided by the contributions of Shun Hua Yu, Mei-ling Wen, and Fu-mei Lo. Though we thought that the downturn of the economy would make rent cheap, any property that was approximately 10,000 square feet had a rental fee of $5,000 a month. Adding on the various expenses of water and electricity bills, as well as renter’s insurance, rental costs would be a major burden. The reality was quite far from what President Chang had initially estimated. Every day I personally went out to search for a location, growing ever more anxious as the three-month deadline approached. In the end, God blessed us, and at the beginning of March this year, I was introduced by Dr. Henry Y. Wu to an enthusiastic community member, Dr. Ye-Ming Wu. Sponsoring us, Dr. Wu offered to convert the first floor of his clinic into the Taiwanese American Center. It has a total area of 3,000 square feet and is divided into nine rooms of various sizes, which have become a meeting room, a reading room, a computer classroom, a music classroom, an office, a literature room for the Federation and other Taiwanese associations to keep their valuable documents, a storage room, and a kitchen. The largest of the rooms is reserved for lectures and other small events. The lease period is two years, starting from the first of April. Thus, while we are searching for the Taiwanese American Center’s permanent home, we have a multi-functional place that will serve, unite, and improve the lives of our local Taiwanese American community.
The purpose of the Taiwanese American Center is to serve the Taiwanese community, to cure homesickness, to promote understanding of Taiwanese people, to encourage cultural exchange between Taiwanese and American cultures, and to give back to American society. This long-awaited project, the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California, finally began official operations on May 1st, 2003. At present, there are 34 teachers and over 30 volunteers working here, and more than 40 activities being held every month. This Center will bring our local Taiwanese American community into an exciting and hopeful new era. We wholeheartedly welcome and hope that the Taiwanese community can use this collective home as much as possible. It is a project that requires everyone’s participation, concern, and love. We need for those with money to contribute their money, for those with strength to contribute their effort, and for those with time to contribute their time, in order for us to unite the Taiwanese American community around a central goal. Only in this way can we integrate ourselves into mainstream society, becoming a crucial force that cannot be ignored.
Excerpt from the “At 30 We Take Our Stand,” The Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California 30th Anniversary Special Issue 09/2003
Translated from 24. 北加州台灣會館的誕生/黃美星/2014/09
