Taiwan Docs

Image Copyright © TSENG Wen-Chen. All Rights Reserved.

The clock stopped at 1:47 a.m. The fighting fish was spilled out of the aquarium.

Graffiti on a wall at the pedestrian underpass along the Taichung railway showed two birds perching on an electric cable. That was the story of Hsiang-lan, who was wheelchair-bound, and her husband. Hsiang-lan’s husband liked to take her to the movies, ballparks, and coffee shops. They had a pet fighting fish. Afraid that their pet might be lonely, they put a plastic fish in the aquarium to keep their pet company.

After the massive earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the two birds on the wall disappeared, so did the images of Hsiang-lan and her husband strolling along the streets of Taichung. Yet many years later, graffiti again started to appear in the city of Taichung. It seems that the story of the red fighting fish is still on-going.

Source: Taiwan Int'l Documentary Festival
http://163.29.219.145/doc_taichung_2/wheelchair.htm