Chen ran in the first public Taipei mayoral election in 1994 on the Democratic Progressive Party ticket. Before the 1994 election, most of Taipei's mayors were appointed by the central government. "I didn't really know who he [Chen] was, but I was amazed to see that someone dared to challenge the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT], which suppressed the Hakka language for such a long time," Chung said.
Chen won the election and Chung's choice proved to be the correct one. In addition to a gathering place for Hakka groups that HAPA asked for in Taipei, Chen also built a Hakka Culture Center and a foundation to promote Hakka culture, Chung said. Chung was satisfied with Chen's performance as Taipei mayor and decided to support Chen in the 2000 presidential election.
"Again, Chen didn't let us down, as he pushed for the founding of Council for Hakka Affairs in the Cabinet and Hakka TV," Chung said. "All I have done so far is to help to restore the Hakka language, culture and dignity," Chung said. In the future, Chung hopes to promote the idea of "Taiwanese Hakka.
" "Our ancestors may be from China, but we must remember that we're Hakka from Taiwan -- we're different," Chung said. Chung said as Hakkas in China are a continental people, while Hakkas in Taiwan are an oceanic people, "we should set our goals across the oceans into the world." Lee also told his story to the at his residence in Miaoli County.
"The award wasn't for me alone, I just accepted it on behalf of the many teams that I've worked with," Lee said. "I've hosted many TV shows broadcast in Hakka on many different TV channels since 1998 ? It's the production teams and the TV channels I've worked with that gave me the opportunity to win the recognition," Lee said.
In all the shows that Lee hosted -- including a news program, a show on Taiwanese literature and various documentaries -- he attempted to interpret local events from the Hakka point of view. "The Hakkas have been silent as far as the interpretation of historic events is concerned," Lee said. "For example, people usually don't see the armed conflicts between the Hoklos and the Hakkas from a Hakka point of view.
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