卓還來 was a Chinese diplomat working in North Borneo, Malaysia from 1940 to 1942. During the WW2, he was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army together with his wife and baby son. While his wife was crying out gratitude to the supervisor for smuggling food for the baby, he was forced to labour in Sandakan, a city in Malaysia notorious for a concentration camp. Throughout his capture, the Japanese offered him a position in their puppet regime in Nanjing, China, but he wouldn’t agree. After the war, British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit opened up an investigation and discovered that the whole family has been killed and their remains were sent back to China. Little did they know, 3 years after, that Chinese regime that 卓還來 was loyal to his death lost the Chinese Civil War and fled to Taiwan. China has been ruled by the Communist since then and they do not welcome the officials of the previous government.

 

“Martyr or traitor, it all depends on the flag put on the highest building in the city. Or rather, what people choose to remember and forget. Lung Ying-Tai  ‘Big River, Big Sea’（烈士還是叛徒，榮耀還是恥辱，往往看成裡頭最高的那棟建築頂上插的是什麼旗子。或者，人們學則記得什麼，忘記什麼。龍應台 “大江大海”）”

 

Reference

• 龍應台， 大江大海 （2009），印刻

 

Submitted by Paula Chang

Edited by Paula Chang