Taiwan in 1960's

This picture could be taken in 1964 when I was in the first year of junior high school. People in the picture were: mum, me, nephew Yizou, 2nd brother-in-law, and nephew Yishi.

Life in Taiwan during the 1960's was not easy however, the general economy was taking off. Taiwan Sugar Company was then the biggest foreign exchange earner for this country. The average income was low. For instance, the monthly wage of my 4th sister working as an accountant for a straw woven hat company was only at NTD250.-, equivalent to USD6.20 in 1964.

Compare to the majority of Taiwanese, my family should be above the average because not only that we owned a house, we ran a grocery shop in the small town called Qing Shui. However, I saw how mum had to be working very hard at both home and the shop everyday from early in the morning till late in the night in order to help my father to make the balance meet.

My dad left the grocery shop to my 3rd sister and mum to run while he was in a neighboring town working for a timber mill as a technician.

I was in my 6 year high school period starting from 1964. All high school students were compulsorily required to shave off their hair during the days in high school. The education authority believed that it was easier to discipline high school boys when the hair ban was in place. This hair ban had been a controversial issue, and finally it became a history after 1980.

Though life was not easy those days, people were generally happier than nowadays. Crime was rarely heard of. A treat of a bowl of plain noodle soup in a nearby food stool would make the child in full grin.

After all happiness is not depending on abundance of material like nowadays. It is generated from a balanced normality of all aspects.

Amitofuo.