The Double-Five Day Festival
Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo ( Chinese ) The rain in June would not stop. In June 1966, Kaohsiung was battered by torrential rain and strong winds that tore off roofs made of sugarcane boards. The boy in the photograph looks like nothing more than a kid — just 13 years old and 141 cm tall. Yet he had already endured storms and trials, overcome obstacles, earned NASA’s recognition, and fulfilled the “ PTH ” order — setting a paradigm for humanity as “ Apollo 4 took flight .” After collecting the accounts receivable, he made a net profit of NT$90,000, allowing his family to celebrate the best New Year they had ever had. On February 9, 1967 — the first day of the Lunar New Year — he went to a photo studio near the stone statue to take this rare photograph. The “ 5-jiao ” (50 cents) coin beside his left hand is about the same size as today’s NT$50 coin, showing how social costs have inflated — currency value has depreciated by 100 times. Fig 1: 13-year-old A-Chang and PTH Eyel...