Every evening, at precisely 6.10, a band and a contingent of smart foot soldiers march in front of Taipei's Presidential Offices. Traffic is halted, arms presented and the Kuomintang's old national anthem played while the Taiwanese flag is slowly lowered. Then away they march, the guards twirling their rifles in their astonishing local manner.
Talk about discipline!
At the same time, 800 metres away, a smaller ceremony happens in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. Only small clutches of tourists watch the two events. Unknown to most foreigners, similar ceremonies occur every Friday morning in all Taiwan's schools.
'All the students and their teachers gather together for 30 minutes while the flag is raised, complete with marching songs and military-style commands,' said German filmmaker Monika Treut, who has witnessed it. Once a year, she said, students are given military training, in which they all fire rifles at a target.
The contradictory impulses of discipline and independence fascinate Treut, who was in Taiwan to make a movie on the daily life of a 17-year-old schoolgirl. It was part of a TV series featuring such adolescents in different parts of the world, all made by women filmmakers. She was struck by the discipline and workloads borne by Taiwanese students. That part of her film will shock viewers in Germany when it is shown next month, she predicted. That's because the image of Germany as a highly disciplined place is way out of date, she noted: German students now show little respect for their teachers and drink, smoke, use drugs and even bring weapons to school.
Treut's film focuses on 17-year-old student Yi-chun, and notes her strong streak of independence amid the system's rigidity. Yi-chun and most of her friends have no plans to marry and raise children, but instead look forward to getting good jobs and making enough money to support independent lifestyles.