Insight of the Week：How Can We Not Be Angry？
By Dai Xia-ling
United Daily News, July 31, 2022
On July 22, 2022, after six failed bids, the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium with a total cost of NT 1.2 billion (USD 40 million) was finally opened. On the same day, President Tsai Ing-wen delivered remarks praising the rebuilding of the 46-year-old Hsinchu Baseball Stadium and expressing hopes that exciting professional baseball games will again bring the fullest joy to Hsinchu residents. While the words are still in our ears, the reality to the general public is just like a blow at our head!
On the second day after the grand opening, the Stadium was crowded with 19,528 full-hearted fans. What we witnessed with our own eyes were the uneven floors in the outfield auditorium area, the toilet doors that were installed in reverse and could not be locked, and the turf with too much gravel and not smooth enough at the outfield areas. This poor-conditioned venue has caused four players injured. In the past few days, there were continuous internet uproars of criticisms, and the general public is asking what is the truth behind this unimaginably poor-quality stadium.
After discussions among the Chinese Professional Baseball League, the Hsinchu City Government, and the two teams of Wei Chuan Dragons and Fubon Guardians, it was decided to change the venue for the next games of this season. This decision made many fans, who need to wait for a while before they could enjoy the excitement of watching the game again, disappointed. Yet what is even more irritating is that Fubon Guardians’ player Lin Zhexuan was seriously injured due to the mal-condition in the Diamond of the Stadium. It is conservatively estimated that it will take eight months to recover, which is equivalent to quitting all the next games in the whole season of this year. On July 29, he said on Facebook that an athlete's career is very short, any injury may end his career, and calling on all walks of life to pay attention to the importance of stadium safety. He said sadly, "Players are really vulnerable!" Yes. Safety, is really the most humble and fundamental demand of athletes.
People in Taiwan have unique passion for baseball. Looking back at the time when there was only one black and white TV set along a whole street, many people crowded in front of the TV together, watching the outstanding performance of our players, winning championships in international competitions, and letting the world see the excitement and incomparable glory of Taiwan. Baseball is known as the “national” ball. Every time there is an international game, every family and all family members are staring at the TV screen, and their emotions fluctuate with the performance and victory of the athletes. It can be seen that watching baseball games is almost a national sport for all ages.
Therefore, when the “Forward-looking Infrastructure Plan”, (FIP) was launched by the new government in 2017, Mr. Lin Chih-chien, the Hsinchu City mayor at that time, planned to obtain funds from FIP for the project rebuilding the Hsinchu Municipal Baseball Stadium. The people naturally have high expectations. However, the truth is that as so high was the expectation then, so deep is now the disappointment.
How special! In order to renovate an international standard baseball stadium, former mayor Lin Chih-chien led a field-survey delegation, in which there were no single member with either engineering or athletics professional, to visit Fukuoka Dome in Japan. According to his Facebook narrative, "Let professional sports drive city marketing!" was his real intention. That trip was mainly to get familiar with the layout of stadium construction, operation experience of professional Baseball League, marketing of baseball-related stores in DUGOUT areas. All these superficial tours are irrelevant to the core essence of building an international standard stadium itself. It was completely a political and profit-oriented behavior.
A professional baseball stadium needs to provide, designed from the users' point of view, the outmost priority of safety, and the facilities for watching games, broadcasting, and evacuation when the game ends. Professionals from different aspects are required to design and build a safe and secure sports arena so that players can do their best. As for the surrounding stores and so on, is by no means the main point. If the players can outdo themselves in the field, the event will be exciting, and the audience will naturally be willing to buy tickets to enter the stadium. Only such a good stadium will be chosen for international events and important games. This is the essence that must be adhered to in the construction of sports venue, and it is also the most practical marketing policy.
Poor construction may cost life! How can we not be angry when we see players showing their best skills in the field but injured due to poor condition? Injury may ruin their career. How can we not be angry when we have realized that it was a construction that costs huge amount of tax payers’ dollars, and it has given the bid to a company with poor reputation and has been sued for shabby projects which caused 5 deaths in a work safety incident in 2016? How can we not be angry that such a stadium project was approved by politicians who gave green lights all the way to carry out such a public project? How can we still not be angry? How can we not give them a big “dammit!”
(The author is a professor of Taipei City University and former Chairwoman of the Athletic Committee)