Silent and compliant does not equal ‘good’ByY. He was, by all accounts, a “good student”: obedient, civic-minded, helpful and the recipient of more than 20 commendations. We praise the student who does not cause trouble, who gets good grades and who “interacts harmoniously.” We assume that silence equals stability. When he fell out of the structured loops of school and military service, becoming unemployed and estranged from his family, the “good student” identity collapsed, leaving a vacuum that only a violent narrative could fill. To stop the next Chang Wen, we cannot just look for weapons; we must look for the “good students” who are disappearing into the silence they were taught to keep.

Source: Taipei Times January 04, 2026 16:05 UTC