In Mainland China
After Kiwi orchestra was established, which was made up by disabled people, was invited to perform abroad for the first time in August, 2001. They crossed over the straits to Mainland China to perform in the “Music put the two countries hearts together” circuit performance. They consoled the Taiwanese businessmen in China with their beautiful music; meanwhile, they did a lot of cultural exchanges with lots of deformity groups (the disabled) too. In the beginning, the group of Kiwi Orchestra boarded the plane with enthusiastically expectation. When the plane reached (arrived in) China, the sponsors and the Taiwanese businessmen in China (all showed up) were all on the scene. John was the representative of Kiwi Orchestra to receive the bouquet of flowers. By this time, the fatigue of traveling by flight had disappeared in this warm and fragrant atmosphere.
This ' Music put the two countries hearts together ' circuit performance, held by Kiwi orchestra, was approved by Ministry of Culture of Mainland China. It was performed in Shanghai, Kunshan, Hangzhou and Jiangnan respectively. The last performance, which was in the Great Hall of the People in Hangzhou, attracted hundreds of the deaf and the handicapped. When the audiences saw blind John, sitting on the wheelchair,waved his drumsticks with his hands and “danced” enthusiastically for the singer, they gave encore ardently and couldn’t help stop laughing. Yet, the audiences were deeply moved (moved to tears). .
The circuit performance in Mainland China this time was very successful; John was happy and moved (touched). Though the trip was in a hurry (the schedule was so tight) that John’s unable to go sightseeing. John was already satisfied with his drum playing comforting the Taiwanese businessmen and the disabled. This is the best memory for this trip.
Kiwi orchestra goes to China to perform
In Japan
On August 19th, 2004, The Kiwi Orchestra was invited to Tokyo, Japan for a six-day circuit performance; each performance got the audiences’ fervent applause, especially John. He wasn’t only the main character in the show but also the one who spread happiness to others. The JTV even made a three-minute special report for John.
The last performance was for free in “The Handicapped People’s WelfareCenter in Tokyo.” John was very excited on that night. Even though he couldn’t see, he knew there were lots of people looking at him, who were the handicapped. John knew most of these people were still living in pessimism, depression and disappointment. John hoped that his enthusiasm could help these handicapped people escape from the unhappiness and enjoyed the life.
Therefore, he waved his drumsticks in the wheelchair with the music, and smiled when he was “singing and dancing.” This made the audiences dance with the music joyfully. On this night, with cool wind and shining stars, the lovely drumbeats were beating everyone’s hearts. The resounding music is glowing and warming up everyone’s heart…
John showed the strong will of Taiwanese to live by his hard-going life and to drum by his disabled hands. This not only moved people in other countries but also let them know Taiwanese’s toughness of life.
Kiwi orchestra goes to Japan to do diplomacy with the music