Singer-songwriter honors Taiwan’s democracy pioneers

Five-time Golden Melody Award winner Hsieh Ming-yu has written a series of hits for many music industry superstars. But the 56-year-old singer-songwriter says he has been more interested in recent years in writing about the land in which he lives and the changes taking place around him. That focus has motivated him to tackle an unusual theme in popular music: the character of the Taiwanese people as seen through Taiwan's pro-democracy movement pioneers. His moving tributes to those pioneers run through his latest Hokkien album "phien-lâm," (偏南, "Skewed South"), which has secured five Golden Melody Award nominations.