Man Returns to Taiwan After 40 Years in Madagascar|隨農耕隊赴馬達加斯加 陽清基返鄉尋親

Can you imagine not being able to go home for almost half a century? Over 40 years ago, Taitung's Yang Qing-ji, was part of an agricultural team that went to Madagascar. Later on, when Madagascar severed ties with Taiwan, Yang disappeared. Half a century later, he has finally returned home with his wife and children, but his parents were gone and he is now a 77-year-old senior citizen.


It has been almost half a century since Yang Qing-ji last set foot on Taiwan. Although his parents are long gone, he still knows his way around his hometown.

Grandmother, father, mother: I hope you know in heaven that your child and his wife have returned. I hope you can understand the situation we were in at the time.

Close to 100 friends and family welcomed him home with firecrackers. Upon entering his family home, Yang and his wife knelt to pay their respects to his deceased parents. Yang hopes his parents can forgive him for his four-decade absence. Yang was a civil servant back in the 1970s and was recruited by the government to be part of an agricultural mission to Madagascar. After Madagascar severed ties with Taiwan, Yang lost contact with his family. He has now finally returned to his hometown as a 77-year-old senior citizen.

The journey was made possible through the internet and the assistance of the Taitung police.

It was only through the internet that I was able to get back in touch with everyone, with all of you.
Yang says he planted a few betelnut trees in Madagascar. Although the flavor was different from betelnut in Taiwan, he would chew the betelnut whenever he felt homesick. He says he is happy to finally taste the betelnut of his hometown again.