After witnessing the inauguration of a new CKS Memorial Hall board of trustees, Premier Su told chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou Taipei needs an open park like Hyde Park in London or Central Park in New York.

The only candidate for such a park in Taipei is the CKS Memorial Hall, which President Chen wants to abolish as a “feudalistic monstrosity.”

That is easier said than done.

According to the Government Information Office, the memorial hall would be made a Taiwan democracy memorial park, but it wouldn’t be easy to change the name.

The Legislative Yuan passed a statute to create the memorial hall after the death of President Chiang Kai-shek in 1975.

An amendment is necessary, if it is going to be renamed, but the legislature, where the Kuomintang, together with its ally People First Party, holds a slim majority, is unlikely to approve the change.

What the premier wants is to keep the status quo but make it “opener” like Hyde Park or Central Park.

On cue from the premier, Chang Jing-sen, vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, said the wall surrounding the memorial hall would be torn down.

“That memorial hall,” Chang said, “is like an imperial mausoleum, forbidding public access.”

There are only four gates through which visitors may enter.

With the surrounding wall gone, the memorial hall will appear like an open park, Chang said.

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