The Endless Road to Rehabilitation ❷ Hsiao-Yeh's Story

"0.51 mg/l."

This was the number displayed on the breathalyzer. Coupled with three prior tests taken near his home, he had been tested a total of six times. Hsiao-Yeh, sitting inside the police station, had undoubtedly committed the offense of public endangerment. Without a doubt, it was because earlier that day, just as he was nearing home, he had removed his helmet and was subsequently stopped by a police officer who claimed to have been "following him for a long time." Had the clock been turned back a few hours to an ordinary day, he surely would have gladly broken his routine and made a different choice.

One day in 2013, during the peak season for the construction industry—an inudstry that places great emphasis on auspicious dates, occasionally requiring workers to coordinate with clients' schedules and work through multiple projects simultaneously, leading to exhaustive, sleepless overtime shifts—today was no exception. He worked late into the night, performing touch-ups while waiting for the paint to dry after a fresh coat. It was raining outside, and the boss's wife at the construction site cooked a pot of ginger duck during a break, opened a bottle of "Paolyta B" energy drink, and everyone chatted simply while eating hot food to soothe their overextended bodies.

Following standard procedures, Hsiao-Yeh was prosecuted, and the judge ultimately sentenced him to two months of imprisonment with the option of a fine in lieu of a prison sentence. His appeal was dismissed, finalizing the judgment. When the verdict was first finalized, Hsiao-Yeh did not take it too to heart, figuring that paying the fine would settle the matter and that it wouldn't drastically disrupt his life. Unexpectedly, however, because of this 2-month prison sentence, his parole was revoked. He was forced to return to prison to serve the remaining 25 years of his previous sentence, which, combined with the 2 months for the recent public endangerment offense, totaled 25 years and 2 months. With only two months left before completing his parole period, Hsiao-Yeh was now 50 years old.

It turns out that a rehabilitated person can never truly start over.

In 1994, following two traffic accidents, Hsiao-Yeh was prosecuted under the Act for the Punishment of Bandits—a statute specifically used to deal with "bad people"—and was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment. Recalling the prosecutor in charge of the investigation at the time, Hsiao-Yeh still vividly remembers being told during the interrogation: "I can tell you're a 'bad person' just by looking at you. You don't even need to pay the two million NT dollars in compensation; I'm just going to have you prosecuted."