Bais and "Vahey" – Transforming a Traditional House

my birth name was Bais

it means corner

I was born in my parents’ house

at a corner in Iraraley

later I asked my dad for the true meaning of my name

he said: grandpa wanted you to go to all corners of the world and bring the knowledge you learn back home

at that time father said this with a smile

but I still liked this name very much

when I came back to Lanyu, to my parents’ place, to give birth

I had saved a little money to give to my brother and cousin 

to build a temporary house for my return

where I could get shelter from the wind and rain

I didn’t know what the house would look like

when I arrived and opened the door

I knew that this was the style I liked 

drawing simple design plans

I renovated the house together with my husband

occasionally I went with my father to set up a booth at the beach

dad displayed his own handicrafts

I displayed postcards I drew

because my belly was getting bigger and heavier

and the heat made my father feel ill

I asked my father whether we shouldn’t display our arts and crafts at home

this is how we started to operate The Corner Café

slowly some people started to know about The Corner Café

now in business over eight years

since I came back to Pongso no Tau, more and more young people have returned to their home villages

there are more and more B&Bs and shops every year

originally what I saw planted were taro and sweet potato fields

now many plant houses

several times I have gone back to the school where I studied in childhood 

to share the story of The Corner Cafe and Art Hub established with the help of family and friends by renovating an old traditional house 

I asked the children what do you want to do in your hometown in the future?

some students replied – I want to build a B&B like my parents

other students wanted to sell beverages and so on

at the same time I have watched the demolition of one traditional house

after the other and the construction of concrete houses

it seems a pity 

yet doesn’t everyone need a place to stay when they return?

and they keep coming back 

of course they have to deal with reality first

children’s school tuition and other fees, car loans and housing loans

facts of life one must face

even if you, like me, feel it’s a pity 

and so I opened a shop

and noticed more and more students and professors visiting the island

but I never knew what they were studying

because my father’s health waned

I bought a piece of land for my 32nd birthday

and started building a new house at the age of 33 

in order to prove to my father that girls can live by their own efforts 

he passed away before the house was completed

in my youth I joined the return migration service team

like many indigenous youth I participated in the projects of college students and their teachers

we took courses together on the island for two months

I also made a documentary film

our group discussed vahey 

the underground house everyone talks about

discussions suggested that within ten years all houses will have been replaced by cement

you won’t see the sea

year after year just like vahey 

the sea view will gradually disappear

I also travelled abroad in those years

to Europe, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines

to study plans and designs of old houses

in my mind’s eye a house plays an essential role

allowing people to feel at ease

when I see things that this eye tells me edifies this role 

I add them to the house 

I believe this enhances the sustainability and longevity of my house

so I named it mey vazay do vahey (Work Space at Home)

these years have been difficult

because of being a woman

for it is considered a man’s work to build houses and boats

women cannot interfere because there are different jobs for men and women in Tau culture 

if women do men’s work it signals that there are no men in the family 

that there are no boys or men in a family signifies a curse

since I have brothers, uncles, and husband

my working on building a house conveys disrespect toward them

in addition to signals from family members there have been many public opinions whispered in my ears concerning my work renovating the traditional semi-underground house

nevertheless I stubbornly insisted on telling my uncle and mother that I planned to renovate my grandma’s house

“if the child is not afraid of hard work, let her do it

she has been arguing about this for many years”

so it happened

after many long conversations with my parents and my uncle 

I renovated my family’s lovely old house

the external structure was still very good and strong

what was needed was a complete overhaul of the inside

with a mere 20,000 TWD for the project I had to do it in an inexpensive way

the only skilled work we needed done was drawing in electricity for the air conditioner

if I needed a table I built a table

if I didn’t have a lamp or some part or component

or if there was something I lacked

I went to the beach

the beach is like an IKEA store

so 80 percent of the interior is recycled stuff mostly from the beach

the interior is in a constant state of ongoing decoration

most of the conflicts with my uncle were about whether to prioritise renovating inside or outside

I spent most of my time renovating the interior

but uncle insisted that the exterior of the house must be taken care of first

an untidy house or taro field means the owner is lazy

outer appearance is important for the Tau

but I personally feel that inner meaning and tone are more important than outer appearances 

consequently I often had disputes with my uncle

being able to organise vahey myself 

I am more fortunate than many people and filled with gratitude 

to my uncle for helping to extend the water pipes from his home to mine

to my brother for helping install the faucet

to my mother for helping me weed around the house

to my husband’s grandmother for making pillowcases out of old cotton quilts

to my brother for helping with the cement to make a sink

to my husband for helping to make the nine-square grid in the wall

and for helping fetch stones at the beach to renovate the stone houses

just as our ancestors had carried stones one by one from the seashore 

the wood of the house walls is from trees planted by our ancestors

every stone wooden floor beam and pillar is the love left by our ancestors

for our children and grandchildren to share

to be replaced by concrete houses 

I did not really want that

so I kept on fixing the old house

and the whole family helped

it was not just me who gave it new life 

the love of the whole family was infused into vahey

my father said that one can see that this house is not popular

you can tell if a house is full of people by the shining floor

and there must continuously be someone’s spiritual aura

this is the right way to treat vahey – it is not only a house but a home

although guided tours can be a source of income

they serve a one-time function

a person who goes on a tour once will not come back four or five times

so I planned my vahey as a multi-functional space

at different times it displays different exhibitions

I think many people will wish to visit vahey again and again

The mey vazay (Work Space) has held about 20 exhibitions featuring local artists

several young people participated

a next door neighbour said “Sister I want to exhibit photography here is it okay?”

“Of course! I can’t wait!”

one after another people contact me 

whether for sharing or exhibition

sharing as an amateur motivates me

I wish to create a platform and give the spotlight to people who share their work for the first time

I prefer to work behind the scenes

since I haven’t applied for government programs or grants

and I rent the house from my uncle

who is old and does not work

I occasionally charge a small fee for some activities

partly for paying rent and partly to cover house maintenance

eventually I may be able to afford a dehumidifier in order to extend the life of the house

this is the same house I grew up in

like a close relative I care very much for it 

if I treat it well I think the house will over time radiate a powerful energy

so powerful that the sharing inside begins to affect people

some people say: “I am a woman like you, and women seem to need more efforts to communicate and coordinate with others in our Tau society; but you and your houses encourage me’

I encourage others 

it took me 17 years – not 17 days – to gather information, communicate, and coordinate with family

so it was not easy 

then some people actually went back to communicate with their families

some tell me they are moved by my sharing

so we must be steadfast to persevere

we gradually encourage each other and grow stronger one by one.

inside vahey many good presentations and exhibitions have been shared 

photographic exhibitions, picture book sharing, organizer workshops, barista stories, travelogues

think of yourself as a student

listen to the ideas of others

I wrote a picture book illustrated by my friend Yuping

the book is about the interior of vahey

it reflects the precious wisdom of my ancestors

there was also a handicraft course on how to be creative with waste from the sea

and another in cooperation with a non-governmental organisation on how to recycle waste oil into handmade environmentally friendly soap 

we invite everyone to go to the beach to find materials to make soap containers

I have picked up a lot of flotsam and jetsam along the shore

especially during the pandemic

let everyone turn the waste into whatever they like

bring it back to the main island of Taiwan too

I have also organised several sharing sessions on the the art of making the traditional Tau underground houses

my vahey has now been open for public visits and art workshops for two years

many times I have shared it

it is like a joyful spiritual banquet

a place of mutual support

because of this the house has a new life

so, waiting for my house to be built years ago

I turned around and created vahey 

after vahey was completed

I continued the paperwork for the house to be built 

and now we live there

Bais/Corner is my pillar

I use the café to support my ideals without applying for funds

because ideals cannot make money

it’s about balancing at the spiritual level what you want to do

if the paperwork for the new house I live in now had gone smoothly

I probably would not have created vahey

because of the setback I moved on to the important thing

my current name is not Corner (Bais) but Sinan Hana

Hana is the Japanese word for flower

but actually it is the name that my mother found in the Bible

to give to my daughter

it means gratitude or gracefulness

I am Sinan (mother of) Hana

appreciate everything you encounter 

good or bad

these are nutrients for life

I went to all corners of the world and blossomed when I returned home

Sinan Hana lives in Iraraley. She worked at a café in Taipei before the call of her roots drew her back to Orchid Island. Today, she manages a cozy café in her village while embarking on the dreams of transforming a traditional underground house into a dynamic art and exhibition forum, infusing new life into age-old traditions. Email: bais810@gmail.com