A service commemorating the 228 Incident was held in 228 Peace Park on February 26. The Department of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) sponsored the memorial service in cooperation with the 228 Association. The 228 Incident refers broadly to the events beginning in February 1947 that culminated in the killing of tens of thousands of dissidents, elites, and others in Taiwan by Chinese Nationalist troops. Liao De-xiong, the chairman of the 228 Association, presented crinum, a flower symbolizing peace, to Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou. Crinum was one of the first flowers to return to Japan in abundance after the American nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It has been fifty-eight years since the 228 Incident, said Mayor Ma, but the pain lingers in Taiwan today. Ma promised the support of the city government to survivors of the massacre. Attendees observed a minute of silence at 2:28 pm. The DOCA also held a memorial service on February 28, the actual anniversary of the incident. President Chen Shui-bian, Vice-President Annette Lu, Premier Frank Hsieh, and Mayor Ma all attended the ceremony. Each took a turn ringing the peace bell.