Working to death in Taiwan

1 May

ImageSomeone dies from overwork in Taiwan nearly once a week, according to lawmakers quoted by the Taipei Times today. The story reads:

 Labor statistics are alarming, with the average wages of Taiwanese workers on the same level they were in 1999 and two workers dying from overwork every 15 days on average, DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a press conference.

If this is indeed true, which I have no reason to believe it is not, the fact that someone would literally work themself to death is just beyond me.

A light has got to go off in your head. You must think to yourself, “Jesus, I am exhausted.” The only logical thought to follow would be, “Screw this job. I’m going home.” Right?

How exactly do you work so hard that you actually drop dead? Is it bad that I don’t know this? Not to make light of these tragedies, but should I be ashamed that I don’t work this hard? I feel like I have worked pretty hard at times.

I suppose I am lucky to have never had things go so awfully awry in my life that I was forced into the realization that I either work until I die or die anyway from not working. That is some serious shit, right there.

But I have to say this. Again, not to to sound callous in light of this terrible statistic, but some of this comes from a legitimate lack of backbone over here. I’ve mentioned it before, but to repeat: Chinese/Taiwanese bosses treat employees like possessions to maximize and then dispose of.

There’s no two ways around that.

Did it surprise me when more than 70% of business owners said they would not raise wages to help with inflation? No. It surprised me that 30% said they might.

As a teacher here, I’ve long gotten used to being treated like a circus attraction… “Quick! Here come the parents… DANCE, WHITEY, DANCE!”

But I don’t even want to talk about “teaching” in Taiwan. This is something that extends across all jobs: people allowing bosses treat them like shit.

I used to know a girl who worked the front desk at some beauty salon. Her male boss used to call her up at all hours of the night, drunk, harassing her for dates. Did she quit? No.

I knew another girl working a similar job whose boss used to tell her she had to come on golf outings with him so he could impress his friends. Did she quit? No.

In Shanghai, I once worked 10-12 hour shifts for more than a month straight. Every day. No days off. The company didn’t give me jack for pay or any type of bonus. I could have made more that month working at a McDonald’s. Did I quit? Well, sort of– haha. I didn’t resign the following month.

So, if you’re planning on working in Asia, expect to be working plenty of unpaid overtime. Saturday mornings. Evenings. Your wedding day. Whenever. If your boss wants you there, you better make it snappy.

I’m not trying to sound lazy. I don’t mind working overtime. I don’t even mind working unpaid overtime. But here’s the deal: I need to feel like my effort is being recognized and respected. If you ask me to come into work two hours early, work through my lunch break, but then refuse to let me leave ten minutes before I am supposed to normally clock out? Well, in my book, that makes you an asshole, boss.

And to be honest, the rest of the statistics in this morbid article don’t get much better for us working class Wangs.

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Ageist Paranoia in Asia: China Edition

25 Apr

Ever-eager to rattle the anti-China saber, The Economist has a new article outlining  ”a deep flaw in China’s model”– demographic aging.

Of all the more challenging demographic issues China faces, the article goes so far as to call a shrinking population the country’s “Achilles’ heel.” (Hearing that, I wonder what Deng Xiaoping would think all these years later.)

If you’ve read my blog before, you know, specifically in relation to Taiwan and Japan, I find this entire ageist school of thought to be utterly useless.

For one, I believe a shrinking population to be a boon to the strain’s on the world’s resources. I also believe more intelligent uses of those resources and more cooperation among nations on issues like immigration and health care will eradicate the basis of these ageist doomsday predictions.

In specific regard to China, I find this article to be inaccurate and poorly researched.

Long have the naysayers decried China for its population policies. So The Economist’s latest call to do away with the one-child policy is far from surprising. Nevermind that the “Family Planning” policy has prevented the strain of an extra 400 million citizens in China since 1979, or that the policy now only pertains to around one-third of the population.

Over the years, we’ve heard plenty of the alleged nightmare scenarios: family planning as a human right, rises in abortions, an all-male youth, an angry/unemployed male youth, etc.

According to The Economist, the real problem is a shrinking work force and surging pool of pensioners that will “have profound financial and social consequences” and, in turn, spells “the end of China as the world’s factory.”

This is just absurd. It fails to take into account a huge number of “financial and social” realities.

Primarily, Chinese families do the one thing that American families have forgotten– save. While the average American is now in debt, the opposite is true of Chinese.

It is not only socially acceptable, but often preferred, for Chinese to live with their families until marriage– and even afterwards. Young adults live rent free. That money is put away, mostly going towards an apartment after marriage.

Some of these trends are changing. The CCP’s hopes for more domestic spending are encouraging less fiscal frugality at home. And some wealthier upper-middle class Chinese are bucking the traditional trends of living at home.

But, as costs may get squeezed, the Chinese are much more adept at caring for their elderly.

Beyond the realities of the Chinese family unit, to assume that the CCP will not dole out some of its vast foreign reserves to ease the strains of its very modest pension system seems shortsighted. After constantly decrying how paranoid Beijing is of losing its base support, I would imagine the politburo would be able to formulate a modest investment in pensions. Not to mention, solving any restructuring of the system would be relatively painless– especially in comparison to the political deadlock of American politics.

If anything, I would say the Chinese are far better prepared to deal with an aging and shrinking population than the US is prepared to deal with 30% population growth by 2050.

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台湾女孩的腿太他妈的性感: Taiwanese university bans daisy dukes

7 Apr

Daisy dukes. Booty shorts. “热裤” (literally hot pants). Call ‘em what you will, but the administration of one Taiwanese university just can’t handle the island’s most notorious national treasure any longer and is cutting off cut-offs.

That’s right. Wen Zao College in Kaohsiung has decided to tap into it’s Puritan roots by banning short-shorts, flip-flops, and tank tops on campus.

All I can say is, it’s about time.

I mean, granted these students are all adults. But who are we to assume they are mentally capable of dressing themselves?

Young Taiwanese chicks in short-shorts are a hazard.

Personally, I count myself lucky to have not been involved in more scooter accidents occurring as a result of these hedonist vixens distracting me while driving.

These young sirens have a history of drawing many a lonely soul to this desolate pirate island. Hypnotized, many fail to ever leave.

And I am sure this is exactly what was going on at Wen Zao– just a whole bunch of hot young college chicks tramping all around campus flaunting their good genes right in the admin’s face.

Clearly, it was distracting and needed to be stopped.

Now we need to take this movement further! No more high heels, no more fishnet and lace! No more nightmarkets! No more chicks sitting on the back of scooters! No more pop stars or TV shows! No more billboard ads for DVD porn shops! No more sidewalks or 7-11s or teenagers!

Fight on, brave sirs, fight on.

 

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CCP won’t free Tibet, self-immolations must stop

28 Mar

Tibetan prayer flags fly near the Yunnan border of Tibet.

Counting the latest, a middle-aged Tibetan farmer, there have now been 30 “Free Tibet” self-immolations since February 27th, according to reports. Desperation always reeks of tragedy, but this is unnecessarily tragic and almost assuredly counter-productive.

Self-immolations need to stop. The international “Free Tibet” community needs to take a stronger stance against these protests, rather than commiserating with the suicidal.

Unfortunately, the entire Free Tibet movement has evolved into something of a cookie-cutter cause. People look at this like Disney’s Pocahantas– some bucolic fantasy of an always-free and pure Tibet, with beautiful monks in their colorful garb dancing around in Himalayan prairies– everybody smiling and happy, until the bad guys showed up.

The Dalai Lama is like an international Winnie the Pooh, just peaceful and happy. Everybody loves him. And how could you not? I mean, who would ever want to fuck with Winnie the Pooh?

The truth is just a lot murkier than all this. Let’s be frank about a couple of things:

1. These self-immolating Tibetan Buddhists are religious zealots.

Most people who kill themselves in the name of religion get a pretty bad wrap, but Tibetan Buddhists get a lot of leniency on this one.

Setting aside the obvious comparison, let’s imagine for a second that these were fundamentalist Christians in the US. Imagine if a large enough number of these Christians started calling for more autonomy and the right to create a completely Christian state within the US– with the power to basically evict any non-Christian and eviscerate the Constitution in favor of the Bible  (Wait, what? That’s really happening?!). OK, granted that idea probably gives a lot of Americans a little tingly feeling downstairs. But for most reasonable people, this is just patently absurd.

But in the US, Christians are the majority. Tibetan Buddhists are not in China. In fact, most Chinese are passively spiritual. Living a life centered around religion is literally a foreign concept in China. But back to the US…

Imagine for a second that adherents to a certain branch of Christianity started burning themselves alive in the streets. What would the government reaction be? I’d bet on Waco II before a new awakening.

2. China is not going to “free” Tibet.

The idea of China freeing Tibet is like the US giving New Mexico, Arizona, southern California, and half of Texas back to Mexico– it’s just not going to happen. Too many vested interests, for too long.

I forget where I first read that comparison, but it’s completely on point. For better or worse, Tibet is stuck in a Beijing’s headlock for the foreseeable future.

(I’m reminded of Rambo IV where John asks the missionary, “You bringin’ any weapons?” Missionary responds, “Of course not!” To which John snorts, “Then you’re not changing anything.” It’s hard to win wars on moral righteousness these days.)

3. A free Tibet is not necessarily a better place.

This is the most contentious point, certainly. While most pro-Tibet/anti-China advocates would like to believe that Tibet would flourish without Beijing, the reality is much more frightening.

First off, to consider an entirely free Tibet– let’s say, hypothetically, China grows tired of the bad press and allows the province to secede– one would have to consider the ramifications. They’d be wise to ask Taiwan about what it’s like trying to navigate in international politics when you have Beijing on your ass. No investment, trade blockades, political stalemates, etc.

OK, so let’s not go that far. Best-case scenario, let’s say Beijing grants Tibet more autonomy politically. The Dalai Lama returns. Tibetan culture is revived. Tibetans are allowed to exercise religion in any way they so choose.

Well, that sounds great. But there are still some obstacles to overcome. What happens to the Han– mostly lower- and middle-class entrepreneurs who moved to Tibet in hopes of finding their own prosperity? How could the new Tibetan leadership work towards prosperity for everyone– if, assumingly, they would be against closer ties with inner China and more Han in Tibet?

And then there’s the biggest obstacles of all: getting the Chinese military out of Tibet. New Tibetan leadership would need to assure China that they could protect a massive land border with India (a must for Beijing) and its central Asian neighbors.

The only thing I know for sure is that the absolute worst way to go about getting the Chinese military out is to burn yourself in the street. All that’s going to lead to is more patrols on every corner, more conflict, and less willingness from Beijing to actually negotiate.

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Air pollution in Taiwan comes from China?

20 Mar

Mistakenly, I’d always chalked this claim up to Taiwanese having a chip on their shoulder.

However, according to the latest analysis of high-resolution satellite images published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, emissions emanating from China do “directly contribute to ground-level pollution” as far away as the United States.

When I first moved to Taipei, locals would tell me that Fujian and Guangdong were really to blame for air pollution in the city. I wasn’t buying it. It’s just too convenient of an excuse: Blame China, say nothing of our own devices.

The obvious cause, to me, was then and still is now incredibly evident: scooters, buses, and trucks in cities never designed for such urban density.

My first apartment here was on the 23rd floor of an apartment building. We had a small balcony, upon which a constant layer of soot would accumulate. I’d heard of this being an issue on lower floors and on balconies directly above busy streets, but we were neither– and I was shocked.

I’ve since gotten accustomed to a certain layer of (scooter) grime. I’ve also come to see the air pollution problem as pretty multifaceted, including factors like the natural topography of Taipei and other areas of the island.

But, alas, I have to concede that some of the air pollution is indeed from the big, bad step-brother to the West.

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