Tag Archives: Taipei Times

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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Are Taiwanese “Chinese”?

9 Aug

 

Was this built by Chinese? I don't think so, bro. -Photo c/o Nick Colony

A while back I mentioned how the DPP and local media had started in on how President Ma Ying-jeou chooses to term his nationality. Well, it’s made the headlines again in a recent Taipei Times op-ed, “To be or not to be Taiwanese or Chinese.”

 

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is in full electioneering mode…

One can imagine his soul shrieking as he uttered ["I am Taiwanese"], but when he said it in English he chose not to use the word “Formosan” or the word that came into common usage in the 1960s, “Taiwanese.”

Instead he declared himself to be an “R.O.C.er,” an invented phrase that is neither here nor there, a play on Republic of China (ROC), which could also be pronounced like “rocker.”

So besides the witty wordplay, there is some substance to the semantics. The author is as obviously anti-Ma as they come, but he brings up some interesting points.

The real question is where the small minority who consider themselves to be “Chinese” get off accusing people who say they are Taiwanese of “mincing words over ethnicity.”

There are people out there who think they are really smart, who believe that this distinction is not really all that important, imagining themselves to be something in-between, or simultaneously Chinese and Taiwanese.

This is simply not the case. Whether you call yourself Chinese or Taiwanese is of huge significance in an international sense.

Now, to impart my 五毛 on this, I have found national identity much more difficult to label since returning from China to Taiwan.

It may come from my time working in the Shanghai media, where a simple cross-strait slip of the tongue could end your career.

It may come from my intimate knowledge of the two judicial systems vis-a-vis immigration.

It may come from my friendships with both Chinese and Taiwanese, who I consider to be equally fantastic but intrinsically different people.

Either way, my reluctance to mislabel someone has caused me to start saying things like “ABT” (American-born Taiwanese) instead of “ABC.”

It’s made me more disinclined to utter “the mainland” in conversation.

It’s made me cringe when fellow foreign teachers talk about their “Chinese co-teachers.”

It’s made me realize 国语 (guoyu) and 普通话 (putonghua) are neither one in the same, nor should anyone ever say they speak “Chinese.”

So, in many ways, I agree with the author here. There is international significance and certain ramifications when defining oneself as Taiwanese, or vice versa.

I wouldn’t base my campaign on it, but it makes for an interesting trip to the water cooler.

 

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Tsai Responds to Sexuality Allegations

18 Apr

Tsai Ing-wen addresses the press, Saturday April 16. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) has failed to lure 2012 presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) into a moral mud-slinging contest.

Tsai released a brief statement yesterday saying she would not dignify Shih’s demand for clarity on her sexual orientation with a response. The Taipei Times quoted her,

“There is nothing wrong with any gender, sexual orientation or marital status. Nobody has the right to question another [on this],” Tsai said in a short -300-word public statement.

Tsai said she would use the opportunity presented by the furor to promote awareness about discrimination, suggesting that an individual’s right to privacy concerning their sexual orientation was akin to a human rights issue. She said she would work to “eliminate gender discrimination in Taiwan.”

The fact that Shih brought up Tsai’s sexuality as somehow indicative of her ability to lead is puzzling. I am not sure what kind of effect it will have on the telephone polls leading up to the primaries, but it would shock me if it hurt her chances.

Taiwan is an increasingly open society. It is home to by far the most out gay community I have ever encountered. Being gay is still often an issue within the family, but those who cling to traditional beliefs are often more on the social fringe than those they try to stigmatize.

Taiwan’s gay community is expanding as more and more people feel confident coming out. The percentage of openly gay individuals id going to only continue to rise here.

Why? Not exactly sure. But it probably has something to do with not all females wanting to be pale-skinned, squeaky-voice, cutesy-dolls and males who don’t want to be traditional power-hungry chauvinists.

Taiwan, like much of Asia, is experiencing a rapid recasting of traditional gender roles. Less people are getting married, less couples are having children. The entire dating dynamic is shifting, particularly moving away from family connections as the Internet provides the ability to meet more people more easily. Young people’s personal lives are becoming more personal.

Tsai seems much more in tune with her populace. I’d say she handled this insult very presidentially.

P.S.  I’ve pretty much lost all respect for Shih at this point. Four years ago, he had me fooled. As the outspoken leader of the campaign to take down Chen Shui-bian, he portrayed himself as a non-partisan reformer set on rooting out corruption. But as the movement’s momentum begin to wane and new cases of political corruption came to light, he went into seclusion. It’s pretty clear he’s a hack, and he’s intent on splitting the DPP camp.

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YOU can reduce air pollution in Taiwan!

12 Apr

Took a ride through the graves and tombs out behind the zoo few weeks back. It's a rather trippy metaphor, with the tombs next to a trash incinerator and laying to rest in clouds of smog.

I’ve never met someone living in Taiwan that didn’t complain about the air pollution at least once or twice. Though I must admit it has improved since I first lived here five years ago, there is a long way to go.

For those of you who don’t know, turning off your car or scooter at a stop light is one of the absolute best ways to reduce your contribution to air pollution on the island. Just look around. Look at all these two-stroke scooters. They’re just pumping toxic exhaust into the atmosphere all day, more harmful than 4-stroke and most car engines.

Here are some facts:

Idling does affect the environment. Keep in mind that every gallon of gas you use produces about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide, about 5 pounds per liter.

Idling contributes to respiratory illness. The emissions of even today’s modern vehicles contain Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Benzene and several other toxic chemicals that impair our lungs and heart. Prolonged exposure can lead to death. Children, the elderly, and individuals with asthma are especially at high-risk.

Idling wastes fuel. Idling your vehicle for more than just 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting your engine.

Idling wastes fuel. Idling your vehicle for just 10 minutes can use as much fuel as it takes to travel 5 miles or 8 kilometers.

Idling wastes fuel. Idling your vehicle for 10 minutes a day uses more than 27 gallons or 100 liters of fuel a year.

It’s a myth that turning off and restarting your car or scooter uses more gas. And the impact on components in your vehicle is negligible, far cheaper in the short- and long-run than the amount you would spend on gas each year idling.

How many times have you been stuck behind some old ayi spewing out that wispy white smoke? How many times have you lined up in the back of the box and felt smothered in the pulsating exhaust of the guy in front of you? How many times have you gone home and wiped black gunk out of your eyes and off your face?

It’s gross.

I hit two 100-second long lights on my commute each morning. Having tried a myriad of ways to avoid these lights, I still haven’t found a suitable alternative course. So, I’m stuck. If my timing is even a couple seconds off, my commute goes from around 12 minutes to 17. Thanks to these lights.

And yet, every day, almost every single scooter pulls up, sits there, idles, idles, idles… idles some more. 99, 98, 97… idling. 56, 55, 54… just watching the countdown… idling. And… idling. (For those of you who don’t know, Taiwan’s traffic lights, with the exception of rainy days, countdown how long you have to wait)

So, please, lend a hand. Just a twist of the wrist really. Turn off your scooter or car at long lights, and let us all breathe a sigh of relief.

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The Perils of Free Speech

14 Feb

A “controversial legal action” is testing the definition of free speech in Taiwan, and it speaks to the role speech plays in a mass media democracy.

According to the Taipei Times,

The Taipei Prosecutors’ Office on Friday began handling a request by the Department of Health (DOH) to prosecute seven talk show pundits and a physician for allegedly spreading rumors about the influenza A(H1N1) flu vaccine… Contending that their sensational allegations made people reluctant to get vaccinated and left some vulnerable to severe bouts of flu and even death… If indicted and found guilty, each of the pundits is subject to a fine of up to NT$500,000 (US$17,100).

Freedom of speech is a necessary caveat to any successful experiment in democracy, or so the old line holds. But what if that isn’t completely true?

A friend emailed me the Time article, “Why China Does Capitalism Better than the US”  a few weeks ago. I found it an accurate and balanced account of economic development on the other side of the strait, and the facts are hard to argue. “Capitalism with Chinese principles” has not only endured the economic crisis, but it has laid the infrastructure for continued prosperity in the next decade.

Watching Obama’s State of the Union address, I felt it was all too disconnected. It seemed like he was trying to write the next great speech, trying to pander to political constituencies, trying to show the big picture at a time when Congress can’t trigger a point-and-shoot.

Meanwhile, China is in position to lead the world economy in solar, wind, and hydrological energy. It’s already laid the track for the world’s best train system and is rapidly reforming its education and health care systems. As Francis Fukyama told Financial Times in an op-ed titled, “US democracy has little to teach China,”

Many Chinese see their weathering of the financial crisis as a vindication of their own system, and the beginning of an era in which US-style liberal ideas will no longer be dominant.

But what does this have to do with freedom of speech? Attached at the bottom of the article my friend sent me was a link to Scott Adams’ blog and a post titled “Freedom of Data.” Adams went on to talk about how freedom of speech in China is limited in its socio-political system for the benefit of the greater good, an undoubtedly contentious point.

But taking a look at the situation here in Taiwan, it is rather refreshing to see media members and pundits held accountable for false information detrimental to the populace at large. We were reminded of how vitriol can lead to violence with the assassination attempt in Arizona. Still, political pundits in the US are seldom criticized for incorrect or misleading information, let alone punished for the consequences.

Maybe American democracy has something to learn from this side of the globe.

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