Tag Archives: taiwan

Passive Aggressive Notes: The Politics of Trash 消極抵抗的紙條：垃圾政治

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Following on from my past post on the passive aggression that results from the limited parking spaces in Taipei, I thought I’d follow up with a similar post about rubbish, after seeing this sign, on a street in the Daan district of Taipei:

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If you live in Taipei you’ve probably seen a whole heap of signs similar to this, but the hysterical tone and the interesting use of punctuation of this particular one made it stand out for me. It reads:

Can’t you have the least shred of decency? Don’t pile rubbish up here!!?? Dogs come here to eat it every day and there is shit everywhere.

If you don’t live in Taiwan you may be unfamiliar with the system. Basically, you have to buy special bags at convenience stores to put rubbish in, then at a certain time  every day the rubbish trucks will come to the end of your street. Unlike in the UK, you

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‘Collecting Gods’ by Wu I-Wei 吳億偉的〈撿神〉英文翻譯

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lord_guangWu I-Wei (吳億偉) has won numerous awards including the United Daily Press Literary Award for Fiction, the China Times Literary Award for Fiction and Essays, the United Literature Monthly Literary Award for Fiction, and the Liberty Times Lin Rungsan Literary Award for Short Essays. He published his new collection of essays, Motorbike Days (《機車生活》), in 2014 and is now a PhD candidate at the Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and regularly reports the latest German literature news for Taiwanese magazines and newspapers. View an excerpt of a previous translation of his work here. This story, ‘Collecting Gods’, won the Jury Short Story Prize at the 30th China Times Literary Awards in 2007. A slightly different version of the original Chinese story can be found here.

The outside of the embankment was still a deep green in early autumn, the only exception being the cotton-like grey of the miscanthus ears, spreading out in a continuous unbroken strip of their own, the branches appearing a lot softer when in the wind. Amidst the rustling of the leaves and grass, one could hear a clacking sound, like something was rolling toward the riverside. Pushing aside the undergrowth as she went, an old hunch-backed woman dragged a ragged looking old pram along the ground. The frilly lace on it had already gone black and it was full of plastic bottles and sheets of used paper. She looked hesitantly in all directions as she made her way onward, her body lowered to enable her easier access to the ground. The rickety wheels continued to clack as she made her way along the riverbank searching for anything of value.  Behind her ran a line of corrugated iron shacks and across a few loofah trellises, was a small path, cut out among the weeds, leading to a little temple, with a roof of red glazed tiles and mottled yellow walls with several scars, as if marked by lightning. The door was wide enough for a person to pass through with their arms outstretched and the statues of the lords of the three realms – the heavens, the earth and the waters – stood fixed on a platform under the roof, golden crowns on their heads and beards down to their chests, each holding a tablet underlining their divine authority, clothed in official garb of glistening divine gold.

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Smearing political rivals in Taipei: Freddie Lim take-down! 林昶佐被林郁方「抺黑」了

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Have you been enjoying the flood of campaign leaflets flowing through your letterbox? I’m living near the boundary between the 5th and 8th electoral districts, so have been getting a range. One particular leaflet released by KMT candidate Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) caught my eye, as the entire thing was dedicated to smearing Lin’s rival for the 5th electoral district of Taipei, Freddy Lim (founding leader of the New Power Party (時代力量) and lead singer of heavy-metal band Chthonic):

whyyouburnflag The front side of the leaflet poses a question to Lim:

I want to ask Freddy Lim: “Why did you burn our national flag?”

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Overheard Moments – Taiwanese on the streets 街巷台語

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I love hearing snippets of people’s conversations on the street and it’s always a good opportunity to learn more of a language. I overheard the below exchange about a wedding invite grudge:

Woman: mài (不要) 等(tán) 七(chhit) 年(nî), mài(不要) 講(kóng) 抵好(tú-hó只好)  好(hó) 一(chi̍t) 工(kang, 天) 伊(i他) 可能(khó-lêng) 硬(ngē) 掙(chiⁿ), 伊(i他) 都(to) 掙(chiⁿ) 去({k}hì).

Woman: Don’t wait seven years, then one day… Maybe even if she has to force her way in she will still go. She will still go.

á 阮(góan我) a 姊 (chí) 伊(i他)  mā (也) 無(bô) 可能(khó-lêng) 去({k}hì), 因為(in-ūi) 伊(i他) koh(又) 食素(chia̍h-sò͘). 人(lâng人家) 都(to) 無(bô) 位(ūi) 褪 (thǹg (讓))  hō͘ (給) 伊(i) 坐(chē), 伊(i) beh(要) 去({k}hì) 創啥 (chhòng-siáⁿ做什麼)?

My sister can’t possibly go, because she is a vegetarian. They aren’t able to give her a place to sit, so why would she go?

Man: 無(bô) 位(ūi) 妳(lí) koh(還/又) beh(要) 去({k}hì)?

Man: If there is nowhere to sit she still wants to go?

Woman: 人(lâng人家) 曾XX (姓名) 干單(kan-nā(只有)) 僎(chhôan(準備)) 一(chi̍t) 桌toh  ??? (anninia). m̄是(m̄-sī不是) 阿強 著是(tio̍h-sī就是) 愛(ài(要)) 坐(chē)  主(chú) 桌toh.

Woman: Zeng XX should at least prepare one table for her. Shouldn’t A Qiang in the most important spot.

Feel free to contact me if I’ve misunderstood the above conversation or if you’ve got any Taiwanese words or phrases you hear and want featured on the blog.

 

‘The Con Man’ by Roan Ching-yue 〈騙子〉阮慶岳

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He was a con man.

He felt like a cotton-bound paper lantern, panicking that he would be seen through at any moment, giving off, as he was, a glow of affability and affection from every pore, both tantalizing and haughty. After he’d finished a con, he gave his arrogance even freer reign, but he wasn’t normally able to trust his feelings to others. They were his private hoard, a secret love affair, delectable, but not to be shared out loud. Sometimes he felt so stifled that it was as if his insides would rip open in a roar, but then he would use a soothing motherly tone to subdue his organs, bursting as they were with pride-fed excitement, saying, Be good now, I know… but you can’t tell anyone! You can’t tell anyone! You should all be quite aware of that now, shouldn’t you!

The jubilation was like an infant wailing for its mother’s breast, making him feel like a helpless new mother cradling it closer to his chest, rocking it and saying, Don’t cry, don’t cry, come on! Let’s go for a walk to the riverside and see the rainbow. On the street he would be even more cautious, not allowing his arms to fall from his body for even an instant, for fear that the infant inside him would start to wail. Try though he might to contain himself, he wasn’t able to disguise an appearance of self-satisfied mirth and haughtiness, in the drab blur of the crowds, especially with his lantern-like translucent splendor.

His organs would be soothed by the sight of the rainbow and enter into the heavy slumber of sated beasts. However, sometimes the joy he felt was so strong, it would wake him up at night and he would break his taboo by spilling all to his beloved stuffed goose. Like tonight… he couldn’t get images of A out of his head, flowing like restless spirits struggling to emerge from within him, scattered over the countless past months, like colored flags which circle happily in the wind over time, illuminating the lantern case which shrouded him to such an extent that it was as if he would burst into flame any minute.

On nights like this he was left with no other option but to tell the story of A at length to the attentive-looking stuffed goose.

I Lie Because I Love You

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Mona Rudao (莫那魯道) Commemorated on NT$20 pieces

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coinsMona Rudao, the chief of Seediq tribe during the Wushe incident – a rebellion against Japanese rule which ended in a violent crackdown and Rudao’s suicide, has been commemorated on a NT$20 piece that I was handed at a restaurant yesterday.

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Sing to speak Taiwanese: Part 3 (Chorus) ‘The hustle and bustle is all a dream’ 會唱就會講台語：〈繁華攏是夢〉第三段（副歌）

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This is a continuation of Part 1 and Part 2. My favorite part of the song which also contains some useful vocabulary for those 3am calls to your ex to tell them how heartless they are and everything you’ve done for them. I’ve posted different versions of the song in each post, so here’s the 北七樂團’s version, although there’s another song at the end:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeF46XxOu2k

I’ve reposted the lyrics as they appear at KTV below as a reminder:

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Scientology is recruiting in Taiwan – Eeep! 台灣山達基

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I didn’t realize how developed the Scientology infrastructure is in Taiwan, but got this familiar looking leaflet through the door asking me if I wanted a free stress test:

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It reads:

Do you know where your stress is?

Is your vitality being drained by past experiences?

Find the source of your stress!

With this voucher you can get a free stress test!

Dianetics Daan Center

This is a professional and very accurate stress test, which uses a refined piece of equipment to help you find what is holding you back in life, the things that are causing you stress, it will also show up your problem areas, that are holding you back from your true potential and happiness. You’ll be able to see clearly what it is that is destroying your life and holding you back from your heart’s desires.

Come now and get a free stress test!

Scientology is called 山達基 in Chinese and their website is here. I’ve been watching some shows on Scientology on the Media Mayhem Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIQaaowQ0PM

Makes for pretty scary watching.

I’ve searched the Taiwanese media, but there seems to be largely positive coverage of local branches of Scientology in the news, mentioning their voluntary work.

  • Here they are organizing an International Human Rights march in cooperation with other groups in a report by Central Daily News, with no reference to controversy over the group in the US.
  • Here they are helping out in the disaster area after the tragic Kaohsiung gas explosion in a report by China Times, with a direct reference to the philosophy of Ron Hubbard:

    提供教會創始人L.羅恩賀伯特所研究的「援助法」，幫助災民舒緩身體緊繃及情緒紓壓。Using the “assistance techniques” researched by the religion’s founder L.  Ron Hubbard, to help those affected by the disaster relieve the tension in their bodies and helping them with stress.

    but no reference to controversy over the group in the US and they are referred to as a “教會” (religion).

  • Here they are in Central Daily News again, with an anti-drug advocate from Scientology teaching kids more about the facts on drugs again with no reference to any controversy. The article also cites L. Ron Hubbard:

    黃彥嘉引用人道主義者L. 羅恩 賀伯特之言「當前文化中，毒品藥物的破壞性勝過一切。」Huang Yan-chia cited the words of humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, “In previous cultures, the destruction of drugs was greater than anything else.”

  •   And in this Central News Agency article they are credited with helping setting up an educational resources platform, again with no reference to controversy.

I could not find any specific negative references to Scientology within Taiwan, only reportage on the controversy in the US:

  • A film attacking Scientology about to be released in the US is discussed in this article by Storm Media, which describes the group as a “highly controversial religion”. It also refers to some of the controversies specifically but doesn’t mention Taiwanese Scientologists at all.

There was also a reference in this Australian news article talking of Australian Scientology using Taiwan as a recruiting ground.

There does seem to be some resistance to Scientology in Taiwan and the Chinese-language blogosphere though, like this anti-Scientology Twitter feed, which seems to trace back to this blog. There is also this blog which has a strident anti-Scientology message.

I would be interested if anyone has found any (preferably more in depth) articles written on Scientology in Taiwan, let me know in the comments section.

In case it was not clear already – this is not an endorsement.

UPDATE (2016/8/1): An article critical of Scientology in Taiwan which cites an ex-Scientologist was recently published in the Atlantic.

‘You Are the Apple of My Eye’ Review《那些年，我們一起追的女孩》 – What it’s like to be a dull person in Taiwan…

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The nicest thing one can say about this film is that it gives an idea of what it was like growing up as a straight boy in Taiwan for the generation born in the 1980s, or at least an idealized “idol drama” version of it – but I think that this is done in a more interesting way in Eternal Summer (《盛夏光年》), which incorporates a gay story line and has more complex character development beyond the Taiwanese “everyman” represented in this film  and even Winds of September (《九降風》). Based on a short story by Giddens Ko, a Taiwanese blogger-cum-novelist, You Are the Apple of My Eye is an extended idol drama, a dreary recounting of the author’s high school and university years. The humor in the film incorporates several wank jokes reminiscent of American Pie, but in this film these just came off as weird as the film tries to be an idol drama and The Inbetweeners at the same time, so the protagonist is a compromise between the typical  Taiwanese drama male lead and an inbetweeners-style comically unself-aware weirdo and the balance didn’t quite work here, as he just came off as cocky.  Continue reading →

Nothing like a bit of Budaixi after a hard day at work in Wanhua 萬華街頭布袋戲

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budaixiThere was a big celebration going on in in Wanhua (萬華) on Saturday, with people from the local temples dressed up as gods (some of which were eating bento boxes and others sneaking a quick pee in alleys, but well-behaved all in all). As I was cycling home, I saw this Budaixi truck, playing to no one, so I stopped to have a lookey-loo and as no experience is complete without being filtered through the ‘me-machine’ (a description of smartphones in Joshua Ferris’ new book To Rise Again at a Decent Hour – a promising book that didn’t really seem to come to a satisfactory end), I filmed a bit of it. This kind of thing offers a great opportunity to study a bit of Taiwanese, although I’m not sure how useful the vocab is. Below the video is a transcript courtesy of a Pingtung friend, the “x”s mark the bits that even he couldn’t understand. Anyone with a better ear for Taiwanese welcome to comment below to fill in the gaps:

[wpvideo K0iPJVb8]

XXX的信使，到現在一點消息都沒有，我的女兒XXX，女兒不見只好對付(fight)大宋(Song Dynasty 960-1279)官兵，來去(出發)啊~~~ (015~025音樂)

Vocabulary:

使差 or 使俠? (This one isn’t clear but the meaning is 信使 or messenger) it sounds like sú kiap or gia̍p, but can’t be sure. Any help in the comments below would be appreciated. Continue reading →