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September 2nd, 2010
 Take a dip; it's good for you. Photo: Kloie Picot I am floating in the steaming hot springs of the aboriginal mountain village of Chingchuan (清泉), an hour’s ride from the foothills of Chutung (竹東), not far from Hsinchu (新竹) City. Outside, the air is chilly. But once in the water, there is nothing but warmth.
“Chingchuan” can be translated as “Pure Springs.” The clear mineral waters of this village are reputed to be the best in Taiwan. From the smoothness they create on my skin and the relaxation they give to my body and spirit, I tend to agree.
Chingchuan Hot Springs is a large, rambling structure set next to a flowing river that divides the village. The two halves of the village are connected by suspension bridges. One of the bridges, brightly lit with soft lights in the evening, leads from the parking lot to the hot springs.
The hot springs include two hot water pools — one inside and the other under the stars — a cold pool, and several private Japanese-style hot tubs. I chose the outdoor pool, beside a small waterfall, which appears to be the hottest.
As I soak in healing waters that gurgle in time to the Mando-pop tunes on the sound system, I wonder if there is any place on earth as comfortable as this. The price is reasonable, too — only NT$150 for large pools and NT$300 for a private tub. Groups get special rates. More information can be found at 03-5856037.
Feeling thoroughly clean and invigorated after my hot spring bath, I head upstairs to the second floor and find a very elegant restaurant and coffee shop. For around NT$200 I can choose from a set menu or have hotpot. I notice there are also mouth-watering pastries to go with the coffee or tea.
Since Chingchuan is a tribal area, the entire atmosphere of the hot springs is rustic and natural. From the cordial smiles of the Atayal youth that greet me, to the many forms of aboriginal artwork found along the paths and at the nearby school and church, you know you are in a tribal area, far removed from the stress of city life.
On my way to the hot springs, while it was still light, I visited the new memorial to Chang Hsui-liang, the famous “Young Marshall,” who was kept under house arrest in Chingchuan for some 14 years. Just up the hill from where he stayed is the former house of San Mao, one of Taiwan’s most famous writers.
I cross the suspension bridge back to the parking lot and am greeted by a waft of assorted smells from barbeques and little restaurants dotting the riverbank. I notice that many of the offerings are local dishes, like sticky rice with mushrooms stuffed in bamboo. There are also different types of homemade wine for sale.
Up the hill from the parking lot, I reach a Catholic church that is decorated with colorful mosaics and murals. Next to the church is the Chingchuan Fountain of Youth Hostel (”Ching Chuan Shan Chuang”) This clean and spacious structure is nestled among pine trees, overlooking a large basketball court.
The first floor of the hostel has a large dining area and kitchen. Guests are able to do their own cooking, if they wish. Upstairs, there are several large Japanese-style rooms for groups. There is even a penthouse of sorts on the third floor, with a large balcony overlooking the waterfall and valley below. (For reservations call 03-5856026; Web site: www.chingchuanhostel.com)
Only a few minutes’ walk down the road from Chingchuan Hostel is Old Wang’s Restaurant and a stained glass studio run by Yawee, a tribal man from Orchid Island. Both religious and aboriginal stained glass art hang from his display window.
Another half-hour trek brings me to Mindoyo on the opposite side of the river, where there is a traditional Atayal village. Aborigine woodcarvers, farmers and gardeners can be seen here, going about their work just as they have been doing for hundreds of years.
The rolling hills with their bright green trees are perfect for trekking. I pass a group of hikers, who remind me that the aromatic buds of the tung oil trees will soon blossom, covering the paths like snow. The hikers joke that if I get lost, the fireflies will light my way, and I can listen to the croaking of the frogs to find the river.
If I kept going up the main road from Chingchuan, I would pass the Eight Immortals Waterfall and eventually get to Shei-Pa National Park. But I am content for now to rest here in Chingchuan, listening to the sound of the waterfall and floating in the hot springs. I’m looking forward to some warm spring days soon, when I can come to watch the fireflies and hear the frogs croak.
How to get there:
From the second cross-island highway, take the Chutung turn-off. Continue to Sya Gung Gwan, and from there go straight in the direction of Wufeng. Continue about 10 minutes past the tunnel to the village of Chingchuan and follow the signs.
It takes about an hour to reach Chingchuan from the Chutung turn-off. There are also buses from Chutung to Chingchuan.
Originally published May 8, 2008 in The China Post, republished with permission from the author.
August 27th, 2010
 American Aijalon Gomes, center, prepares to leave North Korea from Pyongyang airport yesterday. Photo: AP Associated Press
A smile flickered across Aijalon Gomes’ face as he hugged former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and boarded a plane for Boston on Friday, seven months after his arrest in North Korea.
Carter flew to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, this week on a private mission to secure a pardon for the 31-year-old American.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il granted Carter’s request to “leniently forgive” Gomes, the official Korean Central News Agency reported, and Carter and Gomes were due back in Boston later Friday for a reunion with his mother, Carter’s spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said in Atlanta.
There was no indication that Kim — who was making a surprise trip to China this week — met with Carter as widely anticipated.
In Washington, the State Department welcomed the news of Gomes’ release. We “are relieved that he will soon be safely reunited with his family,” spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
Gomes was the fourth American in a year arrested for trespassing in North Korea, a communist nation that fought against the U.S. during the 1950-53 Korean War and does not have diplomatic relations with Washington.
Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested last March and released only after former President Bill Clinton made a similar trip to Pyongyang to plead for their freedom.
Activist Robert Park deliberately crossed into the country from China in December but was expelled some 40 days later after issuing an apology carried by North Korean state media.
Aijalon Gomes (pronounced EYE-jah-lahn GOHMS), who had been teaching English in South Korea, attended rallies in Seoul in January calling for Park’s release. He was arrested in North Korea just two weeks later.
In April, he was sentenced to eight years of hard labor and fined 70 million won _ more than US$600,000 _ for sneaking into the country illegally and committing a “hostile act.”
There were concerns about Gomes’ health. Last month, North Korean media said Gomes attempted suicide, “driven by his strong guilty conscience, disappointment and despair at the U.S. government that has not taken any measure for his freedom.”
A U.S. delegation tried unsuccessfully in a secret visit to Pyongyang earlier this month to secure his release, Crowley said last week.
August 10th, 2010
From: Taiwan POW Society
Dear Friends,
Sunday August 15th – will be the 65th anniversary of VJ Day – the day the Japanese surrendered and World War II came to an end. Although it seems so long ago now, let us take a few minutes on this special day to remember the price that was paid to end that terrible war and all those who suffered in one way or another through it – from the combatants themselves, to the prisoners of war, those who served “at home” and all the family members who lost loved ones during that terrible conflict which claimed so many millions of lives.
Once again, August 15th will be celebrated as FEPOW (Far East Prisoner of War) DAY in many places around the world. This is a day that has been designated to remember all the prisoners of war – military and civilian, who were captured by the Japanese in WWII and all that they suffered.
The Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society is proud to present “FEPOW DAY in Taiwan” again this year. The event will take place on Saturday August 14th at the Taipei Film House – SPOT THEATER located at #18 Chungshan N. Road Sec.2 – (near the intersection of Chungshan N. Rd and Nanking West Road – the Chungshan MRT station is just around the corner from this venue.)
This year’s program will once again feature an exhibition of WWII military and prisoner of war artifacts from the Society’s museum collection and a memorial tribute to the former prisoners of war, followed by the showing of the movie “TO END ALL WARS” – starring 24’s Golden Globe winner, Kiefer Sutherland (aka Jack Bauer), Robert Carlyle and Ciaran McMenamin as WWII POW survivor, Ernest Gordon.
This powerful movie is based on a true story by prisoner of war survivor, Ernest Gordon (author of Miracle On the River Kwai). It is about four Allied POWs in Thailand , who endure brutal, inhumane treatment at the hands of their Japanese captors during World War II. While being forced to build a railroad through the jungle, and trying to survive the living hell of their POW camp, ultimately they find true freedom. Their freedom comes prior to their release from prison, by witnessing sacrifices made by their fellow soldiers, and by learning to forgive their internal rivals, as well as their brutal captors.
You won’t want to miss this great movie. While it does contain the usual Hollywood stuff in places, several former POWs that I have spoken with say that it is very realistic in the portrayal of what conditions were like in the camps and the Japanese guards are especially real. Thus it is not really suitable for younger children and please note that there are no Chinese subtitles on the film.
The doors will open at 6:30pm for viewing of the artifacts, so come early and get a good seat. Once again space is limited to around 75 people, so we would like to have some kind of idea as to who’s coming, so if those interested could email us (just reply to this email) no later than Wednesday August 11th we would appreciate it.
Since we are holding the event on Saturday evening, and since people often go out on Saturday evening for dinner and/or a movie, why not take this opportunity to join us for a wonderful evening of learning more about the POWs while enjoying a terrific movie and some great fellowship.
Thank you for your continued interest in and support of our work. I look forward to seeing you on August 14th.
Sincerely,
Michael Hurst
Director, Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society
P.S. Even though the event date is shown on our website as Sunday August 15th – it is really the 14th. There was a conflict of dates with the theater and thus the change in date.
August 8th, 2010
 Will Tiao at yesterday's Breakfast Club meeting. Photo: Trista di Genova
Wild East senior correspondent
At a speaking engagement jointly sponsored by Prof. Jerome Keating’s Breakfast Club and the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club (TFCC) and held at Central News Agency’s headquarters in Taipei Saturday, Will Tiao, the American-born Taiwanese writer/actor/producer of a controversial new independent film, “Formosa Betrayed” parried questions and gamely confronted criticism of the movie.
To a room of about 40 foreign and local journalists, government officials, academics and bloggers, Tiao responded in detail to questions about the movie’s production, critics’ reviews, reaction from audiences here and in the West and his future plans. He was first off asked to recite a 5-minute summary of Taiwan’s history that he’d once perfected as a Congressional staffer, when hand-delivering Congressmen on the Hill with copies of the 1965 book of the same name by US diplomat George H. Kerr. He said the experience helped prepare him for the long, three-year slog of fundraising US$8 million dollars at “booster”-organized events around the U.S. for making the film, when he’d “never even asked his friends for a dime before,” he said. He added that Hollywood was aghast with the number of investors in this film, 300, a strong showing indeed from primarily the Taiwanese expat community in America.
 Tiao meets with this Wild East writer, reporters and academics on Saturday morning. Photo: The Wild East The following are close to verbatim notes on issues and questions raised in the 90-minute visit, after which he met individually with participants, took pictures, then had to leave to attend a screening of the film in Tainan, southern Taiwan that afternoon. Fifty tickets were given to participants gratis Joseph Wu, former MAC chairman (Mainland Affairs Council) and Taiwan’s representative to the US, as “a friend of TFCC.”
Will Tiao’s family, professional rise
“My parents were from Kaohsiung. I was born and raised in Kansas because my father was a Kansas State University (KSU) graduate student, then professor at the university. It’s often called the “Military College of Taiwan independence,” because so many intellectuals went through there. My parents always taught me to say I was Taiwanese, not Chinese. Back then, you were not supposed to call yourself Taiwanese, or you’d be put on a blacklist by the Taiwan government, which my father was for several years.”
“I was involved in politics at an early age,” he continued, “studied on a Fulbright scholarship in the Philippines, worked for the Clinton administration’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs on World Bank issues, and did a Presidential Management Fellowship, which aims to encourage young people to go into public service. I was placed on the Ways and Means Committee, writing on issues such as permanent trade relations with China. Then I was assigned to the US Trade Representative’s team. While in DC, I started acting on the side, just as a hobby at first. I began with a play, which led to a TV show and a movie, and then found myself with two full-time careers. Under Bush, the trade promotion authority changed so that no one negotiated on these votes, because Congress could just go back and amend it. But at that time my acting took off, so I went up to New York and studied with Susan Bathson — Nicole Kidman and Juliette Binoche’s acting coach. Then I found myself working on shows, shooting independent films, and doing a lot of theater.”
The film’s genesis began in 2005, Will said. “I always had an idea of doing a movie about this subject. I began to research this period in Taiwan’s history between 1979 – 85, and picked 1983 as a midpoint. Then I put together a team of Hollywood professionals, producers and writers. I hired a writer to make a treatment and short story of the film — and a lawyer. Also in 2005 I began contacting organizations like FAPA (Formosan Association in Public Affairs) in DC, where I’d interned in ‘83. I got really good at pitching Taiwan history in 5 minutes! Many people wanted to know something about Taiwan at the time, but didn’t know how to go about it.”
“So I put together this insane group of investors, insane to everyone in Hollywood, who is a bit aghast at the number — 300 investors – comprised of more than ¾ Taiwanese-American. I spent 3 years getting independent financing. We just had to go about it individually, individually. I started to treat the movie as my candidate; it had to have a brand, a message, then I had to raise the money. We got investors from all three [political] camps, and had a “Booster” in every area, someone who would help put together these fundraisers all around the US. I spoke at more of these fundraisers than I can count — literally in the hundreds.
Why ‘Formosa Betrayed’ filmed in Thailand, not Taiwan
“When I came to Taiwan a few years ago to scout out locations, it was easy to see that modern-day Taipei and Kaohsiung look nothing like they did in 1983. The second issue is we discovered some things we were not able to overcome, such as a lack of infrastructure for making the film: equipment, cameras, lights; none were available here and we would have had to import them from Hong Kong, Japan or Australia. Then there was the obvious political sensitivity; never has there been a movie about this era in Taiwan, and we were literally prepping for it during the election. In the movie our biggest scene riot in Kaohsiung, inspired by the Meilidao Incident [also known as the Formosa Magazine or Kaohsiung Incident that took place on Dec. 10, 1979), was going to be the most expensive scene in the film. Our concern was if there were any problems, if anyone tried to sabotage the film, we could lose the movie. I’m actually very happy with that scene, although we made do with 1,000, not the actual 10,000 protesters. We got the production value we needed, and changed the event enough to give a sense of atmosphere; after all it’s a feature film not a documentary.”
Addressing film critics’ jibe for filming in Thailand rather than in Taiwan, Will pointed out “’The Hurt Locker’ was not filmed in Iraq for obvious reasons, that people might get killed: ‘Hotel Rwanda’ was shot in S. Africa; ‘Apocalypse Now’ in the Philippines; I could go on and on.”
The Wild East: Did you film any part of the movie in Taiwan? And can you clarify reports you experienced some political pressure here?
“The only parts in ‘Formosa Betrayed’ in Taiwan were all taken from Taiwan documentary films, say in the part when the character in the film talks about the 228 Massacre, or the General’s speech , in that long scene where he puts everything in perspective. For these, we used newsreel and documentary footage taken in Taiwan, everything else was shot in Thailand, Chicago or LA.”
“As I mentioned, we didn’t have the budget to shoot in Taiwan. At that time we’d raised US$5 million, when our goal was US$10 million. We applied at [Taiwan’s] National Development fund (NDF) for investment funds. Normally they invest in high-tech projects, but also do arts and have invested in movies before. We applied in 2008, and initially it was approved. They held a Cabinet-level meeting with representatives from every agency in government, and one staffer. It was supposedly very confidential. I flew to Thailand, excited about the prospect we’d be shooting in Taiwan. Then a staffer at the meeting leaked the news to a KMT legislator, who called United Daily News (UDN), and an article was published about all the confidential proceedings. I was told by the NDF chair that their entire budget was subsequently frozen. So we can’t film in Taiwan.”
How did Will Tiao overcome this obstacle? “Because we have so many investors, the risk was spread out so widely, and this actually allowed us the freedom to do what we wanted to do.”
Trouble finding Taiwanese actors
“We also wanted to have more Taiwanese actors in the film,” he continued, “but a great number of actors are not English proficient. There was a second, political issue, as the actors didn’t want to act in the film and be banned from acting in China — at least that’s what their representatives thought would happen. But in terms of vision for the film, nothing was compromised. Whether you like it or hate it, we take full responsibility for our work.”
Initial successes and distribution of ‘Formosa Betrayed’
“We won a few awards at film festivals, until the distributor Screen Media Films bought the worldwide rights. We kept rights to Taiwan distribution, for which we got Sky Digital Entertainment to handle (Tien ma shincom). Sometimes distributors have had issues taking it on. And we always wish we could have more billboards, but at the end of the day, we are a small independent film, kind of like Taiwan. And so far we’ve found success like that. We’ve seen one of the highest pre-sales records for movie tickets in Taiwan’s history, it’s off the roof! We are seeing a lot of people buying tickets to give to their friends, so they can see the movie.”
A distributor for China contacted me, and I asked “Have you seen the movie?” and he said “I didn’t know it was so political,” and asked if I would agree to the film being edited. I said, “What parts would you edit, starting from frame one?”
The fact that bootleg copies of the film are already downloadable in China proper didn’t seem to faze Will Tiao, although he was slightly bemused. “I was told they usually go after all those, if they have to do anything with Taiwan independence.”
After seeing the film, what do you want moviegoers to take away with them?
“It’s been really, really interesting. Last night, I had a minder whose parents are from Taiwan, and she found it fascinating as we were doing Question & Answer sessions, and said, ‘I’ve learned much more about Taiwan then I ever imagined.’ The film makes you ask a lot of questions, whether you want to or not. For a lot of Taiwanese, many of these issues are not discussed. They’re afraid of inciting an argument, or maybe it’s something your parents never told you about. But the film gets people out of what I call ‘the blue-or-green dialectic.’ We’re talking from an outside perspective about what happened at that time. So we figured, let’s not use terms like KMT, DPP, green party, blue camp, because at the end of the day when Westerners see the situation, they see it as Communists vs. Nationalists, where the Communists are the bad guys, the Nationalists the good guys. Today we feel the dialectic is not green/blue, but Taiwanese/Chinese. But there were reformers in the blue camp, for example a key one, Lee Teng-hui. And if you look at the Taipei Times review, you can see we still get hated by people on both sides!
On the question of identity
“Identity to me is about thought, not about origin. I’m American; to many people I don’t look American, and in Hollywood, I’m always fighting against that. In Hollywood, it’s hard to get a leg-up for more Asians, than any other ethnicity in Hollywood. So I want to make stories that appeal to the full audience, where it doesn’t matter what the nationality is.”
Which role is more satisfying to you, actor, director, producer or writer?
“I always said I was an actor first, because it drove me to leave my job for a career in entertainment. For me acting is a very challenging, and has the right creative method for me. I started out as a cello performance major. You have these kids practicing 5-6 hours a day, and I liked my cello, but I am way too social for that. When I found acting, I felt now I know what it means to feel like you have to do something. But then again, I have discovered certain producing skills I didn’t know I had. After never raising a dime in my life, never asked anyone for a dime, I raised close to 8 million dollars, which must be a certain skill. These days, I’ve been asked to do those things, production and so on, on more on a Hollywood-type scale. But I see myself as an actor first.
Reaction to the film’s Aug. 6th opening in Taiwan so far, and youth response here
“Our sense is it is pretty strong. At places like TaiDa (National Taiwan University, NTU), Taichung’s Donghai University, we’ve been reaching out very aggressively to the under-30 group because this is the group buying tickets. You’d think they feel it’s their parents’ struggle, not theirs, but you’d be surprised. They have a very strong reaction, and since they watch Hollywood movies all the time, this makes the film easy to discuss for them. At the Kaohsiung premiere I was asked, “Are you surprised at this turnout?’ I’m like no, because in February we did a similar college tour in the US, at all the best universities. Distributors asked, “How did you get them to invite you?” I said because the Taiwanese are smart. They always go to the best schools, their parents always drive them to. And the students drove their parents and friends to attend through Facebook, Twitter, and brought their parents along to see the movie. Very similar to here, this has happened throughout the country. More than a million and a half NT worth in tickets have been sold already. Our distributors say they’ve never seen this before, where people are buying tickets for other people.”
‘Formosa Betrayed’ connection to Kerr’s 1965 book of same title
“I’ve read the book and honestly, it was just a working title initially, that was used with directors, writers. Although it’s not just about 2-28 [Feb. 28th Incident in 1947 that sparked the violent suppression of an anti-government uprising and the White Terror era in which an estimated 30,000 intellectuals were killed], it became very symbolic of the film itself. When I was considering using ‘Formosa’ as the title, the crew begged me to use ‘Formosa Betrayed’, because they think it really says what the movie’s about.”
Chinese reaction to the film
“The New York openings were aimed at the foreign and Chinese
audience. The Chinese response in particular was very interesting. Keep in mind most Chinese are not taught this history, whatsoever. From their perspective they [KMT Nationalists) ‘took all our money to Taiwan and that’s why they’re rich,’ that’s the story from my Chinese friends. The idea people in Taiwan experienced all this conflict was very eye-opening for them. There were certain very Chinese reactions. A young woman in her 20s said “We feel very badly that the Nationalists didn’t treat you very well, but I want you to feel that we’re still brothers.” I told her, “It doesn’t make us really feel like brothers when you’re trying to kill us,” and she had no response to that. Another reaction, indirectly I heard this about 2-28: “Only 20,000 were killed? Like 10 million people were killed in the Cultural Revolution, and even that is less than the population of one province.” That is Very Chinese, and I’ve heard this argument before. I’d love for Westerners to hear that, it’s the mentality [in China], the group over the individual. Of course, “We don’t all think that way”, but it is a [widespread] thought.”
The Wild East: Since you don’t mind responding to critical reviews, what is your comeback to the Taipei Times’ assertion that the Mandarin spoken in the movie was “so stilted that it would not be out of place” at NTNU Mandarin Training Center’s speech competition for beginning students?
“This is my dissertation. I can defend this movie to the T. So go for it! To be honest, I don’t really care about the critics. What I care is that you learn something and want to know more. If they say, ‘I hated the movie but at least I learned something about Taiwan’… I won!”
“As for the Mandarin in the film, sometimes [critics] are trying to be more Taiwanese than Taiwanese people, by focusing on the trivial issues. Outside Taiwan they don’t speak about that. Starting from Meryl Streep’s Polish accent in “Sophie’s Choice,” we could go down the list, criticizing foreign actors. I feel we got our message across. We get fan mail every day, not just from Taiwanese, but from all over the world.”
‘Composites’ of historical figures in the film
“Most characters in ‘Formosa Betrayed’ are a composite of 2-3 people. Some of these people are still alive. Because they are a composite, of course they are not exact representations. But the murder of a professor was based on two murders that actually happened, [Professor Chen Wen-Chen (陳文成) of Carnegie Mellon University in 1981, and the other the 1984 assassination of journalist Henry Liu in California].Personally I see the greatest likeness in the character to Prof. Peng Ming-min, who is a family friend. I have known him since I was a kid, and really admired him for what he represented and had to go through. He’s not only supporter of the movie, but an investor.”
Future plans
“I’m starting to put together a film fund, raise financing for a slate of 3 to 5 films and a potential TV show. I’m looking at working on true stories that haven’t been told, often Asian or Asian-American. Some are historical, some not. Usually it’s a comedy, thriller or drama. I like telling a story that hasn’t been told. I’ve been asked, ‘Would you do another movie about Taiwan?’ It all depends about how ‘Formosa Betrayed’ does here. If the film has legs we can finance another one.”
August 2nd, 2010
By Meaghan Weatherdon
The Wild East
Here I am in a far away, foreign land. Here I am, or at least part of me. Here I am with a dismembered body and soul. Heart and mind are still at home fighting each other in a bloody battle of courage and wit. I am hoping they will drop their weapons and catch up with those parts of me, which have driven me to this place. Here I am and here I will stay for an undisclosed amount of time.
Staring out of my hostel window at the hot pavement in the cockroach-infested alley way, I ask myself: why have I come? Why am I here? I am here to write, to teach, to live, and to learn. Why here I ask myself again? Because, dear friend, truth be told, you feel more comfortable standing naked in front of strangers than you do your own friends and kin. Love has nothing to do with it, the question is will they recognize you once the cloak has fallen, and their notions of who you should be and what you should want for yourself cave in?
I am here to pursue something. Truth in life? Truth in self? Yah right! That’s a load of garbage! I’ve come to find glorious freedom. I am here to flee conventions and society; obligation I now only have to myself. I am certainly not here simply to find happiness. Oh no, fat happiness is what I fled. I am here to be painfully uncomfortable because it is this painful discomfort, this heart-wrenching anxiety that is the only thing that lets me know I am alive and well.
Smalltown girl under big city lights. I grin mockingly at myself in the mirror. I have become a cliché in a bad country western song. But this I hope I am not. I am a twenty-two-year-old young woman in Asia for the first time and everything scares me — the smells, the people, the sounds, my very shadow. The fact that I fear all these simple things frightens me most of all because it discloses that I possess a narrow mind. I want to be rid of it all for a moment’s peace but this city screams and screeches like a banshee out of hell, refusing to be forgotten for even a second. Feeling alienated and anxious since I landed, that Doors song “People are Strange” has been on repeat inside my brain for roughly forty-eight hours now. It’s starting to get to me.
I tear off my shirt and put a fresh one on, amazed at how quickly my clothing becomes soaked through in this country. Money? Check. Keys? Check. It’s time to hit the hard pavement again. Maybe this city will look prettier at night, in a mask of darkness. I am off to meet Maurice to go to a rock and roll show. What that means in this country I will be soon to find out.
Maurice is the fifty-odd something year old Taiwanese man I met earlier in the day. In the afternoon I had gotten off at the Shilin MRT stop to wander Taipei aimlessly pondering and puttering about. When I grew tired of looking at the myriad of shops that all blurred into one tacky outfit I will never be able to fit into, I decided to find a safe haven to grab a stool, a beer, and to read some Twain. I was lured into a hole-in-the-wall bar playing the Stones, like a moth to a flame. When I came inside I was distracted by the mishmash of Kiss and Elvis paraphernalia plastered all over the walls and on top the tables. Though the streets were buzzing with scooters and people, this place was vacant. It resembled an eerie shrine dedicated to the gods of ancient pop culture past. When I turned to face the bar I was relieved to find taps and was contemplating reaching over and helping myself when a Taiwanese man came to my rescue who spoke very moderate engrish. While pouring my beer and trying his damnedest to avoid any sort of eye contact with me he informed me that he didn’t work here but that this was his friend’s bar so it was okay. I didn’t care. I wanted my beer. I took it to a table and started to read.
This was not Maurice. Maurice was to enter the scene in a ponytail and a leather jacket about 40 minutes and three pints later (I needed lots of liquid courage during my first few weeks in Taipei). Maurice spoke very fluent English and had a great sense of humor. He was very interested in me and I in he. Maurice told me he had lots of “foreign friends” and “loved foreign music.” What this meant at this point I could not say. For all the bizarre stories I had already heard about Taipei he could be pimp ringmaster to a string of Russian whores. I hadn’t a clue until we dived deeper into conversation.
Maurice wanted to know my story, where I was from and why I was here. My story was rather short and boring. I wanted to know about his paraphernalia and Taipei. We talked mostly music and then he invited me with him and a few of his friends to a “real rock concert.” A Korean band was playing near Grand Palace Hotel and Maurice assured me it would be a show I’d be stupid to miss. I told him I’d meet him back at the bar at 8 o’clock with bells on. He didn’t understand the idiom. It was already 5:30, I needed to make haste so I gulped my last gulp, gathered my things and scurried back to my hostel which was all the way on the other side of town. Changed clothes, got out more money, here we go back on the MRT.
The MRT stops, one glance at the clock I realize I am 40 minutes late. I feel light-headed. I should have kept an afternoon beer to an afternoon beer. I should have eaten dinner. That would have been easier to do were I not afraid of talking to the people. That would have been a lot easier to do were I not so afraid of eating the food. That would have been easier to do were I not a vegetarian who becomes skirmish when she’s confronted by too much meat on a stick. I’ll be fine…I tell myself coolly. Some sugar will do the trick, I’ll order a coke once I get to the bar…with a shot of whisky in it, of course. Run, run, run to Maurice’s. I get there and the man who served me beer is hidden behind his computer screen. His head is barely popping out of his turtleneck and down jacket. I do wonder how the Taiwanese survive wearing such heavy garments during the summer’s heat.
“Is Maurice here?” I ask.
“He’s gone to get his girlfriend’s scooter.”
“Okay…will he be back soon?”
“Sure…he gone only minute. Be back go to concert.” I chat with this man for awhile. Find out his name is Wang. Our conversation takes on a primitive tone as his English is poor and my Chinese is nonexistent. Communication is further frustrated by his inability to engage in any body language. He sits like a statue behind his computer screen. His eyes dart around like a rabbit about to be hit by a car. There is something oddly intriguing about his nervousness. He may have weapons of mass destruction hidden inside his jacket or secrets behind those rabbit eyes.
When Maurice arrives, he comes with company. Though he’s left his girlfriend at home he’s brought two other foreigners. Guiltily I’m happy to see them and that they are white. I’m not the only cracker in town. Hooray!
I’m introduced to Gaz and Charles, two 30-year-old somethings from England, all chuckles and charms. They tell me I am the luckiest girl in Taiwan to have stumbled into this bar on my first day in Taipei and to have met the infamous Maurice. We don’t waste time with any chitchat but quickly helmet up and hop on scooters. Gaz hops onto Maurice’s motoche and I’m told to hop on with Wang. Wang and I speed to the closest 7 11 and pick up a couple sixpacks of Taiwan beer. He opens every door for me and insists on paying for the beer. When we get to the Grand Palace we rush to meet up with the other boys. More of Maurice’s older Taiwanese friends meet us in the parking lot. We’re informed that the show has not yet started and that we have a few moments for some drinks outside. Maurice pulls out two half-finished bottles of whisky he took from the bar. We pass the liquor around; it’s harsh and warm but I put on a happy face. Wang offers out the beers then I put the rest into my purse to sneak into the show. It’s time!
We make our way to the concert area which is inside some sort of auditorium. Already I have my misgivings. There are about fifty people up by the stage and ten more sitting near the back where there are chairs placed. My notion of a rock concert has always been chairs are for smashing not so much for sitting; however, I look over at Maurice and his charming gap-tooth smile. His eyes are sparkling like those of a pirate who’s found buried treasure beneath the sand. I put on a happy face. Wang comes up by my side and asks me for another beer so I pass him one and get one out for myself. The band comes on with heads full of hair and the fifty people do indeed go wild.
Wang asks me if I’d like to find a better place to watch the show and get closer to the stage. I nod my head. He puts out his hand. I take it. This I will learn later on was a fatal mistake.
The band begins to play and I’m astonished by the bizarre instrumentals that ensue. They sound like a combination of Dracula’s orchestra and Kermit the frog’s blues band. When one of the fellows pulls out a keytar and begins to play it with his tongue I can’t contain myself but burst out into hysterics. Gaz and Charles are up front and center. They’ve created a two-man moshpit and are flailing about like bacon cooking in a hot pan. The whole scene reeks of cheese but I’m having an amazing time. What must be said about this strange group of musicians is that they were thoroughly entertaining. When the music ends our group gathers outside the doors. Maurice invites us all back to his bar for a lockdown.
Hop back on the scooter with Wang. My head is buzzing as we jet through the city. It definitely looks more beautiful at night. The lights chase me like schizophrenic fairies of the night. Perhaps I’m holding onto Wang a little too tight. This would be my second mistake. We get back to Maurice’s. Gaz and Charles park themselves up at the bar, they are playing some sort of drink your stink game. I’m sitting at a booth with Wang and Maurice is busily rushing around filling up our drinks and dancing by himself. Wang’s trying to engage me in discussion but his conversational skills are again lacking… he’s caught up in small talk and I’m too buzzed and disinterested to answer coherently. Maurice has put on a great track and I’m drifting off into the music now. It’s some sort of Chinese punk rock band I’ve never heard. The guitar is raw and vicious. The drummer is banging intricate beats, every fourth hit is like a delicious punch to the face.
“Maurice, who is this band?” I ask. Maurice looks over to me with a big all-knowing smile. “You’re sitting next to him my dear. That’s Wang’s old band. He’s a very talented drummer you know?’ I’m shocked as all hell that this fine music was produced by the turtle in a shell I’m sitting across from. I look over at Wang with big surprised eyes and he stares back at me with the same rabbit look he had on when I first came into the bar. “Wang, that’s you? That’s your band? You guys sound awesome! That’s incredible.” “Thanks,” he says shyly. His modesty is all the more intriguing; he did have secrets hidden behind those eyes.
Maurice on the other hand waltzes over to claim all bragging rights. “Yes my Wang is a very talented musician you know. You know where this song was recorded.” “No, where?” I ask. “Right here! At Maurice’s bar.” Maurice’s cheeks have turned red from the booze. I look around the bar. It’s about the size of a shoebox. There’s enough room only for two tables and three barstools.
“How on earth did you record anything in this place?” I ask Maurice but Wang speaks up to answer the question. “There is a recording studio downstairs. Do you want to see it?” “Sure,” I get up and follow Wang over to a door behind the bar. This would be my third and greatest mistake. He leads me down the dark stairs into a dingy basement recording studio. There is a huge drumkit over in the corner and guitars covering an entire wall, records line the other.
Perhaps it was the magic of the night, perhaps it was the ambiance of that dingy bar, perhaps it was because I wanted to get closer to the rhythm of that amazing song but I jumped on Wang and started to kiss him. What can I say? I wanted to feel the beat he could produce on the drums on my tongue. We knocked over guitars and banged around on the drums. He was just as good of a kisser as he was a musician. Then the cold hard facts of the situation hit me like a hot ton of bricks. I was in a foreign unfamiliar country, heavily intoxicated, in a basement of some hole-in-the-wall bar, locked in with several strange men.
It was time to go home. I pulled myself off Wang and told him that it was time for me to get going. He told me he would walk me to the door which turned into him waltzing right into my cab. I passed the cabbie my hostel card and on the way back Wang asked me for my number. I had gotten the phone earlier that day and he was the first contact I made. He asked me if he could come back to the hostel with me. I told him NO! But that I was sorry if I had given him the wrong impression. I stumbled all the way back up to my hostel room, feeling sketchy and fuzzy-headed, ran into bed and deservedly passed out.
Ching chongy chingy chong pingy pingy pong pong.
What the fuck is that annoying melody? It was my phone. It had never gone off before and the Chinese tune which served as the ringer woke me up at 8 the next morning.
“Hallo. Meaghan?” “Hello. Who is this?” I had completely forgotten I left my number with Wang. “It’s Wang, would you like to go to breakfast with me this morning?” “Wang it’s 8 o’clock in the morning. Are you crazy? I’m still in bed!” The taxi had only dropped me off a few hours ago after all. “Oh sorry… maybe lunch then?” “Wang… I’m going back to bed now.” Click. I’m thoroughly convinced that hangovers are worse in Taiwan then anywhere else in the world. The combination of the chemicals they put into the beer and the scorching heat make for terrible headaches that squeeze all the juice right out of your brain. It took me much twisting, turning to get myself back to sleep and when I did…
Ching chongy chingy chong pingy pingy pong pong. “Hello, what is it?” “Hello Meaghan it’s Wang…Would you like to have lunch together?” “Wang it’s11:00 in the morning. I’m still in bed!” “Oh sorry sorry sorry…” “I’ll catch up with you later.” Toss. Turn. Belch. Twist. Bang bang goes my head. Toss. Turn. Belch. Then, at 2:30 ching chongy chingy chong pingy pingy pong pong. It was Wang, of course, no one else had my number. I put my phone on silence and managed to get another few hours of sleep.
When I finally emerged from my cave it was about 7:30 at night. I gathered my things and put them into my purse refusing to look at my phone. Then I walked down to the communal area of my hostel to see if anyone there would take pity on me and join me for dinner. As dinner ended at 8:30, ching chongy chingy chong pingy pingy pong pong. It was Wang again. I let it ring until he hung up. Then looking at my phone I realized between 2:30 and 8:30 he had called me five times.
Being from the West, I’m used to guys playing it cool and ignoring you in a dickish way when they like you. This I feel great about. This sort of intense attention I was very unaccustomed to. Any paranoia I had about being in a foreign country quickly turned into a deep-seated fear for my life. I was too afraid to call back so I opted to deal with the situation with a pathetic text message. I wrote: “Wang thank you for a lovely evening. I am not interested. Please stop calling me.” Straightforward, yes, and polite enough for a psychomaniac I thought. What a mistake the text message was, for it made him realize he could text me back. The next three weeks of my life I was harassed by phone call after phone call which could be easily ignored. But I was also being bedraggled by slews of text messages which were not so easily ignored but which contributed to a growing fear that I was being followed and that I would eventually be killed in some grotesque manner and left to rot in the streets of Taipei.
Collectively taken into consideration, these text messages took on the tone of a psychotic, maniac killer. They ranged from friendly “hey how yah doings?” to “I love you I broke up with my girlfriend so that we could be together,” to “Will you please just contact me so I know you all right I am afraid something bad has happened to you,” to “You are a mean person. I thought you were a nice girl” to: “I’m sorry that was stupid. Please call me.” They were sporadic and incoherent at times. The whole time I decided it was best and safest to ignore. I had told him I was not interested what more was there to say without encouraging him any further. But they didn’t stop coming so I decided to confide in a friend I had made at the hostel. He could speak Chinese and would help me talk to the police about this very serious situation. When I told him my story my friend burst into laughter. I was appalled! What an anus. I had no idea how he could find my current turmoil so hilarious. I scorned him and when he gathered himself he explained to me the reason why it was so funny.
This he explained is part of the mating habits of young Taiwanese males. In Wang’s mind, my friend explained, we were engaged to be married. He had proposed the moment he held out his hand to lead me to the front of the stage and I had accepted his proposal when I took his hand and allowed him to lead. Jumping on him in Maurice’s basement studio made a clear statement that I wanted to have his babies. Our future plans had been made that night. The situation was my fault… I had taken advantage of a poor naïve Taiwanese boy (even if he was thirty he was still very much a boy). My friend also told me it was common for Taiwanese girls to play hard to get. It was like a fun game for them to see how far they could push men. So the fact that he was being so persistent came as no surprise. My mouth remained agape during this spiel. I could not believe what I was hearing. I felt ridiculous… and since then I have guarded myself appropriately around Taiwanese men.
Little did I know I should have reveled in the affection for that would be the most male attention I would receive in Taipei for some time to come. My friend was too kind to tell it to me straight, that being a foreign woman in Taipei city made you about as desirable and appealing as a hemorrhoid to the opposite sex. The foreign men typically want the tiny, feminine, cute, and compliant Chinese girlfriend, and who can blame them really? I often catch myself staring at their adorable babydoll faces. Eventually, Wang stopped harassing me and I was very relieved though I’m still apprehensive to answer any phone call from an unknown number. What I regret about this situation most of all is that I have not since been back to that bar in Shilin nor have I seen Maurice for fear of running into Wang. This is unfortunate because that hole-in-the-wall bar was the first place that I felt at home in this foreign land.
July 27th, 2010
Trista di Genova
Rooftop Correspondent
For scores — maybe hundreds of visitors over the past years –-
these graffiti–riddled walls have been a haven, a half-way house,
roadhouse, meeting place, jamspace, recording studio, artists’ atelier;
a literary salon, a saloon, a party pad, a stepping stone, a tourist cell.
“Radio Banciao” as it has fondly come to be known,
has been an inspiration and a speakeasy for painters, poets,
writers, musicians, intellectuals, freestylin’ hip-hop artists,
scholars, visitors from all nations and corners of the earth.
As Sophia Mubarak from California put it
when asked her favorite part of Taiwan that she’d seen
while at Radio Banciao: “This block and the next,” she said.
If there has been any criticism,
it’s that Radio Banciao is “too social”;
true, it is not the place for you
if you’re not a heavy sleeper
or can’t stand to be around smokers.
It’s been likened to Paris, New Orleans, Le Plateau in Montreal.
Gourmet meals and revolutionary dishes and drinks
have been concocted, tasted, put to the test here –
sushi burritos before they hit the 7-11s, blueberry pancakes,
Mexican food fiestas, salades nicoises, Swedish salmon.
A river of rum, whisky & coke has flowed through these walls,
a mountain of Long Life Cigarettes hoarded, bummed and shared,
xiao mijiu (millet wine) gratis the Aboriginals, betelnut chewings,
so many experimentations with the latest paraphernalia
that Timothy Leary wouldn’t even dare cock a snoot at.
People have passed out on the couches, barfed on the floors,
run naked down the street on a dare to buy cigarettes and beer,
had sex in the shower, sang songs till the neighbors complained,
“toned it down” after 10pm to avoid bothering them thereafter,
thrown chairs and bottles at one another, all in a rage,
not spoken to each other until sincere apologies offered,
and had gospel hour in the living room of Radio Banciao.
A soldier had his first toke here, a gay guy copped a feel there,
a cop quaffed a beer in our garden, a couple people got kicked out,
beautiful Taiwanese girls and Canadian boys sat in our laps,
threw tantrums, stole our hearts, broke them, won them back again.
We danced with fire, burned stuff, used it as fertilizer.
A two-week wedding banquet took place upstairs,
a ton of meat and vegetables grilled on the barbecue,
and over the years a million Taiwan Beer cans recycled.
A French writer wrote his book in one of these rooms,
an American learned basic Chinese from her now-husband,
three Oxford scholars passed their summer pleasantly ensconced,
we wrote books, poetry, articles, copied quips to the wall as record,
recorded hours, days, nay weeks worth of original material,
wrote, directed, filmed videos for YouTube and festivals.
Famous-in-Taiwan, long-time, pro-independence icons
and scholars have graced “The Loof” with their presence,
birthday jazz sets have been played on acoustic instruments.
Capoeira practice and demonstrations were staged here,
as well as drunken, testosterone-fueled confrontations
between men who then forged deep, brotherly bonds.
Days, weeks, probably a month or two of labor
went into transforming a massive concrete deadspace
into a botanical garden deep in the heart of Banciao,
with over a hundred species of plants from around Taiwan,
it became a restful, beautiful place, despite urban noise
whether sunset or sunrise, for work and play alike.
Why stay for eight years, why stay so long,
in a run-down smoky Banciao 3-bedroom apartment?
Because this is the Real Taiwan.
This is traditional, suburban Taipei Country,
“feichang Taiwan”, extreme Taiwan,
with its ghetto ambiance, packs of dogs prowling the street,
attendant piles of poo, betelnut stains like a homicide,
betelnut beauties from Vietnam that come and go,
and the oh-so-friendly Taiwanese families,
who so kindly invite us to drink and eat with them,
take part in boozy, down-to-earth barbecues roadside.
This afternoon I was thinking about how
the Chuangs downstairs at the breakfast shop
spend almost their whole lives entertaining in
the space of a couple square meters, so content.
Maybe that same feeling affected us, foreigners;
we’re white ghosts to the Chinese, but welcome here.
And for us, the quirky novelty just never wears off.
As the saying goes,
“The guest is the pearl on the pillow of hospitality.”
Yea/Yay Banciao, you are and have been the pearl AND the hospitality.
July 19th, 2010
By Trista di Genova
Wild East news desk
Taipei – MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, celebrated linguist, philosopher and cognitive scientist, is visiting Taiwan next month to deliver a special lecture, “Contours of World Order: Continuities and Changes” at Academia Sinica, the nation’s premiere research institution, on Monday, August 9, and “Poverty of Stimulus: The Unfinished Business” at National Tsing Hua University on Aug. 10th.
The three-day visit is the cultural icon’s first to the island, he said by email (7/21), and his first to China. He wrote that originally he planned a trip to China to attend an international conference on linguistics and other events there, and put Taiwan in his itinerary for “lectures on the way.”
Professor Chomsky said he experienced “No visa problems” for his Taiwan/China trip. “Can’t comment usefully on cross-strait relations,” he added, although this may be a positive reflection on the state of cross-strait relations, especially in light of the fact in May he was barred from entering Israel from Jordan to speak at a university in the occupied West Bank.
What would he like to learn from this trip to our beautiful island of Formosa? “Probably won’t have much time to learn much,” he wrote, “maybe preparation for longer visit.”
Chomsky one of the most respected intellectuals in the world and author of a gazillion books and essays (!) ranging from linguistics to foreign policy analysis, including The Responsibility of Intellectuals (1969), which made him one of the leading opponents of the Vietnam War, and Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), co-written with Edward S. Herman, which articulated the propaganda model theory for examining the media.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index found Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar during the 1980–92 period, and is the eighth most-cited source.
According to the International Affairs Office, Professor Chomsky was invited by the Academy’s President Chi-huey Wong (PhD, Chemistry, MIT 1982), upon the recommendation of Professor of Linguistics C.-T. James Huang of Harvard University, a colleague of Prof. Chomsky’s in Massachusetts.
While in Taiwan, Prof. Chomsky will attend a reception co-hosted by Academia Sinica and the MIT Club in Taipei and visit the National Palace Museum to meet with scholars at the museum’s restaurant. Then our venerable guest heads to China, to speak at Beijing University and other academic institutions, with plans to visit cultural landmarks in Xian and other cities.
Registration online is limited, but Wild East readers who are unable to attend are invited to send us your questions to be posed to the Professor, in the comment section below.
“Contours of World Order: Continuities and Changes”
with Dr. Noam Chomsky
Venue: International Conference Hall (3F),
Building for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica -中央研究院人文社會科學館3樓國際會議廳
Time: 15:30-17:00, August 9, 2010 (Monday)
Time: August 9, 2010 (Monday) 15:30-17:00
Online registration only
Lecture (B)
Time: August 10, 2010 (Tuesday) 10:30-12:00
Topic: Poverty of Stimulus: The Unfinished Business
Venue: Sun Yun-suan Lecture Hall, TSMC Building, National Tsing Hua University
Online registration
Organizer: Academia Sinica
Co-organizer: National Tsing Hua University Tel: (03) 571-8615
Sponsor: Yu, Chi-Chung Cultural & Educational Foundation
Contact: International Affairs Office, Academia Sinica Tel: (02) 2789-9895
Release Unit : International Affairs Office
July 17th, 2010
Editor’s note: This DPA feature article was picked up and published by NONE of the local newspapers, so we are publishing this wires feature because we feel it is an urgent topic to raise with the general public, and too important to leave unreported.
DPA feature
By David Chang
Jul 14, 2010, 6:01 GMT
Taipei - When Tarsinah, Suswati and Wasilah left Indonesia for Taiwan in 2008, they were prepared to endure hardships in order to earn money to send home, but what they found was a violation of their religious beliefs.
Their employer made them work from 7 am until midnight at his textile factory and forced the Muslim women to eat pork, saying he believed it would make them strong so they could work more.
Islam forbids the consumption of pork, which it considers unclean, but Tarsinah, Suswati and Wasilah – who like many Indonesians go by only one name – were forced to eat it over seven months in 2008 and 2009.
After the case came to light recently, the government’s Council of Labour Affairs urged employers to respect foreign workers’ religious beliefs but insisted that the pork incident was an isolated one.
However, labour activists argued that the case was typical of a trend of abuse of foreign workers in Taiwan. Many other problems have not been reported, including enslavement, sexual abuse, low pay, long working hours and no days off, they alleged.
Tarsinah, Suswati and Wasilah eventually turned to the Taiwan International Workers’ Association for help. The group helped them find new employers and reported their case to police.
At a news conference called by the association after the pork incident, a dozen Indonesian workers testified that some of them had similarly been forced to eat pork or even to convert to Buddhism.
They demanded that Taiwan employers respect their religion and give them days off.
Ku Yu-ling, secretary general of the association, said her group has been campaigning since 2003 for days off for foreign workers and maids.
‘Seven years have passed. It is still up in the air,’ she said.
‘We urged the government to apply the Labour Standard Act, a domestic law in Taiwan, also to foreign workers and maids to ensure that they work eight hours a day, must have 10 consecutive hours of rest, overtime not to exceed two hours per day and one day off each week.’
Daniel Bauer, a US national and Catholic priest ministering to foreign workers in Taiwan, has heard complaints about abuse from a number of his flock.
A Filipino maid and caregiver sought help from Bauer about a year ago because, he said, her boss had been holding her salary for several months and she was allegedly being sexually harassed by a male member of her employer’s family.
‘She was afraid she’d be fired if she did not give sexual favors, and she wanted to kill herself by drinking insecticides,’ Bauer said.
Another Filipino caregiver told Bauer that her employer had seized her passport and cell phone and made her work 365 days a year.
Taiwan employs 360,000 labourers, caretakers and maids from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Their basic monthly salary is 15,840 Taiwan dollars (about 500 US dollars), below the minimum wage of 17,280 Taiwan dollars (540 US dollars).
Many Taiwan employers treat their foreign workers well, and most of those employees use their earnings to help their families and further their careers back home.
‘With the money I gave her and the money she saved in Taiwan, ‘Monie’ has opened two laundrettes in the outskirts of Manila,’ said Hsia Li-feng, owner of a laundrette in Taipei who employed Filipino Ellen ‘Monie’ Alo Mendoza for six years until 2009.
Other foreign workers, however, face discrimination in Taiwan because of their ethnicity, social standing and poverty.
The Taiwan government did not react to the case involving Tarsinah, Suswati and Wasilah until it was reported by the Taipei Times newspaper and the story was picked up by foreign media, especially in the Muslim world.
‘Forcing people of another religion to eat pork shows a lack of global outlook,’ President Ma Ying-jeou said. ‘We are all equal and should respect each other’s culture.’
As for the former employer of Tarsinah, Suswati and Wasilah at the Shin Hua Hang Fashion Co - he and his wife were charged with coercion and face seven months in prison.
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