Jeez. What’s the big deal? And you know what? The feedback in this thread is getting back to them directly. [/quote]
What’s the big deal? None. I was just mightily pissed off by the utter xenophobic ignorance of the kind of douchebag that would show in black and white exactly what they think about foreigners “Foreigner with ROC nationality.”
Tough shit, Poagao, Satellite TV, etc. You might think you’re ROC nationals but this proves how deluded your are.
Anyway, I did fill it in – sort of. At least the Forumosa mention was a valid answer.
Well Maoman, if you’re actually going to talk to these people (if they’ll listen is a different matter) then maybe you can ask them to come up with some useful stuff.
For one it’s nearly impossible to find accurate information about anything in this country, be it in English or Chinese and the two versions often contradict each other.
Maybe some more legal rights for foreigners would be nice too, as right now, we have next to none. I ended up in some trouble with our neighbour when I lived in Taoyuan, she was mentally ill, but that’s beside the point. She ended up assaulting me with a broomstick in the staircase one and the response from the police was that they couldn’t do shit, as I was a foreigner, I mean, c’mon…
I’m sure other people here have similar issues and this is what needs to be addressed first and foremost if they want to make Taiwan more international. We’re outside of the legal system here, be it as visitors, workers or what not. Sure, foreigners are always treated differently in just about every country, but it’s appallingly bad here.
The survey is a joke as they’re asking questions about a website that is virtually useless and it has never ever provided me with the answer to any questions I’ve had and half of the links don’t work as they’re outdated. The same goes for most other government websites here and on top of that, once you go and talk to any of the government people here, they don’t seem to know what the agency next door said…
Didn’t realize this was a gov. supported website. [/quote]
Every banner you see on Forumosa supports the (increasingly steep) costs of hosting this site. So yes, the government supports us, as does The Tavern, as does Carnegie’s, Alleycat’s Nationwide Computer Repair, The Diner, Yuma, etc. We’re very grateful to all of them for their support.
(There are some exceptions to the paid banners - we’re happy to put up banners for non-profit sites that are of interest to the foreign community, and we put up banners for our moderators as well.)
“This site best viewed with IE 5.5 and higher at 800 X 600”: A well-designed website should be “best viewed” on any browser at any resolution.
Is a welcoming splash page even necessary? If it’s geared toward foreigners, English (being the de facto lingua franca of the world) should be the default language. The Chinese veriosn should be also available, but not default. And if they want to make Spanish, Japanese, Tagalog, Thai, etc. options, more power to them.)
The overall layout is a little on the busy side and could be made sleeker and simpler.
In the poorly executed graphic saying “Information for foreigners”, the word “telephone” is misspelled as “telphone” twice.
When the government stops passing petty laws about not letting foreigners have credit cards and restricting driving licences to those with ARCs and giving us back 6-year licences I’ll maybe pay a bit of attention to their periodic half-assed surveys and campaigns. A serious question: Do they actually have a department which is tasked with coming up with petty restrictions on foreigners? It seems to me that they do.
A questionaire is an inherently flawed concept because it assumes that only one party knows what questions need to be asked. I tried to fill out this one but got bored, confused and irritated.
If they are so impressed with formosa and forumosans, and want to know what we think, they should start a thread here and discuss it with us. It could, of course, be a heavily moderated thread.
I’d participate in that sort of process and attempt to be as helpful as I could, though, naturally, it won’t happen.
I couldn’t even manage the questionnaire. I don’t even know what a one stop portal website is. I’ve always obtained my information the hard way I can only assume.
Anyway it asks which country has done a good job in providing one. What does that mean? Does everyone who lives within a designated area all contribute towards these things? Otherwise they should be referring to a specific entity. Countries don’t do things after all, people do.
I have no idea what they are talking about basically. Sorry I can’t help.
[quote=“bob”]A questionaire is an inherently flawed concept because it assumes that only one party knows what questions need to be asked. I tried to fill out this one but got bored, confused and irritated.
If they are so impressed with formosa and forumosans, and want to know what we think, they should start a thread here and discuss it with us. It could, of course, be a heavily moderated thread.
I’d participate in that sort of process and attempt to be as helpful as I could, though, naturally, it won’t happen.[/quote]Fabulous idea.
Sandman, of course, would have to bound and gagged.
Yeah. The ONLY reason I had a stab at filling in that utterly stupid survey was because Maoman asked it as a favour. Otherwise I’d have never even considered it.
As Lord Lucan pointed out, its nothing more than window dressing. As is having Maoman coming in to “discuss” it. As is some low-level government flunkey reading this thread.
Window dressing. The government knows VERY WELL INDEED the areas that are in a woeful state of affairs for foreign residents, but of course, won’t even TOUCH on them, preferring to concern itself about… fucking FONT SIZES on its bloody incomprehensible, out-of-date, factually incorrect websites.
Its a complete joke. A whitewash attempt to cover up the fact that the government in fact has absolutely NO intention of addressing the issues of real importance.
And back to “Foreigners with ROC nationality.” Just exactly how many waishengren does the government think is reading this site?
It’s in the works, and from the way it’s being planned and funded, I’m confident that it will produce good results.
There are actually some high-level people in the government putting serious effort into making Taiwan more foreigner-friendly. They fully understand how essential it is for, among other things, being able to attract the high-quality foreign personnel needed to compete with the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai in key sectors of industry. There are big budgets being provided for this, and with the help of input from foreign residents, there’s a good chance that a substantial chunk of it can be channelled into genuinely productive uses.
Oh. Right. The “Asian Operational Hub” thing.
Seen it all before. Several times, including the re-runs. I know how it ends.
Which is not to say I won’t be delighted if there is actual real change that makes a real difference. But I 'aint holding my breath, not when it comes to Taiwanese politicians.
It’s in the works, and from the way it’s being planned and funded, I’m confident that it will produce good results.
There are actually some high-level people in the government putting serious effort into making Taiwan more foreigner-friendly. They fully understand how essential it is for, among other things, being able to attract the high-quality foreign personnel needed to compete with the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai in key sectors of industry. There are big budgets being provided for this, and with the help of input from foreign residents, there’s a good chance that a substantial chunk of it can be channelled into genuinely productive uses.[/quote]
A dollar short and a day late. The train left the station on that one a long time ago. There are few industries left in Taiwan that can support the kind of jobs that attract high-quality foreign personnel anymore. “Asian Operational Hub” Ya know, there actually was a time when that wasn’t a joke.
Some simple examples of how Taiwan fails in this respect: In Singapore I got my work permits before I landed. No crapping in a dixi-cup neither. I pay the exact same taxes as locals - no funny withholding and everyone pays tax. I can buy most, but not all kinds of property. I can open joint bank accounts and hold foreign currency. After 2 whole months I was given unsolicited a work visa unrelated to my current job - i.e. I can resign tomorrow and go find another job and have 6 months to do it. I can get a cell phone w/out a sponsor. I can get a credit card. I can get a license. I imported, registered and bought insurance for a boat without a hassle. My son can attend a nationally sponsored sports program at the same rates as locals; the only difference is that my son can’t be on the national team. But, he can train with the same coaches and attend the same international events. Essentially, while not a local, I’m made to feel like I am an included part of society.
Taiwan is too cheap, too arrogant, too xenophobic to ever do any of these things. I love Taiwan, but there is no reason to go back.
Let’s imagine for a moment that that were possible.
The original post from maoman said this…
It could be argued that it is in our best interest to aid in such an effort. Let’s assume that it is. If the government really wants to create such a resource, what is the advise you would give them?
Here’s a couple of suggestions, just off the top of my head…
Hire a professional writer. Preferrable a native speaker of English who has experience creating websites that are geared toward providing information.
Ask questions and listen to the answers. You will need to actually implement some of the suggestions that are made to you.
