[quote=“In an e-mail message, Linda Arrigo”]Dear Friends,
I want to report to you that my colleague in translation at the Ministry of Examination, Peter V.S. Smith, was attacked on Saturday evening June 10 by the staff of a failed local candidate in his neighborhood, Flower Garden City. He and his wife and children were accosted by four staff (thugs) right in front of their campaign office, with the candidate present too, and two chairs and beer bottles were thrown at them at they tried to run away. Peter suffered a cut on the head requiring 8-9 stitches. His wife was hit in the stomach with a beer bottle.
Neighbors reported the case and the police came within five minutes and apprehended the four men. A month earlier Peter had commented to the candidate’s staff about betel nut spitting and motorcycle noise. The candidate failed miserably in the election.
Peter is also an instructor in translation at Fujen University.
I think it is upsetting that an attack should be carried out with such impunity, and that even a newspaper like China Times would print the attacker’s excuse that the foreigner damned then in a foreign language (Peter says there was no such thing, but that is not the point – it is not a justification for violence). So I think this case deserves more attention than the usual police reluctance to make court cases – there have been too many attacks and coverups.
Linda[/quote]
[quote=“Peter Smith”]This is the article that more or less accurately tells the events: (click here)
There is also a China Times bit on it, which is wildly inaccurate: (click here)
as it makes what are patently slanderous claims that
“兩人不滿蕭某言語流露出優越感，加上他以英語口出惡言，以為台灣人聽不懂，才會一時失控動手”
Obviously that bit came from a press release from the hoodlums’ own media center!
Don’t lose any sleep over this - we’re doing fine and the community is being very supportive. Thanks for your concern, though. Talk to you soon.
[quote=“TomHill”]I hope nobody is stupid enough to suggest that this man deserved this attack.[/quote]Nobody deserves to be attacked like that. I used to live in Garden City, and it was a lovely little community. The people there were, for the most part, incredibly pleasant, kind and friendly to every one (including foreigners). It was a very close-knit community. The thing that shocks me the most about this story is it’s just not the kind of thing I would expect in that area.
Of course they didn’t deserve the attack. And it was hardly carried out with impunity–the newspaper article says that the case has been referred to the prosecutor’s office for possible assault charges. Linda says that the neighbors reported the crime and the police were there in five minutes. I’m confident that the prosecutor will indict them and the courts will deal with them severely as they richly deserve.
I’m not so sure though that it was really such a great idea to go to the campaign headquarters and ask the good ol’ boys there not to spit betel nut juice and rev their engines. And it is worth noting that these losers evidently considered being sworn at in English as sufficient provocation to beat someone up. I’m not saying that it is, and I’m not saying that is what happened since Smith says that it didn’t, but it is clearly regarded as an escalation his assailants.
Peter has been a translator for some of the world’s top organizations for many years and is fluent in Chinese. It’s somewhat unlikely that he’d make a complaint in English, don’t you think?
We’re exploring the various avenues open to him and his family.
Good point. There’s the legal side of the case. It might also be worth writing to the China Times to ask why they didn’t bother to get Peter’s side of the story.
Can someone please translate the slanderous comment? “兩人不滿蕭某言語流露出優越感，加上他以英語口出惡言，以為台灣人聽不懂，才會一時失控動手”
Babelfish doesn’t exactly do a good job:
“Two people do not fill Xiao spoken language to reveal the superiority feeling, in addition he by English mouth malicious talk, thought the Taiwan person understands, only then can lose control for a while begins.”
[quote=“irishstu”]Can someone please translate the slanderous comment? “兩人不滿蕭某言語流露出優越感，加上他以英語口出惡言，以為台灣人聽不懂，才會一時失控動手”
Babelfish doesn’t exactly do a good job:
“Two people do not fill Xiao spoken language to reveal the superiority feeling, in addition he by English mouth malicious talk, thought the Taiwan person understands, only then can lose control for a while begins.”[/quote]
I’m no pro, but this is roughly what it says:
“The two Taiwanese people were hurt by the condescending attitude evident in what he [the foreigner] said to them; also he abused them in English, thinking that they wouldn’t understand - this had the effect of making them lose control.”
Essentially, it was his fault for being arrogant and disrespectful - that’s why he got a kicking. Any right-minded folk would’ve done the same!
The reporter is quoting what their explanation of what happened without passing any explicit judgment. But the reporter uses the objective fact that the police referred the case to the prosecutor’s office to show that no one is buying this ridiculous explanation.
I do feel that the reporter should have made the effort to get a quote from Smith as well.
[quote=“Taffy”][quote=“irishstu”]Can someone please translate the slanderous comment? “兩人不滿蕭某言語流露出優越感，加上他以英語口出惡言，以為台灣人聽不懂，才會一時失控動手”
Babelfish doesn’t exactly do a good job:
“Two people do not fill Xiao spoken language to reveal the superiority feeling, in addition he by English mouth malicious talk, thought the Taiwan person understands, only then can lose control for a while begins.”[/quote]
I’m no pro, but this is roughly what it says:
“The two Taiwanese people were hurt by the condescending attitude evident in what he [the foreigner] said to them; also he abused them in English, thinking that they wouldn’t understand - this had the effect of making them lose control.”
Essentially, it was his fault for being arrogant and disrespectful - that’s why he got a kicking. Any right-minded folk would’ve done the same! [/quote]
You’d think the English-language newspapers would be interested in this story. Probably the Apple Daily as well, if there’s nice violence-filled pictures involved.
[quote=“Chewycorns”]What political party was responsible for this rally? [/quote]Might have been an independant, it would be interesting to know what his party thinks if he isn’t. Does anyone have the candidate’s name ? I couldn’t see a full name in the news piece.
While I understand that Peter didn’t swear at them, I would caution that common English four letter words are widely understood here and are definitely seen as a provocation. There have even been a few court cases where people have been fined for cussing out their neighbors. I can see them trying to make this ridiculous argument. Looks like the cops didn’t think much of it.
