The biggest gangster started politics in Taiwan
Youâve lived in Taiwan how many years and are still surprised by that phenomenon? 
There must be a name for it, something more specific than just ânepotismâ, something that expresses the particular way it tends to manifest itself in Taiwan⌠
Iâm not surprised so much as fed up with it (though i was suprised how young that Carrefour manager was). I suppose the longer you live in Taiwan the more you want do constructive things here and the more you care about the environment that you have made your home in. But at every turn i find the system is choked with corruption and greed and it saddens me to see this filtre out through society - either through apathy and acceptance of it, or actual participation.
In Taidong weâve got:
- a famously corrupt local Council, including a mayor who was sentenced to 6 months jaill for falsifying bank accounts (but of course never went to jail)
- a corrupt Prosecutors Office who has never even investigated a string of glaringly corrupt land deals (thus acting as a firewall for the politicians)
- corrupt banks that launder the corrupt money
- corrupt Public Servants that rubber stamp all the corrupt land deals
All this happens in broad daylight. To say itâs the underworld is not accurate - itâs the mainstream
And this is the shining example of morality that is set for the people to follow. No wonder Taiwan is getting an international reputation as a society of scammers - and that upsets me coz there are many decent people here.
Has anybody ever bought an item on sale at Costco that gives a discount per kilogram? I bought something that was on sale but the discount wasnât reflected on the receipt. The person said they had already factored the new discount in the price tag.
I am skeptical that they would create a new price tag for a 10 day sale and then create new price tags that change it back.to the original price after the sale is over. It wasnât much of a discount like 50 NTD, so I didnât push it, but it still makes me wonder.
To be honest it doesnât have an international reputation for much of anything.
Yep, sceptical is what you should be. And then angry. Itâs hard enough for us to pick this stuff up, imagine how a little old lady is going to cope. Price scamming by supermarkets amounts to predatory behaviour by those responsible for supplying people with basic food staples
Apart from fiddling the figures on âspecialsâ, iâve been alarmed by how expensive food has become in general. Over the last year i have regularly seen price rises of 20-30% on many items. Some by as much as 100%. Small pumpkins are now $95 at Carrefour! Brocolli has become a luxury item.
I know there were a couple of typhoons several months ago but i wish there was an independent body to monitor price rises. Right now we are in the position of having to blindly trust the morality of store managers