You know, the Taiwanese have always claimed that they are one of the most “warm-hearted” (熱情) people in the world and any foreigner visiting Taiwan wouldn’t have any issues with racism and such.
Really? Does such warmheartedness apply to foreigners of every race and creed or do they only apply to foreigners from the richer, better educated parts of the world?
On more than one occasion, I have seen Taiwanese/HKese/Chinese wives or mothers mistreat their indonesian/filipino maids. The Taiwanese even have a nickname for women of such south asian varieties. They call them “Maria”.
Don’t let no Taiwanese fool you into thinking that they are “warm-hearted”. If anything, the Taiwanese have one of the coldest hearts in the world.
The Taiwanese/Chinese/Hkese would gladly let a stranger die on the streets if it means saving their own skins. Tis the Chinese culture you see, putting oneself first above others.
The word “Conscience” does not exist in Taiwanese/Chinese/HKese dictionaries.
[quote=“crystaleye”]You know, the Taiwanese have always claimed that they are one of the most “warm-hearted” (熱情) people in the world and any foreigner visiting Taiwan wouldn’t have any issues with racism and such.
Really? Does such warmheartedness apply to foreigners of every race and creed or do they only apply to foreigners from the richer, better educated parts of the world?
On more than one occasion, I have seen Taiwanese/HKese/Chinese wives or mothers mistreat their indonesian/filipino maids. The Taiwanese even have a nickname for women of such south Asian varieties. They call them “Maria”.
Don’t let no Taiwanese fool you into thinking that they are “warm-hearted”. If anything, the Taiwanese have one of the coldest hearts in the world.
The Taiwanese/Chinese/Hkese would gladly let a stranger die on the streets if it means saving their own skins. Tis the Chinese culture you see, putting oneself first above others.
The word “Conscience” does not exist in Taiwanese/Chinese/HKese dictionaries.[/quote]
Sounds like you described around 95% of people in the world from all cultures.
I think its all down to the individual. There are good and evil people of all races. None more then the other.
Ones experiences in a place may vary. Taiwanese happen to be kinder to white people then South East Asians on the whole. So you luck you if you are white, if you are south east asian , not.
So ones own experiences may vary.
The USA is not a melting pot of races but rather a place where a lot of races live together. Not always in harmony.
In some neighborhoods ,you are better off if white, others if laotian, others if phillippino, etc
Do you have to be that naive? Its not a lovely dovely world we live in. There is massive evil.
I think its all down to the individual. There are good and evil people of all races. None more then the other.
Ones experiences in a place may vary. Taiwanese happen to be kinder to white people then South East Asians on the whole. So you luck you if you are white, if you are south east Asian , not.
So ones own experiences may vary.
The USA is not a melting pot of races but rather a place where a lot of races live together. Not always in harmony.
In some neighborhoods ,you are better off if white, others if laotian, others if phillippino, etc
Do you have to be that naive? Its not a lovely dovely world we live in. There is massive evil.[/quote]
all i am saying is the taiwanese version of “warm-heartedness” (熱情) only apply if they can gain certain advantages from someone…
this has been the Chinese Way all along and with the Taiwanese sharing the same blood as the Chinese, how can anyone expect the Taiwanese to be any different from the Chinese?
warm-heartedness my arse… the damn Chinese/Taiwanese/Hkese are some of the coldest, most mercenary people on the face of this planet
IF what you say is true to any extent, then surely the behavior you complain of is a function of culture rather than of blood? Your statement above is racist. I don’t believe that a person’s behavior is a function of his/her race.
Of course, I don’t believe that anyone person fits completely into any particular generalization, either. Lots of shades of gray, rather.
But, it seems clear that his generalization is in response to 1) the fact that some Taiwanese people do seem to state somewhat often that the Taiwanese (as an entire people) are especially warm-hearted to foreign people and 2) the OP’s observation that some types of foreign people in Taiwan are often not treated with this oft claimed warm-heartedness.
this has been the Chinese Way all along and with the Taiwanese sharing the same blood as the Chinese, how can anyone expect the Taiwanese to be any different from the Chinese?
warm-heartedness my arse… the damn Chinese/Taiwanese/Hkese are some of the coldest, most mercenary people on the face of this planet[/quote]
This is racist bullshit. For starters Taiwanese don’t share exactly the same blood with Mainland Chinese; there is a lot of non-Han blood coursing through Taiwanese veins. Secondly what’s blood got to do with it? A lot of current Mainland behavior is due to the ravages of Communist rule and the Cultural Revolution in particular. Taiwanese grow up in a completely different environment to Mainland Chinese hence foreigners who live and travel on both sides of the Taiwan Straits invariably attest to a very different experience. Treatment of foreign laborers may be poor in Taiwan, but its also poor all round the world. It’s an exploitative situation that almost always casts a bad light on the people doing the exploiting regardless of the blood coursing through their veins.
The race things is BS, of course, as others have pointed out, but there is a disconnect between perceived 熱情 (‘friendliness’) towards foreigners and reality. At large, I think most the attitude towards foreigners here is neutral with outliers going both ways (really nice and really rude). In China, my impression is that people are either really nice (most) or really rude and the outliers are in the middle. I have not spent significant time in China since 1999, though…
But, it seems clear that his generalization is in response to 1) the fact that some Taiwanese people do seem to state somewhat often that the Taiwanese (as an entire people) are especially warm-hearted to foreign people and 2) the OP’s observation that some types of foreign people in Taiwan are often not treated with this oft claimed warm-heartedness.[/quote]
Brilliant. The Taiwanese often overstate their so-called warm-heartedness to foreigners and yet when it comes to maria and other SEA workers, warm-heartedness become cold icy blood.
The inspiration behind this thread came from this Japanese youtube vid. In this particular vid, the boss of a Japanese club implemented a HR policy based on kindness and fair-play.
It was particularly remarkable how that Jap boss kept reminding his senior employees that a strong man does not take advantage of the weak but helps the weak instead. A prime example of exemplary Japanese honor if there is ever one.
However, when I watched this second vid about Taiwan being the Heart of Asia, hey this ad is all about the better off foreigners eg americans, british, japanese spending their money in Taiwan. Where’s the part about the marias and other SEA workers suffering as slaves in Taiwan?
Taiwan is simply not qualified to call itself the heart of asia. For Taiwan simply does not have the morals, the conscience, the purification of the soul needed for it to be a heart.
Japan would be a much better choice to be the heart of asia instead.
[quote=“crystaleye”]
Japan would be a much better choice to be the heart of asia instead.[/quote]
Sure. Just as long as you’re not a Brazilian trying to buy something in a store or pretty much ANY type of gaijin seeking to use a traditional onsen.
I get why you’re angry, and yes, many Taiwanese are pretty heartless, but the same things happen in every country.
Most South-Africans are incredibly kind, but was one of the biggest racist countries when it came to rights and voting till 2 decades ago.
And America is the ‘land of the free’ but the majority of gay people still can’t marry.
Foreigners aren’t treated too well here in Taiwan. All foreigners…the government makes it almost impossible for the majority to work legally, because we may not teach students under 6 years…but they are in school till noon. Who can make a living working only half-day? And I earn the same as I did ten years ago…and it will stay that way. No pension one day, buying most things cash only…but it is like that in most other countries too.
sorry that you have had such a horrible experience here. Yes, calling them Maria is bad, but Chinese people are always the jokes in television shows and movies. Broken accents, gadgets, taking photos of everything… The world just basically sucks when it comes to stereotyping races.
These are the Japanese that committed countless atrocities in WW2 and to this day are still denying said atrocities ever occurred and refuse to compensate the victims?
I mean if you really want to stereotype a race as warm-hearted I wouldn’t exactly hold up the Japanese as paradigms of virtue.
(Note I got no beef with the Japanese what-so-ever, but if you want to play the national stereotypes game…)
Going back to what people a generation or so ago did serves no merit. Time moves on quickly.
I don’t see why this is in temp. It’s a valid discussion even if other people don’t agree with the content or style of the OP’s initial post. He has made some observations or encountered some experiences and so has arrived at a conclusion which makes sense to him or her.
