A really small story in today’s papers gets a different kind of treatment in the English media here. One paper reports, WITHOUT mentioning the IMPORTANT fact that the cop is married to a US woman who likes to display an American flag in their house’s window:
“A Taiwan police captain has been robbed 14 times in the past year despite his efforts to scare away the petty thieves, police said yesterday. “I’ve tried every means, hanging my police cap on the front door, parking the police motorbike at the garage and even putting up a poster saying this is the house of a police officer,” said Captain Yu Ting-ping, serving in the eastern county of Hualien. “But they just ignored that and went ahead to steal all the valuables they could take away,” said the embarrassed officer. He said one time his wife heard a strange sound at midnight and came down from her second-floor bedroom to discover a burglar staring at her. The thief cut his wife in the elbow before making off with the valuables. Another time, the officer and his wife dozed off while watching TV in the living room, only to discover their wallets and other valuables were gone when they woke up, the captain said.”
Guess which paper that was? Now the Post and the News both also ran the same story…but told readers that the cop was is married to a US gal in Hualien, and that they always fly the US flag in their window, perhaps attracting local bandlits…
I guess the question is: why did the Times with-hold that IMPORTANT information that the cop is maried to a foreigner and that she likes to fly the US flag on the outside of their house? Just sloppy copy boys/girls or was this omission intentional?
Hard to understand. Merry Cmas, everyone! [Note:why write Xmas, when Cmas is much more accurate? Hangover this morning, ugh!] [By the way, why is HANGOVER called a hang over? My head hanging over over the sink every ten minutes? Maybe?]
The other weird thing about today in medialand is that the Times and the Post both posted MERRY CHRISTMAS images and texts on their front pages BUT the Taiwan News mentioned not a word on page 1. Is the NEWS anti-Christian?
Well, nobody reads the News, so it hardly matters.
I was left scratching my head by that story. Could it be for real? Two or three burglaries in a year would be quite remarkable … but 14, for God’s sake!! Has someone got hold of the wrong end of the stick, or is someone pulling people’s legs?
As for the American wife angle (which is new to me because I read the TT version), that just makes it all the weirder. Why would burglars repeatedly target a local cop and his foreign wife?
“As for the American wife angle (which is new to me because I read the TT version), that just makes it all the weirder. Why would burglars repeatedly target a local cop and his foreign wife?”
See the thread about wage gap between locals and foreigners.
I’m pretty sure I met that American woman one time. She was a serious nut-job. If it was the same woman (it was in Hualian and the woman was married to a cop), she started hitting on my friend and me outside a bar and then told our Taiwanese female friend to fuck off. The American woman was huge and our friend was about five feet tall. Anyway, they went at it right in the middle of the street. Our Taiwanese friend grabbed the giantess’ necklace from around her neck and whipped her silly with it and then picked up a helmet an smote her. The whole time the woman was saying she was going to sic her cop-husband on us.
Chainsmoker: wow. now this is getting interesting… !!! Really, you met the lady in question? Anyone else have run ins with her? Maybe the Ap should report this FULL SIZE story next time they write about her and him. FUNNY. thanks, Chain, for the heads up. Unbelieavable. Wonder how she met him, what’s up in their relationship? Could make a great movie…
chain, on 2nd thought: if she is a serious nutter as you describe, then maybe the reason their home has been broken into many times is because she has made many enemies in town and they are out to get revenge! Maybe she whacks people there all the time. Hey, AP missed the real story! It is not robbery and theft, it is assault and battery! Where is TVBS when u need em!
Is this the foreign woman that owns all the cram schools in Hualien? Heard stories about her being big, married to a cop, and using that to muscle everyone else out of the business, but not the violent nut-job parts. :shock:
Large, loopy foreign chicks scare the hell out of me. I can picture her in a leather thong, whip in her hand, and handcuffs cuffed to her nipple rings. Whoa!!!
Big lady, USAer, cram school owner, muscle lady, heavyset, fights with strangers, married to a cop, makes TVBS and AP news wires. So … what is her name, and what state is she from, and how long has she been here? Any children in that home? I am sure she is a perfectly wonderful woman, who is simply being massunderstood…
She seemed like a serious alcoholic who has been abroad too long in desparate need of a support network. We ran into her at a bar where she was being really loud. She started trying to hit on us outside the bar and then got angry at our smart assed comments. She kept talking about how she KNEW Taiwan and we didn’t know shit. I could tell that the people in the bar had grown used to her antics. It is also useful to know that Hualian is a backward assed town full of corruption, gangsters and weird shit. Beautiful place, but I would be very careful who I got to know if I were living there. I would love to see a Taiwanese soap opera revolving around some of the families I have met in Hualian.
chainsmoker wrote: “She seemed like a serious alcoholic who…”
AHA! She likes a little sip every now and then … this tale is getting interestinger and interestinger… I wonder if any English teachers who worked for her know anything MORE about this fascinating lady…
The cover our teachers’ guide has a picture of the teachers’ mascot, Mistress Olga…our in-house Dominatrix of Pain. I wonder if Olga and your Hualian friend resemble each other???
Now the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. She must be raking in serious money as a bushiban owner with cop connections in a place like that. No wonder she’s a magnet for burglars.
And she sounds eminently well-qualified to run a bushiban – quite on a par with her illustrious Taiwanese counterparts who have built up such a fine reputation for themselves.
