My ARC was slightly too big to fit in my wallet, so I used scissors to trim just a little blank paper off the edges all around, making it slightly smaller but not affecting, altering or removing any text whatsoever. As a result, the card has fit in my wallet for the past year, so I could pull it out and use it on various occassions, when requested, throughout the year.
My HR Dept is now applying for an extension for me and had requested my card. I had long forgotten about having trimmed the edges of the card, as it seemed so inconsequential. Apparently it wasnât.
Apparently, the govt will grant my extension, but Iâve been ordered to pay NT$500 as a penalty for disrespecting their (not my) card. :no-no:
To be honest, I have every intention of doing the same thing all over again, if necessary, so I can fit the card in my wallet.
Bad boy, bad boy! See what happens if you step outa line? You are not allowed to trim your ARC, didnât you know?
On the other hand, you are allowed to have your kid on your scooter, without a helmet, while youâre driving with one hand cause you got a fag in the other.
See the rules here are quite easy to understand. Now obey them.
The DMV gave me similar uphill about trimming my blue bike registration card and laminating it⌠They said itâs illegal, so I told them as soon as they stop issuing important documents that have to last for years, on cheap rubbishy paper that dissolves and smudges all the printed details the first time it even gets damp, Iâll stop laminating them⌠The woman said âoh⌠good idea.ââŚ
Iâd double check that it really is the âgovernmentâ who are trying to extract this NT$500 fine from you, not some pedantic nerd with an âAi-Daiwanâ chip on his shoulder in your HR deptâŚ
Yea, Iâm a madman. Refusing to conform. Refusing to live by their rules. Living life on the edge â trimming excess paper from my ARC â rather than giving in to the mindless, oppressive system.
MT: Hereâs a suggestion. Use your color photocopier to make copies of the front and back. Maybe you can reduce the size slightly. Then paste them to a card and laminate. Not only can you avoid âdisrespectingâ (oh, the horror!) your ARC, but you can store the original at home and avoid the inconvenience of losing it. Iâve been doing this for years with no problem.
MT, donât you know by now that as soon as you qualify for an ARC, you are obliged to respect every and single law in this island?
Laws are made for everyone, but only applied to ARC holders⌠it seems.
to annoy you, plus the extra income of the replacements bc you loose it bc it doesn;t fit in your wallet, did i mention just for the fun of itâŚ[/quote]
I never keep my original ARC in my wallet (as it neither fit)
got myself a front and back B/W copy and even i had to show it twice to the Police, they did not make a fuss of it. I even did not had to explain where the original was. Might they would not have understood anyway.
[quote=âTainanCowboyâ]Waste of bandwidth telling us this. Of course one doesnât mutilate official documents.
By the way, my ARC is laminated on the front side and fits nicely in my wallet. Its a 3 year model.[/quote]
Gotta agree with TC on this one. And mine also fits nicely into my wallet, though they didnât laminate it properly and my head now has a green frame and is amost completely washed out in the photo. My wife hates it as she says it looks like I am a corpse floating in a puddle of water (which I guess she saw as a child and has never forgotten). :s
[quote=âTainanCowboyâ]Waste of bandwidth telling us this. Of course one doesnât mutilate official documents.[/quote]
Yes, sir!
Thank you for correcting me.
Well, I guess you must have a bigger wallet. . . and a bigger butt to go along with it.
Sounds very reasonable, but I suspect one day someone will ask for my real ARC and all Iâll have on me will be the counterfeit, so Iâll have to come back another day or suffer some other inconvenience. Besides, then maybe theyâll get me for counterfeiting. I think Iâll take my chances and risk getting popped for another NT$500 next time. Besides, as AJ pointed out, I have no alternative â got to be a crazy rebel.
ya, dumb ARC, mine doesnât fit in my wallet either and is all bent around the edges. Are you willing to organize a protest MT? We can all go over to the presidentâs and wave scissors and our ARCs. Should we point the scissors up or down? open scissors or closed scissors? Should we color coordinate outfits?
ratbrain, that wonât be a good thing, because we are all ARC wearers, and, because of that, we have to fullfill all the requirements and laws. Can you imagine what would the ROC snipers do to an angry furreiner mass holding scissors (basically, they can be considered weapons). And didnât your mom told you not to run with scissors in your hands, btw?
By the way, with the way they treat us here, can we start talking about a âARC Terrorâ period of the Taiwanese history?
Not mentionning that we are âAliensâ which was the best thing ever I was called.
Does any knows why they use the term "alienâ anyway and not âforeignerâ
They pretend to be our âbrothersâ always (especially when the drinking starts)
Strange country indeedâŚ
I was thinking too small, considering only protesting outside the AIT, petitioning the US Trade Representativeâs office, or perhaps organizing a letter-writing campaign to US Congress, urging the lawmakers to exert pressure on Taiwanâs govt on this pressing issue. But youâre right â itâs not just a matter for Americans. Itâs a matter that affects people of all nationalities, all races, colors and creeds, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or lack thereof, so long as they are living in Taiwan under the yoke of oppression whereby they are assigned oversized ARC cards that donât fit in the wallets of average-butt-sized persons. Youâre right, this matter should go straight to the President.
The scissors, too, are a brilliant touch, though I would recommend that we bear only blunt-tipped safety scissors, to demonstrate that, while we are adament in our resolve for smaller, more humanitarian cards, in no way do we wish to inflict any harm on any one, or any thing, with pointy scissors.
