Taiwan is way better then Japan in terms of digital services I suspect.
It’s just that Japan is much cleaner and neater and they don’t drive like lunatics.
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Nude video director???
Probably my best student ever (not because of me, but because of their parents) was sent to my school (not the schools I worked for) at age 1 something. Nearly 2 years old. She could walk, but clumsy. Her older brother was my “peroper” student, 4. What her parents wanted wasn’t ANY homework, pressure etc. She had books, but we gave her our own teachers copies because it was just for her to feel included. We agreed with the parents woshes, so it was free. Win win on all sides. Child and parents. It also taught the older brother a lot of lessons on maturity, as he was a little shit to be honest. But withbthis setup, he learned logic and reason. He learned to be able to always talk through emotional BS. Again, smart parents aware of human psychology. They arw. Afarming family with one of them being a police officer. Not what some people consider xyz class. She sat in our teaching circle, next to her brother for comfort, simply just to tag along and get used to English sounds. That was her parents goal. Cute little baby girl in a young class also enabled the ither sultudents (not usually the brother) to play a role of responsibility. This allowed all the students to in a way mentor this little kid. This literally means even the “dumb” kids in the class had a new priority outside of listening to my teaching bullshit. They wanted to protect the weakest in the social group. In this context, this meant they taught her how to say basic words. And it became somewhat like what we know of community systems raisin a kid, albiet only for a few hours a week. This taught my how to teach better afterward, let the student teach and they will learn the fastest. Doesn’t take a certain location or a ridiculous amount of money for that, just need a teacher without ego and parents that aren’t hell bent on superficial test scores. They will follow once the kiddo is intelligent and confident (at least, not scared).
This example wanted, from a youn age, to get used to different stimuli they couldn’t get at home (parents couldnt speak any english and were super local minded). We later created gardens, kept animals, experimented etc with these students. They always surpassed their other classmates on tests and general literacy. We had regular classes side by side for comparison for over. Addcade, it was extremely consistent.
I only bring that up because that girl tested highest in Taiwan that year, from a real fucked up area, but had parents that didn’t stress and were mature and diligent in teaching their kids about actual logic, critical thinking etc. Once that is fluent, the lessons at school become relatively basic. I have hundreds of these experiences, but this one stands out due to being top test in Taiwan and being where she grew up (truly a terrible place). But, excellent parents!
Piano, dancing, hiking, board games etc at 1, great idea. It stimulates a very open mind to grow as fast as possible. Key point is without too much abuse/stress. The kids I see becoming online game/drug/gambling/etc addicts have a hard curve towards very illogical and abusive parents. The difference is quite measurable.
Enable more experiences, even if they make a mess.
Kind of a lame rendition for YouTube, but the message is spot on. It’s also relevant for adults, we should be doing this as well, not just allowing children room to explore. 20 to 30 year Olds… 
Using Edward Yang as an example here is pretty funny. I read a book about him that said by the time he came back from the US in his 30s, he was “westernized” to such a degree that all of the scripts he wrote in English first. He is even quoted by colleagues at the time as saying that his “language of thought” was English, not Chinese! Likewise, the book has quotes talking about the need to rework and rephrase a lot of the dialogue he would write because it had that 英文味道. He often bemoaned that his films were not understood, perhaps not even possible of being understood, by the Taiwanese. Yi-yi was famously never screened in Taiwan on release for similar reasons. To me, he is the poster child of a Taiwanese who “broke out” of the repressive aspects of Taiwanese society, largely thanks to being able to live outside of the country for an extended time, not one that thrived within its bounds.
Yeah maybe. Taipei Story could only have been made by someone with a deep understanding of the city and its society. My point is that he was educated here through college and was still able to be a highly creative person.
I also had my reasons for pairing him with Wu Bai.
I can make the same general point about Wu Nien-jen and Chen Ming-Chang. They have thrived within the bounds of Taiwan without foreign degrees or long sojourns overseas.
Sure. I think to claim that there is a “creative individual that was born out of the Taiwanese educational/social system” with someone who spent years studying abroad and arguably almost primarily because they spent significant time abroad, were able to come back and due that same creative work is at best disingenuous. Ang Lee, come to mention, also fails to demonstrate what you are trying to demonstrate there, having studied at NYU and all.
I’m not saying you are wrong, in fact I think you are right there are certainly many examples, just that they aren’t necessarily as well-known in the English-speaking world. I’m just saying the examples provided don’t argue the case.
I can see your point but we may have to agree to disagree. I chose these two examples intentionally partly because they are better known to people who do not know Taiwan well but also because I think their sensibilities are deeply rooted in Taiwan despite years spent living and studying abroad.
I included Wu Bai in anticipation of objections like this.
Here is a story in the UDN today that illustrates some of my points.
Yi You-fu is the first student from Liouguei High School in Kaohsiung to be admitted to NTU. Liouguei is a very rural part of the old Kaohsiung County.
Liouguei High School was founded as a junior high school in 1956 and became a high school in 1968.
Yi was admitted to NTU through NTU’s Hope Admission Program (希望入學) that provides special support to recommended high disadvataged high school students. The Hope Admission Program is part of the Ministry of Education’s ‘Subsidy Program for Supporting Disadvantaged Students in Universities’ that supports similar programs at many Taiwanese universities.
Yi was one of 14 high school students who received the Presidential Education Award.
Liouguei High School has 191 students and 43 teachers. Faculty-student ratio is 1 to 4.4. I very much doubt there is anything like the academic pressure one sees in urban schools at this high school. Might be an option for foreign parents who want to spare their children the agonies of a Taipei public school.
I can also report from personal experience that Taipei Municipal Neihu Senior High School will graduate students who put in very minimal academic effort. And not make a fuss about it.
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The other student featured in this story also has a compelling story that may not fit some stereotypical views of Taiwanese society.
Another award recipient, Lai Hsin-yi from National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, suffered from cerebral palsy as a child. Her father spent seven years helping her undergo early intervention therapy, and it wasn’t until elementary school that she regained motor function. Grateful for the help she received from medical professionals, she chose to enter the field of health care. She won a silver medal in the Asian Skills Competition representing Taiwan and later a gold medal in a competition in Australia.
Lai’s father is a factory supervisor and her mother is a Vietnamese immigrant. She said her father would spend two days a week driving about two hours each time to take her to a major hospital for rehabilitation. It wasn’t until first grade that her body returned to normal. She was deeply moved by the attentiveness of nurses, which gave her the opportunity to live a normal life. Because of this, she chose to dedicate herself to a field where she could help others, and resolutely committed to nursing.
Lai said she is especially grateful for her father’s perseverance and optimism. “My father never gave up on me,” she said, reflecting on his support for a child with cerebral palsy. Her mother, who married into Taiwan from Vietnam at age 18 and raised three children, didn’t have the opportunity to properly learn Chinese until Lai was in junior high school. Lai expressed deep gratitude for her mother’s care.
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Jesus Christ lol. Is it a prison or a school?
All good points. But often times school selection is based upon HR registration. So many people from the south have parents that rent a spot, change HR (or, even more commonly, have a family member in). The stats seem unlikely. Though I have lived near liuguie for a bunch of years. Loads of my students in the past entered good schools. The family just used the system to their benefit. This is as common as fried rice 
I think, to be fair. I should try and steelman the argument. People in rural areas are more likely to play this household registration game simply because their areas do not have higher education options. So, of course they will move their registration to somewhere that does. People living in more posh regions of Taiwan need not do this, so obviously the numbers are screwed and frankly a bit unreliable. I agree more people from richer areas and denser areas are attending. But I don’t think the rural number is nearly as low as people think. I honestly don’t know how a government statistical investigation could even test this unless they use Say a 5 year backlog of all family members, which is unlikely.