Was reading this article by the Pew Research institute and bumped into an interesting result. They asked people from 17 countries “What aspects of your life do you currently find meaningful, fulfilling or satisfying?”
For 14 countries, Family turned out to be the top source of meaning. In Taiwan however, Society came first.
In Taiwan, society – or the institutions and attributes of where people live – is the top source of meaning, above family, occupation and material well-being. Two women in Taiwan emphasize ease of living on the island: “Food, clothing, housing, and transportation are all convenient. Life is safe and tranquil,” and “There are many convenient stores in Taiwan … The public health insurance system is good; medical service is convenient.” Others note their satisfaction with Taiwan’s political system. One woman claimed she is “fortunate to live in Taiwan, especially in the aspect of public health, democracy, and the rule of law and human rights, because it is very free.” A young man simply noted, “Living in Taiwan is very free, freer than China and Hong Kong.” Some specifically mentioned their government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, like a woman who listed the island’s “stable economy, well-controlled new COVID-19 pandemic, [and] easy access to medical care” as meaningful. Taiwan is one of the few societies – the others are also largely in the Asia-Pacific region – where references to COVID-19 do not tend to coincide with negativity; instead, most praise how well their government has handled things.
I guess living in the shadow of China makes you appreciate your own democracy even more than any other country possibly could.
What’s striking in the Taiwan list is what’s not there among the top five: friends or occupational meaning / occupational identity.
For the US and the UK, it’s interesting to me that the notion of “society” is missing from the top five. While it looks like neoliberalism’s savage logic is being hacked back globally (thank god), that maxim from Thatcher (“There is no such thing as society”) appears to still have legs.
I find the results somewhat questionable from who I know in Taiwan (at least the South and my Taipei metro friends) as I would say family first. Also yesterday had picnic in Taipei in the Expo park, when an aeroplane took off one girl would joke its from China, so talked about would they fight protected Taiwan “Society”, answer was not really yes or no, but protect Friends and money haha. In Ukraine and just am back from nearby Lithuania, there it seems they would very flight for “Society” and I wonder about Taiwan.
It can’t say I am suprised , the abundance of posts on this forum alone about toxic work culture, lazy colleagues and lack of productivity (e.g. time in the office is more important than work actually done) is an indicator people dont really find meaning in their work (or at least not enough meaning to try and excel in it).
As for family and friends - i think the declining population is a clear indicator that people dont value family life that much - they prefer the freedom of being single.
Friends - I dont have many local friends, seldom have I been invited to someone’s home (apart from playdates with kids, i mean as an adult). For many years i thought the problem is me (language barrier, personality) but the longer I am here I see that the same is true for locals.
Family is seen as a social duty, much more than in the West. With that in mind it wouldn’t surprise me if, as @afterspivak puts it, many people see it as a bore they have to work for but wish they could get away from.
Yeah so far I haven’t met a lot of Taiwanese with real family relationship based on love, understanding and freedom of choice. Most of the families here are based on diferent kind of dependacies and duties you MUST obey. Parents grinding their kids and forcing them to become doctors or lawyes so kids can pay for their retirement. Parents forcing children to marry and have a male heir. People waiting for their parents to die (and openly admiting that!) so they don’t have to listen to them anymore and they can inherit their wealth. Grandparents don’t spending time with grandchildren and pushing strollers with these stupid minature dogs rather than with their newborn grandchildren.
Even the ammount of hotels and motels where you go with your 小三 offering rooms by hours where you can “rest” (on a tiny island that you can drive around in 12 hours!) shows how important family is for them.
Thus whenever Taiwanese brag about how FAMILY is SO IMPORTANT for them compared to the western world I call BS on that…
Yeah I asked my cousins a while back whether they would fight if China invaded. They said no, they are losing faith in Taiwan but they would defend their families.
My off-the-cuff remark here is that lots has changed since the Sunflower and Umbrella Movements. The smashing of protestors in HK was impossible to miss, and unless the survey focused on elderly Chinese nationalist die-hards who remain among us, they would get a different sense of what matters now to folks in Taiwan.
I have no proof to back any of this up, so take it as my own “gut reaction” too.
I agree that society in Taiwanese minds is probably translated as “社會”. That has a very different and broader meaning than in most other languages. The Chinese she-hui includes family and friends and work and institutions. Basically, it’s everything. On the other hand, Taiwan is the most recent democracy on that list. It may be true that there is an above-average appreciation for newly acquired freedoms and institutions.
