Any public airing of foreign husbands’ problems and views on these issues can only be helpful, can’t it? If enough good material is provided, the resulting article might be translated into Chinese for the Liberty Times, and thus reach a very wide audience.
So I hope you can find enough people willing to be interviewed, Debby. I’d step forward myself, but I’m not yet married – call me in another half year, and I’m sure I’ll be able to give you lots of valuable input.
Seems I underestimated Debby and the TT, here is her story in the TT
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/Taiwan/archives/2003/09/15/2003067909
Very good article. It just goes to show; if somebody is open to listening, you should tell them what you want to say instead of tearing their motivation to threads and moaning about how they probably aren’t really listening anyway.
I don’t mean you, Fluffy; I mean a whole attitude there is on Forumosa.
I see the same thing happening on the ‘ICRT’ thread; the conversation has degraded into politics and one-upmanship, despite the convincing information that somebody may actually be listening there.
Why do people have to see things in such a black-and-white way? No place is ever going to be perfect. Changing people’s awareness is only ever going to happen very slowly, step by step. Even if only one tenth of the people who purport to be listening actually are doing so, you can still make a difference, if you go about things in a reasonable, diplomatic way.
Yes, good article. Mentioned a whole slew of forumosans too!
I guess Forumosa has become a news resource now.
So It took that reporter over two weeks to write that sorry excuse for a story. Two weeks? 
Oddly, she didn’t bother to approach any officials for a response to any of the comments made by foreigners. Hardly pulitzer-winning journalism.
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003067909
Debby Wu’s article about the plight of foreigners (especially foreign spouses) has finally been published in today’s Taipei Times. Definitely not a journalistic masterpiece, but I think it was written pretty impartially, and managed to address many of the most important issues. Too bad it probably won’t be translated into Chinese and put into the Liberty Times, or given any coverage other than amongst the foreign community. If Debby is still reading these forums, is there anything you can do about this?
Any other opinions?
3 threads on the same subject in one day ? Just wait till maoman finds them all 
It’s appropriate, given that three ministries in Taiwan’s government can interpret the same law differently.
It’s appropriate, given that three ministries in Taiwan’s government can interpret the same law differently.[/quote]
LOL. 
anyway, it’s already been discussed a little here 
http://forumosa.com/3/viewtopic.php?p=102985#102985
Whoops, my bad! I just scanned the Human Rights forum to see if anyone had already posted on it, since the article is about “human rights” (sort of) … didn’t think to look under the other forums … oh well … sigh
What were you expecting ?
Alien wrote:
She’s right. I’m even in there.
[quote]“When you ask the different govern
m
ent departments abo
u
t the same question, they give you different answers!” National Network of Foreign Spouses Liaison Offi
c
er Richard Hartzell barked over the phone, venting his frustration.
Hartzell, an American w
h
o is m
a
rried to a Taiwanese wo
man
and has… [/quote]
I felt the story by Miss Wu was good, and she deserves credit for both writing it and asking for input from here. Maybe this is future of world journalism: a combination of blogging, emails, forums like this and reporters digging.
HOWEVER, that said, once I began reading, it appeared to be another RICHARD HARTZELL IS SHOUTING IN MY EAR story, and most of the article seemed to be about this guy named Richard Hartzell. Now Mr Hartzell is cool and does the right thing here, and deserves a good write up now and then. But Miss Wu seemed to ask us for feedback and then all she does is sent out the regular RH line which we all know. Where were the other people she interviewed, in depth. I felt that Richard should have stayed out of this one, and so, my call is: a non story, one star, no punch, no insight.
That said, she deserves kudos for being brave enuf to come on here and ask for feedback with some former TT staffers here just waiting to draw blood. Funny, no blood this time. Maybe that will be the last we hear from her.
PLUS, I would have liked to hear from Africans, Indonesians, Japanese, Indians Turks and others married to Taiwanese here. Whyis it always WASPS only?
WASPs?
Hartzell doesn’t strike me as a WASPish kind of name. Nor does Holger Nygaard. Do you have any idea what that acronym stands for?
Being a WASP myself, and therefore not allowed into the conversation above, let me say this about that MuchaMan. Yes, I know what a WASP stands for: white Anglo Saxon Protestant, which i believe both RH and Nygaard are, more or less.
nothing against WASPS, we are as good for quotes as anyone else on this Planete Lonely… and me being one meself…
but again, why not more PEOPLE OF COLOR in the article? I know, I know, pink is a color, too. I mean…
People from none Western non First World Countries Run by White Men.
That’s all. and i am just wondering, Muchaman, I am not making a value judgment or condeming wholesale or retail the entire debacle…
So what did you think W.A.S.P. stands for? A new movie by J.Lo or the director of M.A.S.H.?
[quote=“formosa”]Being a WASP myself, and therefore not allowed into the conversation above, let me say this about that MuchaMan. Yes, I know what a WASP stands for: white Anglo Saxon Protestant, which I believe both RH and Nygaard are, more or less.
nothing against WASPS, we are as good for quotes as anyone else on this Planete Lonely… and me being one meself…[/quote]
Didn’t you just say in a previous post that you’re a Muslim of North African descent??? :?: :?: :?:
WASP is just a generic term for upper-middle class white North American people. It has connotations removed from its literal meaning. When I think WASP I think of people in Polo shirts in two-story houses in nice suburban Connecticut neighborhoods with well-manicured lawns. Though I am literally white & of Anglo-Saxon and Protestant descent, I am not a WASP because I am a lower-middle class Southerner. You can’t be a WASP if you grew up in a trailer park.
[quote=“formosa”]
HOWEVER, that said, once I began reading, it appeared to be another RICHARD HARTZELL IS SHOUTING IN MY EAR story, and most of the article seemed to be about this guy named Richard Hartzell. Now Mr Hartzell is cool and does the right thing here, and deserves a good write up now and then. But Miss Wu seemed to ask us for feedback and then all she does is sent out the regular RH line which we all know. Where were the other people she interviewed, in depth. I felt that Richard should have stayed out of this one, and so, my call is: a non story, one star, no punch, no insight.[/quote]
What did you expect. Look at the beginning of this thread to see how helpful you all were with your wisecracks and criticisms! :?
I’m sure she only talked to those who contacted her directly and you know Hartzell would have done that. 
[quote=“joesax”]
Why do people have to see things in such a black-and-white way? No place is ever going to be perfect. Changing people’s awareness is only ever going to happen very slowly, step by step. Even if only one tenth of the people who purport to be listening actually are doing so, you can still make a difference, if you go about things in a reasonable, diplomatic way.[/quote]
Agreed. Chivalry and open-mindedness seem to have a very tentative homes online. People are usually too judgmental to begin with; that gets magnified online, where there is little fear of somebody calling your self-righteous bluff.