A strange news report from the New Zealand Press Association:
a 20-year-old Christchurch woman who had been teaching in Taiwan since June died there. The report says the woman, named Mary Matthews, died in her sleep, and police “suspect no foul play.”
The report gave no more details, no sources, nothing. The letters CHP appeared under the report, which I first took to mean China Post, but I couldn’t find anything about the death in that paper.
Just a strange case, if you ask me. Wonder if the local media will pick up on it, because I certainly don’t know where NZPA got it from.
This really shows how incompetent the Taiwanese police are. Have you ever heard of a 20-year old girl dying in her sleep? And the police don’t suspect any foul play?! Give me a break!
Where exactly in Taiwan did she “die in her sleep”? Hopefully not Chiayi…
oh yeah, she just died in her sleep. that happens all the time. i know loads of people that just didn’t wake up in the morning. foul play? nope, nope, nope, i’m not gonna do it, nope nope nope.
you didn’t expect that would actually be in the local press my left testicle would you. its actually newsworthy. they must not have had enough room after running translations of articles on the latest gripping bill revision in the legislative yawn.
don’t accuse the taiwanese police of incompetence mark, no one in the world is better at keeping their noses clean and their asses in the mahjong chair.
hey, strange things happen. she really could have died in her sleep…so give the taiwanese police a break. i’m sure their gonna have an autopsy and we’ll know more…
true, strange things can happen on occasion, but i-don’t-care police and god-forbid-someone-should-think-negative-thoughts-about-taiwan “press” happen here every day.
If the police really don’t suspect any foul play, then it seems like in Taiwan, anyone can murder someone and then lay the body down on a bed, and as long as there are no knife wounds or bullet holes or broken bones, then the police will just say “Well she must have just died in her sleep. It happens all the time.” Duh!
I’m not one to think highly of the competance of the local police, but I think people are too quick to jump on this one, considering that it’s from a vague story that “gave no more details, no sources, nothing.” Too little is known even to assume the story is true.
I hope there’s a follow up.
Strange, I searched for her on the list of foreign teachers in buxibans throughout Taiwan and couldn’t find her name anywhere. Perhaps her passport had a different name.
I was curious to find out where she worked but turned up zip.
I saw something about this on the TV news on the evening of November 4, 2003. As I recall the announcer said that she had been on medications, and then had had a bit too much to drink . . . . . . hence the combination of those substances is what did her in . . . . . .
That is just what I overheard on TV, I really have no way of further collaborating it . . . . . .
[quote]Strange, I searched for her on the list of foreign teachers in buxibans throughout Taiwan and couldn’t find her name anywhere. Perhaps her passport had a different name.
I was curious to find out where she worked but turned up zip.
[/quote]
She could have been teaching illegally of course.
Brian
[quote=“Bu Lai En”][quote]Strange, I searched for her on the list of foreign teachers in buxibans throughout Taiwan and couldn’t find her name anywhere. Perhaps her passport had a different name.
I was curious to find out where she worked but turned up zip.
[/quote]
She could have been teaching illegally of course.
Brian[/quote]
Yes, that is correct. I thought of that but didn’t want to post something ill of the dead. 
She could have been teaching illegally of course.[/quote]
She could also have been working under the protection of a JFRV ARC.
you’re right cranky.
Bassman, could you tell me the website where you can search for the name of any foreign teacher who teaches in a buxiban in Taiwan? That would be very useful.
Thanks in advance.
I don’t think such a list would be made available on the net. That would be kinda scary don’t you think?
Just curious, but why would it be very useful to you, Mark?
It would be useful to me because I’ve moved around a lot during the past 7 years that I’ve been in Taiwan, and I’ve made a lot of friends in various cities around Taiwan, and most of my friends are foreigners who work at buxibans. But I’ve lost touch with most of my old friends except the ones that live in Miaoli County and northern Jiayi County (where I live now).
I agree that it would be dangerous to post this website on the internet, but that’s not necessary because Bassman has already sent me a PM.
Eh up there ladies, it’s freely available on the net if you know the right Chinese search words, it’s also published on a long list of links on a very useful government educational site.
I can’t believe I just used government and useful in the same sentence. It has been a long day. 
Why don’t you just save us the trouble and post the link?
If the newspapers are competent - the police are supermen/women