Your two examples came to Taiwan to study first. Then they got the gold card.
However, high-functioning professionals would still be able to succeed in their home country of, say, Vietnam or Pakistan would they not? The lack of a language barrier would also be an advantage, although I assume high-functioning professionals who chose to progress their careers in Taiwan would be able to hire an interpreter if necessary.
As I posted, I understand coming to Taiwan for a specific reason - such as to study as in the examples youâve provided. I donât understand a high-functioning professional coming here in order to find a job and progress their career. In some specific industries, perhaps
I scrolled thru his posts. You mean itâs a problem that car registration isnât expensive in Taiwan or itâs a problem (as the author maintains) that car registration is so expensive in Taiwan?
Donât mean to be dense but itâs been a hard day today.
The point is itâs far too cheap to operate a car in Taiwan.
Weâre subsidizing / incentivizing certain behaviors that are not good for our cities, not good for public health, and not good for the environment.
The solution put forward is not to ban them but to tax them so if you choose to put a monster car on the road here you will be paying a more reasonable share for use of the roads.
Itâs a question of resources. Taipei City has more scientists and cutting-edge technology than entire countries of the global south. No matter how talented a researcher may be, they are limited by the quality of laboratories, the skills of others, budgets, etc. There isnât a language barrier, so to speak, as the majority of Taiwanese doctors/professors have good English skills, with many having trained in the US/UK.
Yep, actually in Europe he would pay loads for an full size SUV Too. And itâs rubbish you can drive any surfaced road not with A 1.2l car for lack of power.
Off-road is another thing, but then itâs really questionable why cars should go anywhere off road if not emergency services.
Nearly any car is over motorizedâŚ
And for the community it is really not beneficial. Kills way more people than covid ever could (accidents and pollution). Except for some niches in manufacturing and chips Taiwan isnât attractive for high potentials. Gold card isnât enough. Other examples like this are Italy with their tax cuts (but administration from hell) or Chile. Though startup Chile I think is the better approach as a country Vs gold card. Many like me used it to get here because of COVID. Taiwan is a nice choice to learn Chinese, otherwise I would not be here
I was focussing on the experience of Jonathan Gropper. But, of course, the situation will be different for other high-functioning professionals from poorer countries.
I had a great doctor here once. I was admitted to the ER a number of times for what I later realized was just menstrual cramping that had gotten so bad I was unable to stand up or even crawl across the floor to the toilet. Literally all the symptoms of appendicitis only every few weeks. Went back to the States and three different OBGYNs shrugged and said âitâs ovarian cysts. Might be cancer. Weâd need to cut you open to know for sure. You can take birth control to manage the pain, but theyâll keep getting biggerâ. Came back here and there was a drug that pretty much every developed nation on earth but the US has approved for exactly that problem. Good job Taiwan. Not seeking profit for a drug that the US FDA for some unknown reason doesnât want to approve!
Iâve only had a couple of bad experiences with doctors here. One was a neurologist that refused to speak in English with me and refused to test me on a different medicine because what I was on was already working (albeit badly). Another was an award winning neurologist that again refused to speak to me in English for whatever reason. My current neurologist is great. Even his assistant is great. We both understand how busy he is. He tells me what time to come so I donât have to wait for ages at the hospital for my number to be called. Itâs a very direct conversation about how the last 3 months have been and if there have been any changes and how my exercise program is holding up on these meds. My other doctor is basically sports medicine hence the knee lubricant reference. We mostly talk about the stock market. I also have a sports therapist. As for the hospitals theyâve always been great. There was one time I had rheumatic fever with severe abdominal cramping with vomiting and diarrhea. They refused to let me leave because I was so dehydrated. After Iâd gone through two saline drip bags and several shots of morphine I discharged myself. I found out a few years later that I contracted rheumatic fever as a kid. Some of my doctors here have worked all over the world and many went to Harvard. Taiwan also has the largest concentration of brain and spine trauma specialists in the world.
Well seeing how many people here are limping due to knee problems, I would not trust the surgeons that much. Also from what I noticed with friends, ripped a side ligament which surely means meniscus damage too, but no MRI prescribed. Could lead to early arthritisâŚ
Also cannot get any advanced knee cartilage surgery here in Taiwan when I looked last year. Had to go to Europe to get it fixed (was cheaper too, Taiwan only is cheap compared to US, eastern Europe if you pay private is like 1/3 of the costs, not talking about India or Thailand if you go to local clinics⌠The private ones actually are cheaper in Eastern Europe for most things)
Also anything in hospitals takes ages, but thatâs similar in many countries without private health insurance. Plus loads of medication prescribed for tiny things.
Compared to Europe except the southern Europe countries I would not say Taiwan health system is good. Itâs on par with southern Europe⌠US is great if you have money without end, but for majority not goodâŚ
I also work with physician researchers from time to time and many biomedical scientists. Taiwan has a very strong biomedical research community indeed with a long heritage . Interestingly this was not predicated on the KMT coming over but already started in Japanese colonial times and also with the contribution of many Western missionaries who set up hospitals here.
Compared to my home Western European country it honestly blows it away because access to consultants is so quick and easy, both public and private. Not happy with that consultantâŚJust go see another!
Almost no waiting lists for surgeries . Very cheap clinics. Also fully subsidised meds. A few drawbacks such as lack of time with patients and nursing care for folks post op but overallâŚVery good.
well compared to Austria or Germany it doesnât seem good to me. And there are rather less things paid. If you have to pay privately because of no health Austria is cheaper than Taiwan for more complicated surgeries. Not sure about meds - they may be cheaper here privately.
I donât need private meds I have public insurance like just about everybody. Saves a fortune for people with chronic diseases. Which is basically everybody after a certain age.
Just seeing a GP costs 1500NTD to walk in the door in my home country but you need to book in advance and many arenât taking new patients they are so over stretched. They also have higher charges for medication .
Taiwan is literally almost 1/8th of that 1500ntd fee. And thatâs a huge impact because itâs the difference between getting timely professional medical assessment and treatment or not in most cases.
well I donât work here - and didnât live over 6 months. For 5000 NTD too much trouble to hassle a travel health insurance - and for a proper surgery they likely find a myriad excuses why itâs not urgent. So I am only insured against anything happening by accident while being in Taiwan effectively - and noticed that if you pay private here - itâs cheaper in Europe paying private (as in Europe itâs the same for me - Iâm mostly traveling as a digital nomad). Only something like cancer would make me go to my home country of health insurance. Big accidents Iâm covered - but for anything basic Iâm paying privately (like getting an MRI/xray after small sports accidents or whatever - should a surgery be needed and itâs clearly new damage - then I would contact the insurance).
But actually since 15 years I have not seen a single doctor except after accident or already knowing what my problem is (meaning what surgery I need) - oh well and some times getting a look by a dentist - but my teeth never had anything.
