Well I worked in the publishing industry and the textbooks from thsi century are not that balanced. Plus I went to college here and TBH there was a lot of history stuff that did not stick to my classmates´brains. And in a not that advanced geenration, my colleagues often are amazed at our foreign editors knowledge of local history, once has written two books about it.
It may not be that bad, but the gaps are there.
I went to high school in this century. And they are decreasing Chinese history in the new curriculum.
I don’t think that speaks any volume. I know much more about European history than most Europeans I know as well. People tend to not give a shit about what they were taught in school unless they actually have to use it at work.
Taiwan seems better run than many US states.
US student loan debt is something on the order of 2 trillion USD.
Here, here , we aint no spring chickens.
That si the point, they are in an area that requires a certain above the rest knowledge of the land…hence my surprise.
They don’t know how to market. It’s not something you can just throw money at it. Taiwanese people don’t get cool. We are very not cool and copy what’s cool like Korean and Japanese fashion. Almost as bad as Chinese mainlanders understanding of cool. For example HTC had beats by Dre; one of the best marketing companies on the market selling you 500USD headphones that’s comparable to other much cheaper products. And it was a cool brand. They didn’t know how to even use that kink of brand name in their corner.
I’d say the lack of confidence comes from the long history of being occupied/colonized/threatened. It wasn’t too long ago that the martial law discontinued and it is raletively recent that people can elect president. The politics stance of Taiwan is always ambiguous. The then biggest communist opposer KMT now is very mainland oriented. The KMT opposer DPP has all the political power now but not brave enough to declare independency. It’s like my biological father rather refers me as adopt son. The one people trust is actually not reliable at all. It’s very confusing. Hence the lack of confidence in every way.
As the finess of consumer products. Japanese has gone through a complete reborn after defeated from war. That’s why they can pursuit perfection in their own way(but not anymore) Taiwan has always been a mopet of US. Most industries try their best to fullfil foreign orders. Marketing is something we consider wasting money or slow profitability.
Taiwanese people should brag more. Just like Israelis do.
Israel hasn’t even created any name brands. Yet you hear, “startup nation,” “Israel inside,” etc. The chutzpah.
Taiwan probably makes more stuff inside a computer or a phone than Israel does. Furthermore, we’ve at least created a couple of name brands (Acer, ASUS).
And even if our consumer marketing sucks, we have large technology companies like TSMC and Foxconn. Israel doesn’t.
We need to do branding of our own.
“Engineering nation,”
“semiconductor nation”
“patent nation.”
One of the reasons is confusion. My cousin grew willing to give his life for the ROC. Now there’s this new Taiwanese identity thingy, and it’s confusing the heck out of him.
To be fair Israel is doing pretty impressively considering their geographic location and with a population of 9 million. I think they make the most scientific publications or something. Or 2nd most maybe.
They do get a lot help from the the US though. But many countries do and still manage to be god awful.
I think Taiwan would jump up in every aspect if we make it far more easier for foreigners with talent to immigrate easier.
Yeah, Israel is #1 in scientific pubs and #2 behind Taiwan in patents per capita.
Still though, Taiwanese people should brag more. None of this Confucian modesty nonsense.
I think lack of identity hurts Taiwan, which is weird for a largely homogeneous population. It’s hard to develop a cool cultural identity when it’s so divided
Doesn’t the following mean that Gogoro has now become just another contract manufacturer, this time for Yamaha?
They always have said they were open to other scooter vendors or other companies using the gogoro power network.
Personally I think it’s good to have a choice. Did they manufacture it for Yamaha too?
Per the article,
Yamaha said the scooter, dubbed the EC-05, was developed and will be manufactured by Gogoro but was “styled by Yamaha Japan”…
If you look around Taiwan, do you see Gogoro brand scooters?
Gogoro brand scooters are already common in Taiwan .
The pasture is always greener on the outside mentality is escapism.
When will humans live with reality?
Right, so that’s one country out of ~40. A bit misleading to lump all of west together as having a problem with student debt…
Our daughter is in university in Canada. Believe me, it is far from free. 
More on topic, being in love with Taiwan is like coveting the Porsche your neighbor never drives and never washes.
You love it. Your heart breaks as it sits there, rusting away, covered in bird shit and dog piss, the owner averting their eyes whenever they walk by it
Taiwan is an amazing place. I don’t understand the meh attitude, personally.
Does Australia count?
Or New Zealand?
The UK situation is complicated:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-tuition-fees-changes/
(Note that tuition is free in Scotland)
Taiwan needs to get it’s mojo back . Thats why many people think it’s ‘meh’.
Losing it’s mojo is not all due to China either. They need to be braver make bigger poicy decisions around immigration education , tax, business , environment …
If you look in Taiwan’s history they had some major policies that at the time were very radical.
Land redistribution, export free trade zones being two.
Good place but if they want to stand out they have to shake things up a bit . Gay marriage law was an impressive step though .