A Guide to Taiwan for Foreigners III

Excess of Work

This is a land of miracle based on magnificent feats of hard working. Its economy became a powerhouse in Southeast Asia in the 1990’s, the abundance of ‘Made In Taiwan’ goods gradually put the small island on the map. But the economic boom of the 80’s and 90’s did not come by chance, with no natural resources, the people worked with good old-fashioned hard work and long hours. As a kid, I seldom see my dad at home. He would have left for work before I get up in the morning, and arrive home after I’ve long lost in dreams. A 12 hour working day is a norm here. While I was there, my aunt who is a sales/market manager at a software firm, worked 14 hours almost everyday, 6 days a week, not including the constant ringing of her phone with clients on the other end of the line. When my 15 year-old cousin did her Highschool Entry exam (for High achiever classes), the amount of study materials piled up to two 160-cm high lots, each as tall as she was. My aunt has a pic of it. A typical child studying in secondary schools would leave by 7AM for school, and come home around 9PM after after-school tuition. For the medicine-aspired girl, she would have to obtain top grades in her bursary exam in all the 15 or so subjects comprised of both humanties and science topics. Not including all the other activities she’s meant to have on her CV, preferably with publications. Who the hell expect Highschool kids to have publications?

Excess of Services

Another excess was the services provided. In restaurants, there are waiter/waitresses that serve you as if they are your slaves. The cup would never go half-empty for longer than 5 minutes. They respond to your ever call within seconds. We went to a steak house famous for their services; from the door opening, to pulling chairs (even for men), you were treated like a prince. When my steak came, the waitress offered to cut mine up for me! The desert was served with the standard introduction as well as suggestions on how you would go about eating it. The exuberance is shown ultimately in the luxuries of department stores. The malls in Australia are grand in size, but in terms of variety, choices, brands, there is no match to a department store.

The concentration of brands, variety of goods, and the sheer scale of it makes you wonder how we manage to save on average much much more than Western countries. The shop assistances are almost aggressive in terms of service though. Soon as you step in the vicinity, the amount of attention paid to you, they might as well be your personal fashion advisor. Sorry, I am just a poor student taking a look, probably won't end up buying anything.

I don’t normally like shopping, but I do have a soft spot for bookshops. Large bookstores can be found to operate 24/7. The one I went to had several floors of display dedicated to stationary alone. There were gadgets you'd never even dreamed of needing but once you know that it exists, you can't go without. We've come a long way since the days of brushes and ink bottles. We went to one of the bookshop one night at 10PM and didn't get out until 2AM. I totally lost track of time. But that was a common occurrence, and never fear, cause supper was just around the corner, with freshly made soymilk (you have never tasted soymilk until you've had it from TW, the stuff here are just...disgraceful) and dumplings fresh off the frying pan. And the thing is, at 2AM, the place is packed.

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