The past 6 weeks had been my holiday term at uni, the last long holiday I will have as a medical student. So while my colleagues slaved away in their respective rotations playing doctors, I went home for a month. Where is home? When I tell people that I am going home, I typically have to explain which one I meant by it. I went to NZ for a couple of days, then off to Taiwan for 2 weeks where my dad and most relatives are. The point of this post is actually, my observations of Taiwan. It may be strange for a person to 'observe' his own homeland. A land that I was born in, lived for 13 years, and left without much thought of the place. I did of course have many attachments, but as a child dealing with constant departures of loved ones, I quickly learned to deal with those emotions. Since then, home to me had been the century-old Victorian villa in Auckland until recent. This trip gave me a new perspective of Taiwan. Somehow being away for so long gave me a somewhat neutral disposition from which I observed, things I never really saw or thought about before.
Republic of China (Taiwan) circled in red. Short of putting glitter around it, it was hard for the world to pay attention to this tiny island half the size of Tasmania. Until about 19'70s and 80's most maps do not have the detail to include Taiwan. But then it became an economic powerhouse, goods and electronics 'Made In Taiwan' eventually put it on the map.
The confusion
To begin, we should address the elephant in the room, it's not part of China (...let me finish). In the sense that Taiwan has its own Government, Parliament (for entertainment really), Military, Constitution, Laws, naively funded Health Care System (with both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine)...etc. Despite the same cultural lineage and similar ethnic background (Hans is the majority in the population, and indigenous minorities who share the same ancestry as Maoris and other Polynesians) as Mainland China, the last century of political turmoil, WWII, and civil war has driven the two sides substantially further away from each other than the narrow Taiwanese Straight ever could. Heavily influenced by the surrounding countries and Globalisation (especially Americanisation), the Island had transformed into a cultural chimera with an identity very different from the Mainland. The Taiwanese people today resemble so very little of Chinese people from the Mainland. In fact, the distinction is so great that Taiwan has become one of the most popular travelling destinations for Chinese (I will explain that point in later paragraph). On the one hand, the country wants to celebrate its achievements in politics, economics, and cultures independent of China; but on the other, it cannot separate itself from the ancestral ties which governs the Chinese values that fundamentally affects every Taiwanese. It's like a teenager, eager to declare his independence, but not quite ready to leave home. To better understand the issue of sovereignty I included a short history paragraph at the end, one could argue that ROC is the rightful ruler of China...but let’s avoid the politics for now.
This is a land of excess and passing fads. The standard attitude is: you like this? Great, let me get you 10o’s of these until you’ve had so many that you absolutely loath it, then let’s move on the next hip thing. It’s like that new hit song on the radio played over and over, day in and day out. The people are very hospitable, often too hospitable that they forget there’s a limit to how much goodness one can take. This way of living is shown in every aspects of life: food and wine; work and play.
Read on...
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