recently the movie theaters in taiwan have insisted that no food be brought in from outside.and the TW public is angry over what in western countries (at least in the US) is a given.
movie theaters make MOST of their money from concessions. ticket prices by and large pay for the right to show the movie (the lease on the film roll). so it's natural that movie theaters would want you to buy their concessions.
but something bigger is happnening in taiwan, that is, the clash when class meets culture, or in this case when class meets the lack of it.
taiwanese always want things their way, be it letting their child piss on the road because they didn't want to walk 20 more steps to the restroom,or blocking traffic by running a tent party on a public street. and it's all ok, because it's the "taiwanese way". but what's worse is when taiwanese think they've gotten western culture down pat.
being a musician , i have run into the taiwanese "we know so don't tell us how" complex. the taiwanese capacity for "standard knowledge" without specific application is mind boggling. most of the people running sound systems don't know what they're doing, and are operating by second hand "everybody does it this way" information.
and if you try to point this out to them, they will brand you a "prima donna" or know it all, when actually THEY are the ones being obtuse.
i have come to the conclusion that in music at least, there are two ways to do things, the right way and the taiwanese way, and the latter is almost ALWAYS wrong.
taiwanese are like the spoiled children of a western culture. they think they know what class is but it eludes them.
i hope the movie theaters dont back down. I for one don't want to smell "stinky tofu" next to me while i'm watching Madagascar 4 or whatever.
this is one time when "power to people" has to take a back seat, because unfortunately, "the people" need to be taught what class is.
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stop whining man
ReplyDeleteif u had these much complains about taiwan just back to where u were then
yeah i might be a typial taiwanese just like u've mentioned, but this is our culture and our way of living. we dun need an alien to correct us and teach us wat is right wat is wrong... got it? we provide u a job so pls shot the fuck up
don't you know that your "culture" is what's keeping you back as a people? i CARE, that's why i say what i say.
ReplyDeleteMa dzu, tai keism, all this stuff is a HOLDING YOU DOWN.
and if we leave, should we also take ELECTRICITY, HOSPITALS,DENTIST, BLUE JEANS, all the western things you need and enjoy? just leave you back in the rice field with with your teeth rotting from betel nut? your women flat breasted from lack of protein in their diet? and a horse buggy for your transportation?
EVERY improvement in taiwanese life has been from the WEST. not from your "culture".
why don't you stop kicking and screaming and step into the 21st century with the rest of us. we WELCOME you to be a part of us.
first of all, i'd like to apologize for my impulsive behaviour, it really pissed me off when i saw your posting.
ReplyDeletewell, please dont get me wrong.
i didn't have any contempt toward western culture.
As a Taiwanese i admit that we have had significant influence from western countries and all of these keep us going forward.
But the thing was your attitude, please watch your language. you were just kind of ruining the respect and reputation of your country. did your teacher teach you what RESPECT is? all the things you have written on blog didnt show any CARES.
you were more about criticising and whining rather than CARE. please think!
i understand how you feel. and i empathize with the taiwanese people because on the international scene they've been treated badly.
ReplyDeletethere are many beautiful things about your people. and i'm sorry if i say things too strongly. this site is a little more "edgy" than most. it's different form other foriegn perspective taiwan sites.
what i want to emphasize is the NEED to bring order to our society here in taiwan. there is nothing wrong with being "tai ke". but there IS something wrong with disorder.
for instance,let's say if you can let your kids piss on the park grass, can i bring my children to piss on YOUR grass at your house? do my children not have the right to play on grass that has NOT BEEN PISSED ON? does "culture" really apply here?
and playing taiwan songs as loud as possible: can i play american rock music as loud as possible? of course not. you have the RIGHT not to listen to my radio, do i not have the right NOT to hear your radio?
the problem is a lot of DISORDER is being called "culture". people are using culture as an excuse not to improve.
thanks for coming. welcome you here anytime.^^
I love how you respond to shock and criticism, Randy. I should have dealt with things on my blog in a similar way when I was frequently writing incendiary things a long time back.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I just want to point - it's really ironic that so many Taipeiers are getting up-in-arms about not being allowed to bring their outside food into movie theatres, but then they never complain, and in fact look down on foreigners who try to complain at say, a Carrefour, or a supermarket, or even a restaurant simply not stocking up on things they PRESUME people won't buy. Purchasing managers and store-owners here have a top-down approach to their customers; they dictate what they think their customers want instead of listening to their customer and what the customers say they want - local or foreign or whatever. It's astounding how harmful this type of attitude is towards the economy. Customers here are slow-walking sheep without anything or anyone to help them develop.
i've noticed how hard it is to get things here. in fact, my friend runs a music store, and is getting demands for a particular amp from customers. he CAN'T GET IT because the "dai li sang" ( distributor) just won't get it for him. they've decided what the public will buy. same with the record industry and everything else here. like you said- top down.
ReplyDeletePreventing one from bringing food into a theater is bullshit *anywhere* in order to force purchases of concessions is bullshit. Forced artificial scarcity (aka FARTS) at it's worst. You know how you make money off of concessions? You pay attention to the principles of markets and find the natural equilibrium. i.e. lower the damn prices.
ReplyDeletei hate stinky tofu. the movie theater sells foods which it knows won't stink up the place.
ReplyDeleteyou want stinky tofu, go to the nightmarket.
tai-ke ism needs to be controlled so we can all have a classy nite out.