Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Safarigal]

Well...first of all, what you guys will read next is what I've observed in my sixth years that I've been in Taiwan. I would like you guys tell me what you think about. Don't kill me after you read it. *grin* Ahh...and sorry for what I wrote here is too long. So, be patient to read it. Merci !
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The Bill of Human Rights is one of the most important things which has been enacted by the United Nations in 1964 mainly to protect human welfare.

In 1999, researchers proved that Taiwan has one of the world's least human rights cases, it is because there were only few cases which has been reported to the police stations.

In 2000, through the human rights volunteers and associations, it has been reported that Taiwan has a lot of withheld cases. The most primary cases are those of the foreign workers from other Asian countries. Nationals from Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia, and Macau who are domestic helpers and factory workers.

Here are some of the cases that these nationals had encountered:

1. Working Straight for Eight Hours. They are working eight hours without break time. Only few factories which allow them to have at least 20 minutes break time. The working time is either from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon or from 6 in the evening to 2 in the morning. If you would be asked to sit for eight hours on the chair, would you feel good? What more if you are going to work for eight hours? Even robots and machines cannot cope with such locomotion, else they might overheat and burn out.

2. Fraudulence in Brokerage. Their documents to work in a certain company were already settled since they signed the contract in their brokers' offices in their own countries. But before that happen, these sharks ask them first to pay a replacement of at least 150,000-200,000 (country�s currency) per head. For the factory workers, aside from the replacement fee their salary is deducted to at least 5,000 NT every month for the brokers. They are also inclined to pay at least 2,500 NT for their dormitory every month, 50 NT for the janitorial services every month and 500 NT for the water and electricity expenses which is also every month. With the promise of a working permit and health insurance. The average salary they receive every month after these deductions is 8,000 NT. In the domestic helpers case, theirs is around 13,000 NT but they are also subject to brokers' deductions, lodging expenses, meal expenses and even transportation expenses.

3.Employers' Assaults. In the factory workers' cases, they paid for their food, but their food is the same everyday. Oily, deep fried fish, fried vegetables and plain rice. Sometimes they eat meat too, either fried chicken or pork chops. If you are going to eat the same meals everyday, what would you feel? What more if you are eating the same kind of meal everyday until your contract finishes? Not only that, they paid for janitorial services, which in my opinion should be used by the coordinators to clean the dormitory through janitorial service agencies, but what they did was, they made schedules for the occupants to clean their respective rooms and even the bathrooms. Where does this service fee go? To the corrupted assholes. No wonder, dormitory administrators, even coordinators are not being respected because of what they are doing.

There are only few Taiwanese families who treat their maids as they should properly be treated, but most of them are assholes. There's a case of a Filipino caregiver in Taichung City. She's taking care of an old man while cleaning the five-storey house at the same time. It has been known that every Saturday and Sunday, foreigner workers are allowed to go out at least for a day or two. That time she was one of the crowd who confessed on how her employer treated her. She was giving a bath to her patient, when he forced her to perform a sexual act on her. She said that it happened not only once but a couple of times already. And sometimes when she's cleaning the house he would just suddenly show her his genitals and would ask her to have sex with him. She told the patient's children. They didn�t believe her at the first time because they said it's just her imagination, so she let them watch her bath her patient. They found out that it's true. After she received her salary, she told her broker to give her a nicer employer, which would not take advantage of her femininity.

There are some domestic helpers who were sent to sleep in the garage or with their employers' pets. Eating late hours. Waking up around 4 in the morning and sleeping at 1 or 2 the next day. Sometimes domestic helpers aren�t just domestic helpers, they have two-job classification after they signed their contracts. Although they only signed as a domestic helper, their employers violate the contract, thus, letting the domestic helpers as nannies too. Sometimes, the kids that they are taking care is not just one, but four or five. Just imagine, would you able to clean the house or cook dinner if you have five kids to attend to?

Foreign workers signed contracts in both English and Chinese, but the translation of the contracts in Chinese are far more different from the English Version. Since the foreign workers cannot speak, neither read Chinese, they took the advantage of their ignorance. There were some workers who were asking on what does the Chinese version stated, but they just couldn't be bothered to explain, they just shrug their shoulders and said, it's just the same. Sometimes they just repeat what the English version stated or at least explain the English version but not the Chinese one.

In March 2001, a graduate of the National Taiwan University, Department of Economics, College of Law in June 1972 was put in prison in Tu Cheng Prison without any valid reason neither due process of law. He was handcuffed and was hung up. Afterwards they spread ammonia on his face. They beat him and put a log in his mouth. Right now, he's roaming around, looking for some human rights advocates to help him fight against the inhumane behaviour of the prosecutors and policemen in Taiwan.

There are only few Taiwanese teachers who are allowed to teach in the classroom because of the influx of foreign teachers. The government are so fond of hiring blonde, blue-eyed, white people because they believe that they are the most beautiful creatures in the world. I don�t hate Caucasians. My point is why would the government allow foreigners to teach in their country without undergoing thorough selection process. There are only few foreigners who are teaching in Taiwan with the bachelor's degree and qualifications. But most of them don�t even reach college or complete high school. Nationalities don�t matter at all for western nationals but for Asians, it does. If the schools are going to choose teachers who are suppose to teach, they choose the typical foreigner, but what about the black Americans, black Canadians and the like? They were also counted as a third-class citizen. They even treat them worse than Asians. And what about the Taiwanese teachers who even struggled to attain a Philosopher's degrees? They were Assistant Teachers to a non-university graduate foreigner. Funny, but that's how stupidity says.

This case exists in almost all Asian countries, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, etc. Except Philippines. Philippines doesn�t accept foreigners to teach unless he or she is very much qualify to have the job. When we say very much qualified, it means he should have at least a Masters or PhD in education, and the diploma and all the certificates he has should be authentic and original.
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Volver a empezar...

[peckaboo]

Pheeewww, it took me time to read about your research! Couldn't you write less? Haha.
I don't know that much of those three points that you wrote above. But one things is for sure, there are many foreigners who come to Taiwan to teach. They all say they hold BA or MA's degree, but in reality they don't have it. Who can prove their words? Since they can fake or buy diplomas from the internet.
Why there are "bushiban or cram schools" like more blue-eyed? As what you said before, plus taiwanese people are used to see blue-eyed from the big screen, they think students will pay more atention rather than black people.
Taiwanese goverment ought to be more severe, when there are foreigners coming to teach and not let them to teach craps here.

[blackguy-n-Asia]

You are so right. This is a sad case, and from what I've been reading on the net....Taiwan is probably one of the worst places for eating up only blondes and shunning other asians and black people. Its an industry. Money is what matters, and as long as there is a market for it, as long as asian moms and dads send their kids to 'Causcasian teachers only please' schools....its not going to change.

I don't mean to sound rude ..but what does this say about self worth, if native Taiwanese can't teach english in Taiwan if they are qualified?
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I'm an African-Canadian living in the West
Soon to Travel to Asia and Russia.