Job Discussion Forums

[killian]

how bad must SARS be before you pack up? i can see no sane reason to sit around. things only seem to be getting worse. just cause camus had his plague doesn't mean we gotta sit through this.

[Okami]

If they close the schools for a long period of time(2+ months) then I'll leave. Otherwise I'll sit it out.

I think the gov't has handled this with the usual trademark Chinese incompetence(for those of you screaming racist, please read "Officialdom Unmasked"). We're in this SARS thing for the long haul and I don't see this as a disease I might get, but when will I get it.

I would feel more confident in Western medical care, but I'll make do. This will pass. I'm already hearing stupid things like Caucasians aren't as susceptible to SARS as Asians. I'm sure I'll here a lot more.

The irony is people are staying home to not get SARS from the people who should stay home to not infect others. I like how Mainland is threatening to kill or imprison for life anybody purposely breaking their quarantine.

CYA
Okami

[TheyCallMeTrinity]

[quote="Okami"]If they close the schools for a long period of time(2+ months) then I'll leave. Otherwise I'll sit it out.

I said the same thing. Now I've made up my mind and I'm outta here no later than July. If the government can't handle this situation how can they handle bigger (I shudder to think) crisis'?

I think the gov't has handled this with the usual trademark Chinese incompetence(for those of you screaming racist, please read "Officialdom Unmasked"). We're in this SARS thing for the long haul and I don't see this as a disease I might get, but when will I get it.


That's the most NON-RACIST statement you could make. It's dead on. A spade is a spade here and by refusing to voice our opinions on a thoroughly corrupt government we pay taxes to (well, I'm legal - so I can speak for me, not you: no offense). You can take the Chinese out of China but you can't take the Chinese out of Taiwan - if you know what I mean. What I say, and how I read what you write are indictments directed at the culture and not the race: BIG difference.


I would feel more confident in Western medical care, but I'll make do. This will pass. I'm already hearing stupid things like Caucasians aren't as susceptible to SARS as Asians. I'm sure I'll here a lot more.

I too feel more confident in the competent, professional, generally compassionate WESTERN medical care. Like you I figure we all will get this virus at one time or another and I'd rather go back to my country - which has a small infection rate and a zero-percent death rate - if that's the case; or at least to acoutry that offers competent healthcare and a less idiotic government.

Here's the latest, disturbing Chinese/Taiwanese spin on SARS: it came from America. I had four students who insist on this point but can't back it up with facts for me to look at. They simply say "I read it on the web." I'm honest when I tell folks I can't abck up my belief that SARS is a result of botched Chinese biological weapons experiments - but I do believe it. I do leave the door open for any logicalguess, provided it can be proven. Even with my theory, I do not promote it as fact. At least I'm human enough to admit it's a simple guess and not proven fact. The point is that they have no proof but in typical local fashion believe what they read and need no proof and still state unverified conjecure as fact and do not present it as a belief the ycan't substantiate but do see validity to. Unfortunately it's not due to their lack of linguistic skills, as it would be easier to blow off.




The irony is people are staying home to not get SARS from the people who should stay home to not infect others. I like how Mainland is threatening to kill or imprison for life anybody purposely breaking their quarantine.


Its not so ironic when you take into consideration how the locals drive outside of Taipei. When one considers that over 2,900 children die in vehicular homicide on the island a year (according to the DOH): all of them "accidents", nd how almost no one seems to care about the overall public welfare/sanitary conditions and accept responsibility for their actions - it isn't so ironic when you see how people hoarde masks and "medical professionals" claim about their "human rights" on TV when their patients lie sick and dying in the hospital. It's not ironic when people find it more admirable when you can use the "back door" to any rule than to go through the offical way of doing things (admitedly more difficult). Lest we forget, they have an Adolf Hitler look-alike (draw the moustache on chen Shui-bian and you'll see the stunning resemblence, complete with hair stle) who won his ENTIRE campain on a forum of inciting ethnic hatred by pitting the hokklo majority against perceived "waishenren." Rather than take precautions before anything could happen he stood around bragging and pointingfingers at China. I see no irony. Maybe my mask is fogging my glasses...

Welcome to Plague Island! Nothing's ironic - it's all simply sad and tragic.

Teacher #3 leaving his school because of the country's inability to control sars,

Trinity

[Egas]

Taiwan is going through the same phase as Hong Kong and Beijing went through. It's called the panic phase. It's the phase where otherwise sane people become hysterical and begin screaming "apocalypse." No, not everyone will get the virus. Look at ther facts. In every other place where SARS has taken hold it has plateaued after a month or so. Numbers begin to fall after this. Why should Taiwan be any different? Get a grip. The hysteria in each country which has had SARS can be largely attributed to the media feeding frenzy. When 200 people die in a month in China, the media goes berserk. When more than 200 000 people die each month in the world from malaria, not a headline to speak of or a tv camera is there to catch the action.

And if you guys are so keen on western medicine you might like to know that 35 000 people die each year in the USA from pneumonia. But that's just life you might say. Consider then, that 100 000 (yes, one hundred thousand) people die in the US health system each year from medical mistakes, including misdiagnosis, doctor incompetence, being given the wrong medicine etc. Hope you are not feeling ill when you get back.

We in the west are so sure of our superiority to other races. We are nothing but hypocrites and ignoramuses. We are not so different from the rest of the world. It's just we can see the mythologies of distant lands more easily than we can our own. We see delusion in the other before we will look at ourselves in the mirror and acknowledge our own

So if you are from the States, stay in Taiwan. A few hundred mostly old and sick people will die from SARS this year in Taiwan. Back in the good old USA over 10 000 people will be murdered this year. But I guess at least you can pack a gun legally in the states. That should make you feel safe.

Personally, I'm hanging around here in Beijing. The weather is nice and while the bugs can be nasty, at least there are no terrorists trying to blow me up. Have a nice day!

[wix]

[chi-chi]

I think I'm out as soon as I can save up the money/get a job in Japan.
As far as the guy staying in Beijing, no you can't always avoid trouble, but it will only follow you if you go to it. Stay safe and be careful.
I'm not too thrilled about being here right now with this going on, but it took a huge time and money investment to get here and I at least would like to get back on my feet again before I leave.
I came from Korea and it probably would not be good to go back right now, as they have troubles of their own for the time being.
As far as the Middle East, we all know what happened yesterday....
Is nowhere safe anymore? Laugh, whatever. But things have been crazy lately....
Chi-Chi

[Egas]

chi-chi,

You are mistaken. Things have not been crazy lately. People have been crazy lately. Your chances of dying from SARS are infintesimally small. You may get it and die, but you will probably die in a scooter accident or from another form of pneumonia first. You are mortal. You are vulnerable. You are going to die one day. Nothing has changed much. It's just that your focus has changed, along with the media and the national psyche.

I can bet that if you spend eight hours a day pondering work place accident statistics, pouring over figures, listening to victims' families stories of heartbreak and despair, that you will become very scared very quickly. The reality is that hundreds of times more people die in work place accidents in Taiwan than are currently dying from SARS. Or ever will die from SARS. But you are not focussed upon that figure. The SARS issue is 99% about human perception, 1% about the virus. Understand that and you will be spared the trauma that most people are putting themselves through.

[EOD]

It's not that bad.
The epidemic is on the rise still. Keep an eye on the numbers. The fact is there may be no place safe until a treatment or vaccine is available. Taiwan and China may be one of the safer areas because they have experience in dealing with this particular pathogen and be more alert to its presence in the future. As for all the schools being closed and no pay, take a vacation. Of course that may be difficult if you have to spend two weeks in quarantine.