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logician
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 70
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 Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 2:59 pm Post subject: Chinese names, chops, scooters |
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I had recently thought that I would need a chop with a Chinese name, or at least a Chinese name on my ARC, to register a scooter.
This put me under a bit of pressure, as my name is hard to transliterate and I really didn't want to get a chop with a silly, partial transliteration.
Currently my ARC has no Chinese name.
Apparently I don't need to get a Chinese name if I can get the scooter seller to go with me to the Motor Vehicle Institute in order to sign over the scooter using our English names.
Does anyone have experience with this?
For that matter, does anyone know where the Motor Vehicle Institute is in Taichung?
Thanks. |
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TaoyuanSteve
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 1028
Location: Taoyuan
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Are you sure your name hasn't been transliterated on your ARC? It has been on mine and that's the name I had put on the name chops I use for such things as you mention. It is possible to get things done with signatures, but it's a bit more of a hassle. People will ask for your chop first. I bought my car off a foreigner who simply used a signature for his end of the transaction. So, Taiwanese will accept signatures, however grudgingly. |
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Aristotle
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1388
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 4:09 am Post subject: |
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The law does not require that you have a Chinese name or a chop. This is a condition added by the incompetent, racist official doing the paperwork because they can not read English.
Fax a letter of complaint to the head office in Taipei stating specific names addresses and times of the problem. You may also want to fax the same letter to the local mayors office and your national representitive office on Taiwan. |
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matchstick_man
Joined: 21 May 2003
Posts: 244
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 4:22 am Post subject: |
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My first scooter purchase was done with chops using English names. The original owner didn't have a chop so the scooter shop got one made for her and also made one for me.
I had a Chinese name of my ARC. It was a transliteration of my family name. |
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TaoyuanSteve
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 1028
Location: Taoyuan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 4:34 am Post subject: |
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| Aristotle wrote: |
The law does not require that you have a Chinese name or a chop. This is a condition added by the incompetent, racist official doing the paperwork because they can not read English.
Fax a letter of complaint to the head office in Taipei stating specific names addresses and times of the problem. You may also want to fax the same letter to the local mayors office and your national representitive office on Taiwan. |
Incompetent and racist is simply name calling. Name chops are used in this society and the practice has been part of the culture for millenia. It is just how things are done here and is not a negative reflection on the people here at all. It certainly does not denote "racist or incompetent." In a bad mood recently A.? I don't care if the official can read English or not, though it's been my experience that they almost always can. How well do foreigners read Chinese? Where are we living again?
Look, if you don't have a name chop, you can get by without one. People here have made that allowance for foreign residents. I think it's worthwhile having one, though. I do, partly out of convenience and consideration for where I am living-- and partly because I don't demand special treatment from anyone just because I'm a westerner. And having a name chop is a cool souvenir you can keep when your time here is done. Heck, I have one made in jade. That some westerners demand special treatment is getting closer to the true meaning of "racist and incompetent." |
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junkmail
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 377
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| Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
The law does not require that you have a Chinese name or a chop. This is a condition added by the incompetent, racist official doing the paperwork because they can not read English.
Fax a letter of complaint to the head office in Taipei stating specific names addresses and times of the problem. You may also want to fax the same letter to the local mayors office and your national representitive office on Taiwan. |
Would a government official in America be expected to be able to read Chinese?
Could a Chinese write their name in Hanja on a form in any of our countries?
I don't know for sure about all countries but I doubt it.
Koreans and Chinese even have to have their names badly transliterated into English on their national passports. Your in their country, if your allowed to use English be grateful, if not don't complain. It's not racist, they just like the idea of being able to use their language in their own country. |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Aristotle wrote: |
| The law does not require that you have a Chinese name or a chop. |
Which law are you referring to?
| Aristotle wrote: |
| This is a condition added by the incompetent, racist official doing the paperwork because they can not read English. |
I agree with the majority on this. There is nothing racist about a requirement to 'fill in the boxes' correctly, in as much as doing things the way that locals do them.
I assume that you are calling the process racist as you see it as somehow discriminating against foreigners, but isn't it actually quite the opposite? The authorities are finally treating foreigners the same as locals and saying 'Look. Locals need a chop for this purpose and so do you if you want us to process the paperwork.' Isn't this what you have been crying about for so long Aristotle - inequity!
| Aristotle wrote: |
| Fax a letter of complaint to the head office in Taipei stating specific names addresses and times of the problem. You may also want to fax the same letter to the local mayors office and your national representitive office on Taiwan. |
More cut and paste advice from Aristotle. If you were really serious about the person doing this then you could have taken the time to actually find and provide the fax number of the relevant people. Afterall, I think we all know that this won't get done unless you provide this info.
What would it achieve anyway? I think that doing this would be nothing more than a waste of a phone call, as there is nothing really to complain about. Let's save our complaints for something worthwhile otherwise foreigners will be seen as just a bunch of whingers.
To the original poster. I don't know whether it is a legal requirement to have a Chinese chop or not, but I am sure that it will help. In most cases, if you buy a vehicle through a dealer, the dealer will arrange a chop be made in the name that matches your ID - English or Chinese. These are pretty cheap chops and I don't even knowif the dealer actually charges for this or just throws it in. I think it's done for free as part of the service. |
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logician
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 70
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| Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:03 pm Post subject: |
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| matchstick_man wrote: |
My first scooter purchase was done with chops using English names. The original owner didn't have a chop so the scooter shop got one made for her and also made one for me.
I had a Chinese name of my ARC. It was a transliteration of my family name. |
I spoke to the police. They said they would permit Chinese names of three characters -- four is the absolute maximum for locals, but they prefer that foreigners stick to three, not four.
(Side question: has anyone else managed to register a Chinese name of more than four characters?)
I determined that it would take seven characters to accurately transliterate my name. Sigh. So I'm going to just make one up with no particular attempt to transliterate, because I want all or nothing.
Everyone I know thinks that a name isn't important, but I'm just very quirky and finicky about certain things and my name is one of them, even if I don't use it every day. Call me eccentric.
On the up side, I am interested in the artistic freedom afforded by having three and only three characters which can be anything in Chinese. I may decide that I really like my Chinese name if I manage to choose one that resonates. And if I get it wrong the first time, the police are happy to let me change it as many times as it takes to get it right.
I'm seriously considering naming myself "Luojixue," which means "logic considered as a field of study." I'm going to ask a native speaker for advice: possibly he can tell me how to name myself the Chinese equivalent of "Logician."
I also appreciate the points made by the folks who said that the Chinese have done business this way for a long time. I do respect tradition, and I do feel Taiwan is a very permissive country in most respects, so I can put forth a bit of an effort to bend with the flow on the rare occasions that it is necessary. |
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matchstick_man
Joined: 21 May 2003
Posts: 244
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:00 am Post subject: |
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A scooter shop took care of my original chop. Most Chinese full names are three characters. My chops in Chinese are a transliteration of my abbreviated first name which I go by anyway.
The chops aren't really logical as a lot of people here of the same name. It's no wonder forgery is rife. |
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