The Foreign Effect – A look into the criminal mind

Lets face it, Foreigners are criminals in Taiwan. Weather you have actually committed a crime or not. Being a foreigner is one of the most heinous reprehensible actions you can commit to some people. Last night as a friend and I were talking in the car a woman walked by our vehicle. Just to give you a little background, we were two foreign males and the building is a high-end secure building (where my friend happens to live) with a security guard inside and rfid entry badges. We were parked in a vehicle just outside the entrance as I was dropping him off. The female Taiwanese had a laptop in one hand, and a bag in her other. As she approached a look of fear entered her face (not too uncommon unfortunately) and she skirted as close to the building as possible. She fumbled with her keys so quickly and in such distress that her hair dongle (yeah I’m not a girl, but the rubbery thing that wraps around a girls hair to secure it) fell out. She didn’t even bother to pick it up and ran in the building, too bad she didn’t leave the laptop also I guess. If we could only apply the Vietnamese custom of taking a bride from the home of her family and running away while dropping large amounts of cash behind you until you escape, and replace the bride taking with keeping the foreigner away then this would really work in my benefit.

Typically I find that if a foreign male is on the street, and there is nobody else in sight, a Taiwanese female will walk to the other side of the road to avoid walking by them. I have had couples, elderly men and women and even teenagers avoid walking by me by turning completely around, walking 1-2 blocks out of their way to avoid me, or upon realizing there is no good alternative simply getting as far away as they can. I have been patted down for a gun search in Taiwan before (and no not by police, but by a business-security before entry into their business), had public doors closed in my face (while they were still serving Taiwanese) and a multitude of not so cool accusations placed on me for no apparent reason. Now lets get down to character, I am (99% of the time) clean shaven, well groomed and dressed in name-brand clothing or a suit. I don’t drink, hold corporate positions  around the director level and am not generally considered to look ugly or like a gangster. And most importantly I am not black (as black people here have an even harder time with this).  Now the question I have is, where is all of this history of abusive foreigners? What is the per-capita ratio of foreigner rapes in Taiwan? What is the % of foreigners arrested of violent crimes (in which they were the propagator)? Why, when there is new graffiti in the area, does rumor spread that it was a group of  ‘foreign kids’?

Since I have already spent 2 paragraphs on my opinion, I mine as well tell you my theory in work. In this male dominant prejudice society that changes their history at the flip of a whim, a significant amount of know-how or learning comes from opinion based prejudices forced on others fueled by the jealousy of others and their desire to control. For example, the abusive pimp tells his ho, foreigners have a big penis and will hurt you, make sure you charge them extra or just ignore them. Or as another example, the over-domineering boyfriend tells his girlfriend, who admits she likes Brad Pitt, that all foreigners have AIDS. Whats worse is that Taiwan has this unique ability to hire people from abroad to ‘teach English’ without asking for any credentials, thus luring the trailer trash scum of other societies who cant get a job at home to come to Taiwan to teach. These dead-beats of society help reinforce some of these images in the minds of people. I am not saying all teachers are bad, but I am saying that the worst foreigners I have met are teachers here leeching off of this society.

Taiwanese seem to have 6 major prejudices depending on where they think you came from

• 1) Japanese. Basically if they think your from Japan, other than thinking your rich, they worship your feet and try to imitate your dress and look.
• 2) American. Basically if you look white at all, you are American. Continue reading my blog for the many prejudices here.
• 3) Dirt. Basically if you come from any south-east Asian country (like Philippines, Vietnam etc.) you are dirt, and should be their slave.
• 4) Chinese. Yeah well, basically they only way they will care is if they hear your accent. Either they will make a bad comment on it or befriend you.
• 5) Indian. Well, yeah you stink, cant talk in any way they want to understand, and other than that you are dirt.
• 6) Black. Either your from America or Africa. Either way they want you to keep your enormous penis and AIDS to yourself. Beyond being treated like an American there is a general disgust with your presence even on the business level.