This past Sunday, a tragic event occurred in which an Indonesian caregiver named Panti fell from an 11 storey building in Taichung to her death, in an attempted escape from her employer. She apparently accidentally slipped to her death. Along with her body were found a bag of her possessions. She tried to escape many times previously, but was forced to stay with her employer. The security guard at the apartment building was told to block her if she attempted to escape.
Does this sound like a woman with basic human freedoms? 上個星期天，發生了一起悲慘事件，一名印尼護理人員叫Panti從台中一座11層高的樓房中墜落，並企圖逃離雇主。 她顯然意外地滑倒死亡。 隨著她的身體被發現一袋她的個人物品。 她曾多次試圖逃離，但被迫留在雇主手中。 如果她試圖逃跑的話，公寓裡的保安人員被告知要封鎖她。 這聽起來像一個擁有基本人權的女人嗎？ Below I will give an overview of the current situation of migrant workers in Taiwan, as well as examples from personal stories of the migrant workers themselves, as well as solutions to the problem. 下面我將概述台灣外籍勞工的現狀，以及他們個人故事, 例子以及解決方法。 Basic Facts about Migrant Workers in Taiwan: 台灣外籍勞動基本情況： 
As fellow foreigners in Taiwan, we care about other foreigners in Taiwan, no matter what country they are from. This is by no means a comprehensive blog, but only written to raise awareness on this issue. There are countless personal stories from over 600,000 migrant workers in Taiwan and statistics that should be shared. Unfortunately, many of these workers do not have a voice or even basic human rights in Taiwan. We want to give them a voice and hope these people are not forgotten. 作為台灣的外國人，我們關心台灣的其他外國人，不管他們來自哪個國家。 這絕不是一個全面的部落格，而只是為了提高對這個問題的認識。 我們應該分享台灣六十多萬外籍勞動的無數個人故事。 不幸的是，這些工人中很多人在台灣沒有發言權甚至沒有基本人權。 我們想給他們一個聲音，希望這些人不會被遺忘。 Discrimination against Southeast Asian Foreigners ： 對東南亞外國人的歧視： Many Taiwanese see Southeast Asians as desirable workers but not desirable citizens. This is due to discrimination based on the low socioeconomic status of Southeast Asian countries. Taiwanese people give higher status to countries with stronger economies. Taiwanese value Korea, Japan, Singapore and mimic their culture, while on the other hand they look down on poorer countries. 許多台灣人認為東南亞人是理想的工人，而不是令人滿意的公民。這是基於東南亞國家低社會經濟地位的歧視。台灣人民對把經濟較強的國家的地位視為更高。台灣人重視韓國，日本，新加坡，和模仿他們的文化，另一方面，他們看不起較窮的國家。 Currently due to the southbound policy more and more Southeast Asian tourists are coming to Taiwan, but this is overshadowed by the human rights abuses against Southeast Asian Migrant workers. Currently there are 200,000 students in Taiwan with foreign Southeast Asian parents, one in 10. The numbers for first and second generation immigrants is greater than the indigenous population of Taiwan. However, these students are often discriminated against because of their parent’s speaking a foreign language, and thus are perceived to do worse in Chinese language and other studies, due to their parent’s poor Chinese and lack of Education. 目前由於新南向政策越來越多，東南亞遊客紛紛來台，但這被東南亞人權的情況所掩蓋。目前台灣有20萬個具有外國東南亞的父母, 台灣的十分之一學生，一，二代移民人數大於台灣原住民。然而，這些學生往往由於父母的外語口語而受到歧視，由於他們的父母祖國貧窮，缺乏教育，他們在漢語和其他學習中被認為更糟糕。 Taiwan media is usually unsympathetic to their plight, portraying them as only runaways that do not want to work. But the fact is that they run away usually because of abuse from their employer. Those employers that are prosecuted usually get away with minimal penalties, and if there is a jail term it is usually for less than one year 台灣媒體通常對他們的困境不以為然，把他們描繪成只是不想工作的逃亡者。但事實是，他們通常是因為雇主的虐待而逃跑的。那些被起訴的雇主通常會以最小的懲罰逃脫，如果有監禁期，通常不到一年. Coming to Taiwan 來台: Before coming to Taiwan, many migrant workers must go through an application process, and if chosen, may be required to pay excessive broker fees up to 14,000 USD or more. These workers also need to pay for training. In order to pay for these fees, many of them need to take out loans from lending companies that are one in the same as the brokers, trapping them in “debt bondage.” Some of these loanshave up to 60% annual interest. If they cannot make payments, lending companies and migrant brokers are known to give death threats to the workers and their family. 來台之前，很多工人必須辦理申請手續，如果被選擇，可能需要支付高達14000美元以上的仲介佣金。這些工人也需要支付培訓費用。為了支付這些費用，他們之中的許多人需要從貸款公司那裡獲得貸款，這些貸款公司與仲介人是一樣的，把他們困在“債務質押”中，其中一些貸款的年利率高達60％。如果他們不能付款，貸款公司和移民仲介人就會對工人及其家人造成死亡威脅。 Exploitative deductions for rent or services that are not actually real are commonplace. Rides to the airport, medical examinations, and help to fill out documentation are often charged excessive fees. For instance, migrant workers are known to have to pay 2000 NT for a van to the airport from Taipei when a taxi is only just over 1000 NT. Brokers often mistreat their workers, and use corrupt practices to exploit them. 對實際上不真實的租金或服務進行剝削性的扣除是司空見慣的。乘坐機場，體檢和幫忙填寫文件往往收取過高的費用。舉例來說，坐計程車去桃園機場只要一千多新台幣，但外國工人必須支付2000。仲介人經常虐待他們的工人，並利用腐敗行為來剝削他們。 Workers from Southeast Asia are not allowed to write paperwork for an ARC themselves, and must pay a broker for this service (even though it is easy for many white collar foreigners to do this themselves). They are also not covered under the labor standards act, giving their employers almost unlimited power to overwork and exploit them. It is simply hypocrisy that the act fails to protect the most vulnerable workers from exploitation, foreign migrants. Although agricultural work is illegal, some foreign workers have been known to be put to farm work when on paper they are domestic caretakers. One such worker, Merly Ramos, happened upon this situation, and was given only one day off for an entire year before she informed the authorities. 東南亞的工作人員不允許為自己寫一份ARC申請文件，並且必須為這項服務付錢（儘管很多白領老外很容易這樣做）。勞基法也沒有包括外籍勞工，雇主幾乎擁有無限的權力來過度勞累和剝削他們。勞基法無法保護最脆弱的工人免受剝削，外國勞動，這簡直是虛偽的。雖然是非法，但是一些外國工人在紙上作為家庭看護者時，已經知道要從事農活。其中一名這樣的外籍勞工Merly Ramos發生了這種情況，在她通知當局之前，整整一年只有一天的時間休息了。 Human trafficking happens under the radar in Taiwan through fake marriages, deceitful employment contracts, smuggling, sexual exploitation, and forced labor. Many human trafficking victims are mistaken for illegal immigrants, and are locked away in unsanitary prisons with no medical facilities, or deported. 台灣通過假婚姻，欺騙性僱傭合同，走私，性剝削和強迫勞動等手段，販賣人口。許多人口販運受害者被誤認為是非法移民，被關押在不衛生的監獄裡，沒有醫療設施，或被驅逐出境。 Foreign Caregivers 外籍長照: House caregivers have a minimum wage of 17,000 NT a month, compared to the 21,008 minimum wage for Taiwanese citizens under the labor standards act. Contracts with an employer usually last for 3 years, during which they cannot switch employers. Previously after the contract ended, they were forced to go back to their home country, but thankfully that regulation has been abolished as of this year. 外籍長照者最低月工資為17000新台幣，而台灣公民在“勞基法”下的最低工資為21,008。與雇主的合同通常持續3年，在此期間不能轉換雇主。在合同結束之前，他們被迫回到自己的祖國，但幸好今年這個規定被廢除了。 During their time of work, many brokers hold onto the worker’s passports or ARC, preventing the workers from leaving the country as well as other things such as purchasing a phone. Brokers often fine runaways or deport them, even though this is technically illegal. While in their domestic roles, migrant caretakers are often victims of sexual harassment, sexual offences, and rape. One such case is Annie, who was sexually assaulted by all five of her previous employers. 在工作期間，許多仲介人持有工人的護照或ARC，防止工人離開國家以及諸如購買電話等其他事物。仲介人往往很好地逃離或驅逐他們，即使這在技術上是非法的。外籍長照者在家庭中遇到性騷擾，性侵犯和強奸的情況。其中一個例子是安妮，她曾被所有五名前任雇主性侵犯。 A few years ago a documentary about foreign migrant workers called “I have it maid” (快跑三十六小時) was produced to tell the personal stories of these migrant caregivers. After seeing the film, many Taiwanese people were surprised that the situation was as bad as it is. The film tells a story about a runaway blue collar worker named Vicky and the filmmakers are advocating her story to try and help her. If you have time, please see the film here on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fq5gkyVlFg 幾年前一些外國人製作了一部名為“快跑三十六小時”的外籍勞動的紀錄片，講述了這些外籍長照者的個人故事。看了這部電影之後，不少台灣人都感到驚訝，不知道情況這麼糟糕。 這部電影講述了一個名叫維基（Vicky）的失控藍領工人的故事，電影製片人正在倡導她的故事來嘗試和幫助她。如果您有時間，請在YouTube上欣賞這部影片https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fq5gkyVlFg Foreign fisherman外國漁民: Perhaps modern day slavery is most prevalent in Taiwan’s fishing industry. Migrant fishermen are also not covered by labor standards act standards, subject to exploitation, and have no set minimum wage. Also, rest time and breaks are only set by standard contract. Officially there are around 20,000 migrant fishermen, but organizations such as Greenpeace say there could be up to 160,000. Many fishermen are not registered legally, and are not in Taiwan books. Many fisherman only stay on the boats they work on and never enter Taiwan, or their boats are registered overseas, so it hard to keep track of these foreign migrant fisherman. The ILO has said that Taiwan's Fisheries Agency's system of management and protection of migrant fishers is "loose and unregulated". 也許現代奴隸在台灣的漁業中是最普遍的。外籍漁民也不受勞基法的標準，可以被剝削，也沒有規定最低工資標準。另外，休息時間和休假時間僅由標準合同設定。官方稱有大約2萬名外籍漁民，但是像綠色和平的組織說可能會有16萬人。許多漁民沒有合法登記，不在台灣的書籍上。許多漁民只留在他們工作的船上，從不進入台灣，或者他們的船隻在海外註冊，所以很難跟踪這些外來漁民。國際勞工組織說，台灣漁業局管理和保護移徙漁民的製度是“鬆散和不受管制的”。 Many fishermen are abused, beaten, cut with hooks, and killed. Once a migrant fisherman dies, the captain has right to throw body overboard, getting rid of any evidence of the cause of death. Many migrant fisherman are exploited in this way, such as this story about 1,000 Cambodian men。 They were originally promised 150 USD a month, then only got paid half, were underfed, beaten, and couldn’t communicate with family. For many, their only escape was to jump overboard. 許多漁民被虐待，毆打，砍死. 一旦移民漁民死亡，船長有權將身體拋到船外，擺脫任何死因的證據。很多外籍漁民都是這樣被利用的，比如這個故事約有1000名柬埔寨男人。他們原本承諾每個月150美元，然後只得到了一半，飽受毆打，不能和家人溝通。對於很多人來說，他們唯一的逃跑就是跳下船。 This last September, it was found that 19 Taiwanese fisherman were prosecuted for keeping a group of 81 Indonesian fisherman locked in a room around the clock to prevent them from escaping. They were forced to work 48 hours at a time with no breaks and for 300-500 USD a month. 去年九月，發現有十九名台灣漁民被捕，一群八十一名印度尼西亞漁民全天被鎖在一間屋內，以防他們逃跑。他們被迫每次工作48小時，沒有休息，每個月工資300-500美元。 The 19 Taiwanese men faced possible jail time of up to 7 years, and authorities confiscated 3.69 million TWD as compensation payback for the migrant fisherman. 19名台灣老闆可能被關押了7年，當局沒收了369萬新台幣作為外籍漁民的報酬。 Mostly disputes between migrant fisherman and their employers are “hands-off” for the government, who wishes the disputes be solved between the employer and for-profit migrant brokers, who almost always side in behalf of the employer. Often the government will require time cards or pay slips as evidence, which simply don’t exist. Many workers are threatened or even deported for having labor disputes, and many are afraid to talk to the authorities. 移民漁民與其雇主之間的爭議大多是政府的“放手.”政府希望在雇主和營利性仲介人之間解決糾紛，他們幾乎總是代表雇主。通常在這個情況下，政府需要打卡記綠或工資單作為證據，但是根本不存在。許多工人因為勞資糾紛而受到威脅甚至被驅逐出境，許多人不敢向政府機關談話。 Summary and Solutions 總結和解決方案: Labor conditions for foreign migrants haven’t improved in more than 10 years and new legislation is slow to come by. These problems are not being fixed because government and business want extra profits that come from hiring cheap labor, and Southeast Asians lack money. The biggest problem comes from the broker system which “traps” immigrant workers in debt and exploits their salary. A proper solution would be to get rid of the broker system and let the migrants be directly hired. In fact, broker systems are technically illegal in the Philippines, even though there are many Taiwan brokers operating there. However, abolishing these brokers in Taiwan will be difficult. Lawmaker Lin Shu fen has received death threats from brokers for trying improving foreign workers rights. The brokers have power politically and move to stop all new legislation for migrant workers, as it cuts their profits. They are like slave traders, making money off of human capital. 外國的勞動條件十多年來沒有改善，新的立法緩慢。這些問題是固定的，因為政府和企業要從僱傭廉價勞動力中獲得額外的利潤，和東南亞人缺乏資金。最大的問題來自仲介人制度，這種仲介制度“困住”外籍勞工的債務並剝削他們的工資。適當的解決辦法是擺脫仲介人制度，讓外籍人士直接被雇用。事實上，菲律賓的仲介人制度在技術上是非法的，即使有很多台灣仲介人在那裡經營。但是，取消這些在台灣的仲介人將是困難的。林樹芬律師接受了仲介人為改善外籍勞工權益而提出的死亡威脅。仲介商在政治上有權力，能停止所有新的外籍勞動立法。他們就像奴隸販子一樣，從人力資本中賺錢。 In September, a “mock” referendum, which would hypothetically allow migrant workers the right to freely change employers was started by the Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT). The mock referendum ends at the end of December. So far, over 90% of voters have supported it. However, what Taiwan needs is a real referendum. For more information, visit their Facebook Page here 9月，台灣移民賦權網絡（MENT）啟動了一個“模擬”公民投票，假設允許外籍勞工自由更換雇主。模擬公民投票在十二月底結束。到目前為止，有超過90％的選民支持。但是，台灣需要的是一個真正的公投。更多訊息在他們的Facebook頁面 The 2017 Trafficking in Person’s Report by the US State Department美國國務院2017年“販賣人口報告” https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/271345.pdf This report details human trafficking in Taiwan. Due to improvements in the last few years, Taiwan has been moved from a Tier-2 country to Tier-1. However, improvements are still sorely needed. A summary of the report is as follows: 這份報告詳細介紹了在台灣販賣人口 由於近幾年來的改善，台灣已經從二線國家轉移到了一線。 但是，仍然需要改進。 報告摘要如下： What Taiwan Should improve: Taiwan should improve labor protection and prosecution for migrant fishermen. Also, There is a long-stalled bill meant to help standardize wage, rest hours, and annual leave for domestic workers, that has yet to be enacted. This year there were 263 sex trafficking victims, 156 of whom were foreigners and 89 of which were children. The other victims were from poorer areas of Taiwan. Some Taiwanese victims have also been recruited to telephone scams overseas or to overseas prostitution. Taiwan has also unlawfully also jailed and fined trafficking victims. The report also pointed out that many brokers trap migrant workers with “debt bondage” to control them and extort their money. Those migrant workers that complain are often deported. 台灣應該改善什麼： 台灣應該加強對漁民的勞動保護和起訴。此外，還有一個長期停滯的法案，旨在幫助規范長照工人的工資，休息時間和年假，但還沒有頒布。 今年有263名性販運受害者，其中156人是外國人，89人是兒童。其他遇難者來自台灣較貧窮地區。一些台灣受害者也被招募到海外電話詐騙或海外賣淫。台灣也非法監禁和罰款販運受害者。 報告還指出，許多仲介人以“債務束縛”的方式阻礙外籍工控制和勒索金錢。那些抱怨的外籍勞工往往被驅逐出境。 How Taiwan has improved in 2017: Despite the jailing of trafficking victims, the MOF has created a 24 hour hotline for such victims as well as 25 shelters nationwide which provide legal and mental help, stipends, repatriation, training, and interpretation. Also, in the past year Taiwan has fined 6 and shut down 4 brokers charging excessive fees. In addition, the policy indicating foreign migrants leave every 3 years has been abolished. The authorities have also standardized the Fisherman’s contract, requirements for basic wages, rest hours, and days off, as well as requiring the broker be a company and not an individual. New Employers are also required to attend classes before they hire on domestic workers. 2017年台灣如何改善： 儘管販運受害者被監禁，財政部還為此類受害者建立了24小時專線，並為全國25所提供法律和精神幫助，津貼，遣返，培訓和口譯的庇護所。 此外，過去一年，台灣已經懲罰了六家中介公司，關閉了四家收取超額費用的中介公司。此外，外國勞動政策每三年出台一次被廢除了。當局還規範了漁民合同，基本工資要求，休息時間和休息日，並要求中介人是公司而不是個人做中介。新雇主也必須上課。 Summary of Solutions 解決方案總結：
•停止逮捕販運人口的受害者 •取消中介人制度和債務質役，並允許直接聘用 •頒布新的立法，給予外籍藍領工人基本權利，包括： •設置輪班之間的休息時間 •允許天數 • 最低工資 •能夠根據員工的意願更換雇主 The slave-like conditions and exploitation of foreigner blue collar laborers is a shame to Taiwan. You never hear of any white collar worker runaways because they can change employers at will, but blue collar workers simply can’t. Human rights of blue collar workers need to be brought to white collar level. As fellow foreigners in Taiwan, we should all work together to raise awareness to these worker’s situations and personal stories. Perhaps we can help to push new legislation to protect our fellow foreigners. We should not forget Panti, who died in the process of trying to switch employers, and not let her death be in vain. 外國藍領工人的奴隸般的條件和剝削，對台灣來說是恥辱。你從來沒有聽說過任何白領工人逃跑，因為他們可以隨意更換雇主，但藍領工人根本不能。藍領人士的人權需要提高到白領階層。作為台灣的外國人，我們都應該共同努力，提高對這些工人的情況和個人故事的認識。也許我們可以幫助推動新的立法來保護我們的外國人。我們不應該忘記在嘗試轉換雇主的過程中死亡的潘提，不要讓她徒然死亡。 Please be sure to like, comment, and share! 請按讚，留言，和分享！
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It’s Mid-September and the unusually oppressive heat of summer is fading at last, replaced by the rich, windy weather (and occasional typhoon) for which Taiwan autumns are known. As a cyclist, it’s my favorite time of the year, and this week’s column would probably be about my upcoming weekend cycling plans, if I’d not been sidetracked by an experience I had in Tainan on Monday, delivering a keynote address on the subject of “Branding Taiwan’s Cities”.
現在是九月中旬，夏天異常炎熱的時候正在消失，取而代之的是秋風豐富的獨特台灣天氣（偶爾有颱風）。 作為一名自行車騎士，這是我每一年中最喜歡的一季節，如果不是周一我在台南體驗的一段經歷，本週的文章可能是關於即將到來的周末自行車計劃。我那時候就這個題目發表主題演講 “品牌化台灣的城市”。 In typical Friday Column tradition (and in keeping with Lao Tzu’s maxim on travel), I may take a winding route to reach the destination. 在典型的“星期五專欄”傳統（並符合老子在旅行中的格言），我可以採取曲折的路線到達目的地。 Before coming on board with MyTaiwanTour I worked as a travel writer, both for travel-guide giant Lonely Planet and several dozen other smaller publications, periodicals and travel websites. Though my work brought me to many places around the world (Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Belize and all over China, just to name a few), my specialty has generally been writing about urban areas. I have an affinity for cities, and have always said that given 72 hours in any city I can gather enough information to be able to offer sound advice to any first-time traveler. 在加入MyTaiwanTour之前，我曾擔任過旅遊指南領先者Lonely Planet和其他幾家小型出版社，期刊和旅遊網站的旅行作家。儘管我的工作把我帶到了世界各地（台灣，新加坡，馬來西亞，伯利茲和中國各地，僅舉幾例），但我的專業其實在於城市地區的寫作。我對城市有著濃厚的興趣，並且總是說在任何一個城市72小時都可以收集足夠的訊息來讓任何初次旅行者提供合理的建議。 My usual method for getting to know a city is as follows: Before leaving, I do some basic research on the city I’m about to visit. Local history, must-see sights, signature dishes, that sort of thing. Once I hit the ground, I forget 90% of this and get myself purposely lost for as many hours as possible. This is in line not just with Lao Tzu’s maxim about having no fixed goals, but also with that of American writer Lawrence Block, who writes, “Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” 我通常了解一個新的城市的方法如下：在離開之前，我會對我即將訪問的城市做一些基本研究。當地的歷史，必看的景點，招牌菜等等。一旦我落地，我就忘記了90％，並故意盡可能讓自己迷路和，而且浪費很多時間。這不僅與老子關於沒有固定目標的格言一致，而且與美國作家勞倫斯·布洛克（Lawrence Block）的格言也是一致的，他寫道：“我們最快樂的時刻就是在我們追求某物時偶然發現另一件事情，像遊客一樣。” Lawrence Block is from from New York City, and so am I. Which is as good a segue as any to the subject of City Branding. If I were to walk into a crowded elevator anywhere in the English speaking world singing 勞倫斯·布洛克來自紐約市，我也是。這就讓我們連續到下一個話題：城市品牌。 如果我在講英語的任何國家走進擁擠的電梯唱這首歌: Start Spreading the news… I’m leaving today… I wanna be a part of it… And then point to someone at random, chances are better than average that they’d respond 然後隨便指出一個人，他們應該會回應如下: New York, New York! NYC is easily the most well-branded city on the planet. Barely a day goes by in Taiwan where I don’t run into at least a couple of people advertising some aspect of my hometown on their clothing, whether it’s a T-shirt bearing the letters NYC, some variation of the city’s iconic skyline, or just the NY Yankees Logo. I’ve had farmers in rural China ask me where I’m from, and when I’ve answered Niǔyuē (New York), they’ve given me the thumbs up and responded Dà píngguǒ! (The Big Apple!) 紐約市很容易成為地球上品牌最好的城市。 在台灣我幾乎每天至少會遇到一些穿著廣告我的家某個方面的衣服, 不管是帶有NYC字母的T卹，紐約城的天際線的某個角度，或 只是紐約洋基標誌。 我曾在中國農村有遇過農民問我從哪裡來，當我用中文回答 “紐約” 的時候，他們給了我大拇指，並回應了”大蘋果！” Not surprisingly, New York City has consistently been one of the world’s top ten most visited cities for decades. While I gave up NYC residency about the same time I came legally of age, I’ve never given up my identity as a New Yorker (or the distinctive accent). 毫不奇怪，紐約市數十年來一直是世界十大旅遊的城市之一。 雖然我早就放 棄紐約市居民”法律上的”身份，我還沒有放棄我作為紐約人的身份（或特殊的口音）。 
So, finding myself among esteemed company as one of two keynote speakers at a seminar put on by the Dream Travel Taiwan Alliance (the overarching purpose of which was to share and discuss best practices in international destination marketing and the latest trends in the global tourism industry, specifically as applied to cities looking to develop their own marketability as tourist destinations), I began by speaking about the success that New York has had in branding itself.
因此，我在 “ 讓世界旅人。看見台灣” (Dream Travel Taiwan Alliance) 舉辦的一個研討會上，發現自己是在重大人物之中當主題講師，主要目的是分享和討論國際目旅遊行銷的最佳實踐和全球旅遊業的最新趨勢 ，特別是適用於希望發展和市場化為旅遊目的地的城市），我首先談到紐約在品牌化方面取得的成功. I specifically started with New York, despite the fact that I realize the impossibility of any other city replicating NYC’s formula for success. NYC has so many icons (Times Square, The Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, a globally-known song called New York, New York, for god’s sake) that it would be impossible for any city lacking these things to ever be as successful at branding itself as a tourist destination. Or is it? 我特意從紐約開始，儘管我意識到任何其他城市都不可能完全模仿紐約市成功的方式。 紐約市有非常多的標誌（紐約時報廣場，自由女神像，帝國大廈，連還有全世界知名的紐約紐約歌曲），任何缺乏這些東西的城市都不可能成功地把自己塑造成旅遊目的地。 還是呢？ First, everything that Singapore does well, it does really well. Great food, great transportation, great nightlife and cool, safe neighborhoods in which to wander. If you’re going to Singapore for those four things, you’re going to have an excellent time. Singapore has fine museums and good shopping, but these are not the things that primarily draw people to visit Singapore. It’s the food, convenience, nightlife and “safely exotic” vibe that brings visitors in by the millions. 首先，新加坡所做好的一切，確實做得很好。 美味的食物，很棒的交通，良好的夜生活和涼爽，安全的街區，令人放心在其中漫步。 如果你要為了 以上的四件事情去新加坡，你會有一個美好的經驗。 新加坡有很好的博物館和很好的購物場所，但這些並不是主要吸引人來新加坡的東西。 主要是食物，方便，夜生活和“安全的異國情調”的氛圍，帶來數百萬的遊客。 Second, and as importantly, Singapore knows how to get the message out about what it does offer. If I were to walk into any elevator in the world and ask random strangers (in their language of course) about Singapore, chances are better than average that they’d respond with some variation of “Great food, safe, clean and easy to get around.” (I doubt the Merlion would even come up.) 其次，同樣重要的是，新加坡知道如何將訊息傳達出去。 如果我要走進世界上任何一台電梯，問任何陌生人（當然是用他們的語言）關於新加坡的話，那麼他們會回應一些“偉大的食物，安全，乾淨，交通方便.” （我懷疑他們會提到魚尾獅。） 
I’m of the opinion that, like in the case of Singapore, iconography will not be the most important part in the success of getting the message out about what Taiwan’s cities have to offer travelers. True, Taipei has done pretty well for itself with Taipei 101 (which kind of serves double duty as overall branding icon for Taiwan), but I don’t believe that people visit Taipei specifically to visit Taipei 101. It may be a focus point, and a good symbol, but a visit to Taipei 101 should just be a small part of any Taipei visit.
我認為，像新加坡一樣，在傳達台灣的城市能提供給旅客的好處的時候，地標不會是最重要的部分。 的確，台北在101（台灣整體品牌形象的雙重職責）方面做得相當不錯，但我不相信觀光客為了101而專門去拜訪台北.這可能是一個焦點， 且一個很好的象徵，但是參觀台北101應該只是旅遊台北的一小部分。 Other Taiwanese cities offer their own unique variety of experiences and, like Singapore, defy traditional single-sentence branding. 台灣的其他城市也有自己獨特的體驗，也像新加坡一樣不符合傳統的 “單句品牌化。” 
Tainan (where the meeting was held) is a hotbed of culture – not just traditional Han Chinese culture, but a sort of new, hipster culture with a vibrant nightlife featuring artist-run coffee shops and collectives in winding cobblestone alleys built during the Qing dynasty. (Not for nothing is one of the chapters of my upcoming book called “Tainan is the Portland of Taiwan”.)
台南（會議的地點）是一個文化焦點，不僅是傳統的漢族文化，而且是一種新興的時髦文化，擁有充滿活力的夜生活，藝術家經營的咖啡店和聚集體在清朝修建的鵝卵石小巷。 （順便提一下, 我即將出版的“台南是台灣的波特蘭”書的其中一個章節是關於這個） I spent a most excellent week in Taichung earlier this year, visiting world-class museums, art parks, restaurants and night markets. I also went scuba diving in a hotel in the middle of the city. (Google “Dive Cube Hotel Taichung” for more info on this most unique venue, a hotel with an 18-meter-deep scuba diving pool). 今年早些時候，我在台中度過了一個非常好的一周，參觀世界級的博物館，藝術公園，餐館和夜市。 我也在市中心的一家酒店去潛水。 （去谷歌:“台中潛水立方酒店”了解更多有關這個最獨特場地的資料，一家擁有18米深潛水游泳池的酒店）。 Kaohsiung, which many international visitors have traditionally seen as a place to pass through on the way to Kenting, is working to brand itself as a sort of slower-paced Taipei, an international harbor city with art, music and culture, not to mention amazing temples and superlative food. I spent several days there earlier this year and found it to be all that and more. Still, I’d be hard pressed to summarize this into a single sentence, let alone an icon – besides that hotel with the two legs (and maybe the Love River). 高雄，一個許多國際遊客被視為去墾丁必經過的地方，正在努力將自身品牌作為一種節奏慢台北的國際港口城市，藝術，音樂和文化，更何況驚人寺廟和最高級的食物。今年早些時候，我在那邊待了好幾天，發現它真的是這樣子, 還有更多。儘管如此，我還是很難把以上所說的總結成一句話，更不用說一個地標- 除了那個有兩條腿的酒店（也許愛河）。 And this may be for the best. To paraphrase another speaker at the seminar (one whose finger was firmly on the pulse of current travel trends), today’s travel trends are increasingly being shaped by millennials, and millennials are increasingly looking for experiences matching their own interests and passions, rather than some great collective consciousness’ idea of what a vacation should be. Taiwan’s cities offer a vast array of experiences catering to a wide variety of interests. Though this wide appeal makes Taiwan’s cities difficult to “summarize”, it make them way more worth visiting. 這可能是最好的情形。我套用在研討會上的另一位發言人的話:（一個非常了解當前的旅遊潮流趨勢），今天的旅遊趨勢日益受到千禧狀，千禧一代越來越多人尋找配自己的興趣和愛好的經驗，而不是一些 “偉大集體” 認為怎麼樣才是渡假。 台灣的城市提供廣泛的經驗，迎合各種各樣的利益。雖然這個廣泛的呼籲使台灣的城市難以“總結”，但這讓它們更值得一看。 It’s just a question of getting the message out. And New York City boy though I am, my advice to my friends in charge of doing this is to look to Singapore for inspiration. Until next week, Joshua Samuel Brown Editor in Chief, MyTaiwanTour 這只是一個讓消息傳播出來的問題。 儘管我是紐約市的男孩，但我對負責這個工作的朋友的建議是: 向新加坡尋求靈感。 直到下週，喬舒亞·薩繆爾·布朗 (Joshua Samuel Brown) MyTaiwanTour主編 (Branding Taiwan’s Cities 品牌化台灣的城市) originally ran at the MyTaiwanTour Journal. All photos and text posted in the above blog were taken from https://www.mytaiwantour.com/blog/. Follow this link for more stories like this one! Visiting Taiwan? Let MyTaiwanTour help curate your experience. Find them online at https://www.mytaiwantour.com/ （Branding Taiwan’s Cities 品牌化台灣的城市）最初跑在MyTaiwanTour學報。 https://www.mytaiwantour.com/blog/. 點擊此鏈接獲得更多這樣的故事！ 拜訪台灣？ 讓MyTaiwanTour幫助策劃你的經驗。 通過 https://www.mytaiwantour.com/ Be sure to like, share and comment below! 記得按讚, 分享和在下面留言!
According to Taiwan’s National Cultural Heritage Database Management System, Nangang district in Taipei only has 5 registered historical buildings. The most recent of these is the Que Family Ancestral House “闕家祖厝”, also known as Decheng Residence “德成居.” This house was added to Taiwan’s list of historical buildings in May of 2017, much to the chagrin of the houses’ current owner, causing a dispute between the family and the Ministry of Culture, which I discuss further in this post.
History:
This building, which comprises of a Sanheyuan (Three sided courtyard) and one side having a second storey watch tower, was built in 1924 by the Que Family who had emigrated from Quanzhou, Fujian, China. The house is built in Southern Min red brick style, with imported materials from Fujian. The roof was originally made of grass, then later replaced by modern materials. When first built, it stood in front of a small pond and was surrounded by cattle pasture, which was considered very good fengshui. After Academia Road was build in front of it, its fengshui was thus cut off, and has fallen into decay ever since (supposedly). It is an example of some of the best architecture and artistry of the Japanese era in Taiwan. Members of the Que family have been very influential in the leadership and development of the Nangang-Xizhi area, especially in coal mining and brick making. Que Shankeng (闕山坑) was the first democratically elected leader of Nangang Town in 1946 during the ROC era. The Que family has many members that have since participated in politics. Currently there are huge numbers of Que family descendants in Nangang, Xizhi, and Neihu. Some elementary schools in Nangang used to have over 20 students in one class named Que. Now the family is very wealthy and has built two ancestor halls to worship their forebears, one in Xizhi being14 stories high. Controversy and Drama over Que Family Ancestral House: The current owner of the plot of land that the house stands on is not happy that his property has been changed into a historical building by the city government. Originally the owner claimed that his land was appraised at 500 million TWD, but now that the house has been classified as a historical building, it is only worth 50 million TWD. The family also claimed that the government is encroaching on the family’s livelihood by diminishing the value of the property, by protecting a “dilapidated house” that has ”no value,” even though they still live in the house! However, another government official disagreed with the 50 million NTD assessment, stating that the current property with a historical building on it can still build a 7 or 8 storey apartment building, and the surrounding land is still very valuable. However, as you can see by the map below (which can be found for freeon the government's website), the land plots surrounding the house circle around like rings of an onion, so it might be hard to organize a build among remaining property owners, and I assume this has stopped them in the past. The family currently owns plots 176-2、177、178、178-3、179、179-1、180、180-1、181、185、and 186 in the map below. |
Author 作家I am an American expat who has extensive experience living, working, and traveling in Taiwan. In my day, I had to learn many things about Taiwan the hard way. But I have come to learn that Taiwan is one of the best places in the world for Foreigners to live. This blog does not represent the opinions of every foreigner in Taiwan. I am just trying to help others learn more about this beautiful country. Categories
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