Thriving Amidst Chaos - Taipei

December 14, 1994

Arriving at the currently renovating Changi airport Terminal 2, we took a crowded terminal shuttle bus all the way back to the terminal building. During the bus trip, the ground staff apologized profusely over the loud speaker about the inconvenience that this has caused. After an half of hour of waiting, a group of us were informed that our luggages were "lost" somewhere in the Changi airport. We went to talk to the supervisor. The foreigners among us, including me, has been used to this frequent mess up at other airports. But the S'poreans among us were complaining about how this mistake will ruin S'pore's image and they are going to write letters of complaint to the management. After this incident, I felt that many S'poreans have been spoiled by the efficiency, the prosperity, and the safety of S'pore. I wonder what will happen if one day S'pore was transformed into, God forbid, Taipei...

I had an opportunity to visit Taipei. My arrival coincided with the end of the general election. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that an opposition party member has been elected to be the next mayor of Taipei. Taiwan has changed much over the years. I have a special perspective on Taipei since I was brought up in this city. One thing I realized was that memory is better left alone 8-) Pollution and traffic congestion have reached an unbearable level. With the world's most expensive and non-working mass transit system (there were all kinds of screw up during the initial test run period. This includes a derailment during my stay), the only way to get around the city is with motorbikes. Everyone uses motorbike, students going to school, entire family going shopping, businessmen going to work, etc. The advantage of the motorbike is that you can park anywhere and travel anywhere without hassle. It's Taipei's alternative to S'pore's MRT, SBS, ALS and COE 8-)

There are many special techniques when traveling with a motorbike in Taipei. When a colleague first offered me to be a passenger, I flatly refused. After hearing about the minor damage caused at low impact and the theory that quantity conquers all (or I had brain damage at the time), I decided to hop on for the ride. Besides, what's a Taipei experience without being a passenger on a motorbike? It's like driving through New York City without getting your windshield cleaned by a total stranger 8-) Anyway, here are a few basic rules of thumb:

  1. Slow down at intersection. Most motorbikes enter an intersection without stopping. Therefore, care has to be taken in order not to ram into the other fellow bikers. To stop at intersection is unprofessional and rude. There may be are other bikers behind you.
  2. Motorbikes are allowed to be everywhere. Whether it's between cars, people, roads, policemen, a rock and a hard place. Any gap that has at least an inch clearance on both side is a valid place for passage. Just watch out for curb and other hidden obstacle, such as MRT construction.
  3. Pedestrians are there to make the biker's life interesting and fun. Good bikers can interleave between people without them noticing. Some bikers can even carry a conversation with the people on foot.
  4. Wearing those mouth masks is highly recommended since the pollution level during traffic hour can be detrimental. Actually, traffic congestion is biker's best friend. Since all the gaps will become stationary (those moving gaps are easy to miss), thus facilitate an easier traveling adventure.
  5. Debating whether S'porean or Taiwanese girls are prettier...oopps..
The basic rule in Taipei is that when everyone does it, then it's ok. I heard rumor that only two of the many gulf courses around Taipei are actually legal. The idea is that if there a too many doing the illegal things, like making illegal left turn on a busy street, then it's ok. In Taipei, commercial and residential zoning are not strictly enforced. You can find a chemical shop right downstairs from where you live. A canteen that we frequently visited was in the middle of a residential apartment block. At least in S'pore, you can find those HDB apartment blocks purely for residential purpose. Safety and regulation are not the top of the priority list in Taipei. There were many death and injury caused by illegal shops and KTV operating in the residential building because of lack of safety code.

I won't clog up the bandwidth with too much detail. Here are few other small interesting items. Taiwan has this ingenious idea of combining lottery and sales receipt to make sure the revenue are collected by the government (Taiwanese and gambling are inseparable.) I still think the smell of Durian are much worse than smelly Tou Fu. Unlike S'pore where it's the norm, people who spoke English are treated better in Taipei. Just visit Taipei Hard Rock Cafe and you will know what I mean. Believe it or not, there is a town in Taiwan called Alien (actually, it's pronounced Ah-Lien.) Rest stop on the highway is represented by sign with chopstick and spoon instead of fork and knife. I was expose to the Star TV for the first time. I was especially impressed by the music Channel V. I am beginning to believe that satellite dishes are banned in S'pore to protected the local programming instead of information censoring (now SBC has been broken up into TCS and other entities. I still haven't seen any dramatic improvement).

Of course, the talk of the town nowadays in Taipei is politics. After the fiasco with the mass transit system and the infamous tender 18 (a highway being built parallel to the parking lot between Taipei and the CKS airport), people are taken action to vote the KMT official out of the office. Corruption is supposedly rampant in Taipei, the main reason why the cost of these projects are so high. It seems that things are beginning to change since the citizens are starting to exercise their right to vote (yes, nowadays there IS a choice.) I think we are in the process of seeing the first true democratic society forming in the Far East, for better or for worse.

It wasn't until I arrived at the states that I realized that I was brain washed in Taiwan. I remember the days that I was arguing with my High School teacher about how saintly KMT was and how Taiwan will eventually win back the control of China. It's hard to believe how naive I was back then. S'pore reminded me of Taipei of yesterday. Its authoritarian rule, strict information control, lack of political freedom and among other things. It's amazing how two similar Asian cultures can diverge so far apart. Or maybe they will converge in time. I have admitted that I took the easy way out by coming to S'pore where things are more organized and orderly. "Freedom is chaos in a better lighting" and I think Taipei epitomizes that. But Taiwanese are able to thrive in this chaotic condition, which gives me a little more faith in democracy process in the Far East region. It also seems to be a correlation between freedom and creativity. Just watch the film "Eat Drink Man Woman" and you will know what I mean. I am still waiting for something truly creative to come out of S'pore, either culturely or academically. No, COE does not count 8-)

14/12/94

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