Admiring the rural beauty of Taiwan, an elderly Japanese couple surnamed Nakamura arrived in Puli (埔里) in Nantou County early this month under the pilot "long-stay" program initiated by the Tourism Bureau. After only a couple of weeks, however, the two put an end to what they called a "torturous stay," complaining not only about the lack of facilities such as dehumidifiers, a clothes dryer and a plate dryer at their rented house, but also about the numerous motorcycles, pollution and noise, as well as the dog feces-strewn streets.
Nakamura rebuked the township administration of Puli and the government as represented by officials of the Tourism Bureau. Certainly, he was scolding all Taiwanese.
Most Taiwanese see Puli as the "pride of Taiwan." But as the Japanese couple see it, the living conditions in Puli are abominable and these have detracted from Puli's natural attractions. This is an insult to Puli, but also to the nation as a whole, since Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, is also a filthy and chaotic city. Small wonder that Der Spiegel, a German newspaper, once told the world that "The Taiwanese people simply live in a pigsty."
Any Taiwanese who has traveled to Europe, Japan, New Zealand or Singapore should be aware that Taiwan's environmental quality is the reflection of a very backward society. We should all ask ourselves if the Japanese couple really are wrong.
Is it wrong to demand decent living conditions and human dignity? Is it wrong to demand that the threats of cancer and other diseases be minimized by creating an environment free of air pollution and restricting scooter traffic in urban areas, that dog droppings are cleaned up by the owners, or that trash problems are eliminated by giving heavy fines to people who litter?
The protests lodged by Puli residents against the Nakamuras are a reflection of a culture of below-par values and sanitation standards. These unacceptable cultural standards are not unique to Puli, but extend across the nation. Government officials, particularly those in the environmental protection and health agencies -- and everyone else in the country, including the premier and the president -- seem to be indifferent to these various kinds of environmental pollution.
If Singapore can do it, then why can't Taiwan follow suit? Some believe the pervasive filth is a cultural issue, when it in fact is a systemic issue relating to the inertia of bureaucrats and the enforcement of the law. There are many weaknesses in human nature, but differences in behavior stem from differences in systems and regulations. If people obey regulations, they will come to cherish a neat and tidy living space in the long run.
If, however, people do not obey these regulations and if law-enforcement officials do nothing to deter and punish such behavior, air pollution, dog droppings and garbage will continue to be part of our daily lives, and the result will be a culture that doesn't cherish neat and tidy living conditions.
Therefore, we should condemn neither the residents of Puli nor the Japanese couple. Rather it is the township chief of Puli, the Nantou County Government's Environmental Bureau, police force and county commissioner, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and the premier that should be blamed.
They have never found ways to strictly enforce the law nor have they thought of strategies to ameliorate the situation. As a result, the illegal destruction of the environment and worsening sanitation infrastructure are spreading, turning our beautiful island into a pigsty, and turning Puli, the pride of Taiwan, into a place unfit to live.
Tsai Chi-yuan is an associate research fellow at the Academia Sinica.
Translated by Daniel Cheng
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