The validity of Internet polling should never be taken for granted, whether conducted by the public or the private sector.
This is good counsel for anyone who assumes that a poll taken by a labor broker, for example, that uses its own clients as subjects and releases the results in an ersatz “press release” provides hard evidence of labor trends.
Despite this, it is still difficult not to sympathize with Clare Wang (王秀毓), Taiwan’s finalist in the “Best Job in the World” competition that concluded this week.
Far and away the most “popular” of the “wild card” candidates based on an Internet vote, this wasn’t enough to get her the gig.
Disappointing, yes. But it was genuinely mystifying that after going to all the effort of appealing to a whole world of candidates — including a masterly, multilingual Web site — the Queensland government should choose a winner hailing from Australia’s former colonial master.
This may seem a little unfair, and it should be said that the Englishman who won the competition will likely fulfill his responsibilities to the letter.
But this was, after all, a promotional exercise. With the global recession in place and the state of Queensland suffering increased vulnerability because of its extensive tourism sector, the pragmatic choice might have been a popular, multilingual person who could appeal to developing markets where advertising campaigns could benefit from the charisma and personal touch of a blogger.
Ideally, a candidate also fluent in Spanish or Chinese would have been perfect because a very large number of potential tourists could have been communicated with in Spain and Central and South America, or from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and the Chinese diaspora — not to mention other Asian territories whose residents might find someone like Clare Wang disarming and convincing.
Wang’s visibility and sheer energy could have developed a loyal and envious following in this and other highly Web-connected societies in Asia.
In Taiwan’s case, she could have also filled the vacuum left behind after the misfortune of that other global Taiwanese celebrity, New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民).
Instead, it seems that those who place stock in the visibility of Taiwan’s achievers in the international arena will have to place their hopes in director Ang Lee (李安) bringing home the bacon from Cannes this year.
In the meantime, the Queensland government ought to know that the free press that it secured around the world with this promotion — through its sheer novelty and idyllic prize — will be a lot harder to secure next time, should there be a next time, now that the Survivor-style stunts and “popular vote” all proved to be a bit of a con.
If tremendous personal appeal, fluent English and a sense of humor and grace were not enough to get Clare onto the island, might we suggest readers follow Clare’s lead and travel to another part of Australia for their next overseas holiday.
Or, better still, New Zealand.
The central bank and the US Department of the Treasury on Friday issued a joint statement that both sides agreed to avoid currency manipulation and the use of exchange rates to gain a competitive advantage, and would only intervene in foreign-exchange markets to combat excess volatility and disorderly movements. The central bank also agreed to disclose its foreign-exchange intervention amounts quarterly rather than every six months, starting from next month. It emphasized that the joint statement is unrelated to tariff negotiations between Taipei and Washington, and that the US never requested the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar during the
The diplomatic dispute between China and Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments in the Japanese Diet continues to escalate. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong (傅聰) wrote that, “if Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression.” There was no indication that Fu was aware of the irony implicit in the complaint. Until this point, Beijing had limited its remonstrations to diplomatic summonses and weaponization of economic levers, such as banning Japanese seafood imports, discouraging Chinese from traveling to Japan or issuing
Since leaving office last year, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been journeying across continents. Her ability to connect with international audiences and foster goodwill toward her country continues to enhance understanding of Taiwan. It is possible because she can now walk through doors in Europe that are closed to President William Lai (賴清德). Tsai last week gave a speech at the Berlin Freedom Conference, where, standing in front of civil society leaders, human rights advocates and political and business figures, she highlighted Taiwan’s indispensable global role and shared its experience as a model for democratic resilience against cognitive warfare and
The diplomatic spat between China and Japan over comments Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made on Nov. 7 continues to worsen. Beijing is angry about Takaichi’s remarks that military force used against Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” necessitating the involvement of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. Rather than trying to reduce tensions, Beijing is looking to leverage the situation to its advantage in action and rhetoric. On Saturday last week, four armed China Coast Guard vessels sailed around the Japanese-controlled Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known to Japan as the Senkakus. On Friday, in what
RSS