Puli (
Lately it has been in the news again, this time for being the first town in the nation to experiment with the long-stay program, in which foreigners come to stay for three to six months to travel and experience a different lifestyle before returning to their country.
The program, still in its pioneer-ing stage, nearly turned into an embarrassment when the first tenants in a community designated by Puli to host the long-stay program, a retired Japanese couple surnamed Nakamura, decided to leave early.
The couple complained that Puli was a place "filled with dog feces and scooters." They also said that the apartment in which they stayed had not been furnished as advertised in the brochures introducing the long-stay program.
The Nakamuras' criticism of hygiene issues have had repercussions nationwide. While Puli has declared the 10th of each month Public Cleaning Day in an attempt to redeem its reputation, the Environmental Protection Administration initiated a "War on Dog Droppings" at the end of March by asking local governments to raise the fines for dog owners who fail to properly dispose of their pets' excrement.
Those who do not follow the rules will now face fines of NT$1,200 (US$37) to NT$6,000.
The repercussions have spread beyond the hygiene issue, sparking questions about the government's ability to develop the potentially profitable program.
Hu Chung-i (胡忠一), senior planning and programming specialist at the Council of Agriculture, is one of the masterminds behind the development of the long-stay program.
According to Hu, the program was originally created to tap into the Japanese retiree market.
His research indicated that a number of Japan's baby boomers will be retiring by next year. The total value of Japanese pension funds is expected to exceed ?5 trillion (US$44 billion).
A survey by Japan's Long-Stay Promotion Association shows that most Japanese baby boomers want to live abroad in a countryside setting after they retire. Another survey has shown that most Japanese couples, once retired, will have problems living on their meager savings, which makes them consider moving to other Asian countries with a lower cost of living.
Hu's research also shows that a change in preferences about long-stay plans abroad has occurred among Japanese retirees.
A survey conducted in 2002 found that Hawaii was the most popular place for most retirees (15 percent), followed by Canada (12 percent) and Australia (12 percent).
In 2004, however, Malaysia made it into the top three. Other Asian countries, including Thailand and the Philippines, had also become more popular among some retirees.
Hu said that Taiwan definitely had several advantages in drawing Japanese retirees considering a move overseas.
For one, Taiwan is closer to Japan than most other Asian countries. As a former Japanese colony, Taiwan also has a large Japanese-speaking population.
In addition, Taiwan has a wide variety of tropical fruit, which have always been an attraction to most Japanese. Although living expenses here are slightly higher than those in Malaysia and Thailand, the crime rate is lower.
The development of the long-stay program was crucial in dealing with challenges brought about by joining the WTO, which will gradually impact on the livelihood of farm villages in Taiwan, Hu said.
Besides Puli, several other counties also possess the potential to develop long-stay programs, including Yunlin, Taitung, Kaohsiung and Hualien, Hu said.
Hu added that the Naka-mura incident showed that it would require comprehensive coordination among different government agencies to make the program a success.
"The long-stay program in Puli is merely a local effort. Many of the problems are beyond the town's administrative control," Hu said.
The government has appointed the tourism bureau underof the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to develop the long-stay program. But the bureau seemed rather lukewarm about promoting the program.
"We have to consider the overall development of the tourism industry," ministry representative Huang Ching-hui (
Nevertheless, the ministry will incorporate the program into its global marketing strategy for the nation's tourism industry, he said.
Puli, meanwhile, is trying to improve its long-stay program.
Cho Cheng-hsiang (卓振祥), head of the town's tourism bureau, said that program operators were being evaluated for the quality of service they provide so that recommendations could be made to Japan's long-stay service providers. The town has created a logo featuring a carp design for stores that have been proven to be tourist-friendly.
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