PREJUDICE
“I got a lot of telephone calls every day, but many of them were by strange men seeking special sexual services,” she said.
“Some people thought the worst of my business and claimed I would end up in the sex business, despite the massage signboard on my clinic,” she said.
Nothing, however, compared with the distress she has felt over a failing marriage. She and her husband are separated.
“If life could start over again, I wonder whether I would have come this far … even for love,” Liu said.
Despite the professional and personal setbacks, she refused to succumb to negative thoughts and decided to bravely confront her future.
Liu made sure to give her customers the best and most professional massage she could, employing the skills and techniques she learned in Taiwan. She developed a loyal clientele, even as attacks characterizing her business as a brothel continued.
“Maybe my sincerity and service really touched them. Many customers who complained jokingly of my ‘torture’ began introducing their friends and relatives to my clinic,” she said.
To compete with other massage shops (many of which are run by people from former republics), she herself visited their shops and had a massage at each to learn about different techniques and to perfect her own skills. Her efforts have paid off.
“Aside from more tips, now some customers will bring me gifts on traditional Jewish holidays, thanking me for my service,” she said. “When customers give me the thumbs up, that is their highest praise to me and my native Taiwan.”
Although Liu’s massage clinic has established itself in Ashkelon, her major goal is still to popularize qigong in Israel.
“As qigong and yoga are based on a similar theory that stresses the importance of breathing and exercising one’s inner energy, I do believe that qigong will become equally popular in Israel,” she said.
To date, however, she has made little progress in her quest except for Tel Aviv, where she opened a qigong class.
Reflecting on her time in the Middle Eastern country, she surveyed a field of golden wheat undulating in the breeze next to her home and described it as symbolizing her struggles over the years.
But driven by a firm desire to succeed, Liu insists she will not succumb to economic problems, missiles or cultural bias and said she is prepared to ride on the crest of the next wave and help qigong make inroads into the daily lives of Israelis.
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