The Taipei City Government’s Department of Labor Affairs yesterday promised to strengthen inspections on illegal work cases of white-collar foreign workers after a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilor accused a foreign English-language teacher of moonlighting as a male stripper.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Hung Chien-yi (洪健益) said the teacher from England registered his workplace in Hsinchu County. However, he was also found working as a male stripper under the stage name Eric in nightclubs in Taipei City.
The teacher’s illegal work status was exposed after he was involved in a dispute with a 27-year-old Taipei resident surnamed Wu (吳) at Taipei Wanhua Sports Center on Sunday, Wu said.
According to Wu, the person shouted at front desk staff at the center who would not let him in because he failed to bring a towel. Wu tried to resolve the situation, but was “almost involved in a physical confrontation” with the foreigner, who threatened to hurt him.
“He said he was a gangster and I would pay for not minding my own business ... I later found out that not only was he an English teacher, but also a male stripper. This is not appropriate behavior for a foreign English teacher,” Wu told a press conference at Taipei City Council.
Hung accused the foreigner of threatening Taiwanese and ignoring the country’s laws by illegally moonlighting, urging the Taipei City Government and the Taipei City Police Department to clamp down on the illegal jobs of so-called white-collar foreign workers.
“Taiwan is a friendly country and we welcome foreigners to work and live here legally. What we do not allow is any acts of disrespect toward Taiwanese and illegal acts from people like ‘Mr Eric,’” he said. “Illegal working does not only happen with foreign laborers from Southeast Asian countries. Instead of targeting those foreign laborers, the Department of Labor Affairs needs to strengthen its inspection of foreign workers from other countries.”
Chen Hui-chi (陳惠琪), a division chief at the department, said the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) stipulated that foreigners must work in accordance with the job title and description listed on their work permits and that the department would work with the Hsinchu County Government to inspect the person’s work permit to see if “Eric” had broken the law.
“Moonlighting as a male stripper is obviously a violation of the law because he should only work as an English teacher as the work permit allows,” she said.
Foreigners who break the law the act would have their work permit revoked and be deported immediately, she said.
Information from the department showed that there are more than 30,000 foreign white-collar workers and more than 40,000 foreign laborers in Taipei. Chen said there was a lack of manpower for the inspection of foreign workers, with only three civil servants responsible for checking the work permits of white-collar foreign workers, while there are 27 staff who inspect the work status of blue-collar foreign laborers.
“Statistically, there are more legal violations by foreign laborers, but we will work harder to inspect the work status of foreign workers to prevent any violations from that group as well,” she said.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS