While the media has been going all out to stoke Hello Kitty fever, and so-called "culture critics" are busy debating whether the mouthless stuffed kitty brings "true" or "false" well-being, something that cannot be more real has quietly happened.
Taking advantage of Hello Kitty's popularity, the bank that issues Hello Kitty credit cards has allegedly generated deposits worth more than NT$5.09 billion, and it has issued some 127,000 credit cards in less than six months. Although it has been raking in all this money, the bank reportedly has laid off more than 20 employees.
Article 11 of the Labor Standards Law stipulates the following conditions for terminating employment contracts: first, when the employer closes or transfers the ownership of a business; second, when the employer suffers a loss or business reduction; third, when the employer temporarily stops his or her business for unavoidable reasons for more than one month; fourth, when the employer has changed the nature of his business, and there is a need to reduce the work force, and there are no positions available for those workers; fifth, when the employer has been proved unqualified for his or her job.
This bank, while making a killing, obviously has illegally laid off employees, falling back on the excuse of "business trimming." On one hand, it laid off many old employees; on the other hand, it hired new employees. It used this strategy to get rid of pensions and bonuses.
This is an old trick that is widely employed by Taiwan's capitalists. What this bank has done is not any different than what employers have done countless other times. It is absurd that the bank's management has been innovative in using of a fad to make money, but remains so traditional in exploiting its employees and in profiteering at the expense of the public.
According to the latest reports, the employees that are to be laid off and their labor union are negotiating with management, which is willing to follow the example of retirement annuities to handle the case. But no matter what offer management puts forth, these people who had stable incomes will have lost their jobs. So-called preferential lay-offs are just a scheme management uses to cover the illegality of their lay-offs and the exploitation of their employees.
On Aug. 15, Hu Ching-fuang (胡晴舫), a culture critic, published an article on the opinion page of the China Times, a Chinese-language newspaper. Hu said: "If everyone is obliged to serve the colossal ideologies of public interest and national groups at all times, then personal freedom will suffer in proportion. People will have no time or energy to stand in queues to purchase Hello Kitty."
Hu's remarks are harsh to the eye. Is the innocent-looking Hello Kitty truly free from "colossal ideologies" as this pro-pop culture critic has said? Although the mass media have been scrambling to praise pop culture and people have been lining up hours just for a bankbook or credit card, what is the thinking and behavior behind Hello Kitty that dominates modern society?
Hello Kitty does not have a mouth. Some said that its success lies in this face without a mouth which allows people to project various moods onto it. It comforts people and is everybody's friend. But when we get our stuffed toy, bankbook or credit card, maybe we should take a closer look at the part-time workers at the McDonald's or at the clerks at the bank. Theirs, perhaps, are faces without a voice.
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