No other foreign religious tradition has been so bastardized and commercialized in today's Taiwan as Christmas.
Department stores tune into what they call Christmas at least four weeks ahead of time with decoration and background music. My favorite bakery around the corner sprayed its windows last week with something that from a distance resembles "Merry Christmas."
Some pubs and restaurants downtown -- they want to be hip -- proudly sport their all-year-round Christmas decorations. Let alone the nonsense decoration in convenience stores, fast food and discount drugstore chains. Still, all this is nothing compared to the craziness that starts on Christmas Eve.
I was looking for a place to have supper in a decent, not too loud restaurant. A neat little Italian tavern on the outskirts of Taipei came to my mind and I called to reserve a table. The friendly voice on the other end asked me whether I would like to order.
"How can I order without seeing the menu," I asked, confusedly.
"I'll read it for you and you just tell me."
Off she goes: "Sirloin Steak, Chicken Steak, Lobster Plate, Turkey ...."
I thought I had dialed the wrong number and interrupted her, "Wait wait, wait! What about lasagna, pizza, ravioli...?!?"
They wouldn't serve that tonight. Tonight would be their "Christmas Special."
I hung up, not before mumbling a frustrated "forget it."
Since I had made up my mind for something Italian, I actually went to a dinner place that has the word "pizza" in its name. No need to call, I thought. Big mistake.
When I entered, I wondered at the small number of people scattered around the usually packed place. I sat down and was presented a leather clad menu. Decorated with mistletoe,bells and Santa Clauses. Oh sugar.
Steak this and special that.
I asked for the ordinary menu. With pizzas and noodles on it.
"Uh, sorry sir, but tonight we have Christmas Special...."
I felt like an idiot. It took me two and a half hours to reach the place in evening rush hour traffic and then this. I closed the menu a little more noisily than I should have and got up, leaving the place in frustration.
"I guess, I need a drink," I said to myself and hit the road again, heading for a bar that surely wouldn't let me down.
In my mind I had already given up the romantic supper idea. I also didn't have the heart to call my first choice Mexican restaurant, probably fearing to be told they would only serve French cuisine tonight -- as their "Christmas Special."
An hour later -- still hadn't got a bite since breakfast, because I had missed lunch, expecting the sumptuous supper -- I stood at the entrance of an underground music pub which has a live band nightly, but doesn't have the usually outraging cover charge. Two bulky youths blocked the entrance, one pointing at a quickly drawn poster beside him: Band A playing from 9pm to 12pm. Band B playing from 1am to 4am. X'mas activities. Dance performance. Cover charge = NT$1,500
I gasped for air.
"This is ten times more than you usually charge!" I yelled at the bulk, surprised at my own courage.
"Yeah," he goes coolly, "but today is Christmas...."
That's it. I gave up. Forget the silent supper, the relaxing drink, the live band, the I-don't-know-what I had expected. Still hungry, I slowly walked down the road, looking for some public transportation to take me home.
If the bus driver had grinned at me and said there was a special Christmas fare tonight, I would have jumped off a bridge or something. But he didn't. And I didn't.
Now what in the world does all this have to do with Christmas?
Business? My only explanation for it. In case of the restaurant with the word "pizza" in its name, I'm sure they didn't do their usual business. Less than half the regular crowd. Plus one future customer lost.
I didn't see inside the pub and didn't care to check out the Italian restaurant serving steaks.
As thoughts of revenge welled up in me, I hoped they didn't make the dough they expected to make. Where is your sense of business, guys, when you drive away customers?
Whether they learned a lesson or not, I don't know. I'm inclined to doubt it. We'll see next year. On Christmas Eve.
Norbert Ruf
Fu Jen University, Hsinchuang
Applause for tree lovers
As a tree lover, I was inspired and encouraged by the report about Julia Hill, who success-fully completed her personal protest against a timber company by perching atop a giant California redwood tree for two years (Dec. 20, Page 7).
Her protest was indeed a work of art. It also shows us that even when facing a timber company, a young girl, simply through her willpower and love for trees, can be very powerful and belittle a giant organization.
Just as human beings have rights, so do trees. If we ignore the rights of trees, how can we wholeheartedly support human rights?
To some extent, a functional social system is based on the harmonious relationship between human beings and trees.
One of the criteria by which we judge whether the living standards of a community are high or not is by whether that community grows plenty of trees.
Ni Kuo-jung (倪國榮)
Hsinchu
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS