Sat, Mar 10, 2001 page8

• Letters

  Hau a step backward

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  The appointment of Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to head the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is a backward step for Taiwan.

  His support for the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四) shows he has little respect for or understanding of environmental issues. As head of the EPA how will he deal responsibly with issues related to the storage of nuclear waste? Given his unquestioning acceptance of the need for a new nuclear power plant and opposition to a referendum on the fourth plant. He has obviously given little thought to the issue.

  How does Hau's appointment fit in with Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) vision for a Green Silicon Island? The head of the EPA should be a key Cabinet position filled by someone with a bold vision for a greener future. Hau's appointment has reduced the position to a joke.

  David Reid

  Hobart, Australia

  Culture matters

  I read your excellent feature on culture ("Culture matters. Or does it?", Mar. 3, page 11) and would like to react. I have taught at universities in Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan for eight years and I am presently a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii.

  I have read the Harrison and Huntington book Culture Matters and found it most interesting. The logic of the authors is flawed, however, because they fail to distinguish between culturally similar expectations across cultures and culturally different behaviors that are linked to those expectations in each unique culture.

  Their argument implies that only "successful" cultures value success. Is there any culture or country that does not value safety, success and trust? While most, if not all, countries and cultures share similar basic expectations, they each express their expectations differently, through their own learned behaviors. Some patterns of behavior work better than others in the global context.

  The problem is not in "bad" values but rather in less effective behaviors that are used to express those shared common ground values in some cultures. The good news is that we can teach new behaviors that express old and traditional cultural values. Cultures are not condemned to failure because of their values. They are condemned by their lack of access to new behaviors that can express their traditional values more effectively in the global context.

  All behaviors are learned and displayed in a cultural context. Accurate assessment, meaningful understanding and appropriate intervention must recognize the importance of the consumer's cultural context or it will fail. Interpreting behaviors outside the context where those behaviors were learned and are displayed is the first step onto the slippery slope of racism. Harrison and Huntington had it right. Culture does matter. They have it wrong, however, when they evaluate every other culture's behavior from their own "self-reference criterion" of their own foreign cultural context.

  Paul B. Pedersen

  Honolulu, Hawaii

  Seek sustainable solutions

  John Diedrichs makes two excellent points (Letters, Mar. 7, page 8), namely, the absence of conservation of electricity in Taiwan and the possibility that if alternative energy were fully utilized there would be an electricity glut.

  The wind generator, fuel cell and solar collector market is an arena with low barriers to entry, a place for the Taiwan economy to create a market rather than just be market driven. The technology has already been developed and designs are available off the shelf. Fuel cell technology is now being fine-tuned. Taiwan light industry could quickly become the world leader in alternative energy in a sustainable market of products and services. Diedrichs' arithmetic gets a little fuzzy, however. Shouldn't the costs of the electricity from the nuclear power plant be calculated over a 20-year period of 24 hours a day kilowatt-hours?

  Also, for my home, I would have to wait 10 years to realize the savings of a fuel cell that costs the same as "an economy car." No fuel cell maintenance costs were mentioned in the letter. The power plant has become a political question on the crux between economic boom and bust. Sustainable solutions must be sought, rather than a quick buck fix.

  Warren Weappa

  Yung-ho City
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