I’ve asked many Taiwanese people whether the foreigners who live here should learn Chinese. On the whole, people don’t seem bothered. “If they want to, they can”… I then ask whether foreigners need to learn about Taiwanese culture, or adapt to Taiwanese lifestyles, and on this, people’s responses are even more blasé. It would be a smart move, seems to be the majority opinion, but only very rarely will someone describe it as a moral obligation. In fact, many people act surprised if I display any local knowledge at all.
This attitude seems completely different to how my home, England, thinks about foreigners. We are multi-cultural in many ways (the country’s favourite dish is Chicken Tikka Masala), but we are also deeply uncomfortable about our multi-culturalism. We believe in assimilation: that foreigners living bein England should, to some extent, become English. You should learn to speak the language, perfectly, and you should not ask for too many exceptions to the rules. Sometimes, the deal on offer seems even narrower than this: either you choose to be English, or you shouldn’t be here. This was exemplified by Norman Tebbit’s infamous “Cricket Test”. In 1990, this Conservative party politician suggested the idea that Asian immigrants be asked whom they would support in a cricket match – England or their home country. Tebbit believed that most of them would “fail” this test. While the Cricket Test has been mocked ever since (especially as Scotland and Wales have their own national teams for many sports), most English people can understand the logic behind it; it is an English question to ask. It indicates the framework of our multi-culturalism: the belief that, despite religious and racial variations, one size should, in the end, fit all.
However, the Cricket Test does not seem to be a Taiwanese question. When I ask if Taiwan needs a Cricket Test of its own (“In international sporting events, should foreigners living here support Taiwan, or their home country”?), people look at me as if I’ve gone mad. One size does not need to fit all in Taiwan; foreigners do not need to assimilate. While the answers are different if I ask about other Asian nationalities living in Taiwan, still, generally people do not require them to “become Taiwanese”. Foreigners cannot become Taiwanese. There is a gulf between “us” and “them” which cannot be bridged.
Westerners in Taiwan experience this gulf as the “Chopsticks Phenomenon”: the assumption of many locals that you cannot adjust to life here in any way; that you cannot even use chopsticks (the other day, a helpful bus driver explained to me that when the green man appeared, I could cross the road). And although many foreigners get angry about this, as if it’s an implication that you’re a moron, I no longer see it that way. When I talk to Taiwanese people about how they’d adapt to life in another country, they often portray it as just as daunting a challenge for them. I’ve asked students if they’d like to live with an American family for a while, for example, and frequently I get back a list of potential problems: “How will I communicate with them?”; “What if they eat cold food for lunch?” And even friends and colleagues who consider me an intelligent, well-travelled person still offer me the most basic advice about navigating Taiwan. The majority Taiwanese view of multi-culturalism seems to be that foreigners exist on the outside of society - not because of some personal stupidity of the foreigners, but because of inevitability, and therefore people are happy to accommodate you. No one requires you to have your own “chop” (your personal stamp), for example – go to the bank and you can sign your name on documents, just like at home.
It’s an incredibly tolerant attitude. No one expects you to change; your life is your own business. When I talk to people about, for instance, nightclubs, they’ll quickly mention how these are places for Western boys to have one night stands with Taiwanese girls. I ask if we should close down nightclubs, in that case, or if they feel angry with Westerners for behaving like this – most people say no. If you are doing something unusual in public, you’ll get a lot of stares, but you’re unlikely to be told to stop doing it. Either people see it as none of their business, or they just expect foreigners to do weird, unsavoury things. Taiwan, in this sense, is far more multicultural than England will ever be.
Of course, being on the outside can be frustrating, no matter how pleasant it is. I’m not sure whether I want to stay in Taiwan long term, partly because I don’t want to perpetually be such an alien. But what’s even sadder is that when Taiwanese people go to England, I suspect they’re also disappointed. In Taiwan, I want to be given the eventual opportunity to assimilate, and I probably won’t get it; the Taiwanese probably go to England expecting the same deal that they offer foreigners - endless patience with language, to be treated like a respected guest, to be helped out with all kinds of little problems - and they probably aren’t going to get what they want, either. We all, when we travel abroad, expect to find what we have at home; we are always disappointed.
Comments
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October 1, 2007 4:24 AM
Trubadour
I agree with you inasmuch as you say that the Taiwanese are accommodating to us, especially regarding language difficulties and perhaps other things such as banking, though I've never seen anyone have to stamp their transactions, Taiwanese or otherwise.
However, I think you accidentally posit the 'cricket test' as some kind of comonly practiced test of an English persons' acceptance of a non-native resident in England. Indeed your comprehension of 'multi-culturalism' in England completely misses the actual meaning of the concept.
I do not, at this point, want to get into a point by point deconstruction of your argument. It should suffice to say that the principles of 'multi-culturalism' which is the norm in England, is completely opposite to the 'cricket test,' of which, until now, I had heard nothing.
Your appreciation of the natural, practical and very human way the Taiwanese deal with non-natives is admirable and completely understandable. I, for one, certainly appreciate their easy-going attitude.
However, I think you have to admit that England is, historically and currently, one of the most culturally diverse societies on earth (and one of the most successful, in terms of intercultural relations). This has not come about by any kind of 'cricket test' that any non-native resident has ever been subject to, neither formally nor informally.
Thus, though I appreciate your account of the positive experiences living here, I must ask you to concede that the 'cricket test' is in no way a valid representation of the typical British attitude towards foreigners. In fact, the diversity of cultural heritage of those who live in the UK is largely respected and appreciated, even if unconsciously; the fact of which is further testimony to its normality.
March 25, 2008 1:20 AM