More nonsense from Apple Daily

Yesterday I noticed that the Apple Daily had a sensationalist story about how a government website had a guide for foreigners to pick up women in Taiwan. I knew that (a) the story was bullshit and (b) this was precisely the sort of thing ESWN loves, since it makes Taiwan look low-class...and sure enough, he picked it up. As the Taipei Times correctly pointed out today, the website did not dispense advice for foreigners in particular:

Contrary to the Apple Daily's report, the column did not specifically state that it was designed to help foreigners pick up girls in Taipei. It was presented as a broader "guide to attract women" for guys who want to "meet [their] Cinderella."

I've discussed in the past on several occasions the perils of ESWN relying on a tabloid newspaper owned by Hong Kong Chinese to represent what is going on in Taiwan. ESWN will no doubt claim that Apple Daily is the number 1 selling paper and thus accurately portrays Taiwan opinion. But it is easy to sell papers if you put SEX! in big letters on the front page, and can just make up stories. There is a reason here why so many of us read serious papers like the Taipei Times, the Liberty Times, the China Times, and not the tabloids.....

ESWN goes on to recall the past:

Four years ago, there was an erotic guide (極樂台灣) to Taiwan published for
Japanese sex tourists. Taipei was characterized as a city in which sex could be bought anytime anywhere (春城無處不飛花). This caused Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou that to promise that he will arrest every single Japanese sex tourist. He also recommended the central government to stamp 'prostitute patron' into the passports of all arrested sex tourists. That was all bluster, of course, but Ma did have a very practical piece of action -- he mobilized the Taipei City police to sweep through all the locations listed in the guide!

ESWN neglects to mention that this was one of the good mayor Ma's finer moments. The police duly arrested a Japanese man for soliciting a prostitute. The whole affair seemed like a set-up -- the assignation taking place in a local hotel, and the pro a woman from China (subtext: prostitution is a foreign problem of those lecherous Japanese and slatternly imported Chinese). Much egg took up residence on Ma's face when it turned out that it is not illegal to solicit a prostitute in Taiwan, only to be one, and the hapless Japanese tourist had to be let go. A more thoroughgoing illustration of the double standards enacted into law here could hardly be found. BTW, it should noted that the previous mayor of Taipei, Chen Shui-bian, now the President, had shut down the brothels in the city. When Ma was elected, they quietly re-opened. It is easy to see what kind of Taiwan we will have under Ma....

UPDATE: Feiren noted over at Forumosa.com

The China Times is reporting this afternoon that City Hall has tranferred John Lee, the Taiwanese author of "Macking in Taipei," issued a demerit to the superviser, orally reprimanded Luo Zhi-cheng, the head of the department of information, and fired the foreigner (John Bucher ??) in charge of the Department's English web site

So, Chewie, I guess that what you mean by Ma's sticking up for foreigners. Well, I'm sorry to see the foreign editor treated so unfairly, but at least all the Ma-lovers can see his true colors. The article goes on to say that Luo explained this morning that John Lee, who is doing his alternative military service at City Hall "did not understand City Hall's position or Taiwan's society (guo2qing2)." The supervisor "did understand City Hall's position and Taiwanese society, but doesn't speak English." I can't wait till Ma and his clowns are running the country.

UPDATE: John Bucher, the fired editor, had a letter in the China Post explaining what the whole article was about:

Apology for 'Macking' comment on Internet site
2006/01/27
John J. Bucher Chief Editor, Department of Information Taipei City Government

I sincerely apologize to anyone offended by the recent "Macking in Taipei" articles on Taipei City Government's English Corner website; my posting them was an error in judgment. But the Apple Daily and other local news outlets have make critical mistakes in their reporting of the incident. Chief among these is the fact that "Macking" was not intended for "lao-wai." The articles were written for ESL students (most foreigners already speak English) by a Taiwanese, John Lee.

English Corner exists to improve the English (colloquial and otherwise) of the citizens of Taipei; the media misunderstanding of the word "mack" proves the need for such a site. Although "mack," like all words, has shades of connotation, I believe most foreigners would agree that in meaning it comes closest to "flirt." It is not an explicitly sexual term, as the Apple Daily and others have suggested it is.

The title of the original Apple article — "City Government Website Teaches Foreigners to Womanize" — is plainly deceptive. Nowhere in "Macking" were the words "hunt," "play," or "cheat" — anything that could be translated as "womanize." Likewise, there was no mention of bars, clubs, or other places some foreigners congregate; there was no mention of foreigners at all. The Taiwanese media's focus on sex, drinking, and bars underscores the fact that they need to work harder to understand foreigners, as well as foreign language and culture.

Meeting men and women is a topic of natural interest, especially to young people, and our team at City Hall made an honest effort to help locals learn English about a topic applicable to their daily lives. I regret the criticism that this has brought Taipei, my team, and Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, but I believe that the Apple Daily and other news outlets should admit that they have misreported the facts and done much to damage the relationship between foreigners and locals in Taiwan.

Sorry, John, I doubt you'll see an apology from Apple Daily any time soon. No, I suspect that they will print even more outrageous nonsense. This kind of thing feeds upon itself......

UPDATE: David at jujuflop takes apart Apple and ESWN as well.

[Taiwan] [media] [ESWN] [Ma Ying-jeou]