KNN passed around this Global Views survey on how China and Taiwan see each other...1. Do you like Hu Jintao? (Question asked in Taiwan)
Yes 30.4%
No 44.2%
Don’t know 25.4%
2. Do you like Ma Ying-jeou? (Question asked in China)That one was kinda predictable... but a couple of other questions are more interesting...
Yes 71.5%
No 15.2%
Don’t know 13.3%
3. How do you regard the people on the Mainland? (Question asked in Taiwan)The question on Taiwan's "ultimate destiny" revealed the most, I think. While just 16.1% thought Taiwan would be "reunified", and less than 10% said we'd wind up independent, some 60% thought the status quo be the ultimate destiny of Taiwan. Apparently a large chunk of the electorate thinks that tomorrow will be just like today, only more so.
They are business partners 53.6%
They are friends 13.3%
4. How do you regard the people on Taiwan? (Question asked in China)
They are family and relatives 52.3%
They are business partners 16.2%
7. Do you want to buy products from the Mainland? If so, what do you want to buy? (Question asked in Taiwan)
Yes 43.9%
Foodstuff or local specialties 4.2%
Art work 3%
No 56.1%
8. Do you want to buy products from Taiwan? If so, what do you want to buy? (Question asked in China)
Yes 99.9%
Local specialties 53.2%
Garments and name-brand goods 27.3%
Electronic products 24.9%
Cars or motorcycles 15.9%
Books or CDs 10.8%
No 0.1%
_____________
Daily Links:
- Another KMT legislator's election annulled for hijinks.
- Acer featured in NYTimes.
- Seriously: people out there appear to be concerned that their children will be corrupted by being in class with Chen Shui-bian's 6 year old grandchild.
- Local photographer Craig Ferguson does a photo critique on how to process a photo.
- No, I don't think "adogah" is a racist term, but Dan Bloom looks at it. UPDATE: My confusion, Dan doesn't think it is racist.
- The Northwest Pacific region, including Taiwan, may face fewer typhoons this year.
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
What is more interesting about Acer is the news from today'S TT that Acer can't act fast enough to kowtow to the Chinese government' regulations that require Green Dam to be installed. http://tinyurl.com/namupw It is not simply pornography which Green Dam will stop, but sexual health sites (which is not only sad, but dangerous), and, no doubt, sites that are critical of the Chinese government. No doubt the software is just like spyware, or is spyware. There are reports that GD is unstable. No doubt it acts as spyware, and is more Orwellian than Orwell himself could have conceived.
ReplyDeleteAha, aha, ahahahaha! Status quo forever baby!
ReplyDeleteI always suspected something along these lines; people have got to start thinking about tomorrow!
I am Taiwanese American. A few of my relatives call me adoah (half-joking). I can't believe that people think of it as racist.
ReplyDeleteAnybody else notice the non-parallel nature of questions 3 and 4? Taiwanese were asked if Chinese were "friends" while Chinese were asked if Taiwanese were "family and relatives" (which is redundant) -- unless they were open-ended questions. If that were so, however, I'd expect to see more than just two kinds of answers from each side.
ReplyDeleteI can't find the original poll on Global Views' web site. If anybody finds it, please post a link. I'm curious what the actual wording of those questions looks like.
BTW, I'd venture a guess that to most people, "status quo" means "continued independence." I don't think the people who want to maintain the "status quo" wish to keep that other part about constant pressure from and belittling by China on the international stage -- oh, and the continually-increasing number of missiles targeting Taiwan.
Tim Maddog
Tim Maddog
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteI saw your note re my saying or thinking that adoah is racist. I never said or wrote that. Did I? If i did, i mis-spoke, but I don't think i ever said that. I don't use the word racism lightly and i don;t think the Taiwanese people are racists. ADOAH falls under a different topic subject theme: cute affectionate embedded slang terms that are now part of the local culture, but which might not be so appropriate in today's world of 2009. Back in 1960, sure. Even 20 years ago, maybe the word still made sense. Well, it always makes sense to the speakers of the term, they love it. Jacky Wu loves it. But language evolves, nations evolve, and well, read this below:
i read on your blog somehwere you said i felt ADOAH word was racist, not me, i never said that, did I? I just said the word might not be such a good word in today's world....i never said it was racist.. where did I say that... JASON COX said he does not mind the word at all, but does feel it is racist, he made the comment on my blog......
what's ur feeling.....on adoah? do ou ever hear the word there? Alsion In Greence told me the word does not bother you at all. is that true? and if it doesn't that;'s cool....not everybody reactrs to ADOAH the same way....i am in the middle,,,,, read this note to DAVID heRE
and do comment. My letter to editor appeaed in Lib Times today, huge response, over 100 comments to me today from local readers, i have no idea what they said. SMILE
cheers
Danny
http://pcofftherails101.blogspot.com
David, cc MT:
ReplyDeletehttp://pcofftherails101.blogspot.com
Thanks for posting this note and the poll info, which was very
interesting, I thought. My long article in the Taipei Times appeared
in the Liberty Times on July 8, in Chinese translation by Shirley Tu,
a friend in Taipei (thanks, Shirley!) but the 1500 character letter to
the editor for the Liberty Times had to be cut to 700 characters for
space, they only allow a maximum of 800 characters, so much of the
original article's quotes from the two professors in Taiwan and the
editor in New Jersey had to be cut, and I felt their comments were the
main part of the story.
There seems to be some confusion on Michael Turton's part that I said
that the word adoah is racist, as far I can tell, I never said that
myself, I never use the word racism lightly, and I would never say
that the word adoah is racist, I need to ask Michael where he read
that I said or wrote that. All I was doing in that TT article and in
today's LT letter to the editor (which by the way has gotten over 100
spirited -- and sometimes ANGRY comments on my blog from Taiwanese
readers in Chinese, Taiwanese and English, go take a look, it's very
interesting, and I am glad to get all the feedback from Taiwanese
readers, that was my goal in all this, to learn from them what adoah
really means, and boy, I am being learned. They be learning me! It's
good.
Jason Cox said he felt the word adoah was racist in one of his
comments on my blog. I never heard the word as racist, I don't think
the Taiwanese are racists. I just feel that the word adoah, while cute
and charming and affectionate and intimate and warm and cuddly and
embedded as it is in Taiwanese culture, is a bit, what is the word,
bad-sounding, ill-sounding, to some foreigners' ears, especially when
said behind our backs or on TV or in the newspapers even. The word
itself is NOT bad, and when used it usually has no ill intentions, I
am quite sure, and now I am very sure -- read the comments on my blog,
see link, but the word ADOAH does have a history here, and it is not
always used in a warm and cuddly way. But to the speakers of the word,
the Taiwanese themselves, it is a funny and comic word to
describe....us! My point in the TT article and now the LT letter was
merely to say maybe the word when HEARD by SOME foreigners, NOT ALL,
does not sound so good when HEARD since we know the meaning of the
word. More and more Taiwnese are beginning to understand that the word
ADOAH is not so PC anymore in 2009. In 1970, sure, the word made sense
and was fittin. but now?
What's your take on the term? Ever heard it? In what situations? You
like it? You prefer to be called by another term? I will ask Professor
Turton, too. Beacuse I think he thinks i said the word is racist. It
is NOT racist. I never said that. I just think the word ought to be
retired from the airwaves and the public prints and maybe even from
the local vocabulary. But that's up to the Taiwanese to decide, not
me. I would never suggest deleting a word from their own language.
That's up to newspaper editors and TV show directors to decide. I am
just an observer here.
Your take on all this? And of course, it's a minor minor issue. Just
interesting from a language POV. --
Danny
and Michael here is another interesting poll taken about my adoah article in the TT after May 19:
ReplyDeleteby a professional poll firm in Taipei where a friend words. they did it for me for free:
Michael
POLL INFO is interesting here
DANNY
Editor's note: Readers may remember an article in the Taipei Times on May 19, 2009, ....After the article appeared, a poll was taken by a local
marketing firm in Taipei based on the article, and the results are, if
not conclusive, nevertheless very interesting.
The online poll was conducted by a TNS Taiwan, a Taipei marketing
firm, from May 22 to May 24, with about 25,000 Taiwanese people
participating, and with several
questions being asked.
When those polled were asked "Do you use the term 'adoah' to refer to
Caucasians?" the results were as follows: 45% said
they do use the
term while 55% said they do not use the term.
When people were asked "If you learned that this term of adoah was considered
offensive by some Westerners living in Taiwan, would you
stop using it?" the results were as follows:
93% said they would no
longer use the word "adoah" while 7% said they would continue to use
it.
In the poll, the total sample
size was 25,276 respondents, distributed in terms of age and gender
proportionately to the general population, with ages ranging from 13
to 64, according to the polling firm.
Here is another interesting poll to supplement the above one, this one taken by a poll firm in Taipei:
ReplyDeleteA new POLL OF TAIWANESE PEOPLE SAYS:
[Editor's note: Readers may remember an article that freelance
reporter Biko Lang in Taipei Times on May 19, 2009, which has been translated
now for the Liberty Times on July 8. After the article appeared, a poll was taken by a local
marketing firm in Taipei based on the article, and the results are, if
not conclusive, nevertheless very interesting....]
The online poll was conducted by a TNS Taiwan, a Taipei marketing
firm, from May 22 to May 24, with about 25,000 Taiwanese people
participating, and with several
questions being asked.
When those polled were asked "Do you use the term 'adoah' to refer to
Caucasians?" the results were as follows: 45% said
they do use the
term while 55% said they do not use the term.
When people were asked "If you learned that this term of adoah was considered
offensive by some Westerners living in Taiwan, would you
stop using it?" the results were as follows:
93% said they would no
longer use the word "adoah" while 7% said they would continue to use
it.
In the poll, the total sample
size was 25,276 respondents, distributed in terms of age and gender
proportionately to the general population, with ages ranging from 13
to 64, according to the polling firm.