Taiwan's Domestic Caretakers

By Gregory K. Taylor

One of the ways to judge the wealth of a nation is by the number of foreigners recruited to enter that country to work. Domestic importation of workers, usually from poorer countries, is often done through recruitment agencies and brokers. The number of domestic workers can, and often does, run into the hundreds of thousands for any given country. As household income rises the housework responsibilities that used to fall on the shoulders of the housewife is now relegated to the live-in domestic. This new unskilled labor force, particularly the females, are consigned to a variety of household duties, such as, cooking, laundry, ironing, shopping, and caring for the children and elderly parents. In Taiwan, most domestics are “live-in” with room and board calculated as part of their salary.

The potential for abuse is high when the employee's work visa is strictly dependent on the largess, goodwill, and sometimes whim of the employer as it is in Taiwan. Working hours and days off, if at all, can be ad hoc and arbitrary at best without the benefit of overtime compensation while a less than hospitable environment can be par for the course. The laments of some Taiwanese, particularly the younger generation, regarding this unfavorable work environment only confirms the ill-treatment meted out by some employers. How effectual the government is in regulating such abuses is unknown, but the fact that these abusive practices exist belies the regulatory statutes on the books.

Protesting Filipinos for a minimum wage in Taiwan

Attempts to interview a cross-section of imported domestic workers both Filipina and Indonesian were met with a palpable concern, if not, fear of speaking with a foreigner about their working conditions. The following response was copied and pasted verbatim from an email sent to me in response to an interview request, “sorry Mr Greg everyday I'm very busy, must takecare grandfather&grandmother so I'm really no time to go outside meet you I'm so sorry”

Indonesians near the MRT station Taipei, Taiwan

This individual indicated that she gets no days off and is always at the beck and call of her live-in employer. If this is true this surely is an abusive employer/employee relationship by most standards in the developed world. This isn't to indict all domestic employers in Taiwan because many employees, if not most, get days off. Sunday mass at St. Christopher's Catholic Church in “Little Manila” and the countless Indonesians that congregate near the main MRT train station on any given Sunday bears witness to that fact.

Many employers have fair and friendly relationships with their domestic helpers, but as usual it only takes a few to taint the entire group. Below is a statistic regarding the immigrant work force in Taiwan.

Filipinos and Thais used to dominate Taiwan's foreign worker market, now Indonesians make up the majority of foreign workers in Taiwan - up to 40 per cent of the record number of 420,0931 people according to the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA)


Gregory Taylor is currently in Taiwan

Laundromats Come to Taiwan

 

By Gregory K. Taylor

Laundromats have finally come to Taiwan, and with them the ability to dry clothes in a matter of minutes instead of waiting for the wind and sun to do the job. This is a triumph of convenience and comfort considering that most residents have been hanging their wet clothing on balconies or in sun drenched windows for decades. One finds the quality of drying in a humid environment ranging from almost dry but not quite, with mold and mildew possibilities, to rigor mortis dry. Space in a densely populated area is a premium and extended clothes lines, with the exception of a communal drying green, are not feasible.

Balcony Drying

As America grew and prospered (post WWII), housing developers raced to keep pace with these burgeoning families. A new demand for more efficient modes of transportation brought about the automobile in every garage, user-friendly lawn grooming introduced the power mower, a streamlined irrigation system established the in-ground sprinkler, and a means to dry one's clothing within 30 minutes of being washed ushered in the home dryer. 

However, even today mostly in rural areas, where distance and poverty preclude the use of a public laundromat, one must string rope/cable through a pulley, anchored to a structure, tethered to another structure like a barn or garage. One can still find hill hoists, clotheshorses, and drying racks of different variations in urban and suburban America.

One wouldn't have seen this picture 4yrs. ago in Taiwan

2012, finds Asia and most of the developing world, still relying heavily on mother nature to dry its clothing. Relatively small housing space prevents the widespread installation of in-home dryer hookups. So, personal dryers are still sometime off for the foreseeable future even though many in both China and Taiwan have in-home washers.

LG Silver Washer And Dryer Combo

24hr.coin operated laundromat

Since this writer has been visiting China and Taiwan (1997), I have often wondered why no one has opened up a public laundromat. Surely, they are aware of this advancement in the remaining developed world? And, the money to be made only would have the sky as the limit. So, this year when I came back to Taiwan, I was pleasantly surprised that some business person(s) had decided to invest in and build a series of laundromats. Someone finally saw a need and filled it—not to mention filling/lining his pockets too. Now, if I can only convince someone to deodorize public bathrooms with a urinal deodorizer disinfectant block—they too can get rich without reinventing the wheel.

Gregory K. Taylor is currently Taiwan