How has your life changed in Taiwan

This question would take a book to answer properly. Especially considering that Taiwan's genesis was an anomaly caused by the Nationalists being defeated by their compatriot communists around 1949. On a scale of 0-10, my outlook and mental well-being have been impacted off the scale by expatriation to Taiwan. But then isn't the world still the wackiest planet in the cosmos? I've been chronicling my life and local news over the years coupled with my observations. The below is one of many articles.

Incidentally in the mid-1980s the Taiwanese authorities turned a blind eye while a massive Ponzi scheme ran inside a big office at a major intersection in Taipei for some 7 years, before intervening as the scam started to unravel.

How would any local or expat react to such law enforcement? And how would one's perspective and rational mind cope? It may be appropriate to get input from former president Chen Shueh-bien, who has been released on medical leave while serving time for money laundering and various other financial crimes.

If one can bear the constant smog and traffic noise in Taipei, then this city may be, depending on one's inclination, one of the most convenient globally, with the highest density of convenience stores reportedly. An ATM in many areas is only a few steps away, ditto for an MRT station. The city-organized community centers offer affordable exercise facilities as pool, gym etc.

But if an expat is working like a local, making US$4 or so hourly of minimum wage, then the long-term prospect is bleak. A brand new bachelor suite in the better parts of Taipei is easily US$200,000 or more.     
     

Soft-selling ESL Textbooks?

Another page from my years in Taipei that has colored my perspective.

My first job in Taipei was with a publisher who wanted to explore the textbook market in Taiwan. It was owned and run by a couple in their late 40s. The wife is the daughter of the principle of a bottom-rung university known for their foreign-language faculty and "open-minded" women.

One day I was called to the boss' office. The chatter that ensued right away rang alarm bells in me. The guy first waved his superiority in my face by stating that he studied for his master's in the US. "So what" was my tacit reaction as any twit can do the same given enough bucks. Then he queried if I wanted to know the topic of his thesis, to which I said no. That was probably the beginning to my eventual departure from the company.

They also had on staff as "consultant" a legislator who looked like a two-bit schmuck. He admitted that he looked repulsive with his unevely-sized eyes, inappropriate Beatle's haircut and holier-than-thou demeanor. The legislators in Taiwan are literally above the law as they have impunity and can intervene as a protector of criminals.

The boss said that I looked boyishly-young for a guy 29. He then said that there are a lot of suckers and yokels in Taiwan who would believe that English can be learnt easily and in the short-term. So he proposed to dress me up in a high school uniform, a crew cut and have me paraded as the poster boy for their textbooks.

So the marketing ploy would be to sell David as the success story to gullible students. Look at David! He studied our textbooks and became fluent in English in only four weeks!!

He even said that eventually the suckers would catch on but I'd only suffer perhaps a beating or two by gangs of students. For the money to be made, it'd be worth it.

He then asked me to think about it, adding that nobody would believe me if I blew the whistle as he had closed the door to his office while revealing his fly-by-night scheme.