"Hello! My name is Wendy. The big earthquake was terrifying, I was in tears that night. What can I do? I really miss home."

"I'm David. My family phoned and wants me to go back to the Philippines, but I can't leave my job just like that. I'm really worried there's going to be an even bigger quake."

For a long time after the 9/21 earthquake everyone was anxious about the possibility of another big one, particularly the foreign laborers-cut off from society by the language barrier and unable to find out what was happening. For many foreign workers, call-in shows on the English-language radio station ICRT provided an important outlet. In order to ease their concerns, the Government Information Office quickly released a series of booklets in English, Thai and Indonesian, giving guidance on what to do in the event of another earthquake.

In addition to the many problems it created, the earthquake also highlighted the difficulties of integrating foreign laborers into Taiwan society. There is now an enormous overseas workforce in Taiwan, largely made up of Filipinos, Malaysians, Thais and Indonesians, but given the cultural and linguistic barriers between the outsiders and their host country, it has been difficult for the two sides to properly communicate.

Can a monk become a saint no matter how young? Having left the mundane world at so tender an age to abide by the Buddha's laws and a monk's prohibitions, these youngsters know how to sit still and carry themselves with dignity, but what are they thinking inside? How have they gone about seeing through the "grime and glitter" of secular life?

"We're not used to this!"

As regards the ICRT call-in shows, there are two points of interest: one is that they provide an important outlet for Filipinos to voice their concerns and share experiences; the other is that Taiwanese listeners are increasingly turning away from these very same shows.

Chen Pi-fen, a reporter with the Commercial Times, says she hardly ever listens to ICRT these days because almost all of the listeners who phone in are Filipino workers. Chen finds their distinctive English accent and topics of conversation a turnoff.

"Certainly," acknowledges ICRT's creative director Gray Gleason, "there's been criticism that ICRT has become a station for Filipinos, with over half of call-in show callers being Filipinos working in Taiwan. But this doesn't mean that local people have stopped listening to ICRT. The main reason for the change in the station's call-in profile is that while Taiwanese people tend to be a little shy, Filipinos are more keen to get involved." The station has tried to remedy this in the past, with presenters encouraging Taiwanese to call in, but without much result.

"In the same way, there have been complaints that the station's presenters and listeners are speaking more and more Chinese," says Gleason. It just goes to show that rapid change and mutual accommodation is occurring throughout the community and the culture as a whole.

September's outbreak of fighting among foreign laborers at the site of the sixth naphtha cracker project in Mailiao, Yunlin County, finally made the loophole-riddled system for supervision of foreign laborers into a public issue. The picture shows Thai workers, who came out on top in the conflict. （photo by Tsai Ming te）

Foreign enclaves

While ICRT has been "taken over," a related phenomenon is the appearance of little Filipino and Thai "enclaves"-shopping districts catering specially to foreign workers-in areas of Taipei, Taoyuan and elsewhere where foreign workers are grouped.

"These 'foreign enclaves,' and the phenomenon of ethnic diversification in the media, can only be regarded as 'rallying points' for short-term visitors," says Professor Cheng Chih-yu of Chengchi University's Institute of Labor. The role played by foreign workers in Taiwan is very different from that of immigrants, and cannot be understood in terms of the immigrant cultures of the West. Asian countries like Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have had to import workers to counter labor shortages brought on by economic growth, resulting in phenomena such as the night markets for overseas workers that have sprung up in places like the area around Statue Square in Hong Kong.

The introduction of foreign labor has been a mixed blessing for Taiwanese society. While helping to provide temporary relief for the labor shortage, keeping the island's products competitive and easing pressure for firms to move offshore, the policy has also had unwelcome side-effects. Foreign labor has been blamed for undermining the local job market, putting a brake on the pace of industrial upgrading and triggering social problems.

Only by shaving their heads about once every two weeks can novice monks maintain their pates' gleam. On Sunday afternoon the monk Chih-hao shaves the young novices himself.

Dirty work

Professor Hsueh Cheng-tai of National Taiwan University's Labor Institute outlines the sequence of events that led to the current situation. Ever since the 1960s, with the spread of universal education and rapid expansion of the service sector, young people have increasingly steered clear of employment in labor-intensive industries, especially shunning jobs in the "3D" trades (involving work that is dirty, dangerous and difficult). It was in the mid-1970s, with industry yet to fully upgrade and the proportion of people working in manual jobs rapidly falling, that foreign laborers began arriving in Taiwan in numbers, overstaying their tourist visas and working illegally. In 1989, needing to overcome the shortage of labor available for national infrastructure developments, the Executive Yuan approved a package of measures legalizing the presence of overseas workers on these and other important projects. Subsequently, as other sectors began to suffer from a dwindling supply of labor, it became necessary to introduce further provisions governing the employment of overseas workers, and in 1992 the Employment Service Act was passed. Foreign workers began streaming into Taiwan, and rapidly came to account for a significant chunk of the labor market.

Chiu Jing-yan, manager at Chun Mu Machinery Mfg. Co., a hydraulic machinery maker in Chiayi, says that 10 to 15 years ago when you advertised a vacancy, there was sometimes no reply for a couple of months. In spite of limited personnel requirements, the operations of a small factory can be seriously hindered by any difficulty recruiting new workers. It was only once the government began allowing in foreign labor that recruitment pressure at Chun Mu began to ease.

According to a senior executive at Formosa Plastics, that corporation employs over 2,000 foreign laborers, not including those who work for subcontractors. This has made a big difference for the company in terms of fulfilling its manpower requirements for the recent construction of Taiwan's sixth naphtha cracker plant.

According to statistics from the Council for Labor Affairs (CLA), there were more than 291,400 foreign laborers in Taiwan at the end of October, comprising workers in the manufacturing and construction sectors, domestic helpers, caregivers and fishing crews (see piecharts).

Despite the size of the foreign workforce, Lin Tsong-ming, director general of the CLA's Employment and Vocational Training Administration (EVTA), views the importation of foreign labor as a matter of expediency, providing a source of supplementary manpower rather than substituting for existing supply. But labor groups take a different view.

Kuo Kuo-wen, secretary general of the Taiwan Labor Front, believes that even though the government describes the importation of foreign labor as supplementary, the policy has at times amounted to labor substitution. He cites the example of the Employment Service Act, which permits high-tech industries to import foreign labor as a way of encouraging major investments. The effect of allowing foreign labor to be imported for manufacturing investments worth over NT$200 million is to hand much-coveted jobs in the high-tech sector to workers from overseas. Says Kuo: "In terms of job opportunities, it is aborigines who are worst hit." Unemployment averages around 3% in Taiwan at present, but among aborigines the rate is 10%, and reaches 30% in urban areas. On May 1 this year, International Labor Day, over one thousand aborigines took part in a demonstration dubbed "The March of the Army of Aborigine Unemployed," to protest against job losses to foreign laborers.

Says Kuo, "Such a level of mobilization among aborigines was unprecedented, and shows how badly they have been affected in terms of job opportunities."

As well as taking jobs from the market, low-cost foreign labor has had a big impact on average wages in the 3D industries. According to Hsin Ping-lung, a researcher at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, wages for foreign laborers are currently around 70-80% of what local workers are paid. This is a competitive advantage that has given some employers the idea of recruiting local workers on foreign-labor wages, with the result that there continues to be a serious labor shortage in spite of relatively high unemployment. Hsin points out that while aborigines used to earn over NT$2,000 for unskilled day labor, it's now sufficient to offer around NT$1,000, and there will still be a rush of applicants.

Lin Tsong-ming confirms that there have been cases of employers squeezing wages in this way, but not many, and he encourages people to report them. The CLA now makes it mandatory for companies to declare fair terms of employment and restricts the ratio of foreign to local employees. Also, the CLA only approves the recruitment of a foreign worker once the company has copied relevant correspondence to the union for confirmation that no local worker wants the job.

Not long ago it was reported in the papers that certain employers, aiming to cut down on wage bills, were testing prospective employees for English-language proficiency, even though this was totally irrelevant. Some aborigines who applied were said to be "gobsmacked" by the requirement. The EVTA hopes that unscrupulous employers who resort to such dodges will be reported by the public.

Foreigh Labor in Taiwan by Industry Foreign Labor in Taiwan by Nationality Total no. of foreign workers: 291,437 Data courtesy of EVTA, CLA Graphic by Tsai Chih-pen.

Slower industrial upgrading

Foreign labor does indeed help to ease Taiwan's labor shortage, but the rate at which workers are admitted needs to vary according to circumstances. Otherwise the policy has drawbacks: at the very least it gives rise to serious unemployment within a particular minority, and at the worst it slows the pace of industrial upgrading for the whole country. Cheng Chih-yu points out that foreign labor can only be a temporary patch for industry's problems, not a permanent remedy. The provision that restricts foreign laborers to a three-year stint is the government's way of encouraging companies to adjust and upgrade within that two- or three-year time-frame, but the reality is that once a firm gets authorization to take on overseas workers it is unwilling to give it up. And since the availability of cheap foreign labor eases the pressure on a firm to implement automation, this inhibits the pace at which companies upgrade. Cheng proposes that companies employing foreign workers should follow a specific timetable.

But companies have their own set of concerns when it comes to industrial upgrading. According to the Formosa Plastics executive, government policy is inevitably a consideration for companies planning to upgrade, and when policy changes companies react accordingly-which may mean relocating overseas or transforming their operations.

According to Hsu Chao-cheng, factory manager with Compex International, a furniture manufacturer in Chiayi, the pace of automation at his firm has never slowed, and the continuous expansion of business means that the company's demand for workers can only continue growing.

"Because of labor requirements, Compex International has already set up three plants in mainland China, but Taiwan is where our roots are, and they can't be pulled out. We have our original employees to consider, even as we bring in overseas workers."

"Foreign labor policy is relaxed but gradually tightening," says Lin Tsong-ming. In 1995 the CLA set up the Foreign Labor Policy Evaluation Committee, and the Council is now tightening foreign labor admission quotas for general industry, though not including quotas for major infrastructure projects, investments worth over NT$200 million, caregivers and fishing crews. There is also a moratorium on the introduction of new quotas, and the situation will be reviewed in the future according to changes in the job market and the unemployment rate.

In the eyes of Abbot Wei-chueh, the purpose of the monastery's academy for novices is to cultivate its future leaders. Yet because the youngsters are still uncertain of their direction in life, many abandon their training halfway through and return to the secular world.

Riot at the naphtha cracker

The importation of foreign labor may have little direct impact on most people, but there are nevertheless widespread concerns, and incidents involving contract workers who flee their jobs or break the law have contributed to the public's generally poor perception of foreign laborers. A recent example was the rioting in September at the site of the sixth naphtha cracker in Mailiao. During a two-week period, there were two major outbreaks of fighting involving hundreds of contract workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, incidents which brought the issue of the supervision of foreign labor to public notice.

A factor behind the violence was the failure of two Korean firms to accommodate different nationalities in separate quarters as contracted. Long periods cooped up together bred animosity among the various groups, and because of the language barrier there was little communication with the supervisors in charge. As a result, a trivial dispute flared into bloody conflict. One thousand police spent over 20 hours restoring order, and television viewers were shocked to see scenes of running battles and rioting in the streets of Mailiao.

The Mailiao incident highlighted inadequacies on the part of industry, contractors and government with regard to the management and supervision of foreign laborers. But each of the three parties tried to shift blame onto the others. According to Formosa Plastics, contracts for firms involved in the project clearly specified the division of duties, with subcontractors taking full responsibility for managing the foreign laborers. In the view of the EVTA however, the more than 10,000 overseas workers engaged on the project were imported into Taiwan in the name of Formosa Plastics, which thus bore full responsibility for their supervision. Meanwhile, the CLA itself is unable to continually monitor how well foreign workers are being supervised. This confusion about the division of responsibilities highlights the need for the issue to be properly addressed.

It may or may not be a result of their Buddhist training, but novice monks do appear to be much more at peace than other children the same age.

Infectious feelings

Corporations in Taiwan that employ foreign workers generally keep them concentrated together, for convenience, but a problem with this approach is the tendency for certain moods to become "infectious," by means of which a small incident can easily flare into a collective conflict.

Says Cheng Chih-yu: "On-site foreign laborers often work extra hours and live in cramped quarters, with little in the way of diversion. Their life in Taiwan is quite monotonous, which increases the need for counseling." The government requires firms to have a written plan covering the non-work-related aspects of life for their foreign workforce, and carries out spot checks, but there are numerous difficulties involved in implementing the rules. For example, it is stipulated that there should be a 50:1 ratio of laborers to supervisors in charge of non-work-related matters, but the definition of such supervisors is open to interpretation, and the role is often filled by translators-who are unlikely to be qualified to provide psychological and other counseling.

Yvonne Lin, coordinator of the Taiwan Grassroot Women Workers Center, which has long been active on the issue of foreign labor rights, explains that under the current policy, foreign workers are imported to Taiwan by agents once an application from a company or individual has been approved by the CLA. The rules state that a foreign worker cannot change employers once in Taiwan, and if the worker runs away, the employer is penalized under the law. Employers therefore tend to keep foreign workers under strict constraints, to prevent them from bolting. But this simply increases the likelihood of problems developing.

Local shopping assumes an exotic flavor in areas where foreign workers congregate on their days off. The picture shows a store selling personal accessories and CDs in a converted Japanese house near St. Christopher's Church in Taipei.

Running away

Steve Kuan, chairman of the Taipei Association of Manpower Agencies, which often arbitrates in disputes between workers and employers, points out that labor brokers are responsible for the arrival of most foreign laborers in Taiwan. The brokers collaborate with agents in the supplying countries, and since both sides charge commission the contract laborer ends up footing a bill of NT$60,000-70,000 in fees. This is why brokers are commonly considered "bloodsuckers." In fact, good brokers function as a lubricant, facilitating contact between worker and employer. When a company is in dispute with a contract worker it can use the agent as a mediator, and for workers unfamiliar with Taiwanese law, the agent can help uphold their rights.

Kuan says that most agents pay regular visits to their client companies to check on worker-employer relations. There is less likely to be direct friction if the broker intercedes, playing the "bad cop" role to both sides. "It's a kind of 'after-sales service,'" notes Kuan.

Kuan acknowledges that some disputes are mishandled and people's rights do get violated, despite the efforts of his association. But he adds that most contract workers who abandon their jobs do so not because of difficulties with their employers but because they want to carry on working in Taiwan, illegally, after the end of their contract. It is estimated that there are over 6,000 such "runaways" working in Taiwan at the moment.

A typical instance is described by Liu Ta-chwan, who works at National Chiao Tung University's Computer Center. His Filipino maid took off the day before her contract was due to expire, leaving Liu with a problem on his hands.

"We always treated her like one of the family," says Liu, "and the kids got on great with her. But then she ran off, and according to the Employment Service Act the employer of a foreign worker who runs away loses that part of their contract-worker quota-which has really been a nuisance for us." Ever since the maid disappeared, Liu and his family have spent their Sunday leisure hours hunting for her at locations where Filipino domestics congregate, in the process giving their children a lesson in ethnic integration.

"Each time we arrive at a place where Filipinos get together, underground brokers come up and ask us if we want to employ an illegal worker," says Liu. The rate for an illegal is NT$20,000 per month, which is more than it costs for a legal worker but comes to roughly the same when various additional expenses for a legal employee are totted up. And with an illegal, if you don't like her you can swap her for another one. Many employers out searching for their ex-maids have been tempted by this argument, but Liu is adamant about not hiring an illegal. "This is exactly the problem-everyone's trying to do things on the cheap. The reason there's so much cheating is that the government doesn't impose heavy enough fines on illegal employers."

A Ms. Wang, who has had three illegal Filipino maids, takes a different view. "What forces so many people to use illegal workers is the government's rule that only families with someone over 70 or two children aged six or under can apply for a foreign worker. It's ridiculous. If it was like Hong Kong, where anyone with a need can apply, none of us would have to overstep the law by hiring runaway maids."

Foreign workers who run away create inconvenience for their employers, while for the public at large, the invisible presence of large numbers of illegals is worrying. Lin Tsong-ming says that the CLA is taking this problem very seriously and is working on tightening up the legislation. In the future, employers of illegal foreign workers will be liable for fines of NT$90,000 and over, and the possibility of imposing prison terms is also being examined.

The novices at the Tsukuang Monastery attend the Wanfang elementary school. When school lets out, they wait at the gate to the school for their master to pick them up. If he is busy, they walk back to the monastery by themselves in a single file.

Uneven balance

Crime is another area that highlights the difficulties of life as a contract worker and the problems of supervising a foreign workforce.

Data from Labor Statistics Monthly shows that in each of the last three years there have been 100-200 criminal cases involving legally admitted foreign laborers, or around one for every 1,000 workers, and most of these crimes have involved theft. This is much lower than the average crime rate for Taiwan as a whole. But as Hsueh Cheng-tai points out, when you consider the daily routine of most foreign workers and how little free time it leaves them for breaking the law, and bear in mind that the crime rate among illegal foreign workers is far higher than for the legal ones, the problem does indeed merit attention. Especially given that in 1997 rape accounted for the largest share of serious crime committed by overseas workers, causing widespread anxiety among the public.

According to statistics from the EVTA, the ratio of men to women among Thai contract laborers is currently 8:2, while among Filipinos it is 3:7. Foreign labor policy stipulates that contract workers cannot bring their families into Taiwan and are not allowed to get married once here. Women also get sent home if they become pregnant. Many overseas workers find themselves under stress because of lack of contact with members of the opposite sex, along with the monotony of their jobs and the generally dull routine of their lives. What's more, they have no normal outlet for their sexual urges, and as Yvonne Lin points out, prostitution-with the attendant risk of sexually transmitted diseases-is known to be a problem at some worksites.

The male-female ratio is closer among Filipinos, and as most are Catholics and mix together freely on Sundays, extramarital affairs are not uncommon. These are usually referred to as FTO (For Taiwan Only) or TLA (Taiwan Love Affair), meaning that those involved cease to be a couple on their return to the Philippines. This too can be a cause of complications.

Baoni, who works in a factory in Chiayi, lives apart from his wife and has never set eyes on his daughter-who is already two years old. He admits that he often feels lonely and finds the Sunday get-togethers a real temptation. But as a pious Catholic he can resist that temptation-although loneliness has driven some of his friends into extramarital liaisons.

Hiring a Filipino domestic to look after the kids can reduce the burden on working parents and provide a bilingual environment for children. Many families have rushed to take advantage of this opportunity, but cultural conflict sometimes results.

Looking after foreign workers

In order to cater to the needs of foreign workers, the EVTA is currently arranging for county and municipal governments around the island to set up foreign labor consultation centers, staffed by professionals with the appropriate language and counseling skills. The CLA is also working in conjunction with the representative offices of foreign countries to organize events for occasions such as the Thai Water Festival and the three main festivals in the Chinese lunar calendar. It has also collaborated with radio stations ICRT and BCC to produce shows for foreign workers in English and Thai, which have been well received.

Government agencies aside, the foreign labor community around the island is also served by churches, which provide counseling services and help contract workers to solve their problems. Assistance also comes from locals who have long been active in the labor and human rights movements, such as Yvonne Lin, who for nearly ten years has helped foreign laborers stuck in detention centers to get back to their home countries. Lin says that caring for the lives of working people is a cause that transcends nationality, and that disputes between overseas workers and their employers often simply highlight problems already faced by Taiwanese workers. Tackling such problems can help to pave the way for improved rights all round.

Lin cites the case of a local worker in a dyeing factory who suffered serious damage to her hands as a result of long exposure to corrosive chemicals. Social service personnel tried to help the woman, but she was unwilling to take on her employers because she was worried about losing her pension. Foreign workers, in contrast, do not have to worry about such considerations, so it is easier for them to further the cause of workers' rights.

Is a monk's life too boring for a young child? Besides reading and observing the various prohibitions, the youngsters are also assigned chores, such as sweeping the grounds or lighting the oil lamps.

Loving each other

The importation of foreign labor may have created new problems for Taiwanese society, but at the same time it has made undeniable contributions in terms of cultural interaction. Vivian, a Filipino domestic who helps out at St. Christopher's Catholic Church in Taipei and has worked in several other countries, says that Taiwan is by the far the most friendly.

"My employers here in Taiwan treat me as an absolute equal, like one of the family," says Vivian. Previously she was in Hong Kong where she had no privacy whatsoever and had to bed down at night on the kitchen floor. She has also worked in Singapore, where her employer treated her like a minion and was always bossing her around.

People in Taiwan are gradually becoming more receptive to the idea of international marriages. Overseas spouses are increasingly common, and there have been many instances of foreign workers falling in love with and marrying locals. As Steve Kuan points out, such marriages tend to unite a local groom and foreign bride rather than the other way round.

"It's another form of cultural fusion," says Kuan.

Foreign workers in Taiwan also care about the society in which they are staying. For example, after the 9/21 earthquake Compex International arranged for its staff to donate one day's wages to the relief effort, and the firm's Thai workers joined in.

Says factory manager Hsu Chao-sheng: "We didn't pressure them to take part, recognizing that they are here to make money and that life isn't easy for them, but when they found out about it they contributed generously.

Cultural interaction starts with mutual awareness and understanding. At the entrance to St. Christopher's Church there is a poster announcing "Getting Along Together" as a sermon theme for the millennium year. Sighs Vivian: "In God's eyes we're all children, equally loved, and we should love each other just the same."

For many foreign workers, leisure time is centered around Sunday activities at the church. Choir practice gives participants the chance to meet and mingle.

"Sweep the ground, sweep the ground, sweep the mind. Sweeping the ground without sweeping the mind is sweeping for naught." Sweeping fallen leaves in the early morning thus becomes an exercise to train the mind.

For many foreign workers, leisure time is centered around Sunday activities at the church. Choir practice gives participants the chance to meet and mingle.

The introduction of foreign labor inevitably reduces the number of jobs for local workers, but the best way of resolving differences among workers is for everyone to try "getting along together." The picture shows last year's workers' rights march, organized by the Workers' Legislative Action Committee, calling for local and foreign laborers to recognize that it is their common interest to cooperate.

The monks of Shaolin and the Taoist priests of Wudang have illustrious martial arts traditions. Here the novices of the Chungtai Monastery practice a little qigong with Master Chien-lu.

Students in cassocks are a special feature of the Shuiwei Elementary School in Puli. In the photograph of last year's graduating class, half are novice monks and nuns. （rephotographed by Vincent Chang）