A first step to eliminating prejudice
Prejudice against migrant workers persists, but Lee notes that Taiwan is not unique in this: migrants are looked down upon by mainstream societies the world over. She sees material culture’s implicit cultural hierarchy as being at the root of the problem. A lack of interest in understanding and an unwillingness to understand lead to the labeling of ethnicities with arbitrary stereotypes, which deepens oppositions between cultures and creates a vicious cycle.
Lee says: “The first step to eliminating prejudice is for people to get to know one another. The notion of cultural equality is also important. But these things are difficult, and take long-term education to achieve.”
Workers on the educational front lines have no time to be discouraged. Chi Nan’s Department of Southeast Asian Studies is the only department in Taiwan focused on the region. Roughly 50 of its graduates to date have been Southeast Asians, making the department not just a forum for the transmission of knowledge, but also a venue for real-life interaction. Lee says, “Taiwanese students in this department lose their privileged position. Everyone is equal, and we all learn from one another.”
Led by Chi Nan faculty, a few teachers have also used funding from the Taichung City Government and the Ministry of Education to establish “SEAT” (SEA + T: Southeast Asia + Taiwan), a space that encourages Taiwan’s Southeast-Asian migrant community and mainstream Taiwanese society to sit down and get to know one another. Given that goal, the decision to locate SEAT in Taichung’s ASEAN Square was clearly significant. After all, the previously run-down square near Taichung Station has been revitalized in recent years by Southeast-Asian businesses catering to migrant workers who flock there on weekends and holidays to shop.
SEAT organizes a large number of events and activities, most of which are open to the general public. These include weekend guided tours that give Taiwanese and Southeast Asians a chance to interact.
Chi Nan has also established a master’s degree program for working professionals in Taipei. When you talk to the many civil servants and schoolteachers who have signed up to better meet the demands of their jobs, you can hear the gradual change in their attitudes. Such efforts are no panacea, but they do yield results over time.
Department stores and shopping centers have sprung up all over Southeast Asia’s big cities as the region’s economies have grown.