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  • hey guys it's Iris

  • so a while ago I was on reddit

  • and I saw this news titling

  • in Australia, staying loyal to Taiwan can mean losing a job

  • and it was about a waitress who actually shares the first name with me

  • Ya-Ting

  • she was working at a barbecue restaurant in Sydney when a customer asked her

  • are you Chinese? she said no I'm Taiwanese

  • and she was never given another shift after that

  • same thing happened to another waitress who was working at a Chinese restaurant

  • her manager asked her is Taiwan part of China

  • she said no definitely not

  • a Canadian friend actually saw this news and he asked me

  • he was so confused

  • what was the big deal? and honestly I had no idea where to begin to explain

  • how complicated the situations are from the very beginning of the history

  • at the same time

  • I felt very happy that these Taiwanese people are standing up for themselves in a foreign country

  • after reading this book called the Taiwanese Psyche

  • written by a psychologist who has his own clinic in the United States

  • I really understood the Taiwanese psyche and it just gave me a sense of realization

  • how powerless we Taiwanese feel sometimes

  • on the February 28th 1947 which we refer to as 228 in Taiwan

  • the intellectuals and students who were suppressed violently even killed on that day by the KMT Republic of China government

  • the idea of participating in any sort of political activities is dangerous really stuck

  • I remember vividly that my mom told me

  • when she was in school the students would be fined if they spoke Taiwanese in school

  • because the government at the time wanted to press on the education of Chinese language

  • I think that also stuck to us until the present day because

  • a lot of times I get this image that it is embarrassing or even shameful to speak Taiwanese among the younger generations

  • and what the media in Taiwan referring China as mainland China or simply mainland

  • how would the people in Taiwan not be affected by these thoughts and perspectives

  • this just adds even more to our powerlessness

  • as time goes this weakness of attitude will actually become a weakness of character

  • of course I'm not saying that being Taiwanese

  • our self-identity is all about politics our self-identity is beyond politics

  • we as Taiwanese have our own distinctive culture

  • whether it's the aboriginals or the immigrants from Southeast Asia

  • we are kind and accepting

  • we have our own values and that it's something to stand for

  • and you're probably thinking so what are you doing as a Taiwanese living in Canada

  • what are you doing for Taiwan's independence it's a good argument

  • but I can also tell you that because we are so mingled with different people from different countries

  • that we are also potential subjects to expressing our political stance

  • one time I was in my Chinese friend's car

  • I don't know what exactly led us to this subject of Taiwan's independence

  • and I told him I truly believe Taiwan is not part of China

  • immediately he got very angry and told me that if I spoke any more of it he would drop me off on the highway

  • my reaction was yeah drop me off here drop me off and I will walk home

  • please open the door

  • if there's one thing that I learned from all these experiences is that

  • if you don't stand for something you will fall for everything

  • and I stand for the Taiwanese values

  • what about you

hey guys it's Iris

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