Author Archives: ascruffyandscentladenframe

E-reading Chinese-language books in Taiwan: Frustrations Galore

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Taiwan has been quite slow to get into the e-books game, but over the last few years, more and more titles are being made available on a range of platforms. Although there is a range of reading devices available, I’m going to look only at e-books available on the Kindle (the only dedicated e-reader device in my possession) and on various mobile phone apps.

A word of warning, expect to be slightly disappointed. The industry seems largely to be dragging its heels, preferring traditional paper copies to digital copies (cue a junior lecturer’s lesson plan on Walter Benjamin). I’m not sure if this has to do with copyright law or if there’s just a general fuddy-duddyness. Anecdotally speaking, I’ve seen a lot of people reading martial arts novels and lots of manga on their phones in the MRT.

Kindle: I was actually surprised when I was gearing up to do this blogpost, how many Taiwanese books are available on Kindle if you search for them. That is the catch though, you already have to know what you’re looking for. Once you do manage to get your book on to the Kindle, it works quite well.

The other options available that I’ve seen are Google Play Books, MyBooks or eBook – the eBook reader launched by books.com.tw (and there’s also ReadMoo and Kobo rated below in the table). Even here, older but famous titles (like 《孽子》  for example) are hard to find. If you know of any other stores let me know in the comments section.

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Updating your ARC number with the Easycard Wallet & YouBike App

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For non-Apple users, the Easycard Wallet app can be used for everything from buying stuff with a virtual Easycard, renting YouBikes or beeping in and out of the MRT. See my previous post here!

If you’re going through the change (not the menopause, the shift to the new ARC format), you might wonder how to update to your various YouBike related apps to the new format.

First step is to take a photo of the front and back of your new ARC on your phone, so that you can upload when prompted.

On the Easycard Wallet, hit the 其他 button on the bottom right:

Click 「客戶服務」 (client services):

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Selling Things Through Family Mart

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Not an expert at this, but a commenter asked for a guide to using Family Mart to sell things. I’ve never sold on the platform, but thought I’d try and help out.

The main website is here.

If you’re selling something, you’ll want to click on 賣家專區 (Seller Section) highlighted in red below:

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You’ll get an error message and will be redirected to this page, prompting you to register/login. The page asks you to enter your phone number as below:

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Once you enter it, they’ll send an SMS to your phone to prove you’re the owner of the phone, and then they’ll prompt you to set a password for your account.

Next up is this page:

 

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This is easy enough, just fill in your account name (should be the name on your bank account), make sure you select 「外籍人士」 then fill in your ARC in the ID section, then select your bank, branch (your branch code is normally the first few numbers of your account no. for E Sun bank account holders) and fill in your account no.

The second bit of this page, is for those who want to be able to have credit card payments received on their behalf. So you can sign up for ECPay (綠界科技）for free if you want:

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I’m not going to sign up for that for this demo, but partner banks are listed here.

After that you’ll get a message telling you to check your account name in case there are any errors, but there should be a follow-up message congratulating you for setting up a store. Then you’ll come to the personal information disclosure screen. It will ask for your name, your email (twice) and at the bottom it will ask you if you’re willing to disclose your personal information. (The first option is disclose individual info, the second is disclose company info and the third is don’t disclose – which will be highlighted in blue and is the default choice):

未命名

From here, you can add a store:

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From here, you’ll be able to name your store:

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Then you can list your products:

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You’ll be prompted to fill in information about the product you wish to sell:

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Once you sell something, I’m assuming you get follow-up instructions.

Anyway, that was for Sue, if you have any follow-up questions, feel free to write again.

Order and Pay for or Donate Masks Online and Check your Medical History with the NHI App 用全民健保行動快易通app買口罩註冊辦法

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Germany

36th Round:
Order and payment: June 14-16
Collection: June 21-July 4

**Update the new update of the app now has a COVID-19 (NHI-funded) vaccine appointment platform. It’s still under construction, but watch this space.**

I discovered this app a while back, but it wasn’t really of much use to me until I heard the news that you can order masks through it on a weekly basis. The app essentially provides you information about your medical history and medications prescribed you online, and they’ve added information about all the tests you’ve undergone through the years in English (See Extra Credit section below to explore this content). It also provides reminders about scheduling your next dentist appointment, but previously, the app was buggy and not incredibly interesting, so I didn’t blog about it at the time. The process of getting your device verified is also quite complex and involves a card reader, so I didn’t think there’d be too much appetite for a post about it, but maybe the online ordering system and the added info will change that a bit. (Note, you can also order at an iBon/Famiport/other machine in convenience stores and pay at the counter.)

After downloading the app 「健保快易通」(Google Play) or here for Apple users (if you’ve already downloaded it, make sure you have the latest version). You then have to go to the website to verify your identity with a (ATM-style) card reader (you can buy them on PCHome here).

After you’ve installed the card reader, head to their website, if you’re a Windows user, you’ll need to download their Windows installer, or MAC Installer, (others available here). You can check if your card is being read properly here.

If it’s working, you should get a message like this:

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You’ll also have to mark your server as a trusted server here (or click on 「設定伺服器為可信任服務」(set as a trusted server) on this page). You’ll have to be an administrator on your computer to do this.

Now, you can get on with verifying your mobile app.

First-time users should click the box labeled 「首次登入請先申請」(First-time users, please apply here first), which I’ve marked with a red box below:
(Note they’ve now added English to the website too.)

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This will take you to a list of terms that you can click agree on:

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選舉

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我在台灣沒有投票權，跟政治人物的接觸也頗為有限。我們里的里長出來拜票的時候，看到我，一直貼在嘴巴上的僵硬微笑會一時鬆開。有時候某些候選人一不留意就會伸手過來要跟我握手，一抬頭看到我的白臉就會立刻把手收回來。但是當一個外來者也有好處。其一是朋友之間或在工作場合，不用跟人表達你家的政治立場，就算你想要告訴別人，也沒人要聽；同時你的政治立場也不會在潛意識的層面上，被同事或朋友察覺出來。簡而言之，台灣人不會以他們一般的標準來對待你，因此你可以很自（白）由（目）地詢問他人的政治色彩。不過久而久之，你不用問也多少會感覺到。

 

講到這一點也不是很準確，因為你可以大概從一些細節，猜測他人的家庭是藍是綠是紅，但這也不代表在投票箱前，他們就會聽話地投給父母要他們投的那位候選人。我待過不同「顏色」的學術和工作單位：藍的綠的大學、綠的科系、紅媒體到白的公司，後來也算是回到一個（還帶一點藍的）綠色單位。在每個單位都需要看很多宣傳品，也因此很容易被洗腦。在藍的單位時也許會覺得綠營做事不踏實，不懂得妥協；在綠的單位時也許會覺得藍營只有在看錢、沒什麼原則。可能都有；可能都沒有，不過也許都是因為我們以不同框架看，所以會有不同的印象。

 

講到框架，我以前一直對柯文哲有一種說不太出口的反感，可能是略受媒體的影響，說他恐同、親中、自我感覺良好等等。媒體最近也有報導他父母在最後時刻替他到中選會登記連署，最後卻遲到了。媒體報導這則新聞的大方向帶有一點幸災樂禍的意味。但就算深綠的人看到這則報導，儘管讀起來很爽，應該也很清楚這大概不是真相。柯文哲若真的想選，不會拖到這時候，還派老人家幫他登記。剛好我最近在看柯文哲寫的《白色力量3》，柯P對民進黨很失望不是因為民進黨對他的直接攻擊，而是他們在明明知道一個污衊他的假新聞報導是偏頗的情況下（如器官移植的葛特曼案），還去煽動爭議。 

 

也許當一個選民最重要的，是能夠離開同溫層，用不同的框架反省政治立場。

 

ㄟ對啊，我忘了……你上次總統大選是投哪一位？

海邊

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Conor他們已經上了客運要從海邊回到城市。雖然曬傷了，不過身體還沒感覺，只是全身疲憊，終於可以坐下來了很舒服。因為整晚都在眾多篝火之間跳舞、玩水，所以除了體味，J跟K兩個人身上還有一股煙味，混著海水留下的那種腥味。客運坐滿了跟他們一樣過完了篝火節要回城市的人，因此，他們不能跟平常一樣坐在前後兩排的雙人座，隔著椅背講話，只能並坐在同一張椅子上。雖然空間有限，J還是照常地把雙腿張開。K感到J的腿輕輕地貼著自已的腿，臉稍微熱了起來。車離開車站的時候，J已經睡著了，但K還沒有睡意，一直看著窗外。海平線那兒，晨光剛開始流過海面，覺得很美。

K不知道他女生朋友L昨晚什麼時候就不見了。她晚上很直接地跟J調情，接下來一起消失了一陣子，令K遍尋不著。K本來以為他們應該是去上床了，但他們回來後氣氛就變的怪怪的，J在K耳邊說了什麼不配，就婉拒了，但細節K不是很清楚。從那之後，L的表情就一直很臭，大概是生氣了，不過K也不知道他們消失的那段時間到底發生了甚麼事情。他問J，J也只是聳了一下肩膀，就不想理她了。接著他伸出手臂，摟住K的肩膀，把他拉到另外一群圍繞著篝火坐的人那邊，他們便又開始喝了，也沒再談到這件事。那夜沒再看到L，K也沒有特別不開心。

車上，J的頭漸漸地往K的肩膀那邊垂落，隨著J睡得越來越沉，他每次把頭收回去的動作就弱了一些，到最後直接貼著K的肩膀，就停在那裡了。引擎的轉動漸漸騷動K的大腿，讓他開始隱隱有了感覺，他不由自主地瞄了J肌肉發達的小腿，腿毛濃密，再往上看就是短褲的界線，隱約露出那條一邊黧黑、一邊白嫩的曬痕。K心虛地往四周看了一下，就把目光移到J裸裎的上身：結實的胸肌線條、粉紅的奶頭、肚子下方那一條繼續往短褲內奔走的毛，短褲內也可以隱隱看見一個輪廓。K感覺到自己的下體也被叫醒似的，還來不及想到別的事情，就有動靜了。假設J現在醒來，他一定會看到，也會看穿K。但K沒有立刻反應，決定要冒這個險，所幸過了一陣子，J還是睡得很熟，K就把依然腫脹的陰莖勉強塞到他短褲的鬆緊帶下面。

一直照著K的太陽應該對J產生了同一個效果。K發現J的下面也微微有了勃動，J醒了一下，K趕緊閉上眼睛裝睡。J從背包裡拿出一件T恤，蓋住下身，繼續入睡。就這樣子他們回了城市，但K的心還在海邊。

《Less》書評：不如他人

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62386248_441367870010315_144654923731042304_n我最近在看一本名為《Less》的同志小說。主角Less是一位年近五十的同志小說家，他在二十幾歳的時候曾經跟一位比他大二十歳的大師級詩人在一起，但他四十幾歳的時候則是跟一位比他小二十歳的青年交往。然而，正當Less要邁入生命的後半段時，那位現在已經三十幾歳的情人找到了跟他年紀相近的伙伴，所以與Less分手。

小說中提到Less那一代人和他這兩位情人分屬的兩代，三代之間在意識形態上的矛盾和對立。詩人的那一代同志甚至不認為自己是同志，也沒有什麼同志歸屬感。詩人本身是雙性戀，沒有公開出櫃，也沒有被文學圈歸類為一名「同志」詩人；比他年輕的那位青年Freddy屬於年輕一代，他們公開承認他們同志的身份，他也善於跟「同志」作家圈社交。

Less的小說在這些年輕世代的圈內作家眼裡，是對同志身份太悲觀的風格。Less本身也有點自卑：他知道他不是天才（不過他跟詩人交往的期間身邊都是天才）；跟Freddy交往時，則被視為不夠gay，不如年輕一代以同志身份為傲，也不是對同志圈有責任感的同志作家。他的姓也暗示他不如別人（less than）的身份。

他為了婉拒Freddy的婚禮邀請函，決定去國外旅遊。在出發之前他與經紀人見面，才得知他最近寫完的小說剛被出版社退稿，因為跟以往一樣，主角又是一個自覺委屈的中產階級白人同志。有趣的是，故事中Less的小說其實跟這本小說Less有許多相似之處，比方說，主角都是年紀比較大、充滿疑惑的白人同志，他們懷念過去的身世。不過，在現代社會，一個白種同志一般來說並不是很大的問題，多得是更受壓迫的社群。然而，在他出發之前，他沒辦法看到自己世界之外的一切，只是一再重複一樣的故事。

讓我比較產生共鳴的部分，是他在講那些經歷過第一代愛滋病危機的同志，他們活到晚年的感受。在缺乏模範的情況下，那一代的同志不是很清楚要有尊嚴地活到老。更進一步來說，對同志而言，什麼是「有意義」的存在？身為同志，是要效仿異性戀社會的典範，結婚、生下（或領養）小孩嗎？這些問題也牽涉到我上述的「矛盾和對立」。早期的同志運動其實意圖為顛覆以異性戀為正統的關係典範。最近台灣才剛通過婚姻平權法案，但反對這個法案的萌萌竟然無意識地呼應早期的同志運動，也就是性解放的觀點：同性戀者不應該（或不適合）受「正統」異性戀關係的壓迫影響；萌萌口中的「不反同，反同婚」也是套用這個道理。在婚姻平權法案之前，台灣曾有「多元成家」法案，更符合性解放運動的觀點，不過沒有通過。在某方面來說，現有法案比較傳統，同性戀關係也受限於傳統典範；不過，這同時也是一個比較踏實的觀點，同性戀者不因為性取向並而比異性戀者更有智慧，也是繼續複製異性戀社會中的階級與種族不平等。

總之，還沒看完，不過我還是很推薦這本小說。

The Control Yuan vs Getting 3 Meals a Day 「逐工就是顧三頓」

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shabu-shabu-foodTVBS’s ‘The Situation Room’ has returned to talking about the impeachment proceedings launched by the Control Yuan against National Taiwan University President Kuan Chung-ming after he’d been in the post just a week. The discussion reveals a lot of interesting theories about the role of the「獨派」, or ‘pro-independence’, faction within the Democratic Progressive Party, who President Tsai is said to have appointed to the Control Yuan as a compromise, but who are now allegedly going rogue.

Kuan has been accused (so far) of having a second post while being an official, writing editorials in Yizhoukan （一週刊）, although there is a lot of debate as to whether or not this constitutes a second post, as contributing to magazines and newspapers is quite a common practice among officials.

In the course of this debate, Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) used a Taiwanese phrase *09:50* to try and communicate what she feels is the disconnect between the priorities of the DPP and of the public:

老百姓（in Mandarin) 逐工著是顧三頓爾（in Taiwanese）

逐工 ta̍k-kang 就是 tiō sī 顧三頓  kòo-sann-tǹg 爾爾 niā-niā*

逐工 ta̍k-kang is equivalent to 每天 in Mandarin (every day)

就是 tiō sī is the same as Mandarin (are just)

顧三頓 kòo-sann-tǹg is equivalent to 顧三餐 in Mandarin (to concern oneself with getting three square meals)

爾爾 niā-niā is equivalent to 而已 in Mandarin (and only that)

*I’m not sure if she says niā once or twice here. 

From the context of her comments, we can guess why she chose to use a Taiwanese phrase. She’s talking about and appealing to the common man who hasn’t got time for politics, and Taiwanese is a way of appealing to this Taiwanese everyman.

Interestingly in the 五月天 (Mayday) song ‘I Love You無望’ both the phrase 逐工 ta̍k-kang (0.20), and ‘每一工’ muí tsi̍t–kang (0.31) are used, to mean “every day”. In Mandarin 逐日 is more formal and is closer to on a daily basis, whereas 每天／每一天 is less formal. I’m not quite sure of the differences in Taiwanese, although one Taiwanese friend suggested that 逐工 can mean “the entire day”.

 

An Overbearing Duck? 「鴨霸」

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ducks-3826244_1920Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), a KMT legislator-at-large, is another regular on TVBS’s political panel show ‘The Situation Room’.

In an interesting discussion on the long delay to Kuan Chung-Ming’s inauguration as President of National Taiwan University, she used the Taiwanese term 「鴨霸」(ah-pà) in the middle of a Mandarin sentence on political panel show ‘The Situation Room’, as follows (from roughly 5:29):

他為什麼會被卡

Why was the inauguration unable to proceed?

就是因為全面執政太鴨霸

Because the ruling party has been too overbearing about it all

According to the information I can find, it’s unlikely that 「鴨」(ah)  is the original character in the expression, and it’s likely used as a stand-in for either 「亞」(a) (as the original form of 「惡」 or「壓」(ah) (according to the Ministry of Education dictionary). The nearest Mandarin equivalent is probably 「霸道」, although 「鴨霸」 can also be used in Mandarin.

For another duck-related phrase, you might want to check out my previous post here.