A Cautionary Tale About Working In or Visiting Taiwan

Today I got an unsigned reply letter from the office of the President Ma Ying-jeou. Basically, the usual bureaucratic response avoiding any meaningful answers or help with the issues I wrote to President Ma about.
His office did show its sense of humor, however, by pointing out in the letter that "we are a nation based on democracy and rule of law..."
And I ask you President Ma: "Which rule of law in Taiwan is it that denies me my right to speak in court and present the evidence which proves my innocence?"
I'll post the letter on my blog later.

Pow3hatan wrote:

There are some good things to say about working or traveling in Taiwan, but there are also some dangers that very few websites or blogs will tell you.
I've been teaching English off and on since 1992 in Taiwan and have experienced many of the highs and lows of life here. Unfortunately, the most dramatic of my experiences involves one of Taiwan's lowest lows - false accusations and a justice system rife with discrimination against foreigners, injustice, incompetence and recent reports in the news of longstanding corruption that goes all the way up to the High Court.
Read my new blog "Taiwan's Injustice to Expats (& Other Foreign Guests) for more about my nightmare experience and related stories about the judiciary here:

Taiwan's Injustice to Expats (& Other Foreign Guests)

Wow! You get to write to the Office of President Ma and get a reply?!?! I seriously doubt I’ll get anything from the White House questioning our Constitution.

Look, every country has its rules and culture let alone Taiwan is one of those homogenous “Motherland”. Do you seriously think Russia or Germany will entertainment me when I’m working there as a foreigner and as an Asian? Discrimination is a shock? Are you kidding me? Where were you all these years?

When you decide to take on this adventure, you’ll need to take it with a grain of salt and check your "Democracy and Freedom" by the port of exit at your resident country. I don’t mean to be an “s” but it's high time we stop treating the whole world like Wood Stock.

Springbee wrote:

Wow! You get to write to the Office of President Ma and get a reply?!?! I seriously doubt I’ll get anything from the White House questioning our Constitution.

Look, every country has its rules and culture let alone Taiwan is one of those homogenous “Motherland”. Do you seriously think Russia or Germany will entertainment me when I’m working there as a foreigner and as an Asian? Discrimination is a shock? Are you kidding me? Where were you all these years?

When you decide to take on this adventure, you’ll need to take it with a grain of salt and check your "Democracy and Freedom" by the port of exit at your resident country. I don’t mean to be an “s” but it's high time we stop treating the whole world like Wood Stock.

Thanks for your reply Springbee. I finally posted the letter from the Office of President Ma today along with an addition to the blog.

Although it was a nice surprise to get a reply from the office of the prez, you'll see from the letter that it's lacking in sincerity and a bit condescending in its tone among other things.

If you re-read my letter to President Ma, you'll see it has nothing to do with questioning Taiwan's constitution or the government "entertaining" foreigners. The past few months Taiwan's press has been full of stories of more corruption scandals and incompetence in the judiciary as well as abuse, discrimination, and harassment of foreign workers.

I've been living in Taiwan off and on for most of the past 18 years, so I'm not at all shocked by anything here. Discrimination, prejudice and racial stereotyping have been a constant here for all my years and remain very much alive and well in 2010.

I agree with you that anyone seeking an adventure abroad needs to prepare themselves for life wherever it is they're going and shouldn't expect things to be on a par with where they're coming from. However, they shouldn't give in or give up to every form of mistreatment they're subjected to just because "it's not my Motherland." We should respect the customs and laws of the country we're in while also not be taken advantage of by those who do us grossly wrong.

I'm sharing this nightmare experience with others for exactly what it is...a cautionary tale to alert fellow expats and travelers that at any time the adventure could morph into something out of an episode of Twilight Zone.

Thanks to FranceTaiwan for the PM and alerting me that the link to my blog on "Taiwan's Injustice to Expats..." was not working. I have corrected the problem and you can reach my blog now through the link on my first post or here: Taiwan's Injustice to Expats (& Other Foreign Guests)

Pow3hatan - Pertaining to your specific case of sexual harassment, you’re not in a good situation regardless of who/where you are and probably worst off as a non-citizen minority in an Asian country. You don’t need me to tell you that.  I wasn’t picking bone with you.  On the contrary, I was doing to the same thing… except, I was just trying to iterate the fact that I won’t have it as good here in a western country as an Asian Citizen while you probably won’t have any better treatment in an Asian country 

You had mentioned Taiwan being a democracy and “walking the talk”… what talk…. blood linage? Taiwan is not run and manipulated by fleets of attorneys. The Constitutions there are not meant to be vague for interpretation nor is the legislation the glue that holds the people together like an immigrant land. Why do you think old motherland gets to be really bloody during conflicts like the formal Yugoslavia?

I tried to share the same thought with Taiwanese planning to immigrate to Western countries. I grew up in a western world where prejudice, discrimination, abuses, racial stereotyping, and hate runs rampage against Asians. They are real and they will not go away. The only difference here is that they are well “masked” with hypocrite at its best. My folks had that ideological dream that western society is a better place for us. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to have that vote or the preparation to move. Fortunately, we were privileged to enjoy very a very good education and have done very well professionally in our home country. Every single trusted friends of mine are non-Asian and we have established our lives well. That doesn’t take away that fact that we are still constantly harassed and discriminated in schools, on the street, at the mall, at the grocery store, with the cops, at the park, by PTA mom, by teenage punk-s, and the overall judicial systems.

You’ve been in Taiwan for 18+ years… on and off…. you should have a well understanding of the prejudice between the Taiwanese and the “outsiders/mainlanders”. Think about it… these are the same ethnic groups and yet the hate runs deep, let alone you’re a non-Asian. Several years back, a relative of ours a mainlander/outsider that was married into our family came to me saying that even though I wasn’t born and raised in Taiwan, I continue to enjoy a better treatment than her in Taiwan just because my wife and I are of Taiwanese heritage with a rooted family history in Taiwan. My kids probably get a better treatment than she does. That truly baffled me and gave me a whole new understanding of what “motherland” means. Right, wrong, and/or indifferent, that is the reality of life we live in. As ugly as it is, I’ve learned to deal with it both here and where you are.

I agree completely with you that we should respect the customs and laws of the country we're in while not be taken advantage of by those who do us grossly wrong – Halleluiah! At the end of the day, can we? I’m a citizen and I don’t see my family being treated right in my own home country as a minority. I don’t see how you can get around it when you’re not a citizen as a minority there, and what’s worst – sex harassment case?!?! You know where the river is flowing. This is a tough one bud! Good luck with that!

I don’t know if you have ever heard about this rumor on the street…. being 18+ years in Taiwan … but it kind of running around in Asia in general that white man teaching ESL are probably sexual predator on the run from their home countries. These street rumors tend to exaggerate even more if you’re in S.E. Asia… like Bangkok.  I know I’m not helping but hey, it is what it is and it might just put you in a wrong light even if you’re innocent.

You know Pow3hatan, the details in our exchange is somewhat a taboo topic that many between our worlds refused to acknowledged. For the fact that your posting is a “cautionary tale to alert fellow expats and travelers”, I felt it’s appropriate to air out the dirty laundry both ways.

Keep us posted on your saga with the law…. Best of luck!

This week even one of Taiwan's English-language dailies has taken the government and employers to task for the recent incidents of human & legal rights abuse and sexual harassment against foreign workers, including the revelation that managers and staff of one Taiwan company were passing out revealing photos of Filipina workers taken with surveillance cameras mounted near or in the bathrooms in their dormitory.

Almost all of these kinds of abuses that are reported involve migrant workers from countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, etc, but the reality is that there are a wide range of abuses also going on against the rest of us foreign workers in the professions such as teaching. Unfortunately, we seem to get far less coverage in the media of our problems, unless we are on the receiving end of an accusation or lawsuit from the locals.

The title of this editorial also makes a good suggestion: "Workers should unite to call for better conditions." That includes us English and other teachers as well.

Here's the editorial: Workers should unite to call for better conditions

Pow3hatan wrote:

[color=#348341]This week even one of Taiwan's English-language dailies has taken the government and employers to task for the recent incidents of human & legal rights abuse and sexual harassment against foreign workers, including the revelation that managers and staff of one Taiwan company were passing out revealing photos of Filipina workers taken with surveillance cameras mounted near or in the bathrooms in their dormitory.

Almost all of these kinds of abuses that are reported involve migrant workers from countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, etc, but the reality is that there are a wide range of abuses also going on against the rest of us foreign workers in the professions such as teaching. Unfortunately, we seem to get far less coverage in the media of our problems, unless we are on the receiving end of an accusation or lawsuit from the locals.

The title of this editorial also makes a good suggestion: "Workers should unite to call for better conditions." That includes us English and other teachers as well.

Here's the editorial:Workers should unite to call for better conditions

If you commit a crime, you should be on Candid Camera. If you’re the culprit, the world needs to know. Sorry but I don’t call that abuse. We’ve splash pictures and addresses of sex offenders on the Internet. Don’t we?

Foreign workers needs to come clean and understands the consequences of a crime - that should include both blue and white collar employees. . I think there is just way too much freedom in the western world that permits crime to run rampage. Human rights go so far as long as your child and/or family is not affected – wasn’t it?

In fact, I wished we have the 1-800-number here that report illegal migrant workers like they do in Taiwan!

Go here A Cautionary Tale Posts Week of October 10 - 17 to read some interesting posts on Dave's ESL Cafe Forum this week, including one of mine I hope provides some clarity on the key points of my situation. Some followers have been confused and I understand. Even I'm confused sometimes about what is going on...my head swimming from the overload of issues to deal with and decisions to make!

I stumbled upon this interesting site a couple nights ago:

Human Rights in Taiwan

I haven't had time to research it yet, but it features a collection of news bites, sources, etc on the state of human rights in Taiwan, including abuses against foreign workers.
Keep in mind this is another reality of Taiwan that you don’t usually see posted and something all should be aware of along with all the fascinating, beautiful and positive aspects of Taiwan you do see posted.

Take a look at the latest update on what's happening with the civil lawsuit settlement preparations:

Taiwan's  Injustice to Expats (& Other Foreign Guests)

Hi Onioninsights!

Please post your job offer under Taipei Classifieds and not all over the forum.

Thanking you for your comprehension.

Thanks Springbee for taking the time and interest to share some of your thoughts and experiences here. I know you're just trying to engage in some meaningful and balanced dialogue and you're not trying to rattle my chain. Just bear in mind that this topic's purpose is not to do comparisons between Taiwan and other countries or cultures.

  I think others who are following this topic can take as much or as little as they desire from what's posted and discussed here. I'm not here to debate anyone about Asian vs Western culture or ways of doing things. I'm also not here to try and convince anyone of my innocence. I just want to share my own experience, observations and thoughts about this nightmare situation to inform others of the risks of living abroad and hope something here will help others. Maybe someone might share something that can help me. Anyone else who cares to post here can also provide some useful information and food for thought for others too.

Pow3hatan wrote:

Thanks Springbee for taking the time and interest to share some of your thoughts and experiences here. I know you're just trying to engage in some meaningful and balanced dialogue and you're not trying to rattle my chain. Just bear in mind that this topic's purpose is not to do comparisons between Taiwan and other countries or cultures.

  I think others who are following this topic can take as much or as little as they desire from what's posted and discussed here. I'm not here to debate anyone about Asian vs Western culture or ways of doing things. I'm also not here to try and convince anyone of my innocence. I just want to share my own experience, observations and thoughts about this nightmare situation to inform others of the risks of living abroad and hope something here will help others. Maybe someone might share something that can help me. Anyone else who cares to post here can also provide some useful information and food for thought for others too.

Hey man... I see your pain. We're cool. Good luck with your situation. Keep us all posted.

D-day is almost hear. Tomorrow morning, 9:40 a.m., is the court hearing where I'm expected to either "surrender" and drop my lawsuit or refuse and let the judge go to his preordained decision. I've resumed blogging about this after a few days off.

Taiwan's Injustice To Expats (& Other Foreign Guests)

I'll be writing about yesterday's hearing later today. Meanwhile, you can read my latest blog just before the hearing at Documenting My Numerous Requests to Testify

A bit delayed but here's the short of Thursday's court hearing and I'll share more of what happened on my blog later:

I survived a while longer to try and get the most essential return on my 3+ year investment in this case - overturning the wrong decision by the nursing college that I committed sexual harassment and some restoration of my reputation.

After an opening statement by my lawyer and some more whining, complaining and objections by the nursing college attorney to start the hearing, it looked like we were headed toward closing the case and a decision against me by the judge.

So, I pulled out what may have been my final hand and suggested to the judge that we get the accuser herself involved and let her write a document saying there was "cultural misunderstanding" and admitting that I did not sexually harass her. This would be much more meaningful to my administrative appeal and I would be more agreeable to this kind of settlement in exchange for dropping my lawsuit.

The judge liked this idea and after another 15 or so minutes of bickering with the judge and my lawyer by the nursing college attorney, it was finally agreed that both lawyers will try to set up a meeting with the accuser to talk to her about this new settlement proposal. Meanwhile, I have to write a "friendly" letter to her saying this was an unfortunate happening between us and we should try to settle this amicably.

Okay...finally, a more fully fleshed out recap of the October 28 court hearing is now online at October 28 Court Hearing

This morning I asked for an update from my lawyer on the meeting with the nursing university (a status and name change recently) lawyer and the accuser. As I expected, he said so far the accuser is "unwilling to do anything about this case." He's still trying to arrange a meeting though.

Can you say "It looks like were going to overtime" ? Sure...I knew you could!

Springbee wrote:

I don’t know if you have ever heard about this rumor on the street…. being 18+ years in Taiwan … but it kind of running around in Asia in general that white man teaching ESL are probably sexual predator on the run from their home countries. !

I doubt that.   

I am surprised the OP has been here 18 years and has no Chinese language skills.  I've been here over 20 and do quite fine with Chinese, don't have any issues with these so called discrimination, my half caste kid born and raised here did just fine and doesnt get disciminated against.

satelltetv wrote:

I am surprised the OP has been here 18 years and has no Chinese language skills.  I've been here over 20 and do quite fine with Chinese, don't have any issues with these so called discrimination, my half caste kid born and raised here did just fine and doesnt get disciminated against.

Where does it say anywhere on this forum or on my blogs that the OP has no Chinese language skills? The OP's Chinese language skills are "quite fine", thank you very much.

In addition, what relevance is a person's Chinese language skills, length of time living in Taiwan, marital status, or having children to this particular case of discrimination and injustice? You and many others share the same bit of luck having no experience with this ugliness, but there are many others of us who have not been so fortunate no matter how long or for what purpose we came here.

This is also a good time to clear up an error. The first time I came abroad to work was in 1992, I have worked in other countries besides Taiwan, and I have returned home for a few years too. I have not lived in Taiwan for 18 years. I have worked in Taiwan 4 different periods totaling almost 12 years.

No new movement on my proposal for the accuser to write the letter clearing the way for me to drop my lawsuit, so today I instructed my lawyer to report this to the court and find out the date of the next hearing. I got an update from the Control Yuan on the complaint I filed against the judge and court a few weeks ago and I'll post more about this on my blog later.

The most significant happening in the past couple weeks was something not related to my case but instead something so shocking, unexpected and tragic that it has continued to have a profound affect on me until now.

One of my private students committed suicide almost 3 weeks ago.

I wanted to write something about it soon after hearing this news, but there were way too many thoughts and feelings flowing through me, especially that first week I got the news, so I decided I better give myself some time to come down and try to focus what I wanted to say.

Today, I've finally started to write about this and it's relationship to my own situation and life here the past 3+ years. You can go directly to it at: Reflections After A Life Is Taken

Pow3hatan,
i lived in France for over 18 years, in UK over 2 years and in US for over 3 years. I have been in Taiwan since 1996. i visited over 30 countries and i can tell you by experiences that Taiwan is one of least discriminated country. I am of Chinese origin but French national. Grown-up in France, i can certainly tell you Taiwan is far much better than Western countries in terms of discrimination and racism. Laws and Constitution don't prevent people to discriminate but people mindset and ignorance.
You probably stop coming to Taiwan if you still think Taiwan unfairly treats you which is seriously not the case.

francetaipei wrote:

...i can certainly tell you Taiwan is far much better than Western countries in terms of discrimination and racism. Laws and Constitution don't prevent people to discriminate but people mindset and ignorance.
You probably stop coming to Taiwan if you still think Taiwan unfairly treats you which is seriously not the case.

Thanks for sharing your positive viewpoint of Taiwan (there is no shortage of this on the Expat.com) and congratulations on not being discriminated against here.

I'm not comparing the situation in Taiwan to the U.S. or any other countries nor am I taking a broad swipe at Taiwanese society in general as being racist and discriminatory. I'm very focused on what and where these real problems are and sharing my experience as an example of what has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen to some who come to Taiwan.

If you have grievances about discrimination and racism in other countries, perhaps you should air them out on those country forums instead of being defensive and dismissive about problems in Taiwan and telling me not to come to Taiwan.

Perhaps you can try posting again that "Taiwan is far much better than Western countries in terms of discrimination and racism" after reading some of the postings on Dave's ESL Cafe and forumosa.com from expats who have lived and are currently living here.

And, after reading some of the stories in The Taipei Times and The China Post and other Taiwan media about what happens here again and again to Overseas Foreign Workers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, etc, including runaways who have bounties on their heads for capture and are hunted down and treated like animals here.

And, especially try posting again here how wonderful Taiwan is to foreigners after you have been falsely accused of a sexual crime, dragged through a sham administrative procedure or criminal court that declares you "guilty", then filed a lawsuit or appeal to try and get a "fair and neutral" shot at proving your innocence only to discover how corrupt, biased and/or incompetent the courts are as they ignore your legal and human rights on the way to declaring you guilty a second time.

Let's see how free of racism and discrimination you think Taiwan really is after you've done or experienced at least 2 of the three above things.

The civil lawsuit is still stuck in neutral with no new court date set yet and, predictably, the accuser and nursing university unresponsive to my October proposal for a settlement to drop the lawsuit. They've played dirty from the start and stayed consistent in their dirty tactics throughout.

There will be an administrative high court hearing on Dec. 23 about my appeal of the nursing university's sexual harassment decision, but as usual my attorney's prediction is pessimistic, telling me that most likely the court will reject my appeal because my civil lawsuit is still in progress.

Never mind that the appeal has NOTHING to do with the civil lawsuit - 2 very different causes of action and 2 completely different results from the decisions. In addition, the judge in the civil lawsuit has already said he IS NOT making a decision about whether or not there was sexual harassment! Only the admin high court (or the nursing university) can overturn the school's bogus sexual harassment decision, and only the civil court can award me compensation and rebuke the accuser and nursing university for their crimes.

As usual, through some kind of trickery, guanxi or other undesirable means, the nursing university manages to manipulate the courts to their side and another miscarriage of justice appears imminent. Education needs to another target of the government's anti-corruption efforts.

My cases are but more examples of the well-publicized incompetence, corruption and bias plaguing Taiwan's courts...and, ironically, illustrate exactly what president Ma has stated more than once recently regarding his alleged efforts to stamp out corruption: "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Just how and when is Taiwan REALLY going to tackle corruption and malfeasance in the judiciary and education?

A new phase of my blogging is nearing...the best is yet to come. You'll be seeing more of what's really been happening with my false sex harassment case since the beginning.
I'll also be posting many news articles showing the more realistic state of human and legal rights in Taiwan and another side of how foreigners are (mis)treated in Taiwan that the government and many others don't want you to know about.

Meanwhile, I've recently added another post to Taiwan's Injustice To Expats (& Other Foreign Guests)

One more in the month-long series of Reflections After a Life Is Taken has been posted: Reflections After A Life Is Taken IV

After keeping it in low gear for a while, it's time to shift it back up and share more revealing details of this battle against the forces of cronyism, protectionism, incompetence, corruption and prejudice that have long been hindering and frustrating my quest for the truth and justice in Taiwan.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

Yesterday I was in the Taipei district court building to find out why they had not called me to say when I could return to finish copying the files of my civil lawsuit case. It seems the staff misunderstood my reason for being there, and the woman proceeded to tell me (in Chinese) "you're judge is gone."

WHAT!? I blurted back. After some more explanation and translation help from a guard standing nearby, I found out (supposedly) that the judge in my case had 4 days earlier 'retired' and so a new judge would be assigned to my case:o.

This is the second time the judge will be replaced and at the same point as the first - when the judge was due to make/announce his decision. It's also the second time the judge will replaced after I filed one or more complaints against the judge, this time specifically asking that the judge either allow me to testify or be removed and replaced.

Just coincidence...2 times?

Just added to my blog (plus doc): Here We Go Again!

Hi,

could you share something else than every single post you make on your blog ?

thanks

Hi Julien,

  Thanks for your feedback on my posts. I looked over all my posts thus far, and only 4 out of 22 are only about my latest blog post. For the sake of not just copying what I write on my blog and vice-versa, I have kept those few posts brief to just the link to my blog.
  I'll be even more mindful of your suggestion and be sure to share more than just my latest blog post here. Of course, it's also easier for me when there is some dialogue between readers of this forum and myself and not mainly just I posting about the latest happenings. :-)

Where human rights, legal rights, and the Rule of Law are concerned - whether it be for Taiwanese or for foreigners - Taiwan is lagging badly. In fact, increasingly more and more Taiwanese are admitting that in recent years they've seen an actual decline.

Here is one of the shining examples of human rights and "the law" at work in Taiwan, taken from today's news:

Chen taken to hospital in handcuffs
Chen's handling criticized by DPP, Annette Lu

A few more gems, these also concerning foreign workers:

Workers should unite to call for better conditions
Female Philippine workers accuse firm of peeping
Labor groups slam CLA over illegal worker reward

For more, you know where to find my blog.

The ghosts of Taiwan's tarnished and human-rights-deficient judicial past continue to haunt its present.

One of last year's biggest stories was about the second acquittal of the Hsichih Trio:

'Hsichih trio found not guilty again
Taiwan: Miscarriage of Justice: "Hsichih Trio"
Facing the Firing Squad

Now in this week's news comes more revelations of the Taiwan government's long-running record of legal and human rights abuses, this time that resulted in an innocent man being wrongfully and hastily convicted of the murder of a young girl and executed less than a year later in 1997:

Doubts raised over soldier's execution
Probe into wrongful execution intensifies
Ma apologizes to the public over wrongful execution

Anybody here had any experience using a lawyer in Taiwan to represent you in court or other?

Late Wednesday night, after another uneasy exchange of differing opinions on my civil lawsuit, my attorney announced he is quitting my case - the 4th lawyer in the 3 years of the lawsuit to quit. All of the lawyers were provided through the Legal Aid Foundation, so I don't know if this is a common occurrence for attorneys in Taiwan to just up and quit when the client doesn't always see eye-to-eye with them.

So the "here today, gone tomorrow" tally in this saga stands at 5 lawyers (add one who was the first to take my administrative case) and 2 judges since 2008. With each new lurch in this case, it becomes clearer there is something more going on than just a battle over a simple, baseless, and false accusation.

Still no word on a new judge or the next court hearing date...already going on 3 months since the last hearing and 5 months since the previous judge declared I had 2 choices: either drop my lawsuit before he issued a ruling, or lose the suit because the judge had already decided the defendants were not guilty of any of the charges. This he had decided without ever allowing me to testify and present my evidence in court.

On Jan. 13 the administrative high court dismissed my appeal on "procedural" grounds, meaning they won't proceed to hear the facts of the case because it doesn't meet their criteria. The court claims it is still a matter for the nursing university to handle.

The February 12, 2011, edition of the Taipei Times has a very good editorial on the extent of injustice in Taiwan and the title neatly sums up the guiding principle in my fight against the nursing university, the Ministry of Education and even the civil court: "Injustice For One is Injustice for All."

For those of us teaching or doing other work here, the ugly hands of injustice reach all the way into the schools or other places of business we work in - in my case I was seized in their black grip starting with the manipulated administrative procedures of the nursing university, the cover ups and covering for by the Ministry of Education, the tag team intimidation of the prosecutor's office & the nursing university for 2 years, and reaching all the way up to the district court level in my civil lawsuit against the school.

Here's the Taipei Times editorial: Injustice for one is injustice for all

To give you an idea of the dirty lengths some employers or others in Taiwan can go to try and stop you from seeking justice by suing them and exposing their wrongdoings to the public, take a look at how the nursing university used the Shihlin prosecutor's office to intimidate and bully me for over 2 years - even chasing me all the way to Thailand where I had gone to work with a bogus arrest warrant pushed by the nursing university - until I finally prevailed in having their criminal complaint dismissed in May of 2010: Taiwan's Injustice & Human Rights Facade

If someone ever decided to reprise the classic "Twilight Zone" series, I'd seriously consider writing a screenplay for an episode (or two) based on the almost 4 years this "tour-de-farce" of false accusation, deceit, cover ups, racial bias, kangaroo courts, legal misrepresentation, and judicial tomfoolery has been playing out here.

In another of a seemingly endless succession of "Groundhog Day" (the movie, starring Bill Murray) experiences, I was informed by the Legal Aid Foundation this week that I'd need to meet with the LAF chief on March 2 to discuss why the previous attorney opted to quit my case...the 3rd time in 5 attorneys I've had to explain a change of attorneys and "defend" myself from an assertion by the departed lawyer that I was the cause of their exit. As before, if I can prove that I was not being a "bad" client, then the LAF will approve getting me a new attorney. If not, they've said (for the second straight time) that they will terminate the agreement with me and I'll be on my own. B------s!

Apparently, in Taiwan, at least concerning the LAF, if you express your disagreement with the lawyer or question his handling of your case or decisions, you are a troublemaker and subject to being "dismissed" by your attorney!

If I could afford to hire and pay a decent lawyer, I surely would have before and would at this juncture, but as it is I'm way in debt and struggling week-to-week, month-to-month just to pay daily expenses and monthly bills...I've been stuck in a serious rock-in-a-hard-place for too long. While still staying in the lawsuit as long as there's still even a slight chance of prevailing, I'm also moving on with my life and work and trying not to plunge myself so deep into this battle as I did for the first 2+ years. It's a tough balancing act!

Last week I went to the Taipei district court building to check on the date of the next court hearing, and, just like the week before when I went, the staff said the new judge was going to announce a date soon. It also turns out that the new judge is a woman...interesting to see if there will be any differences in the handling of my case after the debacles of the previous 2 male judges.

The staff also said I needed to pay an additional NT$3,000 to cover some lawsuit fees before my case could proceed, but after explaining that I had already paid the fees in January, they checked and confirmed I had paid the fees.

The games (or ineptitude) seem never to cease with the court...how is it that it took them almost 3 years from the time the lawsuit was filed to "discover" that I had not paid the correct amount in fees (now totaling NT$11,000)? Then, after I paid them, somehow one month later they didn't know I had paid the additional fees and said my case would remain on hold until I paid. This also coming more than 4 months since the last time there was a court hearing.

In 2009 there was an even longer gap of 6 months with no hearing - from October until April 2010 and after I had returned to Taiwan to conclude the Shihlin prosecutor's investigation of the nursing university's complaint alleging I had defamed some of those who I was suing.

As expected, the Legal Aid Foundation requested I meet with their staff to discuss why the previous 2 lawyers quit my case. The meeting was on March 7 and I expected their attitude to be defensive about the lawyers and biased toward me...and I wasn't disappointed.

Despite my very clear and documented examples of how the lawyers damaged and compromised my case, nearly killing it, the LAF attorney who I spoke was clearly there to protect the interests of her fellow attorneys and not to protect the interests of me, the client.

So, it was no surprise (but still disappointing) when I got an email from the LAF on Thursday, March 11, telling me that they were dropping my legal aid, despite the fact I still meet all the criteria for legal aid.

Check my blog for more about the LAF's decision and to read their email to me announcing it.

Five Months Later...Finally Another Court Hearing!

Take a look at it at Finally Another Court Hearing