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Hi there! Taiwanese here. We invented boba (full of sugar and unhealthy), and our cuisine, while delicious, can be incredibly unhealthy. We are actually strugg

Hi there! Taiwanese here. We invented boba (full of sugar and unhealthy), and our cuisine, while delicious, can be incredibly unhealthy. We are actually struggling to confront one of Asia's largest obesity epidemics. I think the notion that we're an island "full of thin people who eat rice or noodles at almost every meal" is not only a problematic and reductionist characterization, it ignores the problems that we face (an epidemic of obesity and an aging population.) [1]http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2016/04/26/2003644828 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2016/04/...

keithpeter 9y ago
Thanks for contributing, quote from OA "Finally, it began to institute global budgets — caps on the total amount paid for all care — in the hope of squeezing providers into becoming more efficient." OK, what happens when a part of the system hits the cap in a given year? Rising obesity -> cancer/blood pressure/type 2 diabetes in a decade or two based on UK experience. In UK we spend a large % of GDP on the NHS but that % can't keep rising forever, so I'm interested in alternatives.
whatyoucantsay 9y ago
Hi, there! Your comment is charactaristically un-Taiwanese, starting with the word "boba". That isn't the word people use for it in Taiwan (either in meaning of the characters or the sound). Most people don't understand boba (波霸) and I personally never encountered the word until visiting North America. In Taiwan, it's 珍珠奶茶. > "people who eat rice or noodles at almost every meal" is not only a problematic and reductionist characterization" Taiwanese people rarely talk like this either. In fact, the charactarisation you've quoted is one I repeated from national media. Furthermore, left-wing language police and phrases such as "problematic and reductionist" have yet to enter mainstream Taiwanese discourse. Quite the contrary, it's too far in the opposite direction. Two pieces of anecdata: When commenting on how mannequins in Ximen are all white, except for the ones showcasing athletic wear, which are black, I've been politely told to piss off. Similarly, when I complained of a pub's unapologetic and blatant Nazi decor, I was told that I "think too much". Operating on the principle of charity, I will assume you are Taiwanese and either live there now or did in your formative years and not a North American with little experience with the culture or local media of Taiwan who simply feels entitled to speak as an expert and scold strangers on the internet on the basis of your race. That would be problematic indeed. Here's a quick way to understand where this generalisation came from: Simply walk into several local restaurants and look at the sections on a menus. Or try avoiding rice or noodles for even a single day when eating with your fellow Taiwanese over the age of 30. Yes, diets are changing and to the detriment of everyone's health. No, it's not impossible to see high level general differences between them and those in the west or differences in typical physiques or clothes sizes sold in typical malls.
- yorwba 9y ago
  I don't consider it surprising that a Taiwanese would use characteristically un-Taiwanese expressions on an English-language forum. I'm not sure what to think of your approach of suggesting that they are lying, but then self-congratulating your charity for not outright saying that. While rice and noodles may be staples of Taiwanese food, that doesn't mean that everyone is eating healthy. In the West, you might say the same about wheat flour and potatoes, but when that flour comes in the form of burger buns and cake, and the potatoes in greasy fries, it doesn't seem so healthy. I don't know how often Taiwanese drink sugary drinks or eat sweets in addition to their meals, nor do I know how much of that rice and those noodles are fried as chow fan or chow mein (and apologies if those are not the words Taiwanese would use), but it isn't hard to imagine that it is more than optimal. That's usually what happens when people are able to afford more food than they actually need, and are able to choose tasty high-calorie high-fat meals whenever they feel like it.
  - whatyoucantsay 9y ago
    I haven't suggested that anyone is "lying", as you put it, but it was clear to me that the parent's comment was disingenuous and an appeal to identity, or worse to racial authority. FWIW "chow mein" is a HK phrase / dish. > I don't know how often Taiwanese drink sugary drinks or eat sweets in addition to their meals I do. Unlike everyone else in this thread AFICT, Taiwan is my homeland and where I've chosen to build my future life. Your doubts and kevinjcliao's (possibly innocent) misinformation mean nothing to me.
    - dang 9y ago
      Please don't be uncivil here; we ban accounts that do this. Also, please give others the benefit of the doubt when commenting here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
      - whatyoucantsay 9y ago
        Excuse me? I've bent over backwards to remain charitable even after receiving uncivil and ideological barbs such as "problematic" and "reductionist characterization" flung at me in the midst of an exceedingly dubious comment. > https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Read them many times and believe my comment, unlike the ancestor comment, was in harmony with them.

keithpeter 9y ago

Thanks for contributing, quote from OA "Finally, it began to institute global budgets — caps on the total amount paid for all care — in the hope of squeezing providers into becoming more efficient." OK, what happens when a part of the system hits the cap in a given year? Rising obesity -> cancer/blood pressure/type 2 diabetes in a decade or two based on UK experience. In UK we spend a large % of GDP on the NHS but that % can't keep rising forever, so I'm interested in alternatives.

whatyoucantsay 9y ago

Hi, there! Your comment is charactaristically un-Taiwanese, starting with the word "boba". That isn't the word people use for it in Taiwan (either in meaning of the characters or the sound). Most people don't understand boba (波霸) and I personally never encountered the word until visiting North America. In Taiwan, it's 珍珠奶茶. > "people who eat rice or noodles at almost every meal" is not only a problematic and reductionist characterization" Taiwanese people rarely talk like this either. In fact, the charactarisation you've quoted is one I repeated from national media. Furthermore, left-wing language police and phrases such as "problematic and reductionist" have yet to enter mainstream Taiwanese discourse. Quite the contrary, it's too far in the opposite direction. Two pieces of anecdata: When commenting on how mannequins in Ximen are all white, except for the ones showcasing athletic wear, which are black, I've been politely told to piss off. Similarly, when I complained of a pub's unapologetic and blatant Nazi decor, I was told that I "think too much". Operating on the principle of charity, I will assume you are Taiwanese and either live there now or did in your formative years and not a North American with little experience with the culture or local media of Taiwan who simply feels entitled to speak as an expert and scold strangers on the internet on the basis of your race. That would be problematic indeed. Here's a quick way to understand where this generalisation came from: Simply walk into several local restaurants and look at the sections on a menus. Or try avoiding rice or noodles for even a single day when eating with your fellow Taiwanese over the age of 30. Yes, diets are changing and to the detriment of everyone's health. No, it's not impossible to see high level general differences between them and those in the west or differences in typical physiques or clothes sizes sold in typical malls.

yorwba 9y ago
I don't consider it surprising that a Taiwanese would use characteristically un-Taiwanese expressions on an English-language forum. I'm not sure what to think of your approach of suggesting that they are lying, but then self-congratulating your charity for not outright saying that. While rice and noodles may be staples of Taiwanese food, that doesn't mean that everyone is eating healthy. In the West, you might say the same about wheat flour and potatoes, but when that flour comes in the form of burger buns and cake, and the potatoes in greasy fries, it doesn't seem so healthy. I don't know how often Taiwanese drink sugary drinks or eat sweets in addition to their meals, nor do I know how much of that rice and those noodles are fried as chow fan or chow mein (and apologies if those are not the words Taiwanese would use), but it isn't hard to imagine that it is more than optimal. That's usually what happens when people are able to afford more food than they actually need, and are able to choose tasty high-calorie high-fat meals whenever they feel like it.
- whatyoucantsay 9y ago
  I haven't suggested that anyone is "lying", as you put it, but it was clear to me that the parent's comment was disingenuous and an appeal to identity, or worse to racial authority. FWIW "chow mein" is a HK phrase / dish. > I don't know how often Taiwanese drink sugary drinks or eat sweets in addition to their meals I do. Unlike everyone else in this thread AFICT, Taiwan is my homeland and where I've chosen to build my future life. Your doubts and kevinjcliao's (possibly innocent) misinformation mean nothing to me.
  - dang 9y ago
    Please don't be uncivil here; we ban accounts that do this. Also, please give others the benefit of the doubt when commenting here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - whatyoucantsay 9y ago
      Excuse me? I've bent over backwards to remain charitable even after receiving uncivil and ideological barbs such as "problematic" and "reductionist characterization" flung at me in the midst of an exceedingly dubious comment. > https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Read them many times and believe my comment, unlike the ancestor comment, was in harmony with them.