There's been a lot of changes in Taiwan since our last visit, although 'change' has become the definitive word since the end of cold war, when the economics open up when political barriers came down, as China and India continued to realize their full potential, their impacts to the rest of the world are only now more visible - Taichung was a sleepy city when I left in 1990, now it's teeming with high rises and department stores and the entire city has turned into a giant shopping mall. Parks and pedestrian spaces are replaced by roads, cars and motorcycles. Entire blocks of shopping districts in front of the old train station (Zheyo road, or Freedom Road) had gone into decline, supplanted by the newly emerged Taichung Harbor Road that were mostly empty 10 years ago. The jobs are mostly tourism related: hotels, shopping malls, restaurants. Most of the the manufacturing industry had moved to mainland China. Two of my friends are working in China, two of them out of work in Taiwan, one has recently started his own company after being laid off. The island is being squeezed by globalization, imported labors from SE Asia, and industrial exodus to China.
Although Taiwan economy had a mild recession, I don't think people are less happier - in Taichung I brought Tenzin to visit my best friend Cody Deng, his parents and two sisters and their children, my uncle, aunt, my cousins (Shiao-yu and Ling-Ren). My uncle and Cody's family basically adopted me when I was living alone in Taiwan in the 1980s. Sitting in their living rooms updating ourselves and watching Tenzin played with their children brought back a lot of happy memories. Even jobs are not as plentiful or as fulfilling as working for Google, you don't need a lot to be happy if you're surrounded by love ones. In fact, I think had I stayed in Taiwan and never left, I would probably have a so-so job but I would certainly have more children, spend more quality time with my family, friends and relatives, and definitely much less stressed-out as I was in the last two decades. Atomic family in Anglo-Saxon society has its down sides: its emphasis on jobs as the only mean for self-realization, and on consumption and materialism have caused a lot of miseries.
During my stay in Taipei, I had a chance to talk to Mom's best friend: Ling Chen-pu. I called her because when I visited uncle (mom's brother) in Taichung, he did not know Mom had passed away, so I made a point of making sure I talked to mom's friends and they can spread the news. I also want to know if Chen-pu knows why we immigrate: turned out Chen-pu did know because mom did discuss this with her (they were the best friends since freshmen years). According to Chen-pu, mom was the one that decided to immigrate, and she did it for two reasons: to give her children a better future, and to give dad a change of environment, the latter was because dad was day-trading in Taiwan and couldn't hold on to any job, so she hoped by immigrating to Canada he would get a fresh start. This confirmed what I have heard from Mom before. Chen-pu also told me she suspected that had Mom not immigrated, there is a good chance she would still be alive: she would have retired when she's 55, her teacher's pension would set her up for life, Taiwan has universal health care, and during her illness she's more likely to have stayed with one of her children's family instead of being committed to senior care.
Like all immigrants, it is inevitable that we have to re-affirm the decision every time we go back, as least sub-consciously: what made us leave? I've certainly done well financially, but what about the rest? Since Tenzin is born in America, it makes sense for Tenzin to grow up here and I believe America will continue to offer him with more opportunities. I have certainly benefited in many ways by the decision to stay here myself and have grown used to the open space, but now I am more mindful that the ledger has many columns, and happiness may not be as straight forward as solving an equation.
