Have you read: Low pay drives 40% of ‘Gold Card’ expats to leave Taiwan

Taiwan- we need to talk. It has been a few years since we met through the Gold Card program. A lot has happened in that time. I met your Mom (The Gold Card Office). I have not met your Dad (the National Development Council which funds the Gold Card Office) even though I hear he knows me and takes interest in my work. Seems he was always too busy to go to lunch even though I offered to treat him. 

Taiwan, I have to be honest, I thought we were working together but at this point I am not so sure. 

If you remember we met when you invited me and my friends through your shiny new Gold Card program which aimed to attract highly skilled professionals to your shores. I got in before it was “cool” (known as the great Taiwanese Covid Vacation for ABCs - which your Mom is just coming to terms with the reality of). 

I remember when I arrived as if it was yesterday. It was a festive event and I cherish your warm welcome. You told me how much you want people like me and my friends. How special we can be together. You, me and my friends, the highly skilled western professionals, the lawyers, the prize winners, the patent holders, the entrepreneurs, the artists and the creatives. You knew who you were cherry picking.

We were smitten when you told us how nice people are on your Island. They were initially but we never really got ingrained into business or government. We did take some fun publicity photos together at the beach and the mountains though.

You showed me how pretty you look. How fun you can be at dinner and on the weekends. It started a colorful romance. A great weekend retreat but when we wanted to settle in we quickly realized that you did not offer us the same terms of doing so as locals.

For example, we could not reasonably buy a house to make our home with you. This is when some of us first began to leave.

Yet the majority did not despair. We tried to rent an apartment near you so we can still keep our relationship going strong. Even though we were asked to pay a premium as “high risk foreigners” for a living standard that is not what we bargained for or pay even more for our “Western standards”. There was no one we could talk to about these issues. We thought your Mom might help but she did not. Still we loved you so we tried to make it work. Some of us decided to stomach paying a premium or making lifestyle compromises for you. However there were now less of us to do so.

You invited us to open businesses but before we could even get started we realized the way our money is handled is from the past century, might involve an abacus and hours of stamping paperwork we cannot read. Yet we trusted you so we stood in those lines for hours because we tried to do it your way. When we finally set up our accounts and sent funds from overseas, you held our money for weeks, treating us like your lender but paying no interest. You would summon us to your bank branches to explain ourselves so that our funds could be deposited into our own bank accounts rather than kept in yours. When we tried to send money back overseas it got us another visit to the bank. If we wanted a credit card, we might have an unlimited card back home but your bank only trusted us with $3000 limits. We soon realized we should separate our finances. 

You told us how important we are to you and invited us to generate business ideas for you only to have your officials go as far as to push them aside without reading what we imagined for you. There were even less of us left now. Some of us wanted to join your companies but those companies did not want to pay what we are worth elsewhere and many of us were mistreated. When we disagreed with improper procedures or unreasonable work hours some of us were called “babies”. Those were my engineer friends. I can understand your disdain. You have your own local engineers. You clearly do not need more. I get it. You’re right.

However, quite a few of my remaining friends were high-end executives in North America and Europe. You did not want to listen to most of what they had to offer your companies either. 

You set high bars to get these executives onto your island but then they were not provided places for their skills to be applied. It seems your Mom and Dad did not check with industry to see if there was even much desire to hire these skilled professionals.  When they were hired, they were not placed in positions of responsibility. Which they were happy to lend their expertise in. After all that is why you invited them in the first place. Your organizations made it clear your way is the right way. Most of those executive friends left and they are applying their mastery elsewhere. Our numbers further dwindled yet a few of us still stayed.

Speaking of dwindling numbers, some of my friends listened to you and brought their kids with them. Intending on making the island their new home they quickly found out it was extremely difficult if not impossible to place their kids within your schools. The schools said they can enroll “foreigner kids” only if there are spots left over after all the local kids have enrolled. Those friends quickly left with their families. There goes part of your international future generation Taiwan.

This went on for years. We thought the problem was us. The “foreigners”. We kept hearing you are the best all over the Island. It took us talking to our friends and family to realize it was not really our fault. We tried talking to your Mom but she kept telling us how great a job she is doing with selective curated data that shows how good a Mom she was, is and will always be.

Your Dad told others he liked what we were saying but never quite got around to call us. 
He would instead depend on your mom for information about us. I asked to meet with him a few times and I heard from his assistants that he wants to meet. Just never did. I guess he was just too busy. I have to admit at this point we felt a little used. After all, we flew all the way here to make it work with you. Made a lot of compromises, sacrifices, poured in time and money and carried so much potential - for you.

Fast forward to 2023. Most of my friends have quit you. They felt mistreated. 

The last few that remain here are looking at you and do not want to agree with all those that have left before them. Those who left say you are a pretty ex but a cold one that is best left in the past. It is only me and a few others that are still cautiously optimistic. Maybe you are misunderstood and your parents are at fault?

You keep saying how great you are. You keep saying how you make the best food. Have the prettiest smiles. The nicest… everything. Your parents agree and enable you. You are flawless and faultless. Then again, if you are so perfect, why did your parents call on us? The reality is most of the gold stars you attracted early on have left. They left you for adventurous North America, mature Europe and your exciting and easy going cute cousins in Asia. Those you lost will not return and when their friends ask if they should court you, the answer will be “Taiwan? She’s great - for a few weeks”.

Listen Taiwan, we have to do this together if we are going to do this at all.  Your Dad is avoiding me. Your Mom is in denial and afraid of your Dad since he gives her an allowance. I know your Mom will tell your Dad there will always be others but that will not be the case. You will just treat them the same way and they too will leave. You will become the old maid of Asia with lower and lower levels of suitors coming for you.

The fact is that is already happening. Your Mom is going to countries she would not have before in an attempt to find you new suitors. Your Mom is targeting South East Asia, while she was targeting North America and Europe a few years ago. Originally the target was high caliber executives and professionals, now it seems you are now getting junior and mid-level workers. 

I am sure they are good people but are these your Gold Card people? They are already coming in through traditional visas. Are these the innovators your Gold Card program claims to attract for your future or are they filling in and competing with your local talent? Are the low salaries offered to them in Taiwan considered higher than where they come from and that is why they come to you? What does that mean for you? 

One thing I am pretty certain of is that many would not have qualified under the criteria we did when you first invited us under the program. A program that was supposed to jump start Taiwan globally by attracting the best international minds. Instead of our fancy degrees, unique corporate and startup experiences, patent portfolios, international awards and talents you are now getting mid-level workers. Is this a solid foundation for your future in our global village?  

I understand your Mom needs to justify her allowance to your Dad and tries to do so with quantity instead of quality benchmarks alongside highly selective data. How long will that last though? Lowering standards to sustain numbers instead of raising standards and infrastructure to naturally attract high caliber people. For your sake, it is time to wake up and be honest with yourself. 

Some of us, including me, are still here for now. Do you want to make it work? I think we can but we need to sit down and do it together. We can figure out how we can work together and how we can grow and sustain each other. It does not take much. It starts with a conversation which is long overdue. 

We would love to discuss our ideas and share expertise in matters of education, banking, law, research, new technologies and industries, fostering a business-friendly environment, modernized tourism and strengthening international partnerships in an effort to increase Taiwan’s influence on the global stage. 

However, if all we hear is basically denial from your Mom and silence from your Dad then it is time to pack our bags and move on. Numerous remaining Gold Carders already have a date in mind. The next move is yours. 

(This piece reflects the author's opinion, and does not represent the opinion of CommonWealth Magazine.) 

This article was edited for clarity on Jan 11, 2023

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About the author

Jon, a Taiwan Gold Card holder, graduated from Rutgers University where he earned a Doctorate in Law and founded multiple companies in different spaces which are attributable to his broad experience in Technology, Real Estate & Entertainment. Jon is an innovator, patent holder and writer. Welcome to connect Jon with his [LinkedIn] [Instagram]

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Have you read?

• Low pay drives 40% of ‘Gold Card’ expats to leave Taiwan 
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