A recent episode of the variety show University (大學生了沒) discussing “girls from the south” has roused ire from a number of netizens, who accused the show of being prejudiced against people from southern Taiwan.
The episode, aired on Wednesday, invited women from southern Taiwan to discuss the differences between women in northern and southern Taiwan. During the show, clothing, makeup, accent and bearing were compared, all at the expense of women from southern Taiwan.
At one point, a voice-over described the make-up of the women from southern Taiwan as “having a thick rural southern feel (下港味) to it.”
“I was so mad [at that comment] I wanted to slam my TV,” a Netizen said.
“I really don’t know what we people in southern Taiwan have done wrong to you people. Was that really necessary?” another netizen asked.
IT’S THE BRAS
One of the participants in the show, with the stage name Jui Mie Mie (睿咩咩), said that “the difference between Taipei and the south” was the fact that Taipei women wear Nu Bras and Party Bras and accentuated their cleavage, while women in the south wear “old grandma lingerie” and do not know how to accentuate their cleavage.
Some netizens were incensed by her remarks. Some said the comments objectified women, while another fired back: “Are you kidding me? Girls in the south also wear Nu Bras and accentuate their cleavage! It’s not that we don’t do it, it’s because we have class!”
About one month ago, the show also caused a ruckus when one participant on the show made a controversial comment describing Taitung as a place that is “great in scenery and also dull.”
MOLDY BRAINS
It prompted netizens to joke that the show should change its name to “Yet Unborn Brain” (大腦生了沒) or “Brain that Grows Mold” (大腦發了霉).
The show’s comments prompted one netizen, Fang Kai-yuan (方凱沅), to launch a Facebook page called “We’re all Taiwanese just the same, but Southern Taiwanese are more ‘special?’”
Everyone loves Taiwan, and Taiwanese should not be prejudiced toward one another, he said.
As of press time, the page has garnered the support of more than 30,000 netizens in less than two days.
In response, the show’s producer Liang Ting-hao (梁庭豪) said the show’s intention was to have the participants discuss the general public’s “stereotypical image” of women from southern Taiwan in a light and humorous manner, without any ill will.
“We humbly accept the criticism from netizens,” Liang added.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
RSS