Altruism: Where’s the Paycheck?
July 25th, 2006 by MarkLast night, I met my friend Nathan at the Taoyuan train station. We decided to go the night market, so we hailed a cab and jumped in. Before I mention what happened, I should point out that I generally like cab drivers in Taiwan. They’re usually personable, chatty, and sometimes even interesting. This particular guy, on the other hand, was almost a caricature of a Chinese cab driver. The conversation below all happened in Chinese, of course.
Me: Hi. We want to go to the night market.
Driver: Oh! Can you speak Chinese!!?
Nathan: Uh…. yeah.
Driver: You guys are Americans, right? Right?
Me: Yep. We live here, though.
Driver: What do you do? Are you teachers?
Nathan: He is, and I’m a volunteer worker.
Driver: What do you mean? What do you do?
Nathan: I do work at hospitals and juvenile reform centers…
Driver: Do they pay you?
Nathan: No, it’s all volun…
Driver: They don’t PAY you? Why do you do it?
Nathan: To help people. It’s…
Driver: No salary? I wouldn’t do it!
I’m sure a lot of westerners secretly think the same way. I’ve never heard any say it so bluntly, though. Even if it’s only lip-service and they can’t really relate to volunteerism or charity, they’re at least familiar with what would motivate other people to engage in those activities.
:
July 25th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
I’ve never had such a conversation with a cab driver, but most of my Taiwanese coworkers and friends are just kind of curious about it, a little confused by it. They usually say something like “Wow, really? They don’t pay you?” and give a look suggesting that only an overpaid foreign English teacher could afford to volunteer. I can’t blame them; most of them work longer hours for less pay. On top of that, Taiwan doesn’t have the volunteer culture that Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton tried to promote during their presidencies, or the government-funded programs that enable a lot of people to do community work and earn money for college at the same time. This is not to say that no one volunteers in this country, but I’d be interested to know with what frequency, and if the government has any interest in encouraging people to volunteer.
July 25th, 2006 at 9:32 pm
Many Taiwanese certainly think like this. The attitude relates not only to volunteer work but to work and life more generally. Hence, children are forced to spend all their time studying without enough opportunities to play. Then it extends into adult life where people spend so much time working that they have little time for sports or leisure activities.
On the flipside there are many Taiwanese that devote an enormous amount of time to volunteering. One of my friend’s mothers recently retired, yet she barely has a moment to spare as she is so busy volunteering.
The Tzu Chi Foundation is probably the largest and most visible group of volunteers in Taiwan. They do many wonderful things.
July 25th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
Holly,
I didn’t mean to imply that nobody here is charitable. Actually, some of the people in my friend’s organization are Taiwanese.
I agree with what you said about the volunteer culture in the US. It’s fairly common there for rich people to give away their fortunes, and also fairly common for working class people to give 10% or more of their money to charitable organizations.
July 26th, 2006 at 3:44 am
Mark,
I definitely agree that there are a lot of folks here who volunteer their time, and also work in nonprofits at outrageously low salaries (lower than the already low US nonprofit standard). In my own experience volunteering here, the people I’ve met through the women’s foundations have been some of the most passionate people I’ve ever met. They work long hours with even less government and corporate resources than similar groups back home. In many ways, volunteering with them is more rewarding than volunteering at home - in fact, being able to work more closely with these women is one of the major things driving me to learn Chinese!
Also, thanks for bringing up this topic. I don’t normally make a habit of commenting on blogs, but you’ve hit upon an important cultural difference that is very personal to me. I can’t recall seeing this mentioned elsewhere before now!
July 26th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
According to the Taipei Times 64 000 people volunteered in Taiwan in 2005.
July 26th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
I think if you told a U.S. cab driver that volunteering is your full-time job, many might be similarly incredulous.
I think in Taiwan, volunteerism is associated with older people, especially women. I often see them at municipal offices and MRT stops offering to provide information. You can identify them by their baggy vest uniform.
July 26th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
Elliot, I just noticed your article on the same subject. I guess several of us have had charity on the mind.
July 27th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
When I told people what I waas going to do every western person I talked to said they thougt it was an admirable thing to do, even if they themselves wouldn’t do it. No one said “that’s stupid”. On the other hand, when I told Taiwanese people many would say the same thing. “What? No money? Why do it then?” There were people in Taiwan that did praise me for my efforts though, one example was a lady at a hotel who gave me a huge discount, and then people with a strong religious background, Budhist or Christian were also very supportive. Also the gangsters in Gaoxiong gave me a 3000NT discount when they robbed me. They took my 25,000NT and then gave me 3000NT back because I was a volunteer.
July 28th, 2006 at 2:58 am
It’s interesting to hear that Taiwanese may not be as inclined to donate their time. I’ve found in Guatemala that people are largely the same as in the US. Specifically, those with less tend to give more (so I wouldn’t say there’s a shortage of people who want to help).
Is there an American (meaning the continents of America) mentality and a Far East mentality that differ? I’ve always thought of cultures in the Far East as extremely goal oriented. It looks like I’m right. I don’t like to generalize, but this does seem to be quite a pattern.
Actually, even the Guatemalans who don’t donate time or money still don’t question our work or motivations.
Does anyone know what it’s like in, say, Europe or Australia?
July 28th, 2006 at 10:34 am
Culture Shock Taiwan had a memorable quote, something like in Chinese culture charity begins at home…and ends there. As cheesy as that book is generally, there is some truth to this.
July 29th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Nathan said:
You got a discount from muggers since they repected your volunteer work. That’s life in the ‘wan, for ya. It’s a pity you don’t blog, because this would make one heck of an entry.
July 31st, 2006 at 12:50 am
I agree that would be an excellent entry.