Writing POC 101

Taiwanese Characters - @bathearts

I've always had trouble categorizing myself to one race. Even though I am Taiwanese by birth, most of my childhood was in the USA. Instead of growing up the traditional Taiwanese way, I watched Hannah Montana, read Curious George, and ate Fruit Rolls. It's a struggle trying to find out what exactly your identity is when it's not given to you automatically; it is both a blessing and a curse when people ask you where you are from. I only realized how left out I felt from my culture when our family moved back years later. Now, in my home country, I am the outsider. It felt more like a forced choice than free will like when I was back at the States when I told people that questioned my Mandarin accent that I was Taiwanese. Sometimes, people would think that I was snobby when I rattled off a series of phrases in English to my sister or my friends in public without knowing what my situation was; I simply feel more comfortable saying the language I know best rather than butcher my own tongue with oddly accented vocabulary. But after living in Taiwan for more than enough years, I have come back to my culture enough to be proud of saying that I am Taiwanese again--even though there is so much political tension you can cause by just stating where you are from, even though people still question my dialect, and even though I do not know enough about my home to deserve it. But I wish to share to you what being a Taiwanese truly means, and maybe relate to people like me--no matter what race you are and where you are from--because I believe that everyone has a choice to choose where you belong to, but not where you are from.

F A C T S / S T E R E O T Y P E S

We are not just math. We are music, sun-kissed faces (mostly, with the exception of few), dark ebony hair, brightly colored highlights, laughter, tears, human. Most people would categorize us with the Chinese, which seems to happen with every other Asian. Even though our ancestors were from China, we do not identify with being Chinese. Think of this as the USA. Before it was what it is today, people had to come from Europe first and join with the Native Americans. Do you call Americans Europeans? No, you don't. Who your ancestors are and where you were born are completely different things.

Even though I personally have smaller eyes, most of the Taiwanese that I know don't. Not all of us wear glasses and have tiny eyes.

We are located right beside China, a tiny peanut-shaped island.

Even though we all speak Mandarin, we have our own local dialect, Taiwanese.

We have our own celebrities, slang, and pop culture.

Businesswise, we are mostly known for making computer tech.

Not all of us have accents when we speak English. Since the language that we speak is lilting, most of us have trouble pronouncing English without having a singsong effect and sounding like our tongues are knotted (I had this problem, but it slowly went away after spending years with Americans). However, some of us have the ability to speak English and sound almost flawless.

P O L I T I C S

This is a controversial topic. But many closer, curious friends of mine that know that I am not easily offended ask me the same things: So, is Taiwan a part of China? What's with all the stuff that's going on in the news?
If you ask any Taiwanese, they will tell you the same thing: we are not the Chinese. This area is especially touchier for us than any other Asian race because of the way we are thought of as a possession. We are not something to be possessed. We are our own people. Sometimes, I go on social media such as Youtube, watch a film made by Taiwanese Youtubers, and occasionally scroll under to the comments to find a fight breaking out about our nationality. People, especially simply haters, think of us as "cowards" that do not have the guts to fight for our independence. Yet, think about this:

We have our own government, president, and parties.

We are one island surrounded by powerful nations ready to fight to claim our land and our resources. Our geographical location makes us vulnerable to aggression and it makes us wanted because of how perfect a spot it is to control trade.

We know what we want--independence, recognition, peace. But we also know when to stop. Spilled blood of our people is not worth this fight. We are not cowards.

Right now, we are at peace with China and every other country. Our people are friendly, and we do not discriminate against other races because of what we have been through. I have friends from many different places--China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the USA, Korea, Sweden, Germany, and such. So please, do not accuse me of starting anything. I am trying to share all I know in the perspective of me in my country, not anyone else.

N A M E S

Since our ancestors are from China, our last names are Chinese. We have Chens, Lins, Lees, Dengs, Wus, Longs, Yangs, and many many more.

Most of us have English names as well as Chinese, since Taiwanese schools learn English as well as Mandarin. It's perfectly fine for your character to have an English name.

E D U C A T I O N

As mentioned above, we learn both English and Mandarin in school. Therefore, we have at least basic knowledge of English phrases. We can carry out conversations.

The Chinese value education because it is understood that knowledge is power. As passed down from our ancestors, the Taiwanese also value education. Being in school in Taiwan is hard and competitive. Many schools have rankings and although your grades do not determine how intelligent you are, how you treat your education is how people treat you. Our thinking is this: if you do not value your future, then what are you to do? Again, I am speaking from general knowledge that I have collected from my cousins, other family members, and friends from local schools. We work hard to earn ourselves a better future and to become more well versed on a global scale. Learn both Mandarin and English and you can survive in at least half of the world.

I'm sorry for the long post, but I am tired of seeing the Taiwanese being misunderstood for so long. In my time on Wattpad, I have only seen less than five books out of hundreds that mention a Taiwanese character at all. I have only seen two published books featuring a Taiwanese protagonist that is in English. I know so many Taiwanese Wattpaders on this site. It is time to step out of our comfort zones and share our culture to the rest of Wattpad, and it is time for the rest of Wattpad to acknowledge such characters and know the difference between us and everyone else. Please note that I am not trying to offend anyone; if I do, I sincerely apologize. I am just trying to bring out one side of the story and share my culture.

Thank you for reading :)