Ah, home sweet home. And I do mean home, as I’m in the process of applying for permanent residency. If only Taiwan could shut out the rest of the world, or make the rest of the world think and behave the same way as people here.
Marriage equality hasn’t passed yet, but the ruling DPP is gradually gathering support for passage of the law, which will likely be voted on in 2017, well before the 2018 elections.
Taiwan on verge of becoming first Asian country to allow same-sex marriage
Taiwan is on the verge of becoming the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage, according to the politician who tabled the new law.
A legislative committee approved an amendment to the civil code on 26 December, beginning a process that is expected to last until the middle of the year.
“We’re almost close to passing it,” Yu Mei-nu, the politician who introduced the marriage equality bill, told digital news company Global Post.
Another reason I’m glad to be here is quality of life. There are work opportunities, equality and career opportunities for women, a safe country, relatively clean environment, low levels of violent crime, etc. The biggest annoyance I’ve had was being verbally and physically harassed by an transphobic jerk the other day (the first time I’ve experienced that), and he was a foreigner.
Taiwan has also just been named the best place in the world for expatriates to live based on a variety of factors (work, education, health care, etc.) out of the top 21 countries. The list includes countries you expect – some of the Benelux, Nordic and Euro Union countries plus Australia, New Zealand and several Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, and Singapore).
Noticeably absent is the US, and that was before Petty Cash was elected. The only other countries ranked as worth living in within North and South America are Costa Rica and Ecuador, according to 14,000 expatriates from around the world.
The top 21 countries for quality of life have been ranked
The countries with the best quality of life in the world have a good work-life balance, access to quality healthcare, education, and infrastructure, as well as cost of living and career opportunities. Great weather also helps.
In a new survey by InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad, the company asked 14,300 expats, representing 174 nationalities and living in 191 countries or territories, to rate 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of 1-7.
The top 21 are in order:
- Taiwan
- Austria
- Japan
- Spain
- Costa Rica
- Malta
- Czech Republic (a/k/a Czechia)
- Singapore
- Germany
- Switzerland
- South Korea
- Canada
- New Zealand
- Portugal
- France
- Australia
- Luxembourg
- Ecuador
- Finland
- Hungary
- Denmark
umm – Canada ranked 12 is in North America and that’s in spite of being temperate to darned cold:)
Minor quibble: Canada is also within North America, and it’s #12 on the list.
Not minor quibbler, minor editing error. I somehow deleted the word “other” while editing and have since replaced it. Although now it looks like I omitted Canada when talking about NA.
I’m actually very surprised, that Hungary made that list at 20, especially above Denmark in regards to quality of life, to the point I have to wonder just what was asked of expats.
To be fair, I’ll resort to things publicly known to any foreigner, and is corroborated by facts. For starters, a NATO fence, and the dismantle of human rights protections along the southern border. The constitution defining marriage between a man and a woman. The lack of an economy that is independent from the government. The lack of media that is independent from the government. The actual craze to build more stadiums than hospitals like it’s a post-Soviet country.
Yet worst offender of all is xenophobia, and the subsequent ignorance to not learn languages.
heh heh, New Zealand again sneakily avoids being too near the top (I expect because we haven’t that much wealth therefore infrastructure and opportunity by that surveys measures) and gaining too much attention.
We’ll just keep minding our own business out of the way…