A Potpourri Missive from Taiwan

The tragic death of a civil servant; Yang Shuang-zi's TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE (translated by Lin King); marvelous art installations in Chiayi; a joyous baseball win. Plus, watch a capybara munch on grass.

Tw: suicide

Hello dear readers,

Two particular bits of news—on widely different ends of the spectrum—have occupied our attention since we last wrote. 

On November 4, the body of a civil servant, whose last name is Wu, was found in his office; he had hung himself. His death has sparked a major outrage on Taiwanese social media, especially as details from an apparently toxic workplace have emerged. The details are horrifying—but unsurprising—for anyone with even a passing knowledge of Taiwanese work culture. Before he died, Wu often arrived at work before 6 AM and would stay until 8 PM. Yet, he had to clock in and out at normal hours, meaning that he rarely received overtime. He was often asked to redo work after submitting it, and his direct supervisor would scream at him for making relatively minor mistakes. 

What particularly incensed people: Wu worked for the Ministry of Labor. He was a data analyst for the northern regional office of the Workforce Development Agency, which oversees a b…