Och hey, I've not blogged for a while, and I was missing the sound of my own voice, so here it is - an update and addition to the aforementioned reasons to love Taiwan.

REASON NUMBER 4

People actually get quite passionate about politics. And it's not so much that I understand what the hell is going on. I don't. In fact, I haven't a bloody clue most of the time. But, here are the two things I DO know:

I know that one party veers towards the opinion that eventual unification with the big-country-across-the-water might be ever such a nice idea, and the other party would rather gouge their eyes out with a rusty spoon.

And, I know the parliament here occasionally descends into the most ridiculous all-out brawls that would make the WWE guys shed genuine tears of pride... It makes our House of Commons lot look like a bunch of over-paid haw-hawing, braying idiots (probably because they ARE a bunch of over-paid, haw-hawing, braying idiots).

Sadly, I doubt the WWE-style brawls would go down well in the House of Commons, especially with Prescott on the floor - just imagine the damage he could inflict with that killer punch of his... and then he could smother the unlucky soul with his beer gut. Yuk. What a horrible way to die. Death by sweaty beer-gut.

Thinking about it, I think politics would be infinitely more interesting if we DID have some kind of commercialised wrestling-inspired discussions - just imagine the fun at Prime Minister's Question Time...

... The PM could come into the house through some smoke-filled sliding doors and set off a blast of fireworks, thus awakening the snoozing backbenchers. He (or she) could do mock-punches to a music system blasting some rabble-rousing anthem, and dance about badly, dressed head-to-toe in party-colour lycra (NOT a good thought, to be fair. We'll work on the costume bit...) Then, the Speaker could come out as the Ref - but wearing a ridiculous amount of bling and a faux-fur coat - and introduce the Opposition leader..."In the red corner we have The Grim Reaper, fighting for...the right to use incredibly dull but sensible rhetoric for every possible situation... and in the blue corner, Dave-the-Wonderkid,... fighting for hoodies who just need a hug..." The Opposition could get the obligatory boos and hisses (or the PM - depending on the mood)... and a few scantily clad researchers could double up as those ring-side floozies that are pointless but attractive. An exchange of meaningless insults could follow, backed up by a couple of well-rehearsed pantomime moves, and one final showdown could determine the success of disagreements and such like. Plus, no need for the Division Bell at voting time... just get the Ref out jangling his (or her) bling...and have an all-out brawl. Last man standing has the casting vote...

Anyway, it's not so much that I love these things (bizarre WWE fantasy aside), as fun as they are, it more that I love the fact that I can see democracy at it's most desired and loved. Sure, there's corruption, and cronyism... but on the other hand, my 9-year-old students were actually impassioned enough to argue about the forthcoming election the other day. I just can't imagine a kid in the UK stand their ground on a political issue so determinedly that they had to be separated from another, equally determined kid. And every single one of my Taiwanese friends voted; some even travelled home for the weekend to vote in their home-towns. Contrast that to the UK, where people don't even bother taking the 10 minute round-trip to the polling station to vote, because it might interfere with some trashy reality-TV semi-existence.

But then, I think... the main difference that I can see is that the UK has had quite a long period of politically stability, and has had universal suffrage for nearly a century. In contrast, Taiwan not only has the constant dark cloud of the PRC looming over it, but also, it is only relatively recently that the country has enjoyed open and free elections, and the complete abolishment of martial law.

A lazy, greedy complacency exists in the UK, whereby people take the existence of stable democracy for granted. On the other hand, there are generations of people in Taiwan who vividly remember a time when expressing one's opinion was the source of unknown trouble and punishment.

Therein lies the difference, I believe, in our primary motivations in voting. In the UK there is a certain apathy that has arisen, derived from the fact that no-one can actually envision a time when voting wasn't a universal right. As such, people have come to view voting as a minor inconvenience, rather than something which is central to their human-rights and freedom of expression. In some ways, this is to be applauded - people have come to view the stability of their country as so assured, and their freedoms as so safe, that they feel no need to make their voice heard.

On the other hand, isn't that a frightening thought? Think back to that frog-in-boiling-water analogy that everyone loves to use - at what point in the future will people suddenly realise it's getting a tad over-heated in the political arena, and those rights they felt were so safe...well, suddenly, the option to have their voice heard isn't there anymore...?