Ask any guy who’s entered the dating scene in Taiwan about ‘Princess Syndrome’, and chances are you’ll get that all too familiar slow nodding and appreciative but weak smile of understanding.
Taiwanese and western guys alike in Taiwan’s dating scene often run headfirst into Princess Syndrome, the scenario at times feeling like being armed with a toothpick trying to tear down a towering brick wall of culturally ingrained entitlement.
But where does it come from?
Crappy parenting.
Thankfully my current girlfriend only reverts back into her princess ways on the odd occasion, but every now and then I’m reminded of just how ingrained this concept is into Taiwanese culture.
My latest Princess Syndrome episode involved our landlord, a guy who at the time we’d barely known for a month.
Surprised at the fact we were living together, after a night of drinks at his place (he owns a factory nearby and we go around for drinks every so often as he’s quite a social chap), he took me aside and half jokingly, half seriously in so many words conveyed that he’d decided my girlfriend was top shelf and that if I dared to mess things up or hurt her, there’d be trouble.
He’d decided that the fact we lived together effectively meant my girlfriend’s family (specifically her father) must have abandoned her, and consequently there was as such some sort of guardian role he saw the need to fill.
Far be it from me to let some other guy dictate the terms of my relationships, but it was all I could do to insist that just because I wasn’t from Taiwan didn’t mean I was about to just abandon ship and run off with the next vagina that caught my fancy.
Well, that’s not quite how I put it but between his grasp of English and that of mine with Chinese, I’d like to think that’s the message that was conveyed in reply.
With four daughters of his own, I kinda feel sorry for the poor schmuck who starts to date them.
As awkward as my little exchange might have been at the time, the topic hasn’t been re-visted and we all get along fine.
…just another day in the life of a guy going out with a Taiwanese woman.
Looking forward, it’d be nice to think that this was just an older generation thing that would eventually die out. But with an island choc-a-bloc full of these princess types, and father figures seemingly only all to willing to step in and encourage the behaviour – that seems unlikely.
Just ask one thirteen year old student from Feng-Lin Junior High School in Hualian.
After exchanging flirty SMS messages and what not, a thirteen year old boy decided to reject the advances of a fellow female student.
Outraged, the girl ran home and began to start cutting herself.
Upon seeing his daughter’s injuries and asking her about it, the father decided to investigate on his own and upon finding prior SMS exchanges between the two students on his daughter’s phone, jumped to the only logical conclusion he could muster.
This heartless teenage demon had assaulted his innocent precious. And his daughter, being the psychotically deranged princess he’d raised her to be, completely went along with it.
Doing what any father would do given the circumstances, he called up the school to complain – and eventually his concerns found their way to Director of Academic Affairs Shen Wen-jun (沈文俊).
This clown, instead of investigating himself and passing on the incident to the relevant authorities, abducted the male teenager (presumably abusing his position of authority) and took him to the girl’s house, where of course ‘her parents and several other cousins had gathered‘.
What happened next?
Furious at the loss of face this kid had caused his princess,
the girl’s father, reportedly intoxicated, started shouting and beating the teenaged boy. Soon, three cousins joined in while four others stood around and watched.
Wonderful.
Realising his complete and utter cock-up, Shen claims he ‘shielded Chiang from the blows initially (but was) soon swatted aside‘.
After beating the kid senseless, the father then held him hostage until his mother arrived. Upon arrival the mother, along with her son, were then held hostage until she signed a ’NT$200,000 promissory note for the emotional distress the son allegedly inflicted on the perpetrator’s daughter’.
$200,000 TWD ($6,592 USD) and a bashing just for rejecting his daughter? Jesus Christ, just how exactly freaking fugly is this girl?!
Upon being released by their captors, the mother promptly presented herself and her battered son to the nearest police station, where ‘their claims were not taken seriously‘.
Feng-Lin Junior High School refused to report anything and police were happy to pretend the attack never happened. Finally, it was ‘only when they sought the help of legislator Yang De-ching did the horrifying confrontation come to light‘.
For his part in the fiasco, Shen was fired and as it stands, ‘formal charges on all parties are pending investigation‘.
Seriously, does messed up even begin to describe this incident? Forget the actions of the school administrator for a second – how messed up is the father’s daughter?
She gets rejected at school and then proceeds to start cutting herself – WTF? Why the hell isn’t she seeing a psychologist!
I well and truly pity the poor bastard who winds up dating this girl over the next few years.
‘Whaaaaaat? He looked at you funny?!
THAT’S IT! Call a family reunion, WE’RE GOING TO GO BURN DOWN HIS FUCKING HOUSE AND HANG HIM!’
I appreciate the parental instinct to protect your kids… but there’s being a responsible and caring parent, there’s taking that idea a little bit too far, there’s even being a completely overzealous control freak about it… and then there’s this guy.
Note to Taiwanese fathers: Having a daughter is not a license for crazy.
