Just goes to show you . . . I stop reading the local news for a bit in order to get caught up with other more pressing things and suddenly kool stuff hits and I’ve no clue until well after the fact. This is something I would have wanted to read . . .

So . . . I am very grateful that forums like Taiwan Nights exist with backlog discussions to I can find out – albeit accidentally stumbling across an old thread is a more accurate description – about stuff like this. See the Macking in Taipei thread for the links.

From the Taiwan News . . .

Taipei City undone by ‘macking’ column on Web site . . . by Jenny W. Hsu (Taiwan News, Staff Reporter) . . . 2006-01-25 . . . To provide a comprehensive service for all the English-speakers in Taipei, the Taiwan capital has created an English Web site to help people maneuver their ways around the town … and perhaps even a little excursion into a hot romantic affair during their travels. In addition to bus routes to the all the top tourist spots and an explanation of Chinese festivals, the Taipei City government Web site also contained a how-to section teaching men how to attract local girls. How is that for a “friendly” city? Promising to turn ordinary men into the “Tiger Woods of Love,” John Lee, the brainchild behind the “Macking in Taipei” online manual, boasted he has never failed to pick up a dream women during the last 13 years. The self-claimed lady killer, Lee, 28, also vowed that by following his tips, any ‘average frustrated chump’ can become the local Casanova. However, instead of being jammed with hits from eager skirt chasers, the section has drawn heavy criticism from the general public for being “degrading” to women. Taipei City Councilwomen Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) blasted the Web site and demanded an apology from the city mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for treating women as a “promotional tool” to increase tourism for the city. “Why doesn’t the Web site teach gold diggers on how to hook a sugar daddy?” retorted Hsu. Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), the head of the city’s Department of Information expressed his regret over this ‘oversight’ and has deleted the page from the Web site. Nonetheless, the question remains, what is macking? Is it a sexual term saturated with raging hormones? Or is it simply a casual phrase to be used in every day language to describe masculine charm? John Bucher, a Canadian, and chief editor of the Department of Information, called the removal “ridiculous.” In an email to Taiwan News, Bucher argued that the Web page was never intended for “lao wai,” the local term for foreigners. “It was a lighthearted English-learning article, written as a guide to help the hopeless ‘attract women'” said Bucher. He went on to say “macking,” at worst, means “hitting on” or “making time,” at best, something like “being a cool guy.” Bucher’s definition is backed by the Online Slang Dictionary which states “to mack” means to attempt to attract another person, or to hit on someone.” U.S.-born Taiwanese Steve Lin said, “To me, to mack on a girl simply means to hit on her by walking up her and saying hello.” Local media quoted another man from Chile as saying, “This Web page is not only disrespectful to Taiwanese women who are treated as cheap and easy, but it also unfairly demonizes all the foreign men in Taiwan as sexual predators.”

From the Taipei Times . . .

Ma muzzles `Tiger Woods of love’ column . . . by Mo Yan-chih (Taipei Times, Staff Reporter) . . . 2006-01-25 . . . A column designed to be a guide for “macking” — US slang for picking up women — on the Taipei City Government’s English-language Web site touched off a media frenzy yesterday after a local tabloid ran a front page feature story about the column. The column, “Macking in Taipei,” was proposed by the city government’s English consultants to attract more readers while teaching casual English in what they considered a creative way. The column’s introduction and first article on the Web site’s “English Corner” on Jan. 15, however, sparked complaints from residents who said the contents were too provocative to be put on a local government Web site. The issue exploded after the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily ran a full front page detailing the Web site, under the headline “City government teaches foreigners to womanize,” and included articles on the “favorite places for foreigners to hang out” in Taipei. Other media outlets, including a number of TV stations, quickly jumped on the issue after the newspaper hit the stands. “You are pathetic and you can’t get a girl. Don’t worry. I’m here to help.” John Lee, `Macking in Taipei’ columnist The column was proposed by the Web site’s chief editor, John Bucher, and written by a military attache to the city’s department of information, John Lee, a Taiwanese citizen who lived in Los Angeles for 16 years. Contrary to the Apple Daily’s report, the column did not specifically state that it was designed to help foreigners pick up girls in Taipei. It was presented as a broader “guide to attract women” for guys who want to “meet [their] Cinderella.” “Who am I? Good question. I’m the new military attache to the Department of Information. My name is John Lee. I’m Taiwanese, but I lived in Los Angeles for the past sixteen years,” the column said. “I’ve just come back to serve my country. Am I a patriot? Time will tell.” “You are pathetic and you can’t get a girl. Don’t worry. I’m here to help. Want to be the Tiger Woods of love? Follow my directions, son, and you will be a statue — a chiseled and polished love god,” Lee wrote in the column introduction. “You may think I sound pompous, but I’m just honest,” the column said. Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said the city government had been careless in the matter and asked the Web site’s administration information department to pull the column. “Those articles are indeed improper [for a city government Web site]. I already made the information department remove the column,” Ma said yesterday morning after presiding over a municipal meeting. “Our English Web site was relatively popular compared to those of the government divisions, and the English consultants put some creativity in the articles, using slang or fresh topics to generate residents’ interest in learning English,” Lo Chih-cheng (羅智成), commissioner of the information department, said yesterday at city hall. “We apologize to those who are offended by this column.” Both the editor and Lee declined to comment on the matter yesterday. But the department defended the staff. “We thought the column was improper after seeing it on the Web site, and went talk to the editor. He was a little surprised at the response because he was just trying to be creative and attract younger people,” the department’s editorial officer Angel Chen (陳譽馨) said. “They will be more careful from now on in dealing with this kind of topic.”

Does anyone have a copy of the actual Macking article in question? I’d really appreciate a copy (with references intact).

Thanks.

All the best,
Brian