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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bosco who wrote (2522)	3/4/1998 4:23:00 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9980

Of interest>>Taiwan outraged by Peeping Toms with video cameras March 4, 1998 TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - In Taiwan these days, you never know who might be watching: A lamp or a clock might be concealing a tiny camera that is secretly filming you and your partner at a most embarrassing moment. Taiwanese are angry - and paranoid - about Peeping Toms who placed hidden cameras in scores of hotel and motel rooms to film couples having sex. They also planted cameras in college dorms, factory changing rooms or boutique dressing rooms. It started as a blackmail scam, and when that failed, producers turned to selling tapes in street markets. They found a market, started filming more, reproducing them by the thousands and selling them through newspaper ads. Like much of Asia, Taiwan is permissive about sex and has a thriving industry that ensured a market for the videos. Experts say that while many people maintain a conservative public attitude toward sex, there also is no sense of shame for what they do in private - unless it becomes public. The notion that they and their loved ones could - and were - caught by the camera's eye was too much. People are demanding action, and police are cracking down. "We may all have to bring our tents and sleeping bags when we travel!'' fumed one citizen, Tsai Min-tsan, in a letter to the United Daily News. A father reported his daughter tried to commit suicide twice after a friend saw a tape of her making love to her fiance in a hotel room. Under orders from Premier Vincent Siew, police have conducted a series of raids and arrested more than 20 people, including one underworld figure. They still are hunting for others who are believed to be videotape producers, former employees of private detective firms or gangsters. Police say they are also investigating hotel operators to determine whether they, too, are innocent victims of the scheme as they claim, or are somehow mixed up in it. "The places that were taped are mostly smaller hotels or motels,'' said police officer Chen Ping. Most popular were suburban motels that charge by the hour. The two inch-by-two inch camera contains a lens only three millimeters across. It transmits a picture to a separate video and audio recorder hidden in a TV set in the hotel room, or held and controlled by someone in a car outside the hotel. Costs were low. An imported camera like those used sells for $900. One made in Taiwan sells for one-third of that. The pictures are grainy but it's not too difficult to identify people. Police say they don't know how many people were taped, but there are plenty of videos on the market. To promote sales, they are sold in packages of six for $90. Several couples were later tipped by friends who bought the tapes. Sociologist Wang Li-rong said the business capitalized on conflicting social mores. "Here, we have a conservative society with strict sexual mores,'' she said. "But on the other hand, there is a culture based on the sense of shame, meaning 'I don't have to feel guilty as long as nobody sees me.''' The desire to keep an outward semblance of morality means street-corner brothels masquerade as barber shops, karaoke bars and restaurants. Authorities have proposed to increase penalty for such offenses from a maximum one year in jail to up to five years and a fine of up to $45,000. Lin Rong-tse, a vendor of the cameras, says that won't make much difference. Some of the video producers are preparing to move their operations to China, he said. They'll make the tapes there and smuggle them back to Taiwan. "As long as sex is shrouded in mystery, the secret tapes will always have a market,'' he said.

To: Bosco who wrote (2522)	3/4/1998 6:52:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9980

ref:Tibet,'mercenary pay' etc. Bosoco: 1) Mercenary- Oh I don't know Bosco, may be a little cultural & historical enlightenment will suffice as pay,is that reasonable?<g> 2)Tibet- From the looks of it India will have more Tibetans than Tibet but that is ok we love our Tibetans too after all what is another group of people in the already colorful cultural milieu of India, it just adds more flavor and we like our flavors and colors. I have no idea what the solution to the problem is, perhaps China will be more sensitive in dealing with Tibet in the future, now that the Dalai Lama is talking about not independence but some sort of cultural autonomy so that their culture and way of life is not destroyed in the process of Chinese integration. Perhaps Yiwu can shed some light on it and give us the Chinese perspective.