12/22 (Tue.) What would you do? (Host: Tina Sun)

[Tina Sun]

Hello Yoyo members, this Tina, who is currently in Japan for my honeymoon trip. I will be back in Taiwan on 12/19 and soon will have another trip held by my company from 12/27 to 12/29….. truly a very busy month in December. But luckily, I still have a free Tuesday on 12/22 to catch up with you. Please do come to the meeting because I really miss you all so much.

The following clip is a very good and meaningful youtube video I’ve watched recently. When I finished watching the video, it made me think a lot of things, such as the basic one – bullying itself and what kind of bystanders we are. Do we dare to stand up and say something you think it’s just not right?



A few weeks ago, there was a piece of news: White guy and his Asian girlfriend harassed on a train for being together). It kept me thinking if I were there on that train, what I would do. I think I will ask that Taiwanese to be nice and shut up. But actually, most of time when I commuted on MRT, I didn’t dare to stop anything, for example, “you shouldn’t put your own personal package on another seat” – this kind of small thing…. (shameful~ )

So, let’s have a wide open chat to talk about the society we live in and ourselves.

Questions:
Session I
1. What kinds of behavior do you think can be called – “bullying.”
2. Could you share any true stories related bullying behaviors? Do you think if Taiwan is having a serious bullying situation right now?
3. The bully and the victim, who should take the responsibility for letting this situation happen in the first place? Why?

Session II
1. If you were the bystander in the video, would you have courage to stop the bullying and say anything to those little girls?
2. How do you see the event happened on MRT? (The foreigner being harassed). Would you dare to say anything to this Taiwanese man to stop the harassment?
3. If this situation happened on you, how would you react?

********************************************************************************************************************************************
Agenda:
6:45 ~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:10 ~ 7:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
7:50 ~ 8:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
8:10 ~ 8:25pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:25 ~ 9:05pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
9:05 ~ 9:25pm Summarization (20 mins)
9:25 ~ 9:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期：列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間：當天請準時於 6:45 pm 到達 ~ 約 9:30 pm 左右結束
星期二聚會地點：丹堤濟南店
地址、電話：台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站：板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法：出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後，沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘，到了濟南路口，左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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注意事項：
1. 與會者請自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請務必先看過演講影片，並仔細想過所有的問題，謝謝合作！

給新朋友的話：
1. 請事先準備 2~3 分鐘的英語自我介紹；會議結束前可能會請你發表 1~2 分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題，並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行，參加者應具備中等英語會話能力，對任一討論問題，能夠以 5 到 10 句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前，可以先來觀摩三次，觀摩者亦須參與討論。正式加入需繳交終身會費 NT$1,000。

[Kooper]

What does a bullying on national stage look like? Well, we are witnessing one right now at the presidential campaign in America. What Donald Trump has said to other GOP candidates and the debate host Megyn Kelly has been viewed by experts as bullying. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/09/bu ... trump.html

[Rock]

Two trips in a row paid by others? Tina is really having serious fun.

Is it some kind of mental bullying to us people who stuck here?

[Rock]

I witnessed two bullying. Even up to now, I still feel so bad.

The first one happened 30 years ago. When I passed by a park in my neighborhood, I saw a tall teenager punching a smaller kid on the chest like crazy. Some people were also there, but no one did anything. I felt like helping him, but was too scared to get involved. Besides, I was only a kid myself. Finally, a very very old man, the so called "old taro", came to the rescue. He jumped off his bicycle at the first moment he saw it, running and yelling at them to stop. The bigger kid was angry, but he stopped anyway.

The second one was in Bangkok years ago. In a crowded MRT car, a pretty young girl got aboard and stood near me. Just when I was feeling lucky and trying to take a better look, I noticed that she is a HE-- a lady boy with heavy makeup but still looked innocently beautiful. After some time, for no reason, some guys around her started to talk and joke loudly. I don't know Thai language, but the smirk and sniggers were obvious. One of them said something to the LB, she didn't respond; then the guy suddenly reached out to feel her cheek. She flinched, but still didn't say anything, nor move. I could see fear in her eyes. Is it a damsel in distress? How come nobody wants to help her? Should I be the hero? Those thoughts popped up, but I didn't do anything, again. The ladyboy fled the train at the very next station. All I could do is watch.

I felt like a coward; I felt like I've been bullied, too.

[Tina Sun]

I know that feeling too, Rock. There is nothing wrong with you, but you just feel sick about it. (sigh...)

BTW, the honeymoon was paid all by myself. Now I am officially broke. Hahahaha

[Iris Wu]

First, I am really grateful for Tina's dedication to YoYo!
When I asked her to be the host, I did not know her schedule was so full. Even under such tight schedule, she still tried her best to find the time and came up with such great topic and questions for us to think and talk about! For that, I take my hat off to you, dear Tina!

More or less, serious or not serious, we have experienced some sort of “bullying” events. It seems that when we see the bullying events in the video or in someone else's story, we thought we would do justice to the victims, but actually when we become the real bystanders, we usually do not behave as we thought we would do. And after the incident, we regret and upset ourselves for not taking the opportunity to “punish” the bullies!

For that reason, it's better to think ahead and prepare ourselves to react when things actually happen. As shown in the video, when we see someone is bullied, if we cannot stop it, then, we can offer our support to the victim and let the bullies know people are not with them. So for the case, the western guy and his Asian girlfriend on the bus, we can probably chat with them friendly and make a point that we treat them as a normal couple.

[Rock]

I saw a very good quotation in the thread: "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw.

[Tina Sun]

Dear Iris,

It is you that I should take my hat off to!!! It's my honor to help. I'll be a regular attendee again.

Tina

I saw a very good quotation in the thread: "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw.

Dear Rock,

Does that mean we shouldn't do anything or talk to those who we think they are bullying someone or doing anything not right.
Because we shouldn't get dirty as they are??

Tina

[Rock]

No, I mean the foreigner in the MRT wrestled with the Taiwanese pig for too long, so he got dirty.
On the second thought, maybe it's not wise to judge things by one-sided information? Besides, sometimes Laws of Attraction applies.

[Tina Sun]

Attendees:
Iris, Jason, Jessie, Julian, Kooper, Leo, Linda, Luis, Rock, Shirley Hsu, Sophie, Steve, Wen-Han, Yvonne

Speakers:
Session I
Linda, Iris, Kooper, (Rock)
Session II
Jessie, Yvonne, Jason, Julian

Thank you all for coming yesterday. It looks we need to host another meeting for the debate about the responsibility part.

[Tina Sun]

Rock, it's true. That Taiwanese expects you to get dirty.... now I see.

[Luis Ko]

there's no doubt the perpetrators are at fault, of course. but then again, who do you think is responsible for your safety? if you are vigilant enough, have done everything to protect yourself then, i will put all the blame on the perpetrators. otherwise, in some cases, how can a person expose themselves to dangerous situation in the first place, and still expect they would end up being intact? it's too naive, or say stupid, isn't it? at the end of the day, you, yourself, are the one who has to be responsible for your own safety, aren't you? you have to protect yourself. that's the reality of life i would say.

by the way, guess i can't resist a damsel in distress. i will definitely come to her rescue.. by any means.