Beauty of #Taiwan - How Culture Shapes up Manufacture on the Island

Taiwan's culture and cultural legacy has been largely shaped by the processes of imperialism and colonization as the structural and psychological effects of successive colonial projects have been integral to developing Taiwan's self-image and the evolution of both official and unofficial Taiwanese culture. - "Culture of Taiwan", Wikipedia

I would agree to the statement above. Though the self-image pursue has been a continuous topic here in Taiwan, or sometimes can say conflict, from generation to generation, the multi-cultural influences bring us positive effects in many ways. Since I joined the family business in the textile industry from 2003, here are my observations to share:

Being modest - Due to the overwhelming influence of Confucianism, we are taught to be humble. Though it is not always positive while building self-esteem, but when facing our customers from the world, we are generally good listeners and open-minded to embrace different cultures. This is pivotal especially in the textile/fashion industry, because we are good to "interpret" designs of our clients.

Precision- Taiwan was once ruled by Japan from 1895 to 1945. Still a big part of Taiwanese working attitude is affected by Japanese culture. The most important icon I would say we value precision very much, which makes us good manufacturers.

Tech Fan- Encouraged by the growing appraise to Western Rationalism, science and technology become more important to our education and economy development in the late 20th Century. Just take our strong OEM for industrial electronics and modern consumer electronics for example, you may refer to an article "THE QUAKE THAT ALMOST HALTED THE IPHONE 7" with the abstract as below:

The event that caused the scare? A 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck near the city of Tainan - a special municipality in Southern Taiwan - on February 6, 2016. Few people realize how critical Taiwan is in both industrial electronics and modern consumer electronics. Case in point: TSMC will be the sole supplier of Apple’s A10 processor—to be used in the upcoming iPhone 7. TSMC, a bellwether for the Taiwan electronics industry, gave an initial assessment that the impact to wafer shipments would be “less than 1%”. But as the days passed, TSMC has lowered its wafer shipment estimates after a more accurate assessment of the damage is now being realized.

In our textile industry, the technology perspective also triggers the booming of functional fabric developments:

Taiwan’s textile industry is a major provider of functional fabrics for well-known international outdoor and sportswear brands and is widely recognized across the globe. Today, Taiwan accounts for 70% of the world’s output of functional fabrics. - Bloomburg Press Release, Oct. 19th, 2019

Not only applying functions to the fabrics, but we also put our eyes and heart to #circulareconomy:

The Taiwan Smart & Functional Textiles Press Conference fostered discussions around sustainable practices, performance textiles and functional fabrics. Experts expect the percentage of fabric made from recycled materials to increase to 60-70% in the next few years, highlighting the industry’s shift towards making sustainability a stable of textile production. From revolutionary woven fleece to water-free dyeing and 100% recycled fashion fabrics, Taiwan is at the forefront of eco-friendly textile innovations. - BusinessWire Press Release, Oct. 30th, 2019

Abide to Western democracy value - Being the most friendly country to LGBT, executing the most progressive labour rights in Asia, #fairtrade simply is not a problem to the working environment in Taiwan.

Evolved from fast fashion, most people of the world now are aware of we are all inhabitants of Earth and we share the same future, which seems not so optimistic at the moment. Being islanders with limited resources, manufacturers in Taiwan in different industries cherish the land and the waters surround us. After all, beauty is the most crucial function, and nothing is more beautiful than nature, isn't it?

SOURCES :
Businesswire : Taiwan Unveiled Sustainable Performance Textiles at Functional Fabric Fair Portland
Taiwan Business TOPICS : Taiwan's Functional Fabrics are a Winner
Elementum : THE QUAKE THAT ALMOST HALTED THE IPHONE 7