新聞資料整理

【2009.10.13  中廣新聞網】

媒體報導，財政部計畫部分復征證所稅，讓台北股市一度大跌超過百點。閣揆吳敦義在立法院強調，一切還停留在賦改會委員討論的階段，根本還沒提到財政部或行政院。至於衛生署提出檳榔健康捐的構想，吳敦義也強調，沒有計畫向檳榔攤或檳榔課稅。(李人岳報導)

媒體報導，財政部打算「局部」復征證所稅，讓台股早盤一度大跌超過百點。閣揆吳敦義在面對國民黨立委徐耀昌的質詢時強調，復征證所稅還停留在賦改會部分委員討論的階段，還沒提報到財政部更沒有提到行政院，他還沒看到財政部轉過來賦改會的意見(t)。

另一方面，民進黨立委蔡煌瑯質疑，衛生署計畫開征檳榔健康捐，將會傷害檳榔産業，蔡煌郎批評，出身南投的閣揆吳敦義沒有吃果子拜樹頭。吳敦義強調開征檳榔捐事是「沒有的事」(t)。吳敦義強調，沒有計畫向檳榔攤或檳榔課稅。

資料來源: http://dailynews.sina.com/bg/tw/twpolitics/bcc/20091013/0008746868.html

【2009.10.09  中央廣播電台】
為了保障國人健康，衛生署長楊志良日前表示將推動檳榔健康捐。民進黨立委蔡煌瑯9日批評，吃檳榔的民眾多半屬於中下階層，如果課徵檳榔捐，勢必加重這些民眾的經濟負擔，政府應該勸導民眾不要吃檳榔，而不是加稅。國民黨立院黨團也表示，必須考量基層的生計問題，現階段不宜，也沒有必要徵檳榔捐。

繼菸品健康捐之後，衛生署基於保障國人健康，希望用以價制量的方式，開徵檳榔健康捐，一盒20顆的檳榔可能會被徵收2、3元的健康捐。

民進黨立委蔡煌瑯說，吃檳榔的人口多半是中下階層的民眾，政府要開徵檳榔捐，會加重這些民眾的負擔。蔡煌瑯表示，政府可以宣導民眾不要吃檳榔，或者勸導農民轉型不要種檳榔，但是不應該加稅。他說：『(原音)政府如果要人民不吃檳榔，可以，你應該要從教育、應該要從宣導去要求人民少吃檳榔，或者是輔導人民轉業，不要再種檳榔，而不是用加稅來懲罰這些吃檳榔、種檳榔的人。所以這個政府是萬萬稅，馬英九的承諾到哪裡去了？』

蔡煌瑯也說，如果衛生署想利用檳榔捐改善健保財務黑洞，就應該先追討台北市積欠的健保費。

國民黨立院黨團書記長呂學樟也說，用以價制量的方式課徵檳榔稅雖然只是一個想法，但是應該兼顧基層的生計，現階段不宜，也沒有必要課徵檳榔捐，增加老百姓的負擔。他說：『(原音)所以黨團認為，要考量也要兼顧基層的生計問題，所以現階段不宜，也沒有必要去加徵檳榔稅，會增加基層生計負擔。』

呂學樟說，吃檳榔確實對國人健康造成影響，但政府在制訂政策時，應該考量老百姓的經濟負擔。

資料來源:  http://news.rti.org.tw/index_MailFW.aspx?nid=218954

【2009.10.09  NOWnews  生活中心／綜合報導】

衛生署決研擬徵收檳榔健康捐，預計每顆檳榔徵收1毛3。站在口腔衛生保健、預防口腔癌，以及維護水土生態保持的立場，醫界贊成開徵檳榔捐，不過，業者與檳榔族卻相當反彈，更有檳榔西施大喊，「漲價後生意更難做，是否要逼我們穿得更清涼？」

根據衛生署調查，每年新增5000多名口腔癌病人，每年也有2300人死於口腔癌，使得口腔癌是男性癌症增加最快速的癌症。台大醫學院牙科名譽教授韓良俊贊成政府開徵檳榔稅，並應增設檳榔危害防治法。他說，檳榔子即使不加添加物也會致癌，檳榔對口腔的危害，除了會罹口腔癌，還會導致食道癌，尤其栽種檳榔樹容易造成山坡地土石流，建議農委會應輔導農民轉種其他經濟作物。

擬開徵消息傳出，原本賴以維生的檳榔樹的檳農表示，若徵收健康捐，恐會遭盤商壓低收購價格，生計更困難；更有檳榔西施反彈，檳榔捐開徵價格更高，會減少購買量，未來是否要穿更清涼？還有平日靠吃檳榔提神的計程車司機、勞工朋友，也擔心開銷會更大。
不過，檳榔捐開徵知易行難，衛生署長楊志良在接受立委質詢時指出，在開徵檳榔捐之前，必須先解決技術問題，現階段會先以積極勸戒嚼食檳榔，以及推廣口腔癌篩檢為主。

資料來源: http://www.nownews.com/n/2009/10/09/839750

【2009.11.29  蘋果日報  記者吳詠平╱桃園報導】

桃園又有檳榔攤發生命案！桃園市「轟動檳榔」老闆娘，懷疑丈夫與店裡的檳榔西施有染，昨天下午帶著一把生魚片刀到店內找西施算帳，警告對方不准再勾引老闆，兩人一言不合吵起來，老闆娘盛怒下掏出尖刀猛刺西施6刀，西施負傷求救，送醫仍不治。

涉嫌殺人的老闆娘李玉琴（40歲），在案發約1小時即被警方逮捕，她在警所見兒子來看她，對自己魯莽，懊悔的眼淚直流，但仍氣不過對警方說：「和丈夫這麼久，他卻為這個女的什麼都不要，我怎麼想得開？」警方訊後今將依殺人罪嫌移送法辦。

夫妻開「轟動檳榔」

喪命的檳榔西施張怡芳（28歲），警方初步了解，她身上共有6處刀傷，胸部3刀是致命傷，另左手臂2刀、左腹部1刀，真正死因待今天檢方相驗查明。

警方調查，兇嫌李玉琴和丈夫林棋財（40歲）是高中班對，結婚多年育有3個孩子，原本家庭和樂；半年前丈夫突然說要開檳榔店，在桃園市永安路租了一間店面，取名「轟動檳榔」，找來認識兩年的張怡芳當店員；後來李女發現丈夫和張女關係不正常，曾多次警告兩人，但他們都否認。

昨天下午4時許，李女從家裡帶了一把37公分長鋒利的生魚片刀，騎機車到檳榔店，警告張女不准再和老闆往來，兩人發生爭吵，李女在盛怒下掏出尖刀對著張女猛刺，張女負傷逃到隔壁求救，李女還追上又補一刀，見對方倒在隔壁麵店走道才罷手，張女被鄰居送醫急救，到下午6時許宣告死亡。

女逃跑再被補一刀

李女殺人後騎機車離開但沒回家，精神恍惚的在市區內遊蕩，警方據報根據檳榔攤鄰居說法，很快就查到李女手機號碼，打通後勸她出面投案；通話中，警員發現李女就在離桃園警分局100公尺的文中北路上，立即逮捕，起出兇刀。
而李女的丈夫得知老婆殺了店裡的檳榔西施，趕到醫院去看張女，但到深夜也未到警所看老婆。

資料來源: http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20091129/32125760

台灣特有文化 老外最愛

【2009.10.12  自由電子報  記者林良哲／台中報導】

台灣的檳榔西施成為了木偶藝術品！台中市「老樹根魔法木工坊」運用台灣特色做為創意，以檳榔西施為設計圖案，創作出獨特的檳榔西施木偶，目前已在多家五星級飯店販售，受到外國觀光客的喜愛。

「老樹根魔法木工坊」負責人江明偉表示，他本身從事木器製作已超過20年，而木器正是台灣的傳統產業，近年來因人工成本及價格太高，台灣的木器工廠紛紛遷移到中國，但他堅持「根留台灣」，因此在3年前將工廠變成教室，獲得經濟部輔導為「觀光工廠」。

除了觀光工廠之外，江明偉也開發具有台灣特色的新產品，例如台灣原住民豐年祭系列木偶、歌仔戲系列木偶及本土神明系列木偶，獲得不少好評；此外，他更將台灣特有的檳榔西施，設計成為木偶藝術品，獲得多家五星級飯店青睞，紛紛向他洽詢合作方式。

江明偉表示，雖然有人認為檳榔西施不登大雅之堂，但他卻以其為台灣特有的文化，不少外國觀光客還特別指定要來台觀看，因此特別設計出2只檳榔西施木偶，取名為「秀很媚」及「秀很美」，目前開始量產。

江明偉說，原本以為檳榔西施木偶會受到批評，沒想到在量產之後，反而成為熱門商品，甚至受到一位大學設計系教授的肯定，目前已在多家五星級飯店販售，贏得外國觀光客的喜愛，成為最受歡迎的文化創意商品。

資料來源: http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/oct/12/today-so6.htm

【January 22.2009    BY Mark Magnier】

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Lee sits on a bar stool in a plexiglass box near a highway offramp in central Taiwan. It’s late afternoon and the 29-year-old is dressed in a red negligee, a fake rose planted firmly between her breasts.

“I work from noon to midnight, and it’s psychologically tiring,” she says. “Furthermore,” she adds, pointing to her husband a few yards away, “he takes all the money.”
Before you jump to conclusions, she isn’t selling her body. In fact, she’s using her body to sell . . . a spicy, addictive snack called betel nuts.

Lee, who doesn’t want to give her first name, is a “betel nut beauty,” one of thousands of women along Taiwan’s highways hawking the date-like fruit of the areca palm to truckers and other mostly working-class customers.

The practice has been cheered on by male customers, condemned by feminist groups, decried by health professionals and pored over by sociologists keen to understand the island’s “betel nut culture.” But the aggressive sales tactics are credited with jump-starting a ho-hum industry: Betel nuts have supplanted sugar cane as Taiwan’s second-largest crop, after rice.

Chewed widely in parts of Southeast Asia, India, Pakistan and the South Pacific, the betel nut is a stimulant popular as a hunger suppressant, breath freshener, tobacco substitute or simply for getting a mild buzz. Then there’s the downside. Chewing betel nuts, which gives a kick akin to cigarettes, can lead to red-stained teeth, drooling, red-splotched sidewalks and oral cancer.

The betel nut’s distinguished history dates to China’s Six Dynasties period (220-589), when it was a treasured gift for royalty. In more recent years, Taiwan has moved this royal indulgence decidedly down-market. Now you can get betel nut soap, betel nut liquor, even betel nut chicken feed.

But the main show is roadside — a cheap thrill, given that packages sell for a dollar or two.

“Basically, men are randy,” says taxi driver Cheng Chunho, dipping into a plastic bag of “Hi Class Beetle Nut Crispy & Tasty.” “I don’t even like the stuff. But after a long day of driving, buying it provides a bit of excitement.”

Suggestively dressed women in neon boxes on lonely highways would spell serious trouble in most countries. But attacks are rare, a fact sociologists attribute to Taiwan’s relatively nonviolent, reserved culture.

Outsiders often assume the industry is a cover for prostitution. Although some cases may exist, experts say, doing 12-hour shifts in a glass box isn’t exactly conducive to “the world’s oldest profession,” which is amply served by the island’s many barber shops and escort services.

“Everyone has preconceived notions, but they’re not necessarily true,” says Tobie Openshaw, a photographer who has chronicled this salacious but socially accepted world. “They are underdogs, misunderstood, real people with real dreams.”

Most stands feature glaring neon lights and a large mirror designed to draw attention to the women. Not exactly subtle, but it stops traffic. At which point the women teeter to the curb in their high heels, bend into the car window suggestively and hand over a couple of packets of betel nuts and a plastic cup for drivers to spit into.
Many of the women recruited by the booth owners are dropouts, single parents or runaways from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, says Christian Wu, an artist and scholar, named the unofficial “Minister of Betel Nut Beauties” by Taiwan’s Art Critic magazine for her long-standing work with the community.

“The average age is 14 to 17,” Wu says. “By 20, you’re often too old.”

—

The businesses are legal, but many are owned by gangsters who bribe police to alert them of pending raids, allowing them to hide underage workers. Where women once faced pressure from heavy-handed owners, a commission system now puts more of the onus on the women to decide how they want to dress, allowing some to earn upward of $50,000 a year. This has prompted a debate in Taiwan’s academia over whether they are being empowered or exploited.

Current and former betel nut beauties say owners give new recruits some basic tips on what to wear and how to act — let your hand linger when passing off the nuts, wear an oversized bra, smile, wave at motorists — but ultimately the women develop their own style.

Competition can get particularly fierce, especially in summer, when harvests mean there’s more to sell. But selling is about more than just looks.

“If a new girl with a beautiful face shows up but she’s stupid, there isn’t much competition,” says one seller who left the industry and keeps her past a secret. “But there are a fixed number of drivers coming by. And if she’s got good sales skills, she can steal away 50% of the business.”

資料來源:http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/22/world/fg-betel-beauty22

【By Yu-huay Sun – January 26, 2006 11:01 EST】

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) — The Taiwan government’s plan to curb cancer faces tough opposition: about 60,000 women who sit in roadside glass booths, often wearing little more than a bikini, selling the island’s oldest legal drug.

The so-called betel-nut beauties, who are unique to Taiwan, peddle the island’s second-largest crop to 17.5 percent of the adult male population, according to government estimates.

Chewing addictive betel nuts, the seed of the betel palm, increases the risk of mouth cancer, according to Taiwan’s Department of Health. Officials are encouraging farmers to plant alternatives to the $359 million annual crop, urging about 1.6 million users to quit.

“We aren’t very optimistic,” said Wu Chien-yuan, a Health Department section chief in Taipei. “We’ll focus on preventing people from starting.”

Betel, or areca, nuts increase the heart rate and induce a mild sense of excitement, said Hahn Liang-Jiunn, an oral and facial surgeon at Taipei’s National Taiwan University Hospital.

As many as 400 million people from East Africa to Indonesia chew the seeds and leaves regularly, the British Medical Journal reported in April 2002.

Taiwan’s beauties are even featured in tourist guides. Their betel-nut stands are a favorite among long-distance drivers.

“I use betel nuts to mark time and to keep myself alert,” said Shen Ting-hui, 28, a truck driver from northern Taoyuan county, who has been chewing betel nuts for 10 years.

Paying a saleswoman dressed in a blue shirt, white shorts and white boots, Shen said the beauties’ visual sales pitch encouraged him to buy from them.

“Of course I want to go to someone good-looking,” he said.

Red High Heels

While the Taiwan government’s goals are modest — cutting the number of users by half a percentage point during the next four years — the beauties are not.

“Our government is stupid,” said saleswoman Yu Hui-min, 38, dismissing the notion that betel nuts cause cancer. She wore a brown shirt and miniskirt and red high heels in her neon-lit booth in central Taipei. “In my home town, betel nuts are a treat for guests.”

Betel-nut beauties emerged in the early 1990s as Taiwanese companies sought to cut labor costs by moving factories to China. Many of the beauties are unskilled workers who can’t find better jobs because of that shift, said Robin Jai, dean of social sciences at Nanhua University in southern Chiayi county.

Taiwan has more than 100,000 betel-nut booths, Jai said. Artist Christian Wu, who said she interviewed more than 200 saleswomen during a 10-year study, estimates that 60,000 of the booths are run by beauties.

50 Percent Profit

“With not much money, I can own my business and wear beautiful clothes to work,” said Lin Hsiao-wei, 35, who wore a leopard-print miniskirt as she dispensed betel nuts in the central town of Toufen. “This is a good job.”

Lin, a former garment-factory worker, said she sells NT$8,000 ($250) to NT$9,000 of betel nuts a day. Her booth cost about NT$150,000 to set up and her profit margin ranges from 33 percent to 50 percent, she said.

People who chew betel nuts, drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes are 123 times more likely to get mouth cancer than those who don’t, according to Taiwan’s Health Department.

Mouth cancer killed about 15 of every 100,000 Taiwanese men in 2003, making it the fourth most lethal form of the disease, department figures show.

“There is sufficient scientific evidence that betel nuts can cause oral cancer,” said Hahn, the surgeon. They also have been linked to asthma, diabetes and cancers of the esophagus and anus, he said.

Withdrawal Symptoms

A 2000 study of ethnic Indian users in London found that paan masala, a combination of spices and betel nut wrapped in a betel leaf, can be as addictive as cocaine, according to the British Medical Journal.

“Patients describe typical dependency symptoms, with difficulty in abstaining, withdrawal symptoms including headache and sweating, and need for a morning paan to relieve these symptoms,” the 2002 Journal report said.

To combat the habit, Taiwan’s government is running anti-betel advertisements and education campaigns, including betel-nut prevention days.

Officials also are helping farmers to substitute orange and tangerine trees and Chinese herbs for betel crops. Nut production declined 17 percent to 143,368 metric tons in 2004 from a peak of 172,574 metric tons six years earlier, according to the Council of Agriculture.

Still, the crop remains the country’s second-largest, after rice, and affects the livelihood of 70,000 farming families, the council estimates.

More Inspections

Sellers are coming under pressure, too. The police are stepping up inspections of betel-nut beauties for moral and safety reasons, said Patricia Huang, a spokeswoman at the Ministry of the Interior.

“Their revealing clothing may distract drivers and cause car accidents, as well as prompt male clients to harass or even sexually assault them,” Huang said.

County officials are helping, closing down booths if they judge sellers’ clothing to be too revealing, said Wang Yun-tsen, deputy director of economic development in Taoyuan, which is home to the country’s largest international airport.

Taoyuan “is the main gate of our nation,” Wang said. The saleswomen “aren’t a good subculture and we don’t want people to use them to attract tourists.”

Teng Chun-han, 28, a truck driver from Taoyuan, said the government should stop harassing the women, who are only trying to make ends meet.

He spends 12 hours a day on the road and uses betel nuts to stay alert, he said, paying a saleswoman wearing a short black dress and black boots.

“Eight out of 10 users will buy from betel-nut beauties,” Teng said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yu-huay Sun in Taipei at ysun7@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Foxwell in Seoul at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net.

資料來源:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ahwT_eKoDVZo&refer=asia-redirectoldpage

 
據臺媒報道，桃園有一名大學生打工賣檳榔，當起檳榔西施，成為同學眼中的焦點人物。另外，一名高中畢業的檳榔西施頂了檳榔攤，邊賣檳榔邊學鋼琴，她表示未來想考大學，還突顯就算上大學，還是會繼續賣檳榔。

今年23歲的小佩，高中畢業後為了完成學音樂的夢想，就靠賣檳榔存錢，如今她不僅頂下一檳榔攤，還買了一架鋼琴，每天請老師來上課，希望有一天能成為音樂家。小佩說，如果將來能上大學，她也不會放棄檳榔事業。

今年19歲的妮妮則是一所工藝學院的1年級學生。妮妮表示，從以前打工就一直從事賣檳榔的工作，一直沒有改變過。這位檳榔西施的同學們都認為，有同學當西施，感受很有趣。學生對檳榔西施的接受度，恐怕超過一般民眾的想象。

資料來源:  http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/taiwan/2005-05/17/content_2965423.htm

【2004.04.07  TVBS新聞  記者陳妙欣、李讚盛報導】

天氣轉熱，色情檳榔西施蠢蠢欲動，高雄縣警方就一口氣查獲三3名袒胸露背的檳榔西施。以往業者會請報馬仔通風報信，導致錄影蒐證常常失敗，為了和檳榔業者鬥智，這次鳳山分局就購滿新的特殊針孔裝備，化身狗仔隊，蒐證辦案。

查緝的警察還有記者還沒到，騎著機車的報馬仔就已經沿著大馬路，一個一個通報暗藏春色的檳榔攤。就是有了報馬仔，讓這樣只穿薄紗、幾乎三點全露的西施，敢露出32F的傲人上圍，明目張膽攬客，一點都不怕。躲警察，業者花招百出。高雄縣鳳山分局副局長戴春寶：「找來看守的人對警察也認識，她們有些胸罩有設備(裝機關)，動一下胸罩馬上掉下來，把胸部遮住。」

避免警察躲在對街警車上拿攝影機蒐證，檳榔攤業者還特地請專人在附近巡邏。業者有應對方式，警方也不是省油的燈，看看這幾張昨天拍到的蒐證畫面，檳榔西施個個袒胸露背，被拍攝的角度都一樣，因為這次警察不拿攝影機了，直接在警車上裝了特殊針孔攝影裝備，員警再假裝買檳榔偷拍，為了人贓俱獲，警方儼然成了狗仔隊。高雄縣鳳山分局副局長戴春寶：「我們也是被他們教出來的，因為蒐證有時候也會失敗，這是一直進步想出來的。」

和業者鬥智，警局添購了什麼樣的裝備器材，要保密不能說；而天氣轉熱，靠裸露想大撈一筆的檳榔西施，小心化身狗仔隊的警察就在身邊。

By Yu Sen-lun

round 9am, Wu Sheng-kuang (吳聲廣) begins another day at his betel nut stand on Kuanfu Road, Hsinchu City. Upstairs in a “cage” less than 5m square, two young men prepare the betel nuts. Wu brings the nuts, packed in small plastic bags, downstairs and puts them in a large fridge. Two girls arrive at about this time, changing quickly from jeans and T-shirts into their working costumes: tank tops, hot pants and 15cm-high platform shoes.

On the wall is a card with employee regulations: makeup must be worn at all times when working; employees should clock in only after changing and putting on makeup. After the girls arrive, Wu rolls up the iron doors and switches on the neon lights of his glass booth. His shop, Hot China Girls (中國辣妹), is open for business.

The shop is right next to the highway entrance going from Hsinchu to Taipei, a perfect location for the glass showcases from which the betel nut beauties peddle their wares. Along a 100m stretch of road there are seven betel nut stands, each decorated with colorful neon. In between there are stalls selling Hsinchu specialties such as rice noodles and meatballs. Wu owns two of these stalls and another betel nut stall called Miss China (中國小姐), only a few meters away from Hot China Girls.

Wu has been running betel nut stands for more than 10 years, and says he was one of the first to set up at this location. From the start, he decided that girls were to be a major part of the operation. “I knew that the girls would be the key to my business, so I treat them very well,” he said.

Wu said he pays the girls NT$40,000 a month. He also buys them sexy costumes and platform shoes. “If the girls wear clothes they don’t like, they feel unhappy and are less motivated. This is bad for business,” Wu said.

It is a woman’s world inside the glass betel nut stand. The small counter is covered with cosmetics: Japanese eye-shadow cases, shiny colored lipsticks and mascara. On the side in the small cabinet, there are piles of sexy costumes. They are all very skimpy so they don’t take up much space.

Wu does not show up at the betel nut stand very often, spending most of his time upstairs preparing the betel nuts, but keeping an eye on the girls and business generally through surveillance cameras. “If there is a man inside the stall, customers will not usually approach the stall,” he said.

When reporting this story, Wu asked our male photographer not to stand inside the stall for too long. He said to me: “You’re a girl. It’s OK for you to stay here.” This was simply for the good of his business.

Ting-ting (婷婷), 17, who is helping out at Hot China Girls arrives in the afternoon. She grabs a bright purple colored tank top and goes to the dressing room. She chooses a pair of 18cm high heels with thin ankle straps. “I’m not tall, so I need the extra height,” she said.

Like her work mates Hsiao-yeh (小葉) and Hsiao-min (小敏), Ting-ting said she found this job from newspapers. “The boss doesn’t demand a lot. He just wants us to be responsive and quick whenever a customer approaches,” she said.

According to Wu, the girls at his stand can enjoy the most luxurious treatment. They don’t need to prepare the betel nuts themselves, as all the nuts are prepared and packed before hand. All they need to do is welcome customers who pull up by the stall. They are basically sales girls. “If you sell more than NT$10,000 a day, you get a bonus of NT$300,” Wu said.

Pretty girls have become so much part of the business that Wu is willing to spend between NT$1,000 to NT$3,000 per dress for the girls. Despite this expense, Wu says he still manages a net profit of at least NT$100,000 a month. And that is just from Hot China Girls.

Hsiao-min, 19, a student at a technical college, also takes an afternoon shift. She wears a long yellow dress that is slit almost up to her waist. Hsiao-yeh, 18, her companion on the shift, wears a white tank top and mini-skirt.

Both Hsiao-yeh and Hsiao-min’s clothes were designed by Annie (who declined to give her last name), the owner and designer of Annie’s Hot Girl Costume Workshop (安妮辣妹服裝工作室).

Every day, Annie drives her van, stopping at betel nut stands across the island promoting her betel nut beauty costumes. In six years, she has become a major clothing supplier for Wu’s betel nut stall. “On average, I stop at around five to 10 betel nut stands a day, showing samples to the owners,” Annie said. She said she is the only supplier who provides designs specifically targeted at betel nuts girls.

Annie, who has many friends working in the betel nut industry, said that her clothes gave the girls more style than those purchased at the night markets. Her business has now expanded to providing clothes for girls working in clubs and bars and for girls working in motor racing venues such as Lungtan in Taoyuan County.

For the girls like Hsiao-yeh and Hsiao-min, apart from the long hours standing in high heels, this is not a bad job. You can wear fancy clothes at work and listen to your favorite music. Once in a while, admirers give them red envelopes of money, flowers or expensive gifts. On the counter, there is a big bouquet of flowers sent by an admirer of Hsiao-yeh’s. Hsiao-min is even luckier. She was given the latest pink Panasonic mobile phone by an admirer. Last month, she also received a gold necklace.

“Some of the customers have become friends and sometimes they’ll even buy you a lunch box,” said Hsiao-yeh. When faced with customers who want more than just betel nuts, Hsiao-yeh said they are sent packing: “We just give them a cold look and say we don’t sell that here.”

For customers who think they can take advantage, Wu said they might find themselves beaten up. “We make them apologize and they must give the girls a considerable sum of money in a red envelope,” Wu said.

Wu acknowledged that some stands had girls who wore no underwear or who were available for sexual services, but insisted that his stalls had nothing to do with that aspect of the business. “Our main business is to sell betel nuts and the most important part is that you have to have pretty girls,” he said.

“Besides, those who offer sex are mostly the ugly girls,” he added.