This is a story I heard from when I went to Java. People in Java have a culture called “Nonkrong,” referring to the act of squatting on the roadside or other places and hanging out. Casual chats like that can lead to solving problems and helping each other out. However, it seems like Nonkrong can be observed in Taiwan during the weekend. This is because Taiwan is the largest host country for migrant workers from Indonesia, and on their days off work, they started practicing Nonkrong on the streets of Taiwan. Migrant workers, engaged in domestic and factory labor for low wages, mirror the economic disparity between nations, but they are also carriers of indigenous culture. I have never actually seen such a scene, but to a Taiwanese person unfamiliar with the culture, a corner of the city occupied by a crowd of people must seem like an eerie gathering of ghosts.
