"I do wish to be working in my hometown but the stark reality is that southern Taiwan's market is just too little in every respect. In Taipei, I work as a marketing manager for a company selling cosmetics, and my monthly salary is almost 50k. In the past, I attempted to find a similar job in Tainan. During the interview, Tainan's employers recognized my experience but they only afforded to pay me 30k a month, which is the salary I received in my first year of career without experience. When they saw me looking astonished, they shrugged their shoulders saying "This is Tainan." I sighed deeply and thought that the recent statistics showed that the Taiwanese average monthly salary was 41k. Although I am above the average, I cannot save a penny when I take into account the expensive housing rental fee, transportation fees, basic social activities expenditures, and meals. Despite working in my hometown Tainan may help cut spending and keep down costs, Tainan's general phenomenon of low payment is devastating my sense of accomplishment at work, which is even worse than working in Taipei."