Taiwan Prison Commissary
“Lawyers and the commissary ain’t gonna pay itself” — Drake
What is commissary? For those of you fortunate enough not to know what commissary is — a prison commissary or canteen is a store within a correctional facility, from which inmates may purchase products such as hygiene items, snacks, writing instruments, etc. Inmates are not allowed to possess cash, instead, they make purchases through an account with funds from money contributed by friends, family members, etc., or earned as wages. Typically, prisons set a maximum limit of funds that can be spent by each inmate on commissary; in the U.S. federal system, it is $290 per month. In Taiwan it is 300 NTD ($10)per day. It is generally prohibited for inmates to trade items purchased on commissary however, certain items tend to be used as currency such as cigarettes or stamps. Commissary is often taken away for infractions.
Significant price markups are common in prison commissaries. The prisons make so much money off the inmates. Prisons are big business in Taiwan. I see the beginning of a prison industrial complex in Taiwan. Every prison is a Gulag, meaning it’s a prison factory, more on that in a later post. The prison adds 5–30 NTD on everything, but the thing they upcharge the most is clothes. The prison adds 30–50 NTD on t-shirts pants, boxers. They make you buy everything in Taiwanese prisons and I mean everything — bowls, chopsticks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, detergent, dishwashing liquid, soap, clothes, etc. There are no beds or pillows, prisoners sleep on the floor, on bamboo mats that we have to buy. I had a bamboo mat with padding on it, two pillows (one to hug, one to sleep on) and a blanket. I was as comfortable as possible. Some of my cellmates were broke and they slept on the floor, with no blanket and magazines as pillows. They didn’t brush their teeth, because they didn’t have toothbrushes and they flossed with rubber bands. When inmates get processed, they get one set of clothes, long pants or shorts depending on the season, a dress shirt, and a jacket. They let you keep the boxers you wore when you get processed. Some of the really poor inmates don’t change clothes for a few days because they don’t have extra sets of clothes and don’t have the means to buy any. Some just prefer not to, they’d rather save what little money they have for cigarettes. Cigarettes are 60 NTD ($2) a pack. We purchase cigarettes every Wednesday and they come the following Friday (10 days). Everybody smokes the same cigarettes. They are terrible. Inmates, (myself included) usually take out the filter.
Commissary takes a week to arrive after I fill out the necessary forms, all commissary forms are filled out in triplicate and I have to include a fingerprint (We have to buy the ink pads). The maximum I can purchase per day is 300 NTD, unless I buy electronics, then there is no limit. When I have a visitor, the visitor can order commissary on my behalf, then it will come the next day instead of a week later. Visitors can purchase a maximum of 2,000 NTD worth of commissary, but there are some items that can only be purchased by the inmate such as paper, stamps, pens, cigarettes, batteries, and electronics.
Without having visitors often, there’s no way to live comfortably, because the 300 NTD maximum is only enough for essentials. I was fortunate enough to have my auntie visit me once a week. I stocked up on instant noodles, drinks, snacks, and necessities for the week. I had instant noodles, snacks, drinks and bottled water for everyday of the week, and some to barter with. I had 3 towels — one to dry my body with, one to dry my face with, and one for anything else that comes up — I felt godly.
My friends and family are able to send me books that my auntie brought in. Visitors are allowed to bring in 3 books at a time, my name and inmate number is written on the cover.
Marked books, newspapers, pornography are not allowed. All books are screened overnight which means, If my auntie brings me books on Monday, I get them on Tuesday. Tuesday means Wednesday etc etc. Anything that comes on Friday I don’t get until the following Monday.
To keep our things organized, inmates are allowed to purchase boxes. They look like this.
The boxes are stackable, and are often used as desks to write on or tables to eat on. I took my box with me when I bailed out, I had my books, notes, journals, and letters from friends and family in it.
The best thing about visitors is that they are allowed to bring in outside food with a few exceptions — no soups, sauces, liquids or drinks. I have my auntie bring in fried chicken and pizza when she comes. On days I have visitors I eat fried chicken while I watch TV, then I smoke a cigarette when I’m done. It doesn’t even feel like prison. Once my friends Mrs Juice and Dirty South came to visit me, they brought me 6 pieces of fried chicken. I traded a chicken breast for 5 cigarettes, then traded a cigarette for an instant noodle.
The prison gives us jugs for water. The prison water tastes funny. Some inmates will drink the prison water, but I don’t trust the prison water. This is going to sound bourgeoisie, but I buy bottled water to drink. I go through about 12–14 of the big bottles of water, the 500cc ones. I’m not the only one who buys bottled water either, about half or more of the population buys bottled water. The dope dealers were the ones that put me up on that game. Sometimes, the water pipe bursts and we don’t have water for a few days. During those times, we have to use bottled water to wash dishes and for the toilet. The longest I’ve been without water, so far, has been 2 days. Other times the water heater is broken and we have to shower (dump buckets of water on our head) with cold water. In the spring and summer it’s alright, but in the wintertime it’s freezing.
We get TV and radio privileges, we have to buy each a TV costs about 3,000 NTD ($100) and a radio cost 1,600 NTD ($53), they are both based on good behavior so one needs to have a accumulated a certain amount of good behavior points before one can apply to buy a TV and/or radio.
We’re allowed to buy batteries one day a week (Tuesday) and they come the following Tuesday. Batteries are 11 NTD each and I was allowed to buy 12 batteries which is 132 NTD ($5). The number of batteries inmates are allowed to purchase depends on the number of electronics the inmate has. I had an electric razor, a TV, and a radio, 4 batteries each, 3 items, 12 total. Right before I bailed out I put in a request to buy a fan. Having a fan would have doubled my battery allowance from 12 to 24. 24 batteries at 11 NTD each is 264 NTD ($8.25) Batteries are also used to light cigarettes, because we’re not allowed to have lighters. I’ll show you how we light cigarettes with batteries in a later post. Week in and week out, batteries are my single biggest expense. The TV and the radio use 4 batteries each, the razor uses 2.
With a brand new set of 4 batteries I can watch a full 8 hours of TV or listen to the radio for 8 hours. I try to conserve, I watch about 2 hours of TV per day on the weekday and then 16 of TV and radio on the weekend. I get bored and restless just sitting around watching TV. Weekends are the worst.
I kept the boxes that my TV, radio and razors came in, because you never know when you’ll need the cardboard for D.I.Y. stuff. The boxes have my inmate number, my prison wing and my cell number written on the box.
In order to buy any electronics an inmate has to put in a written request and it has to be approved by the prison. It takes about a week. Inmates need a certain amount of good behavior points before they can apply for a TV or radio. Usually, it’s 6 months. I was allowed to purchase mine after a month because I was translating for my cellmate and other inmates who couldn’t speak Chinese. It was a nice privilege to get one so early, it made the time fly by. The inmate’s name, inmate number, the prison and date of purchase is written on the back or side of each electronic. This is to prevent theft and to make sure the inmate is allowed to have it.
We’re not allowed to keep our razors in our room. They come in a plastic box every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning along with nail clippers. We get them for about an hour or so and they collect them again.
There is a bakery in the prison, it is operated by inmates, so we have bread available to purchase. The bread varies day to day, but it’s the same menu every week. There’s red bean toast, taro toast, cream toast, peanut butter baos, red bean baos, taro baos, there is also plain white bread. They sell peanut butter (No Jelly) in the commissary to make sandwiches.
At least once a month, our cells would be tossed (random security searches), any contraband found and our good behavior points will be docked for the month. I was held for 3 months before being allowed to bail, my cell was tossed 3 times, they didn’t find anything they weren’t suppose to find. Among the things that are deemed ‘contraband,’ cigarettes, and batteries. They are just looking for reasons to fuck with inmates. We are suppose to be out let out of our cells 4 times a day to smoke, because it is illegal to smoke inside of our cells, but the C.O’s are lazy and only let us out once. They give us 4 cigarettes and let us ration it ourselves. Some people are good at conserving, others smoke them within 3 or 4 hours. I smoke 3 a day, I only smoke after meals and I save my extra cigarette so I have something to smoke on the weekend.
I slept on the floor for the first 5 days using magazines for a pillow. I also didn’t brush my teeth and I had to borrow a towel to use. My family didn’t know where I was. It took my auntie 3 days to find out I was arrested and another 2 days to find out what prison I was being held at. There’s no transparency here, my auntie said they kept giving her the run around. Now that I know what it’s like, I’m more prepared for when I have to surrender myself this time. Whenever my surrender date is I’m going to have my auntie come visit me the very next day to buy me the necessities mat, pillow, blanket, toothbrush, towel etc. You may say “why don’t you bring in money and buy the things yourself.” I will and I can, but the problem is I would still have to wait 7 days for my commissary to arrive. It’s much faster when a visitor buys it. I’m not trying to sleep on the floor with magazines for pillows any longer than I have to, and I’m definitely not trying to borrow a motherfuckers towel.
When I bailed out I gave the little homie my pillows, blankets, padded mattress, snacks and food. I took my box, my books, journals and personal items, TV, radio and razor with me. From my understanding I have to rebuy all my electronics when I surrender myself. Once I take something out of the prison, I’m not allowed to bring it back in. I tried to bring my commissary out with me when I bailed out but the prison confiscated it the guard said, “it’s prison property, you’re not allowed to take it out with you.” I don’t think they want it getting out. Too bad I don’t care. Next time I’m going to smuggle it out or just copy it down into my journal.
A few of my friends have recommended that I read Eddie Huang. I’ll probably get around to it when I’m inside and expose myself to different styles. I’m not trying to copy him or his style, I just do me. If you’re expecting a ‘The Wonder Years’ style story where there’s a lesson to be learned at the end, then you’ve come to the wrong place. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned a thing or two about a thing or two and I’ve got plenty of words of wizdom (not a typo) but that comes later. For now, I’m just blogging about my experiences. There’s no lesson to be learned in this other than the system is unbelievably fucked up and cops are as crooked as a barrel of fish hooks. I could of told you that before all this happened. I just tell keep it real so I’m cool in every hood spot, 31 years and I ain’t never met a good cop. As long as I’m ranting … I can’t believe the U.K. voted to leave the E.U.. It went from Great Britain to little England overnight. The Brexit has dealt a big blow to the theories of integration — moral, economic and cultural — that have bound the world. A lot of the rhetoric you’re hearing in the U.K. in favor of leaving is very similar to the rhetoric you hear from Donald Trump and his supporters, these articles explain it better than I ever could. Here, here and here. I’m concerned about America, I hope she will come to her senses soon and stop being taken in by half-truths and lies. The voters for Trump and the ‘leave’ campaign are both the same demographic, they tend to skew white, older, uneducated and living away from urban areas. It’s working class white America, they have nothing else going for them other than their white skin, and being white ain’t what it used to be. Cheeto Jesus will not save you white America. I’m against registration in any form. I listen real close because first it’s the superheroes and the mutants, then it’s Muslims and Jews, then it’s blacks, Mexicans and Asians. They are yearning for a past that doesn’t exist anymore. Cheeto Jesus can’t turn back time. It’s not the Mexicans that Trump should be worried about, it’s the Asians. It’s the Asians that invented illegal immigration, it’s the Asians that are coming and I’m not even home yet. I am a capitalist nomad and trouble personified. I have this big pot and I like to stir it.
Song of the moment — Pusha T f/ Jay-Z — Drug Dealers Anonymous
