Recently there have been a string of deaths from overwork reported in Taiwan. The increase in these cases means that Taiwan workers have too heavy workloads but too little time to rest. The work hours of Taiwanese are often rated as the world's longest or second- longest in international surveys. This is not a glorious record, because it shows that Taiwanese do not pay attention to leisure and that there is a lack of care for humanity in the work environment. This might be linked to the influence of Confucianism, which emphasizes obedience, diligence and compliance with morality. Individuals who work themselves to death are therefore commendable, according to Confucian principles. It is, however, more important to allow everyone to enjoy proper working conditions, such as reasonable work hours, reasonable workloads, reasonable pay and reasonable benefits. It is time to change our Confucian way of thinking. What we need are work ethics that are consistent with humanity. Allowing workers to die from overwork is a shame on employers. (Editorial abstract -- Dec. 25, 2010) 