Whereas I've been hammering around the area, trying to hit the nail on the head only to be frustrated with the inability to say it out right (I will blame my developmental handicap! My vision relies on my right eye!), you and Carolyn (via comments on a post) totally got it!
Loklok, you said, "Democracy is for people with money." If one were toiling day in and day out trying to live another day, political freedoms would be last on her mind! This isn’t to say that poor, starving people are not entitled to these freedoms; their other needs must be taken care of first. Maybe CCP's ulterior motives for bringing in the bullet train to Tibet include importing Han Chinese into the area to increase its power hold. But the Han invasion (there, I said it!) also brings tourists who bring cash, cash that builds schools and hospitals and improves livelihoods and raises the status quo! Maybe Tibetan culture is being degenerated by the introduction of Han practices but the same could be said about Western culture “polluting” other“traditional" cultures. We live in a globalized world; “purity” in a culture is rare and won’t last. And come on, the Dalai Lama, himself an uberceleb, isn't exactly protecting the sacredness of Tibetan culture.
Carolyn made a great point about boycotting the opening ceremonies of BJ08. We should pressure China about its shady international relationships as much as we do about its internal struggle with Tibet. The world has forgotten about Darfur. Isn’t it so strange how genocide causes have become like fashion trends? Two years ago, everyone was like “Save Darfur;” today “Free Tibet” has been retro-ed and is once again chic.
I still contend that you can’t force people to create a government of Democracy if they don’t understand what the ideals of democracy are. American democracy wasn’t perfect from the beginning. For much of its 200ish years of history as a sovereign nation, democracy was restricted! First only white men and 3/5ths “others” (i.e., slaves), then white and black men (but mostly on paper), and then finally women and men of all colors!! Another example, a more Asian one, a true democratic government in Taiwan didn’t come until 1984, when Chiang Chingkuo lifted the martial law imposed since his dad, Chiang Kaishek, and the KMT took over the island in 1949! Baby steps!
I probably stuck my foot in mouth more than once on this post, so I better stop while I am ahead. I still want to move beyond this and talk about happier things (because there are other Asians who are angry about other things) but the temptation to talk this subject to death is irresistible. Note: these are just my personal comments. If they come across as being insensitive and slightly trite, they probably are and you be an adult get over yourself. Woopsh.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Democracy and China, Hotdogs and Ice Cream
Thanks to the lovely post by Pilar on some of the foreign perceptions of us 'commies' in China, I am reminded about a question I asked an Uncle about 7 years ago.
I once asked my Uncle what he thought of Democracy, and why China couldn't, wouldn't be Democratic, and he said "It would be like asking 1.3 billion people whether they would like to eat hotdogs or ice cream. "
That is to say, I don't honestly believe that western perception of what human rights are and their attached extreme importance, are what matters the most in the minds of an average, rural, Chinese farmer on a daily basis. I suspect that the majority of people who are self-righteously 'campaigning' for 'human rights' in Tibet right now do not understand the level of extreme poverty that plagues rural China. It's wrong, but there it is. In the States, living a hand-to-mouth existence just means to get paid badly. It may also mean that you are a boho artiste who spends the majority of your income on recreational drugs. It may ALSO mean that your are a black single mother with three kids, all of whom have to stay home alone for most or part of the day, depending on their age, as you work your minimum wage job far away in the next town. What hand-to-mouth doesn't mean is plucking ube straight out of the earth with your bare hand (if you've done this before you'll know that gloves are recommended, because the ube root has these tiny tiny hairs that make your skin itch. But, oh wait, you can't afford to buy a rubber glove!) and eating it that night for dinner after you've washed it in an untreated water source. What it doesn't mean is surviving off farming a piece of land smaller than the average suburban American backyard.
Let's get it straight: democracy is for people with money. People like Senator Hillary Clinton, who, at the drop of a hat, can inject several million dollars into her campaign fund when things go wrong, no sweat. Democracy is for people who have enough to eat, whose children go to school, who tastes meat, protein for chrissakes, more than once a year. Call me an idiot woman (hah I am reminded of that Dylan song Idiot Wind), but I do feel somewhat offended when people tell me China is eeeeebil because it is not democratic, that it 'doesn't respect human rights.' It's a cheap shot, because I deeply believe that Chinese people have had enough of bloody revolutions, bloody wars, bloody politics. We've had a 3000 year history of mostly infighting, wars, and this is not the time for another bloody revolution. I'd safely say there is a solid percentage of Chinese in China who would trade in their right to be represented in the government for cut-and-dry economic development. Bacon on the table, or, rice in the bowl. We do not need any more unrest. We need time and space to continue to develop, to improve the lives of every one of those 1.3 billion people our borders contain.
Apathy may be the greatest accomplice of evil, but until I see every single snotty, wet-behind-the-ears, verbose activist who at heart could not give a fuck about China or the Chinese put down some money for the economic development of rural China, including Tibet whose HDI is well below the national average I may add, I will ignore all this ridiculous hot wind about boycotting the Olympics.
Tibet probably needs schools and public healthcare much much more than it wants the vote. The vote cannot secure these things. Money can. (I can also be pithy and say money can also secure the vote, but, perhaps, this is not the venue to be talking about that.) The Chinese government is aware of it's own peril in this regard as well. It currently is taking severe economic measures to curb inflation and overheating. Deng Xiao Ping is lauded for his economic reform policies because he knew the communist government could not drift away from the basic tenet of governance - the way to continued power is surely through the nation's stomach. My only hope right now is that the Chinese government continues to heed this, to improve the lives of all the Chinese, to prevent our country from fracturing. Race hate is sometimes just about having enough to eat, and wanting to get rid of some perceived 'different' group in order to take care of your own.
Until half of the Chinese population has actually tasted ice cream, and the other half has tasted hotdogs, and they can each rant and rave about the relative qualities of both, I rest my case. Anyone want to foot the bill for half a billion ice creams? I think not.
I once asked my Uncle what he thought of Democracy, and why China couldn't, wouldn't be Democratic, and he said "It would be like asking 1.3 billion people whether they would like to eat hotdogs or ice cream. "
That is to say, I don't honestly believe that western perception of what human rights are and their attached extreme importance, are what matters the most in the minds of an average, rural, Chinese farmer on a daily basis. I suspect that the majority of people who are self-righteously 'campaigning' for 'human rights' in Tibet right now do not understand the level of extreme poverty that plagues rural China. It's wrong, but there it is. In the States, living a hand-to-mouth existence just means to get paid badly. It may also mean that you are a boho artiste who spends the majority of your income on recreational drugs. It may ALSO mean that your are a black single mother with three kids, all of whom have to stay home alone for most or part of the day, depending on their age, as you work your minimum wage job far away in the next town. What hand-to-mouth doesn't mean is plucking ube straight out of the earth with your bare hand (if you've done this before you'll know that gloves are recommended, because the ube root has these tiny tiny hairs that make your skin itch. But, oh wait, you can't afford to buy a rubber glove!) and eating it that night for dinner after you've washed it in an untreated water source. What it doesn't mean is surviving off farming a piece of land smaller than the average suburban American backyard.
Let's get it straight: democracy is for people with money. People like Senator Hillary Clinton, who, at the drop of a hat, can inject several million dollars into her campaign fund when things go wrong, no sweat. Democracy is for people who have enough to eat, whose children go to school, who tastes meat, protein for chrissakes, more than once a year. Call me an idiot woman (hah I am reminded of that Dylan song Idiot Wind), but I do feel somewhat offended when people tell me China is eeeeebil because it is not democratic, that it 'doesn't respect human rights.' It's a cheap shot, because I deeply believe that Chinese people have had enough of bloody revolutions, bloody wars, bloody politics. We've had a 3000 year history of mostly infighting, wars, and this is not the time for another bloody revolution. I'd safely say there is a solid percentage of Chinese in China who would trade in their right to be represented in the government for cut-and-dry economic development. Bacon on the table, or, rice in the bowl. We do not need any more unrest. We need time and space to continue to develop, to improve the lives of every one of those 1.3 billion people our borders contain.
Apathy may be the greatest accomplice of evil, but until I see every single snotty, wet-behind-the-ears, verbose activist who at heart could not give a fuck about China or the Chinese put down some money for the economic development of rural China, including Tibet whose HDI is well below the national average I may add, I will ignore all this ridiculous hot wind about boycotting the Olympics.
Tibet probably needs schools and public healthcare much much more than it wants the vote. The vote cannot secure these things. Money can. (I can also be pithy and say money can also secure the vote, but, perhaps, this is not the venue to be talking about that.) The Chinese government is aware of it's own peril in this regard as well. It currently is taking severe economic measures to curb inflation and overheating. Deng Xiao Ping is lauded for his economic reform policies because he knew the communist government could not drift away from the basic tenet of governance - the way to continued power is surely through the nation's stomach. My only hope right now is that the Chinese government continues to heed this, to improve the lives of all the Chinese, to prevent our country from fracturing. Race hate is sometimes just about having enough to eat, and wanting to get rid of some perceived 'different' group in order to take care of your own.
Until half of the Chinese population has actually tasted ice cream, and the other half has tasted hotdogs, and they can each rant and rave about the relative qualities of both, I rest my case. Anyone want to foot the bill for half a billion ice creams? I think not.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Uhh what??
Uh.. I just read this on nymag.com. Color highlighting done by me.
"The minimalist composer Philip Glass, who wrote music for both the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2004 Athens Games, isn’t looking forward to the competitions in Beijing. “I think that we should pull out,” the noted Tibet supporter said at the BAM Spring Gala honoring Paul Simon, on April 9. “The Chinese are supposed to be taking care of human rights; they haven’t done it. The only reason we don’t pull out is that people are more interested in money than they are in human rights. I think the Olympic Committee should really pull the plug on it.” His anger at the Chinese government extends beyond human-rights issues. “Basically, the Chinese commies have been isolated for 50 years; they have no idea what the rest of the world is like. They think that we’re just another province of China and that they can do what they damn well want to. And they’re a bunch of losers. They make a distinction: As long as you’re not political, you can do whatever you want in China. But politics is about the way we live! They’re drawing the line on the very things that matter to us most.”"
What? Where is he getting these facts from? Cold War history books? Perhaps he is the loser who has been isolated for 50 years and has no idea what the rest of the world is like. Ugh, I hate these gross generalizations from public figures. We should boycott his movie soundtracks, you know really pull the plug on it.
"The minimalist composer Philip Glass, who wrote music for both the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2004 Athens Games, isn’t looking forward to the competitions in Beijing. “I think that we should pull out,” the noted Tibet supporter said at the BAM Spring Gala honoring Paul Simon, on April 9. “The Chinese are supposed to be taking care of human rights; they haven’t done it. The only reason we don’t pull out is that people are more interested in money than they are in human rights. I think the Olympic Committee should really pull the plug on it.” His anger at the Chinese government extends beyond human-rights issues. “Basically, the Chinese commies have been isolated for 50 years; they have no idea what the rest of the world is like. They think that we’re just another province of China and that they can do what they damn well want to. And they’re a bunch of losers. They make a distinction: As long as you’re not political, you can do whatever you want in China. But politics is about the way we live! They’re drawing the line on the very things that matter to us most.”"
What? Where is he getting these facts from? Cold War history books? Perhaps he is the loser who has been isolated for 50 years and has no idea what the rest of the world is like. Ugh, I hate these gross generalizations from public figures. We should boycott his movie soundtracks, you know really pull the plug on it.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
People Politics
If you have ever spent any time with the Tai Tais (wealthy married women who don't work) of Hong Kong you will know that their favorite whine topic is their maids. We are so lucky in Hong Kong to have affordable (read: cheap, underpaid) legal domestic help, it sort of boggles the mind as to how bloody demanding they are. What boggles the Tai Tai's mind is how demanding their maids are. For a meager 3480HKD a month, it strikes me as a bit ungrateful to forbid it when your help wants to spend Saturday night out at her friend's place, or to stop working at 9pm instead of midnight.
I'm all for personal space and freedom, a little within the job and masses outside of it. The central crux, the tension surrounding control and cruelty toward each other in the maid-employer relationship is that the maid needs a job. The drama of your usual office people politics is magnified tenfold when it's put on a domestic level, when none of the verbal bitchslaps that are dealt ever leave the privacy of a home. We are all tied to our need for financial freedom, but I sometimes wonder whether I shouldn't just get my tubes tied and remove myself to a banana farm forever, so that I could avoid even a tenth of psychological warfare that goes on in any employer-employee relationship, when it turns bad. And everyone, everyone has one bad boss somewhere along the line. I think my bad boss was when I had this family friend employ me for a summer internship. He made me spend hours making an excel spreadsheet of the receipts of meals and taxi rides so that he could claim the expenses. I learned close to nothing that summer, and got paid next to nothing, so it was really all a boring waste of time for me.
Well, have wandered off topic... what I wanted to say was, I baked this pasta casserole the other day, and I felt bad because our new maid was only eating instant noodles for lunch. NOT that ramen hasn't been my sometimes meal of choice during my college years, when I felt like a bum who didn't want to cook anything more nutritious, but she's running up and down the stairs, scrubbing and mopping and washing etc and she needs her vitamins and minerals!!! She's been eating ramen and ONLY ramen, without veggies or meat or anything, for lunch every day for weeks! And, it's not like we're starving her, because we always have leftovers from dinner that are plenty nutritionally balanced, and before our family sounds like misers, let's just make clear that we love our leftovers. I eat them all the time. I bring them to the office for lunch in tupperware, stick it in the microwave for a couple o' minutes, fabulous. Especially stewed anything tastes really awesome the next day. Thing is, she won't have any of it. Our maid will not eat our leftovers for lunch like the rest of us. I just don't get it! If you've ever been to a Chinese restaurant, you'll know that all dishes are communal, nobody touches or slobbers over the food in the middle of the table, it's all aboveboard and doesn't really look like pig slop or anything!
Sorry, ranting... but, er, I felt like such a cad that day, I was making this yummy pasta (even though I too should have been eating the leftovers, but I love pasta, another college habit that I should be in rehab for) and I didn't offer her any. She went and cooked her tiny ramen noodles, and I confess I was a bit annoyed at her for not eating some veggies or something with her noodles. Maybe I was subconsciously trying to punish her for not eating leftovers by not offering her any pasta. Well. God sees everything, I suppose. I'll talk to St. Paul about it when the time comes.
I'm all for personal space and freedom, a little within the job and masses outside of it. The central crux, the tension surrounding control and cruelty toward each other in the maid-employer relationship is that the maid needs a job. The drama of your usual office people politics is magnified tenfold when it's put on a domestic level, when none of the verbal bitchslaps that are dealt ever leave the privacy of a home. We are all tied to our need for financial freedom, but I sometimes wonder whether I shouldn't just get my tubes tied and remove myself to a banana farm forever, so that I could avoid even a tenth of psychological warfare that goes on in any employer-employee relationship, when it turns bad. And everyone, everyone has one bad boss somewhere along the line. I think my bad boss was when I had this family friend employ me for a summer internship. He made me spend hours making an excel spreadsheet of the receipts of meals and taxi rides so that he could claim the expenses. I learned close to nothing that summer, and got paid next to nothing, so it was really all a boring waste of time for me.
Well, have wandered off topic... what I wanted to say was, I baked this pasta casserole the other day, and I felt bad because our new maid was only eating instant noodles for lunch. NOT that ramen hasn't been my sometimes meal of choice during my college years, when I felt like a bum who didn't want to cook anything more nutritious, but she's running up and down the stairs, scrubbing and mopping and washing etc and she needs her vitamins and minerals!!! She's been eating ramen and ONLY ramen, without veggies or meat or anything, for lunch every day for weeks! And, it's not like we're starving her, because we always have leftovers from dinner that are plenty nutritionally balanced, and before our family sounds like misers, let's just make clear that we love our leftovers. I eat them all the time. I bring them to the office for lunch in tupperware, stick it in the microwave for a couple o' minutes, fabulous. Especially stewed anything tastes really awesome the next day. Thing is, she won't have any of it. Our maid will not eat our leftovers for lunch like the rest of us. I just don't get it! If you've ever been to a Chinese restaurant, you'll know that all dishes are communal, nobody touches or slobbers over the food in the middle of the table, it's all aboveboard and doesn't really look like pig slop or anything!
Sorry, ranting... but, er, I felt like such a cad that day, I was making this yummy pasta (even though I too should have been eating the leftovers, but I love pasta, another college habit that I should be in rehab for) and I didn't offer her any. She went and cooked her tiny ramen noodles, and I confess I was a bit annoyed at her for not eating some veggies or something with her noodles. Maybe I was subconsciously trying to punish her for not eating leftovers by not offering her any pasta. Well. God sees everything, I suppose. I'll talk to St. Paul about it when the time comes.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Stuff Asian People Like
There's been a craze States-side of "stuff (insert race/ethnicity) people like" blogs. Here is the Asian one. Of course, the site seems to define "Asian" as encompassing the big three: Chinese, Japanese, Korean. Looking at it more closely, it looks like it's mostly Chinese. But I suppose that's because there are so many of us out there. haha. idk.
Some of the stuff is random and silly but then there are some good entries on Asians in the public eye, not just movie stars like Lucy Liu (a pretty interesting post) and Jackie Chan but also politicians like former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (okay, he's more of a crook).
maybe we should start a "stuff these two girls like" section.
Some of the stuff is random and silly but then there are some good entries on Asians in the public eye, not just movie stars like Lucy Liu (a pretty interesting post) and Jackie Chan but also politicians like former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (okay, he's more of a crook).
maybe we should start a "stuff these two girls like" section.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Free Tibet: Do You Know What That Motherfucking Means?!
Not surprisingly, the Olympic Torch Relay has met with much controversy and protest. Thousands of people in London, Paris, San Francisco demonstrated against China, calling for the freedom of Tibet.
Blah blah blah.
Ugh what makes these Tibetans so special? What about the other peoples suffering in China? And why China? What about your own countries? Parisians, didn’t you have massive riots in 2005? Don’t your people want to practice their religion openly too? Shouldn’t you let people wear heads carves if they wanted to? Americans, what about your “civil rights” problems? Did we forget Gitmo? How about the unfair treatment of minorities, immigrants? Ughh!
Watching the coverage of the protests made me slightly angry and curious. What is the majority of protesters demonstrating against? Q: “Free Tibet” from what? A: general “oppression.”
It’s like people are demonstrating for the sake of demonstrating. “Hey Richard Gere, look at me! I want to free Tibet too! I'm cool! Yeah! Fuck China! I’m so righteous!.... be my friend.”
I’m not trying to defend China’s handling of the Tibet issue, but really it’s an internal matter that should be left for the Chinese to figure out. Tibet isn’t something that was newly conquered, it was in the Chinese borders for hundreds of years; Peter C. Perdue’s China Marches West chronicles in obsessive detail the steps China took in expanding it’s borders during the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (read: 1616 –1911). It’s like everyone ganging up against Canada for not letting the French Canadians become their own country. I hate how the developed world has the need to “help” less developed countries with their “road to democracy.” Wtf man. You can’t really just force Democracy (with a capital “D”) on to a people who don’t understand the merits of democracy (with a lower case “d”).
Ughh. I hope this “Free Tibet” bullshit dies down in Argentina. I don’t want this to be the running topic of this blog. Well most importantly, I don’t want it to be the theme of the 2008 Olympics. Aren’t the Games supposed to be for celebrating humanity and camaraderie? I feel bad for the Torch relayers. They must have been so excited to be selected for the run. What was supposed to be a celebration of their accomplishment has been marred by negative political messages. And also what about the athletes? Why should their thunder be stolen? I heard that Hillary Clinton suggested boycotting the opening ceremony in protest. What? Why not just boycott the games in general? Why just the opening? What? Does she not like Zhang Yimou productions? Whatevs.Oh and omg: The Dalai Lama: What Richard Gere Won't Tell You
Monday, April 7, 2008
Re: Tibet, I will remain calm. CALM I SAY!!!
I had this long post planned, wherein I edit and post this wonderful IM conversation I had with Pilar regarding the Tibet issue, but these two videos, forwarded to me by my boss of all people, seem to sum up how perfectly calm I am. Sure, the English is hardly grammatically correct, and the misc-en-scene is just a tad melodramatic, but otherwise, the dry facts remain the same.
Tibetans, stop the rioting and racial hate already. Rest of the world, China ain't gonna be the next Balkans, it's business as usual, bugger off and report on some leaked sex tapes already.
Tibetans, stop the rioting and racial hate already. Rest of the world, China ain't gonna be the next Balkans, it's business as usual, bugger off and report on some leaked sex tapes already.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
All Wong Kar-Wai'd out
Days ago, I read in New York magazine that Wong Kar Wai was in New York on Wed for a special lecture and screening of his first English-language feature film, My Blueberry Nights. I thought about going there but indecisiveness got in the way. Besides, the event was more than likely sold out, seeing that Ang Lee was going to introduce Wong Kar Wai (some cinephiles’ wet dream?).
GRADUATION ALBUM LISTENING EXPERIENCE PT. 6 - FLASHING LIGHTS from kwest on Vimeo.
Anyway, while reading The Moment, a nytimes lifestyle blog (is it me or is the nytimes obsessed with blogs? There are three blogs for the Dining & Wine section!) this morning, I came across Kanye West’s blog! Haha. The blog is interesting, mostly pictures of crazy-expensive designer shit, stuff he is working on, and viral videos. He also has extremely very well produced “Graduation Album Listening Experience Videos,” which takes clips from movies and sets them to songs on the Graduation album. One of the screen shots caught my eye because it was Carina Lau Kar-ling in the robot costume from Wong Kar-Wai's 2046! The song is called “Flashing Lights,” and works well with the movie because the electric beat mimics the sounds trains make when they’re chugging along on the rails. I know I’ve done my fair share of bitching about the Hollywoodization of non-Hollywood movies but in this case, it might just work. Judge for yourself:
GRADUATION ALBUM LISTENING EXPERIENCE PT. 6 - FLASHING LIGHTS from kwest on Vimeo.
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