nick’s (n)-line life

A strange things has been happening in China & Hong Kong in recent days. A new sort of Politics is taking shape: the kind that shifts and moves before one’s eyes; the kind that can be hard to pin down or define; and the kind that appears to be largely subjective. One might go as far as to suggest a certain disingenuous double-standard in terminology.

Hopes that China would not rise to the bait of politically motivated Olympics protests have come to nothing - at least to judge by this supposedly autonomous city.

The Olympic torch arrival is being marked by feverish efforts to raise patriotic zeal, with a massively publicized torch relay on May 2 and bans on the entry of several foreign critics of China. Both run contrary to the territory’s liberal and internationalist traditions. So much too for the protestations by Beijing - and International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge - that sports should not be mixed with politics.
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it is equally clear that governments in Hong Kong and Beijing have been as determined as the demonstrators to use the games for political ends.
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These events have underlined the exclusionary character of Hong Kong’s Olympic selection process and the nationalist, patriotic agenda which the games represent.

By excluding anyone not holding Chinese nationality - and there are tens of thousands of locally born non-Chinese residents, mostly of south and southeast Asian ancestry - some of the best local equestrians as well as other athletes are unable to compete for Hong Kong even though it has separate Olympics participation from China.
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But officials seem to fear they would compete for the territory of Hong Kong, and not for the red flag or Han ethnic pride.
[Read more...]

I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the torch yesterday as it completed its tour de Hong Kong (and no I didn’t protest or pro-Nationalise, in my view both sides have now become fully radicalised and I wouldn’t dream of supporting either of them). I actually feel quite lucky to have borne witness to the historic sight. However, as the media has been pushing, nationalism sentiment has certainly been evoked in Hong Kong, just as much as in the mainland. Mostly this has been constructive and the ‘kid’s day out’ atmosphere was palpable. However, somewhere along the way to this evocation the voice of reason, free speech, and debate seem to have taken something of a beating:

[...] the strong feelings for China boiled over and caused conflicts with pro-Tibet and democracy protesters.

One large group of torch supporters confronted pro-democracy activists, yelling “running dog,” “traitor” and “get out.” One heckler said, “Do you think this is Paris?” — a reference to the French relay leg disrupted by protests.

About 80 police surrounded the protesters and eventually put them in a police van for protection.

Pro-Tibet protester Christina Chan, a university student, was threatened by 30 torch supporters who pushed and shoved a dozen officers protecting her. Several onlookers heckled Chan, shouting “What kind of Chinese are you?” and “What a shame!”
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As the crowd became more hostile, police put Chan in a van against her will.

“What right do they have to take me away? I have a right to express my opinion,” she said.
[Read more...]

The most disturbing aspect of the whole Olympic torch process is not the racially based violence and anger directed against foreign critics. But rather the fierce and violent suppression of moderate voices of ordinary Chinese by ordinary Chinese. This was seem most dramatically, of course, by the supposed “race-traitor” (汉奸), Grace Wang (Wang Qianyuan 王å?ƒæº?) for the crime of taking the middle ground and trying to reason with nationalist-crazies (1, 2, 3). The message to all Chinese is quite clear: ‘you’re either with us, or against us’, and in this there is no compromise.

This is the real tragedy and travesty of the Free-Tibet movement; they are the ultimate root of the obliteration of sensible discussion on Tibet and China. It is thanks to them that there is no longer anyone to take a moderate position in the mainland.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has faced the greatest test of One Country, Two Systems so far. The results have not been encouraging: It began with the deportation of Jens Galschiot and others, moved on to the self-censorship of the academic press (read the censored article), create a fuss over central government fiddled with the list of torch bearers, and ended in the government (apolitically of course) calling for all Chinese to wear red to show support the motherland and resistance against foreign criticism.

As the red tide subsides and the Olympic torch, that great symbol of human unity, heads to Macau and on to China proper, Hong Kongers can sit back and consider the ramifications. The trail of ‘unity’ left by the torch has left its mark on so many places from London to Paris, Tokyo, Seoul and beyond. It is with great fear that I reflect on the fact that Hong Kong may have just have experience a glimpse into its own future; a brave new world of Politics redefined.

Over the past few months there have been posters all over the HKU campus advertising for the CBL China International Law School. I must say that at first, I thought the idea was rather neat. Here’s their blurb:

English speaking students get the opportunity to study Chinese and International business law during the three-week course. No previous study of law is necessary. Students of all fields can take part, especially students of law, Asian-studies, business or political science. The students will attend Corporate law, IP law, Investment law, tax law, ADR, Commercial and Constitutional law courses and will analyze various case studies.

Academics, lawyers and managers will also discuss with the participants areas of law and business practices that are essential for every economic activity in China. Additionally, the main features of the Chinese and Asian arbitrage will be described.

Furthermore, there will be visits to foreign-owned small businesses, multi-national corporations, international law firms, excursions in and around Shanghai and Beijing as well as an introduction to the Chinese language and culture.

I was tempted… Sure the Chinese classes will be useless to me and the law is gonna be super-simplistic, but I kinda have a thing for attending classes like this to try and build up a broad overview of topics which are useful and related to my discipline. In any case, so I reasoned, I’m going to be in the mainland in June/July so it can’t hurt to catch a few interesting lectures and meet a few China-focused students in the process.

Then I noticed the price-tag: freaking US$2,580 (RMB19,000 / GBP£1,300). Ouch!

I suddenly lost my enthusiasm… that is a lot of money for a 3-week programme, particularly one in the Mainland where the cost of living and education are both cheap. A quick calculation puts the weekly cost at US$860 / RMB6,000! Yet more maths tells me that’s about US$30,000 if converted into an effective cost of a 35-week academic year. My masters degree (taught in the UK and China) is, by comparison, a cut-price US$8,000.

The issue got me thinking about the whole ‘China band-wagon‘ phenomenon. It’s really quite interesting when you thing about it. Right now, there are people all over the world trying to study both China and Chinese and taking short courses, just like this one, in order to try and get ahead; everyone is going crazy for China and the market is rising to meet demand.

More so, people want to get the knowledge now in cheap and cheerful bite-size pieces, without anything as unpleasant as hard work and graft. Ah, you’ve gotta hand it to Beijing; things are turning out swimmingly and very much in tune with the general theme of the controversial Confucius Institutes (2). Just consider the moves towards Mandarin teaching in the UK for further evidence of the trend.

Back to the topic in hand. Even with all of the goodies that thrown into the pot (trips on the Huangpu, visits to Beijing, and such like) I can’t help but think what is being offered is very overpriced and that riles me somewhat. It doesn’t seem quite right to be benefiting from the newbies’ lack of local knowledge in this way. Sure the course is likely to be fun, sure it is an interesting topic, but can it really be said to represent good value? Can it possible meet the advertising? Does it really represent good value?

Let me put it this way: the few classes offered during the 3-weeks can’t possible teach students much more than ‘你好-level’ Chinese. At the same time, realistically, how much law and business can be taught in this period to those with no prior knowledge of the fields (it’s open to such people, after all)? It seems to me that chances are students would do better to put the money towards a 6 or 8-week intensive Mandarin course instead.

Unfortunately, having neglected my blog [again!], and just come back to try after a long time away, it seems that it has developed some technical problems. Specifically, the pesky thing just wiped the post I had finished writing. Grrr… Anyway, a Wordpress Upgrade is somewhat overdue anyway, so I will try and get this done after my exams next week, hope that it fixes the problems, and try and re-establish a sensible frequency of blogging now given that my workload this semester is likely to be quite a bit more reasonable. Until then, I leave you with a free copy of the rather good Pocket Informant 2007, Pocket PC calendar replacement.

 
Update 12 Jan 07: Wordpress and associated plugin now all up to date; seems to have fixed the problems although I need to try and work out why a few links are no longer displayed… overall update seems like a pretty big improvement actually…

Update 2, 12 Jan 07: I have also made some other minor changes to the blog. It turns out that the problem with hyperlinks is browser specific; it displays correctly in IE but not Firefox… :/

As the days tick down towards the four-month anniversary of my departure from the UK, I find myself reflecting on the way things have turned out. In spite of all the difficulties things seem to have gone remarkably well. It is no exaggeration to say that a new chapter of my life has opened-up and that I am finally settled, happy, and enjoying the fruit of the past few years’ hard work and planning.

That’s not to say I’m not working hard; I am. Harder in fact than I can ever remember working, with 60-hour weeks and frequent all-night study sessions. The difference is that now I feel that I am working to further my education and build on stable foundations rather than having to lay the bricks as I climb, so to speak. It is actually quite amazing, at least from my perspective, to reflect on the way things have changed even since the summer. At the end of July I turned up with little more than an over-heavy suitcase and the boundless optimism of a person who fears they might be making a big mistake. To all intents and purposes I was homeless, on a break from work and study with a year to fill and without a place on the very course I had come to Hong Kong to study. As July turned into August I was desperately trying to solve my visa issues, save money by skipping meals, hunting for somewhere to live and all the while trying my best to study and avoid failing the conversion exams which would end my plans pretty sharpish. In fact, things were not good at all.

Today things look very different. Two days ago I managed to close the lid on the last of my real problems. My money situation is resolved, I have somewhere to live and I have my place on Hong Kong University’s PCLL and am working hard to make the most of it. In short: I am settled and I am happy. From here on in it should pretty much be straight sailing until 2011. For the first time since high school I find myself able to stop planning, stop hunting, and start putting down roots. On the other hand, the idea of having nothing more serious to plan that my next vacation is actually a little daunting! For someone who has got into the habit of CCP-style ‘5 -year plans’ it is pretty hard to get used to the idea that things actually worked out and no planning is necessary, for the time being at least.

More than anything else I can’t help but think back to all the people who told me with such certainty that I would fail, who told me outright that what I was trying to do was impossible. Ironically it is these people who gave me the fuel I needed to keep going, to resist the temptation to surrender, and to struggle on at all costs. Of such people, I remember most vividly the high-school classmate who looked into my eyes and told me that I was just another foreigner dreaming of something that would never happen. Indeed, it is with this sentiment in mind, and many others like it, that I headlined this blog.

All of this helps affirm the sense of having left one period of my life, of dark times and of uncertainty, and moving forwards towards something brighter and happier. If I am honest with myself I should confess to the occasions, of which there were many, when thought that the doubters were right: that I wouldn’t make it, that I had taken too many risks, that things would inevitably fall apart. As such the reader should understand that this entry is actually more for myself than for anyone else; it marks the acknowledgement of a turning point in my life; it is here to remind me of the cost of the struggle and, more importantly, of why it was worth the price. Expressed in these terms one can perhaps understand why I can now feel content in myself; why I can just believe that everything will be alright from here on in.

After several months living in limbo at my parents place I’m finally back in Hong Kong. It’s nearly a year since I was last here but things carry on much the same. So it is that I find in a down-trodden Jordan room, cigarette in-hand, with Nathan Road’s traffic-noise providing the background ambiance.

This entry is rather over-due, however I can’t think of a better setting in which to be writing it. My lack of writing this past year is due to how busy I’ve been. I didn’t quite appreciate how complicated it would prove to be to make the necessary preparations for coming to Hong Kong while studying and holding down a part-time job. It’s certainly been an interesting year however and, on the whole, very enjoyable. It was, of course, the first year of my Chinese Masters degree. Living in Edinburgh was fairly insightful and I worked reasonably well and learnt a fair deal in terms of both language and the social sciences. I think the best thing about the Edinburgh course is its very cross-disciplinary nature. I like Scotland too, particularly when the Scottish component of my heritage was brought to my attention. Anyway, I’ll be coming back to the masters next June when I’ve completed the PCLL course so it’s shelved for now (with the exception of Mandarin of course).

Anyway, back to Hong Kong! If things go well then I’ll be here for the next year studying for the PCLL. Although I’ve been planning this for a long time I’ve delayed blogging to this effect. I had wanted to get everything finalized and confirm my PCLL place before doing so, however things haven’t eventuated themselves in this way. It’s a pity but what can I do? I just need to wait and hope that things do work out with the PCLL because if it doesn’t come through I’m not entirely sure what I’ll spend the next year doing! Of course I have a training contract with a firm, and I just need to trust in the fact that this final hurdle will be overcome in the end. So far 128 of 280 places have been allocated so it’s still more than hopeful that it will work out . One way or another I’ll know before the end of August.

Despite this anxieties, I’m in high spirits to be back in Hong Kong. My Mandarin has improved markedly since I was here last year and it was greatly rewarding to meet my old landlord and converse and negotiate relatively painlessly. Reading street-signs is also a good quasi-study activity (oh yes, how easily pleased I am!). On the other hand my reading/writing have atrophied somewhat with the break from studying and I’m going to have to get straight back to it as soon as possible to prevent myself regressing too far; after all I’ll be back to the Mandarin full time next June and can’t afford to slip too far!

Somehow, it’s still a bit weird to finally be in Hong Kong. In the last two months I’ve spent so long meticulously planning and preparing the fine details and worryingly over trivial contingencies. In the end, however, everything just fell into place. No problems with BA, no fuss over my overweight bags (well I’m here for a year and a half after all!), no fuss with visas; in fact not too much bother with anything (with the possible exception of the fairly immense airline security measures, delays, and frisking:- what a nightmare!). The anticlimax, coupled with the familiarity of the places, has left me slightly unconvinced I’ve come through it all unscathed and really am in Hong Kong at last. I even tried saying it out loud to myself yesterday but without much self-impact. I’m sure it will sink in eventually!

Overall, I really am delighted to be back. I’m here for best part of the next four years with only a few months back in the UK in between, and will likely be here indefinitely after that. There’s a real sense of hope and excitement. In some ways it’s like I never left, of having been away for just a couple of weeks and then come back to my old haunts and fallen into old habits again. It’s particularly good to be able to catch up with my old friends. Today’s task is to find somewhere more permanent to live. I’m going to check out the university district first I think and try and find something cheap and cheerful nearby, ideally with some form of net access. Failing that I’ll be trying Causeway Bay as I’d like something HK-side if possible. Failing these options I guess I’ll fall back to Jordan, my friendly landlord has offered me my old room for $3100/month if I want it.

For those around in HK: I’ve put my new mobile number up on facebook so do give me a shout; I’d be delighted to catch up. I’m also going to be doing my best to remedy my blogging-laziness, particularly now that I’ve got my new shiny laptop to compose offline and, with any luck, I’ll have some interesting entries to post in the next few weeks as I get things set up in Hong Kong. For now I’d best repack and get ready to roll out and find somewhere to live…

This offline-entry has been backdated to match the time it was originally written.

In the past, my prolific Youtube browsing has yielded some interesting results for China-related interest and language study. Today, however, I came across a video that comes in as my greatest youtube find to date. Looking at the 7 month old date stamp, I’m probably horribly behind, but I was still excited to find out about “Sexy Beijing”, the video is about the trials and tribulations of a foreign women looking to find a partner in Beijing. I was highly entertained and pleased to be able to understand some of the conversation. Check it out:

I’m probably influenced by its similarity to a 10 minute snippet of Sex and the City (something I also reluctantly admit to liking). However, unlike Sex and the City I can legitimately claim that watching this show is educational… I get to practice listening and reading and even managed to learn some new vocab (I particularly liked “è°ˆæ?‹çˆ±” ). To my delight, it turns out that far from being an isolated spoof, the Sexy Beijing tag is part of a series of highly entertaining Youtube shows produced by DanWei TV (do a You Tube search).

I should really thank Mandarin Student for putting me onto this (see more). Now that I think about it, I was actually quite impressed to see how his site has developed since I last went there about a year ago. I’d now highly recommended it as both an entertainment and learning resource. In fact seeing as much of my time is spent doing mandarin related things these days, he got me thinking that it would be fun to run some more language related articles here… he’s almost given me the course to attempt to write a few entries in Chinese too… like I say: almost.. !

Watch more episodes…

Yes indeed, I do get excited by my tech toys. In this case however, I’m far from on my own. The Apple iPhone is perhaps the most beautiful toy to be touted for quite some time. The BBC has a video of CEO Steve Jobs showing off their toy; Apple’s official site also has pretty videos.

Watch the video

The phone runs OSx and has wireless build in (although it’s edge, which is frustrating). Disappointingly, however it won’t include 3g and it will only have an 8GB capacity. The touch controls, in particular seem to have got people excited (but at the cost of the much loved scroll wheel! The lack of physical keys seem to have upset some too.

Yes indeed, I want one of these… not that I’m going to be able to afford it of course at £300 ! (US$599). Some people seem even more excited than me (contrast with this)! Perhaps I will content myself with a Chinese rip-off of the iPhone (or even the curiously named Linknksys iphone!). Apparently Cisco plan to sue Apple for trademark infringement for this, oh dear!

While we’re linking China and Apple an article on exploitation of Chinese workers caught my eye.

So, at the time of writing, just another 140 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes and 4 seconds until you can get your own! :) (this site lets you make your own for free - or the price of a piece of paper!)