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4月23日 Who do the Chinese Hate? Guess AgainWhat kind of conversation really brings out the venom in a Chinese? One about the boss? the ex? the crazy couple living on the floor above yours? Junichiro Koizumi and his favorite kowtowing place, the Yasukuni Shrine? Or American imperialism? Well, you have no idea.
A random visit to Tianya, one of China's most popular online discussion communities, provides this answer: the elementary school teacher. This post, entitled "how many of you still hate your elementary school teachers?", draws out what looks like hundreds of responses. Man do we still hate our teachers.
I forced myself to read into some of them: the cause of hate are mostly identical, relating to physical (beatings, mostly) and verbal abuse the netizens suffered from their teachers for offenses that range from poor schoolwork, disobedience, speaking in class, to being born ulgy or being from a poor family... you name it.
Mind you, many don't sound that rational or much educated; spewing forth curses far beyond the R rating. Fits the general profile of the Chinese online population, too. But the majority speak articulately and convincingly about the pshychological and emotional traumas they suffered in their pre- or early teens, with many saying the teachers' taunts and beatings changed their lives forever and haunt them to this day. The pain in their voices makes on tremble.
Understandably, very few mention molesting or sexual abuses, although news stories about such cases are almost an everyday fixture at major online news portals like Sina.
Personally I couldn' t contribute much to this exact topic; I remember all my elementary school teachers as, if not saint-like, at least human, reasonable and hard-working. It could also be because I was mostly a "good" kid in those years. But I do have my own stories to tell about very mean teachers that made my life dark in my more rebellious junior high school years (7th - 9th grade), to the point that I can still honestly say I hate them.
Human memory is a funny thing. People exaggerate some circumstances and completely blot out some others. These highly emotional records may not be accurate or fair; but they do tell loads about the Chinese education system, and how far we have evolved from Confucius. 4月21日 Don't let the cowboy get away with this (Reuters Photo via Yahoo!)
What do you feel when your president is humiliated during a state (official? yeah, whatever) visit like that? I am pissed and amazed at the same time. From any ordinary, reasonable Chinese point of view, some of the "gaffes" have got to be intentional, or at least the result of "wilful negligence". Most Americans in China might have got used to this already -- their Chinese friends making "harmless, friendly" jokes about Bush's IQ scores over one of those more relaxed occasions. But He is not one to be messed with.
I know sometimes we Chinese could overplay the face thing, but the point is, face is very much politics, at least between China and the US. My colleagues and I agree that He is not one that forgets or forgives easily; or we hope so, more like. I hope something is done. This administration, I hope, is not one that turns the other cheek.
I wouldn't be surprised if, after the May 1st holidays, the yuan's exchange rate takes a turn for the weaker, or if the Chinese pull out of some IPR roundtable discussions. Pathetic. But what else can we do? This world is full of bullies and cowards. Suck it up. 4月20日 End of an EraIt's such a cliche but I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way, with the unfortunate passing of Stanford University journalism professor Bill Woo and the upcoming departure of UC Berkeley J-school dean Orville Schell.
From what I have learned about both schools, the latest changes could have serious consequences for future Chinese students and scholars to these schools, hence the significance of both schools to Chinese journalism.
Currently, both the Stanford and Berkeley journalism programs are among the most favorite destinations for Chinese journalists seeking professional training in the United States. The number of Chinese students and scholars at these schools are exceptionally high, and their focus on China-related issues much keener, compared with other programs. It is no secret that both Dean Schell and the late Prof. Woo have strong ties to China, and to a certain degree both favor a greater focus on China and bigger presence of Chinese journalists in their schools.
To Stanford's journalism program, it seems Prof. Woo's passing could well mean the decline of the complete program -- friends more familiar with the school tell me he has basically be running the whole program almost single-handedly in the past decade. Rich and prestigious as Stanford is, they may have big difficulty finding someone with the skills and resources, and most importantly, the will, to take over this cause.
Berkeley is different. It's a lively, solid, and well-developed program with multiple concentrations and many experienced and devoted staff members, and probably no shortage of candidates jockeying for the top job. But Dean Schell is unique in the sense that, apart from his broad interests and ongoing projects in many other areas, China has always been a priority. You don't find this often in other journalism educators in the US. Some staff members and students are dissatisfied what they believe is his unjustified preferential interest in China, and hence allocating much of the school's resources to China-related projects.
I am not going to debate the merits of Dean Schell's policies because of my obvious personal interest in it -- being a most grateful beneficiary of both Dean Schell and Prof. Woo's "China preferences", I can hardly find words to describe how they have changed me as a journalist. How they will benefit the cause of Chinese journalism, which I am sure is both professors' ultimate goal, I have yet to tell. But I will try my best no to let them down. My work has also led me to know quite a few other alumni from of both programs, and it is obvious that these journalists are now doing a great job bringing out changes to this profession, as well society as a whole, in China. The investment continues to render good returns.
What I fear is, for the Berkeley J-school at least, the departure of Dean Schell will bring about a reverse in the school's previous love affair with China, or even Asia as a whole. I fear the school will not offer as many places for Chinese students and scholars as it did before -- it took Dean Schell and other "China-favoring" staff considerable effort every year to secure funding for them. I am sure other China-related staff at the school will be as enthusiastic as before in maintaining the focus, but it will be inevitably different once he is gone.
4月17日 William WooA friend sent me this bad news. Professor William Woo of Stanford University journalism school passed away.
I didn't have the fortune to study under Prof. Woo but did sit in several of his lectures. I like him a lot. Besides, I have several friends who would talk of him in much fonder terms.
I wouldn't be exaggerating to say Prof. Woo is one of a few American journalists and journalism educators who have had great influence over Chinese journalists, myself included. Perhaps Prof. Woo would be happy to know that someone translated his obit into Chinese today and put it at the top of the page on the Reporters' Home BBS.
4月12日 Broadcasting NannyThe State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has issued a new regulation banning all the country's local broadcasters from using news materials directly from overseas providers. Instead, all their international news feed must come from either the CCTV or China Radio International. Quote: "Recently, some foreign news agencies and media outlets have been marketing their international news materials to domestic TV stations, with apparent political motives." How shrewd. If they could effectively enforce it, these new rules could only speed up the decline of dometic broadcast news. Further divide the country into two opposite groups -- those who watch CCTV for international news and those who don't. If press regulators got this smart, we'd be in real trouble.
Also from the SARFT Web site: the Administration has given a very interesting public approval to Hunan Satellite TV Station's application for this year's "Super Girl" contest. Only that it imposed about 6000 very vague restrictions about political correctness, decency, "following this, obeying that, adhering to so and so, ensuring such and such, sticking to whatever, and reflecting blah blah". Age limit, number of cities to organize primaries in, dress code, hairstyle, language compatibility, cultural sensitivity, healthiness of the performance... So thoroughly had the regulators studied the previous show, they should probably kick Hunan Satellite TV out and do the whole thing themselves.
At least one thing's pretty clear: No more Simon Cowell-style judges -- "judges' comments shall be based on facts, accurate, impartial, well-intended, with no groundless, excessive compliments, no embarrassing criticism..." Wouldn't everybody just love that? My advice, Simon, would be if you want to pursue a career in China, don't.
Thanks so much SARFT for taking such pains to make sure the "Super Girls" shows doesn't offend good viewers like me any more. 4月9日 The Beijing News You Don't Know -- Maybe Just because a bunch of sympathetic journalists and bloggers, myself included, once called the Beijing News things like "daring", "good", "gutsy", "only paper worth reading in Beijing", etc., it doesn't mean the paper always stands up to high ethical or professional standards. Here's a good example: in today's Earth Weekly ( a pretty earthly name indeed) section of the paper, pages B10 and B11, I find this story: "Disappearing Cultural Relics". A long feature story about the threat of tourism on many of the world's most endangered cultural sites.
Ring a bell? You bet. This is the exact Chinese translation of the cover story of Newsweek's April 10-17 issue. The Beijing News's also copied a sidebar of seven of the world's endangered sites: Machu Picchu, the Great Wall, etc. The only difference between the two stories is in the names of the authors. According to Newsweek, the story was written "by Mac Margolis, with Barbie Nadeau in Naples, Sana Butler in New York and Quindlen Krovatin in Beijing". But according to the Beijing News, the whole big undertaking was completed by staff writer Li Jing, who also happens to be the editor of the same page. Nowhere in the paper do I find credit given to anybody else but the this Mr./Ms. Li. I doubt he/she, or the Beijing News, obtained the copy right of the stories legally from the Newsweek.
The Beijing News boasted a while ago that it had revamped its designs twice in the past year, "New York Times-style". While the Times spends a fortune doing that, the Beijing News, never particularly known for a bursting coffer, doesn't seem to break a sweat. Maybe the story of the disappearing cultural relics tells us why. In the same weekly section, one also finds international stories about the Jordanian queen, the smart red-haired chimpanzees of Sumatra, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin's resignation, and Ukraine's post-election politics. I don't think the Beijing Times has the editorial budget to send its own reporters to do these stories. Yet again, there's no sign they got them from anybody else with permission.
The Beijing News is definitely not the only Chinese publication doing such blatant plagiarism on a daily basis. But I hope somebody do something about it. Cast the stones. If the Newsweek finds it worthy to go after it, I will gladly testify in any court. 4月8日 Saturday: Dust and ViolaDepressing day of dust and smog today. Visibility was less than two miles. I couldn't believe I got out and stayed out till night; but the day's fun was really worth the fine Mongolian dust and new pollutants in my lungs, especially the afternoon concert at the Central Conservatory of Music.
 It was the graduation recital of 25-year-old violist Qi Yue. I'm not a connoiseur of classical music but do enjoy the occasional string concert. Qi and his partners' performance was absolutely delightful; it was the best concert I've been to in a long time. Their program today included:
Variations for Viola and Four Drums Michael Colgrass
Fantastic Variations on a Theme from Tristan William Bergsma
Viola Sonata George Rochberg
Viola and Pipa Eli Marshall (an innovative affair to blend traditional Chinese pipa with viola, but despite the passionate and delicate rendition of the pipa player Zhang Yin, the Viola dominates the whole piece.)
Le Grand Tango Astor Piazzolla
Qi and his friends have put together a chamber music band called the "80 New Music Group." At the end of the concert they played a piece adapted from some of Piazzolla's works, very nice try. I wish they play more in the future. 4月3日 BlogBus Goes Blog-Hauling 21st Century Economic Herald reports that domestic blog service provider BlogBus has broken new ground for blogging controversy by rolling out the "blog moving" service. With this service, current users of MSN Space, BlogDriver, Blogcn, Bokee, Sina Blog, Hexun Blog, Netease Blog and Tianya Blog -- basically, all the major blog service providers in the country -- can move the entire content of their blog, including entries, comments, discussions, and multimedia clips, to the Blogbus server by creating a mirror site there in a simple three-step process.
It's pretty obvious what this could mean to the domestic blogsphere. If you are not happy with your current BSP, you can move house with the least hassle -- in a matter of 20 minutes and some clicks of the mouse, you can dump the sorry old home and start anew without losing your online identity. Right on, Blogbus!
I've seen some of my friends move around, often when their posts are censored at one place. I've also considered moving because MSN doesn't allow Google ads in its Space. But do I want to move to any domestic blog service providers? Yeah, right. My reasons for refusing to do this are, of course, political. For very simple reasons, MSN Space remains my primary choice. I do love the new options such technology brings me though.
On the other hand, Blogbus is really smart to do this. The market has been dying for such technoloby. Some other domestic BSP's seem to have offered limited "export" and/or "import" services, but Blogbus is the first to streamline both into a user-friendly function. Some BSP's will be very upset, facing the threat of user exodus. I won't be surprised if this runs into strong resistance, technical or otherwise, from other BSP's. But before they could establish a clear commercial model for blogging, why not open the market up? Increased mobility will set off a new wave of cutthroat competition between domestic BSP's. And competition is mostly good.
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