See you in 2010!

Photo: flowergem

Photo: luuluu

Photo: gp3301

Wishing all bbc blog readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Keep your emails and comments coming and I'll see you in 2010 for more bbc-related blogging!

Random Photo of the Day (or so): Mong Kok Corner

Photo: RMJimenez

Quietly, nine Xinjiang protesters are executed in China

Report from the Guardian:

"The worst ethnic unrest in decades began on 5 July when minority Uighurs attacked Han people, who make up China's dominant ethnicity, only to face retaliatory attacks two days later. Many Uighurs resent Beijing's heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, the traditional homeland of their Turkic Muslim ethnicity.

Four months later Xinjiang remains smothered in heavy security, with internet access cut and direct overseas phone calls blocked.

The official China News Service has reported that the nine were executed after a final review of the verdicts by the supreme people's court as required by law. It gave no specific date or other details. Earlier reports had identified those condemned as eight Uighurs and one Han.

The executions did not come especially quickly for China, which puts more people to death than any other country. Politically sensitive cases are often decided in weeks, especially when they involve major unrest.

The nine had been convicted of murder and other crimes committed during the riots in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. China blames the rioting on overseas-based groups agitating for broader rights for Uighurs in Xinjiang."

However, I wanted to see the story from the China side, so I went to the China Daily international website. Surprisingly, I could find no mention of the executions.

Personally I am opposed to the death penalty anyway, so any report of state executions in any country make unpleasant reading but there is something especially disturbing about this story, specifically how little information is released.

You would think that for a court to convict these people and sentence them to death there must be some pretty damning evidence against them. For example, if a murderer is sentenced to death in the United States, the minute details of the case will have been reported for weeks or even months previously. Anyone following the case will be usually well informed on precisely what the alleged offender is meant to have done and what evidence there was to support the charges.

In the case of these executed prisoners, the Guardian says hardly details of what they did, how they did it, or when they did it have been released. Earlier government statements had said some of the accused had been charged with murder but besides the accusation, virtually nothing else is known. Apparently even the date they were executed has not been disclosed.

Every country has a right to maintain law and order but this amount of darkness and secrecy surrounding executions is wrong, in my opinion. Letting the public know what these people did and the evidence against them would only add legitimacy to China's actions. So why the secrecy?

Story: The Guardian
Story: The Himalayan Times

The Changing Sound of Chinatown

I read an interesting report in the New York Times that could equally apply to the UK Chinese community.

Most bbcs are descended from a generation that migrated from Hong Kong in the 1960s and 70s, and many Chinatowns around the world were founded by migrants from Cantonese-speaking regions of South China as well as Hong Kong. Cantonese can therefore be regarded as the main language of the world's dispersed Chinese population.

But all that could be about to change as Chinese migration is now predominantly made up of Mandarin speakers and they naturally gravitate towards existing Chinese community hubs rather than generating their own. So bit by bit, Chinatowns around the world are becoming Mandarin-ized. This effect is already well under way in London's Chinatown as I'm sure many readers will have noticed.

For those of us who are Cantonese Chinese, there is a real and strange prospect of going to Chinatown one day and not understanding what half the Chinese people there are saying! Weird, huh?

Immigration reform in 1965 opened the door to a huge influx of Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong, and Cantonese became the dominant tongue. But since the 1990s, the vast majority of new Chinese immigrants have come from mainland China, especially Fujian Province, and tend to speak Mandarin along with their regional dialects.

“I can’t even order food on East Broadway,” said Jan Lee, 44, a furniture designer who has lived all his life in Chinatown and speaks Cantonese. “They don’t speak English; I don’t speak Mandarin. I’m just as lost as everyone else.”

Story: New York Times

Related: Memories fading, places changing

Only Won - 'Cantonese Boy'

One of the better Asian music spoofs out there, I think. This guy is apparently releasing an album called 'Lyrical Engineer'!

Barrio Chino - Peru's Chinatown

Photo: diariodelviajero

It won't be a surprise to any bbc that Chinese communities can be found in some pretty far flung corners of the world. But how about Lima, Peru?

It turns out that Peru has a large Chinese-descended population and the capital even has its own Chinatown. In fact, the Chinatowns of Lima and Havana, Cuba, were the first to be established in the Western hemisphere thanks to the influx of Chinese workers who accompanied the Spanish colonists who settled in the region.

Check out this intriguing profile of San Joy Lao, one of the most popular restaurants on the 'barrio chino'. How strange is it to see Cantonese being spoken on a street in Peru? :)



Related: Tripatlas.com, Chinatowns in Latin America

Chinese Idioms sketch

A funny little sketch performed by members of the Cantonese Students Association of the University of California.

'Light bulb'? That's a new one for me!

American News - China-style!

So this is what happens when a major American news outlet is taken over by a company from China :)

Link: The Onion

Random Photo of the Day (or so) - Typhoon Koppu

A very atmospheric shot taken by Mochachocolata-Rita of Typhoon Koppu about to hit HK.

The Signal 8 storm (10 is a hurricane) damaged some buildings and cars.

Related: BBC footage

80% of earthquake disaster donations went to Chinese government

A recent study by Beijing's Tsinghua University has discovered that the vast majority of money donated by people for earthquake disaster relief actually went to the government, who then spent the money as though it were part of normal state income.

Unlike in the other countries where charitable donations usually go directly to charities or non-governmental organizations which then use the money to fund their activities, NGOs in China are not, it is reported, capable of carrying out activities such as delivering aid, building shelters and so on. As a result, the money raised is held by the government instead and they decide what to spend it on.

This means that the many relief appeals that happened after the Sichuan earthquake were, in effect, fundraising for the Chinese government itself.

I suppose if China eventually spends all of the donated money on disaster relief, then technically there isn't a problem but it does mix things up a bit. For example, how do you know if aid money isn't being spent on things the government should be paying for out of its own pocket? Realistically, there is no way of keeping track of donations once they go into the government coffers. Earlier this year there was a scandal over government officials using earthquake aid money to buy expensive luxury cars.

I prefer a system where you donate to a charity and the money kept and used by the charity but it looks like that is not possible in China.

In May of this year, the People's Daily reported that China received about 76.7 billion yuan in donations and that "Most of the donations have been or will be spent on the construction of new houses, schools, medical institutions, welfare and cultural facilities for local people." That article doesn't say how much the government is spending of its own money on the disaster.

This article from the Telegraph suggests that official government aid amounts to 1 to 2 billion yuan, a small amount in comparison, and even that is generated from a public lottery.

Story: Danwei

Related: Sichuan Earthquake: Red Cross Appeal Info

"Nice shot, Mr. Yang."

37 year-old South Korean Yang Yong-eun beat Tiger Woods to win the USPGA golf championship and becomes the first Asian golfer to win a major.

And his caddy looks like Mr. Bean apparently!

Story: Daily Telegraph
Story: New York Times
Related: Yang Yong-eun profile

Big Brother pushes the boundries: Heterosexual Chinese male in the house!

They've had a one-armed, lesbian Cockney, a Portugese transsexual and a black albino American rapper. But surely Big Brother has gone too far this time? For the first time in 10 years of the show, they have put a straight, Chinese man in the house.

Yes, you read that correctly: New housemate Kenneth Tong (a millionaire who divides his time between Hong Kong, Scotland and New York) is Chinese, is not mixed race, isn't gay and he is on national television. Whatever next?

Link: Channel 4

EDIT: Oh dear. Some comments about Kenneth's, erm, interesting character are springing up already.

Eat your heart out, Las Vegas

China gets in on the outrageously themed architecture game with this, erm, interesting novelty hotel.

via Gizmodo

Related: Chinese folk religion

When Michael Jackson came to Hong Kong

As the memorial service for Michael Jackson approaches, I found this interesting video online.

In 1987, during preparations for his worldwide 'Bad' tour, Michael Jackson visited Hong Kong and is reported to have stayed for 3 weeks although he didn't actually perform a concert during that time.

I'm not sure about his attempts to blend in with the locals with traditional dress, but it's an interesting bit of archive footage:

Singer/songwriter 'Emmy the Great'

Just discovered this on Youtube. Hong Kong born singer/songwriter Emmy the Great (real name Emma Lee-Ross, daughter of a Chinese mother and English father) talks about her album and video released earlier this year:



And here's the full video. Cool song.

Article about cheese by reporter with appropriate name

HK Magazine presents a rare round-up of places in Hong Kong where you can sample that very un-Chinese gourmet treat, high quality cheese.

And the name of the author? Johannes Pong, of course! :)

Article: HK Magazine

'No Farmers Allowed'

Truly a sign of the times from modern China (Changchun). Well, it's either farmers or workman's attire they don't like.

They have a point, though: Every farmer I know is always wanting to pop into the local Emporio Armani!

via Danwei

Two videos for 6/4

Former Communist Party official Bao Tong has been exiled by the Chinese authorities for the part he played in smuggling out the secret memoirs of ousted Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang.

Zhao was a reformer on the side of the student protesters who was in favour of democracy for China. His smuggled memoirs have just been published in a book, 'Prisoner of the State', which lifts the lid on the inner workings of the Communist Party. It certainly looks like an interesting read. The Telegraph as published some extracts.

Secondly, a profile of Chai Ling, a Tiananmen Square student activist now forging a career in the West:

Did you know the next Pixar film stars an Asian character?

Photo: Parkerblogs

You may have already seen the trailers for 'Up', the latest wonderful-looking film from the makers of Finding Nemo and Toy Story.

What I hadn't realised until now was that 'Russell', the funny little kid who stars in the film (alongside the grumpy old man) is actually an Asian American boy.

As reported by Slashfilm, the character of the boy was based on by an Asian animator who works for Pixar but his ethnicity has not been made a big deal of. He's just a cute, funny little kid who happens to be Asian.

I often post about depictions of East Asian people in the media but do think it's an important issue (in particular for younger generations). I know that were I a 10-year-old boy going to see Up, knowing that the main character was Asian would simply have made my day.

If Uncle Ben's made an advert for Chinese people...

Those of you in the UK will know that for the last few years the American company Uncle Ben's has been running some really lame TV commercials for its ethnic food range.

The idea is always the same: A white, middle-class household sits down to dinner. Someone takes out some Uncle Ben's convenience food and starts heating it up.

The food is meant to smell so great that people in the country where the food hails from (in the case of sweet and sour sauce, China) drop what they're doing and rush over en masse to England and end up at the family's house where they enjoy the Uncle Ben's dinner.

Yes, Uncle Ben's are so amazing that apparently Chinese people would actually leave China and travel across the world to eat their reheated sweet and sour sauce!

If you don't know the ads, you can view them here:

Uncle Ben's commercial 1

Uncle Ben's commercial 2

Apart from the whole concept being ridiculous, the ads are made even more super-patronising by showing the ethnic characters as mute, grinning and dressed in stereotypical national dress (sombreros for the Mexicans, kung fu outfits for the Chinese etc.).

These stupid ads caught the attention of designer Lisa Lam, who has penned 'An Open Letter to Uncle Ben' on her blog.

They also got me thinking: I wondered what if Uncle Ben's made a 'Western' convenience food and used the same marketing strategy in China?

I imagine the commercial would go something like this....



In a tiny, cramped Hong Kong apartment kitchen, a pretty Chinese housewife tries to decide what to make for dinner (because it's so hard to get a decent meal in Hong Kong). She opens her cupboard and picks a jar of new Uncle Ben's Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy in a jar! Yummy! With a big smile she open the jar and pours out some brown sludge into a frying pan.

We then jump to London, England:


Inside Number 10 Downing Street, two men who look remarkably like Gordon Brown and Tony Blair suddenly stop what they're doing and sniff the air. Mmm, the unmistakable aroma of roast beef, their favourite food! Let's go!



Meanwhile in a traditional thatched cottage, a farmer is shearing his sheep on the kitchen table. Suddenly he stops what he's doing and sniffs the air. Mmmm, Yorkshire puddings! I must have some of that!


Meanwhile at Wembley stadium, someone who looks remarkably like David Beckham suddenly stops practising free kicks and sniffs the air! Mmm, that gravy smells delicious! I must go to where it's coming from!



Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, the farmer and Becks all jump aboard a red London bus and head for Hong Kong.


The bus arrives at Nathan Road, everyone gets out and runs up to the apartment.

The Hong Kong housewife opens the door, looks surprised and lets them all in (except for Gordon Brown who has to stand outside because the apartment is too small). Everyone sits down to dinner and they enjoy Uncle Ben's Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding together! Mmm. Uncle Ben's.

I think it would work, don't you? :)