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.