New Chinese Stereotypes

The past week and a bit I have spent living with a Chinese family in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ironically it is here that I have experienced living a somewhat more typical modern Chinese family rather than my time spent in Hong Kong or China.

I suspect that this will be an on going article while I remember and document some of these idiosyncrasies and comment them to paper (or bits in this case)

1.) Shareholders meetings = getting shit face drunk and hope you don't sign any dodgie contracts in your inebriated state

2.) At braais/dinner parties the children will always been fed first so that they can run around like The Tazmania Devil in wrecking the place so that the adults can have peace and quiet in dinning.

3.) Mahjong

4.) Gambling - there is a reason why every receptionist in SA casino's can say "ni-hou"

5.) The world is pretty much divided into Chinese and Non-Chinese... maybe even Han and Non-Han.

6.) Money spent that makes an good impression is money well spent. (think German cars and big ass houses)

7.) If you're male, wealthy, young (enough) and single everyone assumes and up to a certain extent condones you visiting prostitutes.

8.) The mother of your eldest son will always be your wife. Regardless that you've divorced and married a woman younger than the said son. Famous line from the mother of a Chinese billionaire after her sons divorce and remarriage- "This woman besides me is my daughter-in-law, everyone else I see them no more than prostitutes that my son frequent"

The Path to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions

My mother was diagnosed with cancer about a year back. Mostly it was a sobber affair that feels like a oncoming collision that has been captured and replayed in slow motion frame per frame.

It was a somewhat painful experience seeing someone slowly face a doom foretold and not being able to do a thing about it. In this particular circumstance the best one could hope for is that she will pass away content with her life. Failing that being able to pass away painlessly.

It was about this time that many of our own family and good friends come forward to provide much needed emotional support, but unfortunately what came with them was the painful and irksome desire to help my mom physically. Each one of them has some kind of great medicinal cure for pain, or heard somewhere that consuming/doing/praying certain things will help her.

Most of these advices range from the homeo remedies to new age ideas to the ever popular traditional Chinese remedies. During these times I can never look at them in the eye and none of them noticed - for which I'm glad. I'm also infinitely glad that none of them noticed my clinched fists and grinding teeth.

I ask myself "Are these people serious?" The cancer has reached the terminal phase and they're trying to peddle me completely useless home remedies?" Don't get me wrong, I call these people friends any other time of the year and found their company pleasant. However all their good intentions ever achieved was to pick at an open wound on someone who has a reputation for a short fuse.

The last time was the benefits of a fasting with apple ciders. All I could do was avert my eyes keep my head down and tell them that they really should speak to my dad about this because I'm not in charge of my mom's diet or meals. The simple truth was that if he had persisted I might have physically assaulted one of them.

The truly heart breaking thing is that sometimes these talks give my mom false hope - gives her a momentary hope only to be destroyed again times over in the next examination. It was about that time that I was reminded of a proverb that is the title of this post "The path to hell is paved with good intentions"

What I Consider to Be Contradictions in International Econoimcs

Originally posted on: Monday, 17th November, 2008

As some of you might have heard, we are currently in an world economic crisis where the big and rich countries are basically drowning in debt thanks to: 1.) over consumption and 2.) minimal savings.

So where do the world economy turn to from here? Last time the Great Depression (I understand that this comparison is unfair but bare with me) was not defeated due to the New Deal of Roosevelt despite popular belief. It was due to the advent of WWII (this is my opinion and if you don't like it, suck it). But this time round we don't have a moustache wearing lunatic leading an advanced industrial nation. So as the fate's sense of irony would like it, this time round they turn to China, a self proclaimed Communist nation.

As the Economist wrote, around three or four decades ago politicians and economist proclaims that the only thing that will save China is Capitalism, today China is the only one that can save Capitalism. The big question is how? Well my beloved Economist magazine reckons that government should "encourage" it's middle class to spend a lot more money, and basically save a lot less, hell start borrowing as well. This way China will start consuming lots of goods and prop up the world economy in a time of crisis.

As I read this I wonder to myself "Am I the only one who seems a problem with this setup?" You're trying to get the one country who is actually keeping the world economy afloat with cash due to it's overwhelming civilian savings of close to 50% of income (which incidentally is the exact ratio that classic economics says you should save) to be more like the countries that started the problem in the first place?

I mean, sure maybe this time round it will help avert the crisis. But then in another 70 years time and China becomes another US that over consumes and over leverage their economy and thus starts a similar crisis. Who will save us then?

Why is it that every time that I read a magazine or opinion piece from an economist it seems to be crucifying the Chinese for saving what they earn? You would think from reading the articles that somehow that this is a conspiracy by the Chinese people to not spend money in order to frustrate the international community, hell if it didn't know better I would think that saving majority of your income away is a crime.

Olympics in the Middle Kingdom

Originally Posted: Thursday, 11th September, 2008

The last month and a bit spent in China has been rather exciting, one doesn't need to watch the games live to feel and see the euphoria of nation no matter where I go. Olympic results were continually updated and with China topping the gold medal charts the sense of patriotism reached a level that I never thought imaginable for a cynic like myself.

The utter contempt that I once felt for the national anthem and its lyrics makes me cringe and shrivel up by myself in a corner now doesn't seem that bad; I mean the opening lines "Stand up, the people who no longer want to be slaves" is actually starting to sound grandiose and dramatic. Admittedly the last line "using our bodies as shields marching into enemy fire" is something that will never sit right with me, ever.

I probably would've cried my eyes out because how much I was moved and how proud I was during the opening ceremonies if not thanks to a rather irritating commentator (Sportsports) that kept ruining the moment for me with irrelevant and often incorrect facts. Then again not surprising considering that the opening function involved over 1300 performers and costs over US$300million. This is rather incredible considering that China is rather well known for it's cheap goods and labour...well actually in this case free labour (or sunk cost labour) because vast majority of the performers were from the Peoples Liberations Army (PLA) and when they are not threatening Tibet and Taiwan or the aftermath of an Earthquake; they're used as free extras in huge budget Chinese movies such as Hero and Curse of the Golden flower. Really the Chinese are nothing if not pragmatic.

The Olympics was China's coming out party, admittedly a very belated one and their (our?) final round defeat to Sydney to host the 2000 Olympics were recalled with much bitterness; but that is very much behind them (us?) now that the 2008 Olympics are over with enough splendour to match its anticipation. In fact I doubt that another country will ever put this much effort, manpower, political and economic might into the organisation of the Olympic games. With a price tag of over US$42billion it is easily the most expensive Olympic games ever held, over 3 times the amount spent on Athens. Security measures during the games (for whatever reasons) were almost unprecedented, with anti-aircraft missiles integrated into the "Bird's Nest" and some sources claims that over 400 000 soldiers were on standby within 200km's radius of the countries' capital, really one has to wonder that kind of scenario were being considered by the PLA? A sudden invasion of China by another country?

All in all, despite protests, politics and a dodgie start to the Olympics I believe that future historians will probably look back to these games and mark it as an important point in history. Whether it be the marker for the rise of a dictatorial states whose policies cause more bloodshed than the Americans. Or the rise of a truly splendid culture that has once again reintegrated itself into the global village.

Whatever happens now and whatever has happened before for the first time in my life, during and after these games I'm truly and utterly proud to be called Chinese. Truly proud and not just some strange loyalty towards your country of birth, and a somewhat fleeting sense of patriotism. Something for those of you who knows about my family history will understand.

Arriving at a Dream

Originally posted: Saturday 30th September 2006:

Most of my life can be conviniently divided up in segments, JHB, Cape Town, high school and university. The most clear cut of these segments of my life was when I left China at the age of 6 to visit for the first time what I then considered to be a magical city: Hong Kong.

Hong Kong had almost a mythical status in the hearts and minds of many Chinese living in the mainland. You see, two decades ago China was not a manufacturing giant and an emerging superpower. At this point in time it was still a typical communist state: poor, corrupt and with a generally miserable population.

The city was awe-inspiring. For a 6 year old who until now has been living in the country side, seeing sky-scrappers for the first time had an almost spiritual feel to it. This was the place where millions of Mainlanders has tried to reach, legal or otherwise. Many would have paid richly and given much to be in our shoes. We were the envy of thousands and millions. In fact, Hong Kong to many is what US represents to most of the the third world, and so for all intents and purposes our family has achieved the "Hong Kong Dream."

However, mainlanders to the general Hong Kong population is much like the current Turks in Germany. We were the bottom of the social hierarchy, somehow less than them. The media and television portrayed us as criminals and a distasteful part of their society. I was too naive to realise that these people don't consider us to be their equal. More recently a Hong Kong born girl told me that she has nothing against Mainlanders; it's just that"...the whores kept on stealing Hong Kong woman's husbands and have no morals."

What makes this particular form of racism/discrimination interesting is because vast majority of the (then) 6million people in Hong Kong are either refugees or descents of refugees that fled China during and after the civil war. The separation of Hong Kong from mainland China was less than a hundred years. Our language and culture was undistinguishable this discrimination was brought out completely by class and shame.

The same shame that drove me to only speak the "Cantonese" dialect and not my own home dialect or the universal Mandarin. The same shame that made my parents tell people in South Africa that I'm from Hong Kong and not China because we were ashamed. You see, during the time that Hong Kong was becoming an economical powerhouse of Asia, China continued on its decline and economical collapse. They were embarrassed by their homeland and started to believe that they weren't "Chinese" but rather something else, something better. I spent a lot of time pretending that I don't speak Mandarin and only Cantonese (which I learned really quickly with my cousins) But that was all set to change and in came in the form of 1997.

In 1997 China regained control of Hong Kong. I guess it's because that they can no longer be in denial, they're now Chinese, by birth, culture and now by politics; or because they are slowly but surely realise they need China more than China needs Hong Kong. Either way, Mandarin suddenly became the next big craze, it was now considered "educated" even "cool" to be able to speak the language. The irony of this makes me feel sick.

In 2003, I was impressed by a salesperson at Lacoste when she made her sales pitch starting Mandarin, Cantonese and English consecutively. A big contrast to my earlier visits in 1994 when while sitting in MacDonalds one of the patrons; a middle age mother loudly complained about the amount of "stinking" Mainlanders are in Hong Kong, more specifically she was referring to me and my sisters.

How the world has changed, nowadays people from the Mainland, especially from the big cities such as Shanghai and Beijing can hold their heads high and stare at everyone else and proudly proclaim their origins, culture and race; frowning on those who decide to emigrate. However, at the same time these mainlanders are also discriminating against their fellow countryman from less privileged backgrounds. Their contempt and racism for people of other races are as bad if not worse than those that discriminated against us a decade ago.

Recently, China has been referred to by many as the "Miracle Economy" and seems to be on course to become the rival superpower to America. But with this kind of attitude and cultural arrogance, this "China Dream" will be short lived.

Kafka on the Shores

Originally posted: Wednesday, 8th August 2007

The 2nd book that I have read by Murakami Haruki. I enjoyed this particular one a lot more than The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the end of the World. There was something special about this one, that captivates me.

The strength of Murakami's writing shines through here again and he paints a world so real and yet at the same time so foreign and beautiful. His description of scenery and emotions are heads and shoulders above many modern authors and one find themselves immersed into his world - at times my heart quickened by the phantom sound and smell that I found myself experiencing.

This book is very much like the other in that it's a metaphysical story set in the modern world and runs two paralle stories: one of a 15 year old boy running away from his fathers dark Oepidal prophecy and the other about an old mentally handicapped with the strange ability to talk to cats.

The story is once again complex and keeps the reader guessing like a good detective story, the characters are magnificently rendered and likeable. The story despite its dark undertones is heart-warming and at the same time sexually charged.

This book will rank among one of the best I have read and would recommend it to anyone.

Hard Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World

Now here is a book that was recommended to me by Amilcar. It was interesting to say the least. The style of writing and narration was definitely different different from most books that I've ever read and while the story was not exactly original in any sense of the word. The book takes you for a ride.

It was very well written, not in the same way that Pride and Prejudice was. Pride was written in a beautifully archaic and flowing words while Hard Boiled was written with a a certain amount of precision - it felt smooth and polished.

The story was intriguing, kept the reader in the dark for well over half of the book and the ending wasn't much of surprise.

Not something I want to comment on yet, maybe need to reread it once in order to make a final judgement.

Update: No, this is a great book despite its craziness