by Anne Teoh for the Saker blog
China is a country one wants to repeat when saying its name; much as Trump did when he enunciated, “ China… China… ” in his interview by the press in 2017. If you’re connected to China in any way, you would have an intrinsic understanding what repeating the name ‘China, China ,“ signifies, for that is similar to the way the Chinese repeat the name of a child, implying much affection, like Lang Lang or Fei Fei,. Enunciating the country’s name twice is quite a satiated feeling; it carries a lot more weight than emotional attachment. The first utterance ‘China,’ rolls out the visual impact of ‘shan shui,’ of the vast rolling geophysics of land, mountains and sky – a concept of the classical landscapes; then, when one repeats its name, one can’t stop wondering or being amazed by the sheerness of what it is, all that is humanity in a civilization.
A Chinese proverb runs , “Zuo ren nan, nan zuo ren,” meaning “It’s difficult to be human, it’s human to be difficult.” When I watched Trump drawl out, ‘China, China…” (He did that very well), I smiled at the double-syllabic pronunciation and the depth of Sino socio-cultural semantics but Trumph’s verbal nuances might be different altogether.
There’s a group in the UK that’s called Society for Anglo- Chinese Understanding (SACU) which does good work in building understanding and trust between the two countries for people who care to know. I’m not a historian, sociologist, economist or a politician. I was an educator, and now a well-read member of the public in human civilization. I hope to contribute towards the importance of understanding among different countries, but more so, being from the English-speaking Chinese community, I have an inherent and instinctive knowledge of China and its long history to impart. I have worked and lived in China for seven months and had traveled widely, within and without.
There’s an adage that says, “Understanding the principle of things stops the pain,” which I used to believe whole-heartedly; but in today’s deep state, we don’t know for sure what to believe anymore; nevertheless, we must remember to stay positive and connected to the good side; and in doing so, there’s time to clarify our perceptions and share our thoughts and ideas.
For the last forty years, I noticed that it’s not usual that another country and its people are so defiled in the media as China and the Chinese – in the dark days of the 80s since the Tian An Men debacle, throughout the 90s and to this day. The history files are rich with notorious names – Fu Man Chu, Yellow Peril, Red Threat, Mass Murderer, the Butcher, Organ Harvesting, Dog and Cat eaters etc; frightening labels. I would be fair to say some of these, in themselves, like dog and cat eaters and harvesting organs have a truth verification, of maybe up to 20% at most e.g. organ harvesting, which needed to be presented in context e.g. harvesting organs of accident victims or murderers hanged for life sentences had their organs donated to save lives. Similarly, I, and I know whole communities of Chinese people, do not eat dog or eat meat; many don’t even eat beef or lamb. However, the harm done in the media have synonymously equated Chinese to such racist type slogans like Dictator, Mass Murderer, Dog Eater, Rote Learning etc. Fortunately, such racist branding remains a one-dimensional creation used to inflict insult, horror and hurt as slogans but have no bearings for meaningful communication.
Chinese who are English speakers might feel some psychological pressures, but the mainland Chinese are protected by their government’s screening and firewall. China bashing and anti- China propaganda have limited or no effect on the main land Chinese’s psyche but ironically, it instills mistrust and alienation and might nurture patriotism for China among some overseas Chinese. Most of all, it drives the well-informed to study the facts – fait accompli, and question the fairness and justification- Overseas, mainland, Chinese or not.
The sheer smear of ‘The Dying Room’ (Channel 4, BBC, HBO 1995) exaggerated hyperbolically the cruelty in poor Chinese orphanages where there were some sick, and terminally ill children put into homes hastily put up when China was going through its aftermath of the One Child Policy; which, I believe, was implemented on the advice given by the UN of the threat of famine if China did nothing to curb its population explosion. However, due to rural Chinese’s feudal bias for male offspring, many baby girls were left on the streets. Babies born with defects at birth were dumped by the heartless parents too. The government responded to this social ill by opening up ‘baby hatches’ and orphanages, which were usually under staffed in bare buildings and basic facilities – China at that time was still in the grip of poverty. The media zoned in on the worst case scenario and focused on the terminally ill babies which were then blown up to imply that babies were left to die as a general practice in the country. ‘The Dying Room,’ affected a powerful political stigma against human rights, using pictures and narratives framed to that effect. However, after watching the programme, we were not fully convinced that healthy children were just left to die, however well the camera was manipulated. One suspects, the general public was less than 50% duped into such belief; that would have been easy, following the trail of ‘the Butcher’ in the Tian An Men debacle.
Yet, the opposite was true of the China that sacrificed millions of lives and stood up against imperialist wars, uplifted 650 million out of poverty; took in the garbage of the world and turned them into useful things by polluting itself, manufacturing solar panels to help avoid climate change, opening up to joint partnerships globally etc. The reality is actually about a China that gives almost everything to the world at cheap prices thereby helping the poor everywhere to be well clothed and have amazing toys at Christmas… yet the defamation continues to this day about autocracy, dictatorship, Chinese copycats, cheap goods and stealing jobs: from downright childish blaming by adult politicians to the more subtle ambiguities like, “We got China Wrong…” using exclusive referential and a sinister alarm bell. The irony so seeped in anti-China rhetoric is totally out of context when one considers the benevolent deeds of China, its WinWin policy for co-operation and peaceful development and their act of opening up the AIIB, Silk Road and BRI to the world, as well as being a big lender taking little or no interest, to needy and developing countries.
Fast forward into the contemporary scenario, we find that the daily menace of China bashing had galvanized a counter defence, that even prompted Gweilo 60 to speak out his experience as the Canadian husband of his Chinese wife in a video clip on You tube under the rhetorical question, “Does the rest of the world discriminate against the Chinese?” He does a walk the talk rendition ( with the real China in the background wherever he moves) and exposes the main channels of discrimination against the Chinese people, institutionally from the governments of the US, Canada and Australia which are well-known historically as is also written in Maxine Hong Kingston’s book, “Chinamen,” and most history resources. The Chinese were singled out and prevented from migrating to these new-found lands through different kinds of legislative sanctions.
An extension of this form of racism against the Chinese race would be the other post-colonial countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia where laws were scripted in the constitution, drawn by the departing Dutch and British colonials, to exclude the Chinese and other races from equal rights to land, resources, fundings and power, diverting them to be prioritized for the natives. It was rationalized that entitlement to land, resources funding and power should be vested in the rights of the Muslim ‘bumiputra’ Malays against the Chinese community, who are economically more successful than the natives even though most Chinese, and Indians, were Malaysian born decades of generations back and many are poor and living below the poverty line.
I grew up in Malaysia largely semi-aware of bumiputra ( sons of the soil) rights and potential flare-ups between the Malays and other races, but I had a fairly happy existence. Apart from the usual name-calling reported in the media from some racial kerfuffles, usually from politically active groups, there was a multicultural awareness and harmony in diversity. That was largely because the issues of racism, sexism, socialism or capitalism were political constructs more widespread in western society. Most Malaysians cherish peace and harmony and there’s respect for each other and good relations among the different races. In my time, there were some politicians speaking out about racism and unequal rights but that didn’t really sink in for me to think that they affected our lives; perhaps mainly because we all got by through education and found our niches in universities and the job markets fairly easily. It was only when we graduated and mixed around that we understood most of those rights were related to ‘privileges,’ and therefore, non-Bumiputras didn’t have the same opportunities galore meted out to the Malays; perhaps except for the lucky ones. By then, many educated Chinese would have emigrated or find jobs in other countries of the English-speaking world, causing subtractive empowerment and a brain drain. This category of Chinese emigres were particularly those born before independence, an English-educated generation misplaced in the transition to the national language or Bahasa Melayu. Today, in spite of the inherent disadvantages, eight out of the ten top billionaires in Malaysia listed by Forbes are of Chinese descent.
There’re subtle differences between main land Chinese (1.6 billion?) and the Chinese of the diaspora world wide (46 million). Generally English-educated, overseas Chinese knew little or nothing about what’s going on in the mainland and vice versa. As a teenager, I had wondered from time to time what main land China and its Chinese people were like. I’m partly ‘peranakan,’ – native born for more than five generations, and my English education meant I was mainly westernized. According to history, the Chinese had migrated to the Sunda Shelf ‘Nusantara’ archipelago since 200 B.C. and perhaps before that into prehistory. But in the 70s, whenever I looked in the library for information or books about modern China ( I imagined the period after the last Qing Dynasty), all I could find were Confucius or the ancient dynasties.
Did I identify myself as Chinese, Malaysian or British in my youth? It’s really far more sensitive and complex than generally assumed. Whatever, the invisible western influenced China Wall ensured no news could be had of anything going on inside China.
Personally, I didn’t think of myself as Chinese, Malay or British but I was aware we spoke a lot of English, that I was part of a Chinese family and that there were also Malays, Indians, Eurasians and westerners around. I grew up with a multi-cultural mindset but even then, I had a subconscious awareness that China and the Chinese would be a homogenous country, mainly from my recognition of the later arrivals of Chinese immigrants who I heard being labelled as “China born’ Chinese, every now and then.
I grew up to observe that this group mainly wore Chinese style samfoo – trousers and top with qibao collars and split sides; the older people usually wore dark wide trousers and longer tops with lower qibao collars , ornamental Chinese hook-up cloth buttons and split sides; some of the women had bound feet which was a curiousity even at that time. There were also Chinese servants with long braids, wide black trousers and white tops with long sleeves. They worked for the very rich and in my adolescent eyes, they were vessels of the real Chinese culture, as I then could judge by their clothing, hair styles and kind of cooking and social interactions. They stood with straight backs, were more formal, controlled and cohesive as a group and they shared the same language, usually Hokkien, Cantonese or Hakka, usually in a lingo more difficult for me to understand. They used chopsticks and ate quietly whereas we used forks and spoons and sometimes engaged in domestic talk at meal times. Compared to the “China born”, the peranakans and Malaysian Chinese were much more casual in their social interactions, laughing a lot and conversing freely, speaking their minds. The China-born mainland Chinese were restraint, ceremonial and carried with them the air of civilized social behavior seeped in the Confucian, Daoist and dynastic culture of an imperial country.
So, in tracing current day practices to the past, one draws from the neutral mind of early childhood impressions and try to rationalize the development based in contexts that go beyond ethnic, national, socio-cultural, political and linguistic borders. Why should China and the Chinese be feared at all? In the next article, I shall define some observed traits of the Chinese and their community in various countries based on their lives, tradition, culture, language and deeds.
——-
References:
Gweilo 60, Youtube 2018 : Does the Rest of the World Discriminate Against the Chinese?
Maxine Hong Kingston : ChinaMen
Padraig Joseph MacGrath : Soft Power: Rising Chinese Dominance in the Sciences
More…more….
Thank you, Anne Anne
GrandmaR… err… Beijing hear? LOL. Thanks for cheering me up!
China is on the move. The U.S. is stuck, it has missed its calling and become a satellite of old war and trade forces from England.
I often reflect of the (3976-29, para 16, June 22) 1944, prophecy of Edgar Cayce: “…What then of nations?…of China? Yea, there is the quietude that will not be turned aside, saving itself by the slow growth. There has been a growth, a stream through the land in ages which asks to be left alone to be just satisfied with that within itself. It awoke one day and cut its hair off! And it began to think and to do something with its thinking! This, here, will be one day the cradle of Christianity, as applied in the lives of men. Yea, it is far off as man counts time, but only a day in the heart of God – for tomorrow China will awake. Let each and every soul as they come to those understandings, do something, then, in his or her own heart.”
John C Durham
Thank you for your comment.
There were lots of missionaries from the US and the UK in China since the later half of the 19th century. Form the books they’d written, many of them liked China and many attributed to the ‘honesty’ of the Chinese they knew. Pearl S Buck was outstanding in her evangelical fervour of the Chinese and I couldn’t read enough of her books. I had done a fair amount of research on Gladys Aylward my self before writing about her missionary work in China. It’s one of the stories in my debut book, ‘The Call of Love’ (by Anne Teoh, available Amazon.com, kindle, ebooks and major b retailers).
My overview is that the Chinese are open to communication and ideas. Although the emperor questioned the contradiction of a religion that loved their god, yet nailed him on the cross, China was not a dictatorial country for they allowed the missionaries to open up schools, churches and to convert the people. Many Chinese were fascinated by the stories of Jesus and his love for humankind and many became Christians.
Today, I read somewhere that China has the biggest Christian population in the world! China has a diversity of people and religions but all Chinese have intrinsic Confucianism in them… you’re right self-sufficiency is a strong Chinese trait; they don’t like to ask or take from others and they are the meek of the earth but it was a brilliant thing when they cut off the Manchu imposed queues!
I seem to recall reading in the Cayce literature that Cayce was refering to Christ consciousness in China and maybe or maybe not Christianity as many would recognise it.
Anomalous
Thanks for the clarification. I’ve just checked out on Edgar Cayce and from the little I know, you’re probably right. I’m sorry for going off angle but I believe the Christ consciousness is about love , as in love thy neighbour as thyself. I found this interpretation from an anthropological approach to understanding Christ.
https://www.edgarcayce.org/the-readings/spiritual-growth/christ-conciousness/
Thanks for the article Anne. I will look forward to the next
Interesting reading ! The Western Powers or better their jewish Masters know very well that they cannot get China onto their hook, they simply cannot overcome the social barrier which the whole Chinese culture is againt their infiltration, thus the racism against Chinese people.
China is the last bastion against Western Cultural hegemony together with Russia. Today it is THE bulwark against an Imperialism of global reach if it falls then humanity would become enslaved for hundres, possibly thousands of years to a small inbred elite.
The 22nd Century will be the Asian (Chinese) Century and the beginnings we are wittnessing now with the collapsing of the Western bloc into an abyss of self-destruction which is now largely irreversibly fixed due to the catastrophic policies enacted starting in 2001 and unfolding to this day. I see China and Russia as the centers from which the awakening is to spring, an awakening into a new era based on the laws and rule of god. Chinese traditions see that different, but the difference is small nonetheless important. But for the new Western world many, many of the chinese cultural truths are to be examined and taken over. I saw the video of the first chinese rocket taking a chinese astronaut into orbit. The scene was one of deep heartily felt joy – that is something I sense in very many chinese people and also Japanese. It’s a feeling I know from my childhood which got drowned later on, something very deep and fundamental. Here in the West there is no such true heartfelt joy culturally, there are people who maintain it, but the culture is one of darkest now even evil darkness, everything cultural is shaded with a grey-black overtone – everything seems to be poisend – the marks of death and destruction the last Metallica Album is ironically named “hardwired to self destruct”, that’s the fiath of modern western culture in a single sentence !
HDan,
Thank you for your support.
I understand your concern ad disgust about the deep state. I believe, however, that there’s always the hope that one good person will make a difference. And we must appeal to the good in humanity to dispel the evil.We have to discover how nature is omnipotent and omniscient and that we have the energy to save ourselves and our world.
There’s one thing I hope you won’t mind my need to clarify. If I may say so, I’d prefer to say something like, “their Zionist masters,” primarily as I have a great respect for many many Jewish people who are just like the mass of humanity – working hard and doing good; in fact, the Jews have made many innovations in many areas of life that benefit many of us.
I personally find many Chinese, in fact, many people of all races, to be good and respectful people ; but some are subjected to propaganda or are brought up with bias against others. There’re also bad, traumatised or maladjusted people in every race and our right and wrongs can be subjective too.
Finally, yes I think many of us know we ‘re living in a dark time… but let’s find strength in the light of truth, beauty and kindness to move forward. Let’s all share to make the 22nd century a world of benevolent humanity, peaceful and happy so that our future generations can live safe and secure that they can have dreams to build an amazing world folllowing the footsteps of the great leaders, the many who have brought us so much joy, benefits, advantages and sharing. but let’s not name names for in the nature of things, we’re just a speck of dust in the vast cosmos.
Bravo! We need more voices like this!
(Anne, you might enjoy these articles about China, (published by America’s foremost conservatives):
https://www.unz.com/article/chinas-financial-debt-everything-you-know-is-wrong/
https://www.unz.com/article/selling-democracy-to-china/.
http://www.unz.com/article/mao-reconsidered/?highlight=mao
http://www.unz.com/article/mao-reconsidered-part-two-whose-famine/
http://www.unz.com/article/the-great-proletarian-cultural-revolution/
Godfree Roberts,
Thank you for your positive affirmation. Yes, I somehow have a reverence for Mao and agree with your article in one of the links you’ve so generously provided above. I read so many books at the SACU library.
The CCP experienced so many things in that time – from what I’ve read; and from the few voices I’d heard coming from youths engaged in the Cultural Revolution, and past that into the 1980s – well, I;d gathered some first hand impressions and information. Mao was incredulous for standing up a China that was on its knees from its own feudalism, imperial invasions and bullying, Manchu discrimination and internal strives – a vast country with layers of fossilised sicknesses.
Many Chinese love Mao for that but there’re also younger Chinese who blame their leader ( or any other leader ) for leading them into factions, poverty and the early authoritarian dictatorship – not understanding that the internal and intrinsic problems Mao and China had to overcome in order to throw off the shackles of feudalism, the ancient regime of clans and the war lords and their old mentality, the extreme poverty in all aspects of Chinese life at that time ( from pre 1911 – 1980s), the foreign exploitation and invasions and civil divisions and war… were altogether too much to overcome in a single revolution… but as applauded in your article, Mao was many things at at once; and obviously, he had an amazing team which we shouldn’t forget, including many staunch western supporters.
The upshot is, I intend to think Mao’s ideas re the cultural revolution and the great leap forward could be better managed and that Mao was also influenced by the people who surrounded him, especially in his older years. But as a French historian said, Mao was a romantic idealist who brought impossible concepts like equality and pure socialism into practice… but the people have not attained that level of altruism to fully engage in Mao’s world of egalitarian society freed from avarice based on a poor but sharing communal living.
Today, I think China has taken us into unimaginable insights into how we can achieve a utopian humanity on earth… I think they keep working to refine and fine tune it.
I’m immensely delighted to find such a number of good links you’ve given and will get to read each of them in time. It’s indeed heartening to find there exists this amazing group of foremost conservatives in the US! Thank you.
‘The Great Helmsman’ or to give him his astrological name ‘The Golden Pig’. Almost the luckiest horoscope that it is possible to get; he had everything going for him. When he was a young man he was kind-hearted too, and he really cared about the poor people of China, so ‘the mandate of heaven’ passed to him.
‘Destroyer of the Dharma’ Buddhists call him. He ordered the destruction of half a million temples and the murder of countless millions of nuns, priests, monks, Taoist masters etc. Around 45 million people perished during his ‘Great Leap Forward’.
He never washed in his entire life and he maintained a large prison village of enslaved concubines (selected from military parades and so forth). Later in his life he was unable to sleep due to his pathological terror of vengeful ghosts, so he had guards posted at the end of his bed with orders to shoot at any suspicious shadows.
When he died and was about to be buried there was a small earthquake with its epicentre at the cemetery, which is listed in ancient texts as the most unlucky omen that is possible. It is said to be a sign that hell cannot wait to get its hands on you.
Racist, Orientalist, lies and twaddle. You can tell a man’s greatness from the calibre, or lack of it, of his traducers.
Mao was one of the greatest humans who ever lived. He freed China from centuries of Western and Imperial Japanese oppression, occupation and invasion. He began the process of industrialising China and accumulating the capital required for basically autarchic development. He oversaw the repair of centuries of neglect, disrepair and warfare. He emancipated women for the first time in Chinese history, He ended the evil theocratic tyranny in Tibet. Under his rule Chinese life expectancy rose from less than forty to nearly seventy, education became almost universal, as did literacy. And numerous infectious diseases that had plagued the people for millennia were curbed.
However, through excesses of zeal to remake Chinese humanity, he made mistakes, like the Great Leap Forward, but their negative effects have been greatly exaggerated by Western Orientalist racists who hate and fear China’s rise.
Mulga Mumblebrain
Thanks for your riposte! There’s much truth in your assessment of Mao.
I love his mobilisation of ‘The Barefoot Doctors,’ the communes and the many benevolent things he’d done since his youth, to help the displaced and oppressed in Chinese society. The Long March was a super legend and the hardships endured and battles overcame were unsurpassable. Someone wrote a book and reassessed the Great Leap Forward; he actually attributed the miraculous rise of China to the mechanisms accelerated in the Great Leap Forward. Israel Epstein Seven Year in Tibet (?) exposed the theocratic tyranny and enslavement of poor Tibetans.
Some Chinese say Mao was a great leader but he wasn’t perfect but many of us truly wonder at his incomparable achievements for modern China.
‘The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.’ Dalai Lama.
Hajduk
There’re many Tibetans living in China.
Tibet is an autonomous part of China and it’s Tibet with Tibetans and Chinese , perhaps other ethnic groups, living in it. There’d always been strong ties between Tibet and China and the few Tibetans I talked to, know the history of their king courting to marry Princess Wen Cheng.
But you need to believe what you believe.
Peace.
You can tell the calibre of the Dalai by his refusal to order that the pointless self-immolations in China cease. We are supposed to believe that Tibetans worship the corrupt long-term (60 years!) CIA asset, and would not sacrifice themselves for nothing if he ordered them not to, yet he keeps his ‘holy’ trap shut. The victims are mostly young and mentally impaired dupes, and the whole sordid effort has the paw-prints of Langley all over it. These days the old goat is nothing much more than a front man for the younger, US-trained and indoctrinated thugs, who are a very vicious and dangerous breed, like all such US puppets.
The Dalai Lama-keen student of Nazism under Harrer, then a CIA asset from the 1950s.
Mulga Mumblebrain
Thanks for sharing the depth of your experience.
There’re many Tibetans living within China too, so they’re not totally unrelated to China.
Let’s hope Buddhism truly emanate with its light of compassion and will take everyone to the pure land.
I apologise if this sounds inane and escapist but we must persevere and work for peace for all mankind.
I don’t think we can change the world, but perhaps we can support individuals to develop higher states of consciousness and intelligence so they can see the difference between what’s fake and what’s good and enduring. We just have to forgive and forget.
Why should China and the Chinese be feared at all?
The fear mainly comes from the US Empire and allies and those who feel that they have the most to lose in terms of privilege, status, power or wealth once that empire is gone.
The fear also comes because of projection- that others will behave towards them in the same way that they have behaved, or would like to behave, towards others.
Whether this fear is to be justified will largely depend on the economic/political model that will be followed when the US Empire is no more.
Jiri, thanks for your comment which I find straightforward and to the point.
Usually one’s fears reflect on one’s own suspicions or deficiencies; one’s own deep fears whatever they are.
It’s a sad world ruled by materialist acquisitions over ethical considerations, compassion and benevolence.
it’s dominated by violence, espionage, nerve gas and homicide at the moment and we hope, they’ll hit the intelligent ones that we don’t live in a movie but in the real world where everyone’s transcient and we’re judged by what we say and do by a well-informed public.
The world will be a safer place when China and Russia finally announce a military alliance. That is the only thing that will prevent a major conflict.
NATO is convinced they can defeat China and Russia one at a time, if they can ensure the other sits the first war out, and they’re probably right. That must never be allowed to happen.
Dank fur Kopf
That alliance among the Sino-Russo, Iran and Korea and the division with the Quads ( US, UK, India, Japan, EU ) has been narrated out explicitly but we have no idea of the many countries in between who opposed the stupidity of such a division which will lead to lots of troubles and war. Many people and countries don’t want a nuclear war… let’s be hopeful the Korea-US talks will lead to denuclearisation. That’s the best way forward. The question is whether we have responsible leaders or foolhardy ones… we’re all living on the edge at the moment and wondering if we deserve better than this. The school kids in the US are walking the talk, bravo to them. They have my respect.
Hello Anne, and commentators on this remarkable piece I discovered you just as my computer time at the library is drawing to a close–what a find this is! I will return, very soon–one quick note of assurance regarding your statement “many people and countries don’t want a nuclear war”: I believe very strongly that there is a small but determined group of holy people on our planet (maybe only five percent) who are praying for peace so strongly–and praying against nuclear war so fervently, that such a war will be averted. It may even come down to the last second where the orders are given to launch missiles, and by what could only be called Divine Intervention, the missiles fail to launch. Have faith, and hang onto hope!
Chad
Thanks. It’s great you’ve connected.
I do believe divine intervention or – instinctive intelligence, collective consciousness, subconscious or awakened consciousness… and to me this is a manifestation of the underlying power of nature.
Yes, let’s join hands and meditate/demonstrate for world peace and denuclearisation… spread the word for peace. If everyone in the world come together and tell our governments War’s out, we want peace… will they listen?
Communist China obliterated Chinese culture on the mainland. This was a tragedy for the entire world. All that is left are fragments among the diaspora Chinese and the fake plastic version that the Communists cobbled together later.
As for ‘organ harvesting’…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_van
Thank you for your work.
I had a sense that things were improving when some dear freinds (they considered me family) decided that they had enough of the ‘mercan dream and went back home.
They had fled in difficult times, but became sickened at decaying culture. Those that remain pursue material the gathering of wealth. Good luck with That!
T1
Thanks for commenting.
It’s great when the world join hands and be a family of nations like the UN. I think China supports the unifying aspects of the UN as a family of nations. Likewise, from Youtube, it’s evident that many ‘laowais’ go to China . I met a few who live and work or are married and have been living there for 14 more years.
I’m sorry things are not looking good at the moment and I do hope we can all help to make life better for everyone. I believe every country should welcome job seekers or home movers.
Having money is necessary, making money is a skill as long as it’s clean and not harming/disadvantaging others.
When it gets you down, visit your family in China. You can find jobs teaching online or in schools etc. Look into you tube.
Perhaps we are guilty of falling victim to the axiom “You can’t see the forest for the trees”.
We should acknowledge the merit of Western aggression … this aggression brought us to where we are today … an auspicious situation. The human family is interconnected … as in the Biblical fable … the tower of Babel.
A necessary first step for a giant leap forward in the Evolution of Being.
The above mentioned blessing has no utility without some ‘force’ to assist the human family up onto the next step of transformation.
Enter the Chinese element of the human family. Chinese feudalism was preserved for 2,000 years precisely that it may be available today to play an important role … yet no more important than the role of Western aggression to this point in time.
I’ve been living in China for almost 13 years. An observation that continues to bring joy to my heart is the local villagers burying cabbage in the fall and digging it up through the winter and spring. A practice undoubtedly learned from animals a very very long time ago. There is no apparent need to continue the practice … where I live is moderately prosperous. It seems to support one of the pillars of Chinese civilization … frugality.
Food for thought.
Bruce Morley
Thanks for your comment.
To me, aggression has no merit as it involves using force and compulsion. Humans are sensitive earth creatures and the bounty of nature ensures each of us is born with freedom to exist and become what our intelligence and imagination dream of. As they say, “The best guru but points the way.” We’re all single entities and we work out our individual karma… this is the reality despite the external forms of social constructs or governance.
Feudalism was corrupted by the wealth and power of the upper echelon… there were too many malpractices that had encrusted and fossilised into normality. Mao and his team understood this and made the necessary changes so the revolution in China was necessary . You have a point there but it’s not aggression but showing the alternatives. Aggression is off putting but caring and love can change people’s hearts and minds.
The best people are frugal to themselves but giving to others. Yes, I heard about the stockpiling of cabbages even in Beijing. Like squirrels storing nuts? I believe they got that from common sense – they were cultivators.
Yes, I appreciate frugality but I also love the occasional Chinese feast of food like dim sum.
Well now… that (the above article by Anne Teoh) was insightful, interesting and informative; i.e. valuable – in that this article supplies nuanced insight into experiences the rest of us don’t have. A really nice and very interesting article.
It’s valuable because it provides new information and real knowledge, unlike other article’s on the topic by established journalists that reprint cliches, idealist reaffrimations and empty praises spoken from an occidental point of view that provide no new information nor credible insight.
I hope Anne. in her gentle and civilized style, publishes more on this site.
RCD
I appreciate your support and with the Saker’s blessing, yes, I will continue to write on China. It’s wonderful to know you like my style of writing; as original as all my own.
Come to think of it, journalists have to conform to institutional guidelines, like many writers being told they must attend writing courses/workshops. My psyche and ideation stick to an originality developed through personal experience/observation and deconstruction: they defy external moulding.
RCD you wow me with your ‘credible insight!’
There’re two other articles on Synthesis of XJP’s WinWin and Potency in Chinese Names in the Saker’s blog you might like to read…such a nice reader, thank you.
Dear Anne Teoh,
Just to update you, all Chinese students, scientists, professionals, researchers, immigrants and businessmen now have name. They are called ” spies” like the grains of sand and the whole US society must stay vigilant and expose them. Maybe, one day, they will be called ” terrorists.”
Australia used to call the Chinese ” ching-chong chinamen.” When I was studying in Australia in the 70’s, I saw drawings showing white Aussies pulling the pig-tails of ching-chong with captions like ” sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.”
Chan Poon Hoong
Thanks for updating.
Today’s situation indeed, is full of tension and the search for survival.
It’s a shame but the situation is very ugly and the language incredibly arrogant, one-sided and accusative with no water to hold. It must be very difficult … stay well connected with the good and be strong. It’s a big patch of bad karma going round – you stay positive, helpful and kind. The words ‘spies’ and ‘terrorists’ are not to be repeated; I’d stay well clear of them for my own sanity!
I can believe you; there’re very shocking cases of racist name calling among certain groups in Oz. I met and befriended an Irish woman on the Great Khan train who had a bagful of racist names – wogs, grease etc but she didn’t say chinky to me. Some of these guys have no proper sense of humour and their racist names calling’s an outlet for their under developed egos… try to move among better crowds ; there’re loads of good Aussies.
Don’t internalise the underdeveloped racist rant and don’t react. Shut it out for it’s not your real world. Racists violate your self-respect but there’ll always be such people around, in all kinds of ways. You keep in good company and stay safe. Sometimes, you can’t take it seriously too. They just do it for a laugh to annoy you for their little mind’s bored.
I hope you are not complaining about rights and being stateless. No I dont want unrest in my country or region. I am writing so we can understand each other. You may feel entitiled because you contributef for the econony and such. And you may feel that the average malay and muslim are riding the privileges while being undeserved.
Here is where you probably missed. Muslim or Malay(because they are a people whom reverted to islam through missionary not fighting and historically speaking becoming ‘murtad’ is very unheard of in the past ) is shackled and chained in this free and liberal world even though islam is the state religion or $300m fundings have been allocated for ministry of religous affairs. (I laugh sometime how people make fun of divine blessing. its funny but doesnt meant it doesnt exist)
Islam has halal and haram. Muslim in this region(SEA) is trying their best to live by these rules. example; intimate relationship before marriage is haram, taking loan on interest is haram(yes we have to think twice before car loan, student loan, buying a house). Let me tell whats wrong with todays business. Excessive wastes (materials/end products). So the advantages is on the chinese or indian so they can live well.
No Im not complaining or moaning. We know this live is temporary, a play and a test. And the sets of rules given are a manual set by the Inventor/Creator not as a restriction.
There you go. advantages and disadvages. One for you, one for the other. Brunei is brunei. malaysia is malaysia. indonesia is indonesia. singapore is a western puppet lee kwan yew project. Muslim longed for khilafah. They got whats left now. I dont want our land turned into souless singapore with secularism, liberalism and any other weird gay ism to screw our mind. Im sorry if I dont want my country into 99% chinese too.
There’s that old Malay story that comes to mind here, which goes something like this…
The Chinese were telling the Malays. Ha, before we Chinese came to Malaysia, you Malays didn’t even have tables and chairs. Before us Chinese came you Malays were eating on the floor, we Chinese brought civilization to Malaysia, you Malays should be grateful.
The which the Malays responded. Ha, take your tables and chairs and yourself back to China, us Malays will eat comfortably sitting on OUR ground.
But then again China has always been part of the NeoCon agenda, just compare what the author is saying so sweetly to what Churchill said
“I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.”
Brunel, thanks for your comment.
I appreciate your honesty. No, I never felt or said I feel entitled to anything. The issue’s about equality and human rights.
Brunel, Salam, thanks for your well thought out comment.
No, I’ve never felt or said I have entitlement to anything. The issue’s about birth, equality and human rights in the bigger world. I recognise we don’t have all the answers for many problems and that everything can’t be painted black or white for what’s true for one might not be for the other.
I’ve always loved the Malay people who are lovely, guileless and warm-hearted. I didn’t say Malays don’t deserve their privileges either : the issue’s whether one believes in positive discrimination or competence – I had first hand of this experience whilst working in the UK and it’s a highly sensitive and difficult choice – do we study individual deserving cases or blanket positive discrimination out altogether in the name of fairness? Likewise, the irony is in how certain groups/people will use such a policy to advantage only those in their own groups . Corruption usually come from those in positions of power, the people below are usually displaced, unless meritocracy is upheld and practiced stringently.
I had travelled through Jelutong in Penang and the poverty and deprivation in some kampongs really touched me. I certainly want everything to be done to uplift poverty stricken communities – be they Malay, Chinese, Indian in the Malaysian context. I believe the rich should partner with the poor and support them in many ways through better education better facilities, nutrition etc to acquire the skills to participate in any given society. I understand the irony that exists in life and history… there’re too many.
I’m not one who think about humanity in percentages but I think it’s highly unlikely that the Chinese will dominate population growth in Malaysia, and I hope not too. I gave out the numbers of mainland and overseas Chinese to provide a basis for comparison in the context of my discourse ( which isn’t the best I could have done btw).
There are many Muslims in China and they’re from diverse ethnicities too. In fact Malays and Chinese look so alike, I have problem distinguishing who’s who; and does it matter? I believe most of Asia have a strict moral code about intimacy before marriage and I support that view too for marriage is a sacred union but I equally can understand how complex this post-modern age is and how some less fortunate people can be unprepared for life and have to muddle through to find their way. So I would agree there’re no restrictions to our life and thinking as long as we don’t hurt or harm others.