Free Oiwan Lam
Saturday, 1. September 2007, 13:44:59
Posts tagged with "Activism"
To Drink or Not to Drink?
Wednesday, 4. July 2007, 09:52:42
That is the Beijing drinkable-tap-water question.
There have been different of opinions towards Beijing Waterworks' announcement of the drinkability of the city's tap water.
I suggest Beijing dwellers take water from their tap and go to a designated inspection laboratory (authorized agent like SGS) and run a test.
Some kind of organization (in collaboration with, say, SGS) will have to be in place for such data collection as what, who, where and when etc.
Well, it should actually be the job of the water authorities, before they make their too-good-to-be-true announcement.
Serious, anyone? I'm more than happy to put it into action.
There will plausibly be a couple of after-actions:
(1) Too good a result: We shall organize a mass gathering in praise of the hardwork done by the Beijing Waterworks, under the leadership of the Municipal Communist Party Committee of Beijing;
(2) A marginal result: We shall suggest certain waterpipe network refurnishing or building improvements, based on our tap-water collection database;
(3) Too bad a result: We shall of course put the Beijing Waterworks to the court and sue it for providing false information, and the possibility of endangering its citizenry's health, and the bad implementation of the party's line of upholding a scientific development viewpoint (Kexue Fazhan Guan).
Further Reading:
There have been different of opinions towards Beijing Waterworks' announcement of the drinkability of the city's tap water.
I suggest Beijing dwellers take water from their tap and go to a designated inspection laboratory (authorized agent like SGS) and run a test.
Some kind of organization (in collaboration with, say, SGS) will have to be in place for such data collection as what, who, where and when etc.
Well, it should actually be the job of the water authorities, before they make their too-good-to-be-true announcement.
Serious, anyone? I'm more than happy to put it into action.
There will plausibly be a couple of after-actions:
(1) Too good a result: We shall organize a mass gathering in praise of the hardwork done by the Beijing Waterworks, under the leadership of the Municipal Communist Party Committee of Beijing;
(2) A marginal result: We shall suggest certain waterpipe network refurnishing or building improvements, based on our tap-water collection database;
(3) Too bad a result: We shall of course put the Beijing Waterworks to the court and sue it for providing false information, and the possibility of endangering its citizenry's health, and the bad implementation of the party's line of upholding a scientific development viewpoint (Kexue Fazhan Guan).
Further Reading:
- At long last, drinkable tap water? (Danwei.org)
Nobody's Child
Sunday, 6. May 2007, 19:06:06
Nobody's Child (Harry Hibbs)
As I was slowly passing by an orphan's home one day,
I thought I'd stop a little while just to watch the children play.
Alone, a boy was standing, and when I asked him why,
He turned with eyes that could not see and this was his reply.
Chorus>>>
I'm nobody's child, nobody's child.
I'm like a flower, just growing wild.
No mommy's kisses and no daddy's smiles,
Nobody wants me, I'm nobody's child.
People come for children to take them for their own,
But they seem to pass me by and why I never know.
I know they want to take me, but when they see I'm Blind,
They always pick some other child and I am left behind.
Repeat Chorus>>>
No mommy's arms to hold me and soothe me when I cry,
Sometimes I feel so lonely, I wish that I could die.
I'll walk the street of heaven where all the blind can see,
Then I'll be like other kids, There'll be a place for me.
Repeat Chorus>>>
Nobody's Child (Beatles)
As I was slowly passing
An orphan's home one day,
I stopped for just a little while
To watch the children play.
Alone a boy was standing
And when I asked him why,
He turned with eyes that could not see
And he began to cry.
I'm nobody's child,
I'm nobody's child.
Just like the flowers
I'm growing wild.
I got no mummy's kisses
I got no daddy's smile.
Nobody wants me,
I'm nobody's child.
No mummy's arms to hold me
Or sue me when I cry,
'cos sometimes I feel so lonesome
I wish that I could die.
I'll walk the streets of heaven
Where all blinds can see.
And just like for the other kids
It will be a home for me.
I'm nobody's child,
I'm nobody's child.
Just like the flowers
I'm growing wild.
I got no mummy's kisses
I got no daddy's smile.
Nobody wants me,
I'm nobody's child.
Further Reading:
As I was slowly passing by an orphan's home one day,
I thought I'd stop a little while just to watch the children play.
Alone, a boy was standing, and when I asked him why,
He turned with eyes that could not see and this was his reply.
Chorus>>>
I'm nobody's child, nobody's child.
I'm like a flower, just growing wild.
No mommy's kisses and no daddy's smiles,
Nobody wants me, I'm nobody's child.
People come for children to take them for their own,
But they seem to pass me by and why I never know.
I know they want to take me, but when they see I'm Blind,
They always pick some other child and I am left behind.
Repeat Chorus>>>
No mommy's arms to hold me and soothe me when I cry,
Sometimes I feel so lonely, I wish that I could die.
I'll walk the street of heaven where all the blind can see,
Then I'll be like other kids, There'll be a place for me.
Repeat Chorus>>>
Nobody's Child (Beatles)
As I was slowly passing
An orphan's home one day,
I stopped for just a little while
To watch the children play.
Alone a boy was standing
And when I asked him why,
He turned with eyes that could not see
And he began to cry.
I'm nobody's child,
I'm nobody's child.
Just like the flowers
I'm growing wild.
I got no mummy's kisses
I got no daddy's smile.
Nobody wants me,
I'm nobody's child.
No mummy's arms to hold me
Or sue me when I cry,
'cos sometimes I feel so lonesome
I wish that I could die.
I'll walk the streets of heaven
Where all blinds can see.
And just like for the other kids
It will be a home for me.
I'm nobody's child,
I'm nobody's child.
Just like the flowers
I'm growing wild.
I got no mummy's kisses
I got no daddy's smile.
Nobody wants me,
I'm nobody's child.
Further Reading:
-
Intercountry Adoption - CHINA
-
ChinaOrphans.org
- Beatles - Nobody's Child (link to MP3 download site)
The Lost Philosopher in Paris
Thursday, 8. March 2007, 10:42:44
Modernity is dominated by the expulsion of the natural order -- this process is irreversible, and the whole of contemporary art takes part in it in its own way, by illustrating as trash, as waste, all the residues of a natural order -- body, figure, sex, environment - by treating itself as a residue and celebrating itself as a useless function. --- Integral Reality, J. Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard, a French thinker and social theorist known for his provocative commentaries on consumerism, excess and what he said was the disappearance of reality, died 77 this Tuesday in Paris.He taught sociology throughout the 1960s and went on to develop a stinging -- some say nihilistic -- critique of modern society in more than 50 books.
He argued that mass media and modern consumerist society had built up such a complex structure of symbols and simulated experience that it was no longer possible to comprehend reality as it might actually exist.
He advocated the idea that spectacle is crucial in creating our view of events -- what he termed "hyperreality." Things do not happen if they are not seen to happen.
He gained fame, and notoriety, in the English-speaking world for his 1991 book "The Gulf War Did Not Take Place." In the first Gulf War, he argued that neither side could claim victory and that the conflict had changed nothing on the ground in Iraq.
The Sept. 11 attacks, in contrast, were the hyper-real event par excellence -- a fusion of history, symbolism and dark fantasy, "the mother of all events." In an essay entitled "The Spirit of Terrorism" he courted fresh controversy by describing the attacks as an expression of "triumphant globalisation battling against itself".
Further Reading:
-
Biography
-
Selected Articles
- Wikipedia (Behind GFW)
"What Does it Mean to Build a Strong Economy, but to Lose Your Soul?"
Friday, 1. December 2006, 21:37:09
A foreigner devoted to the Chinese revolution was jailed twice by Stalin and Mao respectively. The following is what he recalled during his last 'visit' in the Qincheng prison some thirty years ago.
Chen Duxiu, - the first party secretary of the Chinese Communist Party - after his release from the Beijing warload's prison in the early 1920s, said that there were two places that one could realize the truth of humanity, one was at research studio, another was at prison. The best case scenario would be to experience both.
In the course of China's capitalist transition, many Chinese may have lost their souls, but this Chinese senior citizen doesn't, even after years of imprisoment. He is An American Who Lived the History of Mao's Rise and Fall.
"The time I did was all solitary. Solitary time is different. The first year, with no light, I stopped worrying about whether I would be shot. That was not the issue; my sanity was the issue. You ask the most basic questions: Has your life mattered? What is happiness, opposed to mere animal pleasures?
"To survive you need a clear purpose. If your life is aimless, you won't survive solitary darkness. You have to train yourself. There are a whole series of little battles to fight and win. At one point something unusual happened which I can't stop thinking about even 30 years later.
"Getting out seemed like a less than 50-50 chance. I wasn't allowed to speak. I started to feel that if I ever did get out I would never be normal. I felt despair, betrayal by ... the communists I had given so much to. But ... a little voice startled me. It asked me when I began to feel such fear? Finally I realized there was no one point when the fear began. I felt it but could not say precisely why or when. The minute I saw this the fear went away. I began to wonder, where does this voice come from?
"I have begun to feel there is some moral nature in man, and that at some deep level this moral element performs a kind of Google function - to find more resources inside us.
"For example, I remembered clearly a poem by Edwin Markham that my aunt and sister had me read when I was sick back in South Carolina, and that helped me:
He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!
"One morning across the prison courtyard, I heard the dulcet tones of Jiang Qing [Mao's wife, Gang of Four leader, and main perpetuator of the Cultural Revolution]. I heard her voice and I was very happy. I knew that if she is coming in - then I am soon going out."
Chen Duxiu, - the first party secretary of the Chinese Communist Party - after his release from the Beijing warload's prison in the early 1920s, said that there were two places that one could realize the truth of humanity, one was at research studio, another was at prison. The best case scenario would be to experience both.
In the course of China's capitalist transition, many Chinese may have lost their souls, but this Chinese senior citizen doesn't, even after years of imprisoment. He is An American Who Lived the History of Mao's Rise and Fall.
A Marvel to Behold
Friday, 18. August 2006, 23:40:39
Hacktivismo, announced the release of ScatterChat on 21 July. ScatterChat, a free and open source application designed to facilitate real-time encrypted communication over the Internet, allows you to set up a secure channel with another ScatterChat user. It also verifies that you are indeed talking to the person you think you are, and not an impostor.
In their press release, it said,
ScatterChat is unique in that it is intended for non-technical human rights activists and political dissidents operating behind oppressive national firewalls.
Amazing, isn't it? Who is Hacktivismo, then? An international group of hackers, human rights workers, lawyers, and computer security experts...
Hacktivismo, a subdivision of CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc), has been combating information rights abuses for more than a decade. Its Goolag campaign brought great visibility to the issue of Internet censorship in China.
"Cult of the Dead Cow"?
Founded in Lubbock, TX, CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc) is the most influential hacking group in the world. The cDc alumni reads like a Who's Who of hacking and includes a former Presidential advisor on Internet security, among others. The group is further distinguished by publishing the longest running e-zine on the Internet [est. 1984] stretching the limits of the First Amendment, and fighting anyone or any government that aspires to limit free speech.
Wikipedia - Cult of the Dead Cow
Cult of the Dead Cow Blog: Braindumps, rants, mind viruses, deadly memes, and extreme fashion statements from the Cult of the Dead Cow folks
In their press release, it said,
ScatterChat is unique in that it is intended for non-technical human rights activists and political dissidents operating behind oppressive national firewalls.
Amazing, isn't it? Who is Hacktivismo, then? An international group of hackers, human rights workers, lawyers, and computer security experts...
Hacktivismo, a subdivision of CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc), has been combating information rights abuses for more than a decade. Its Goolag campaign brought great visibility to the issue of Internet censorship in China.
"Cult of the Dead Cow"?
Founded in Lubbock, TX, CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc) is the most influential hacking group in the world. The cDc alumni reads like a Who's Who of hacking and includes a former Presidential advisor on Internet security, among others. The group is further distinguished by publishing the longest running e-zine on the Internet [est. 1984] stretching the limits of the First Amendment, and fighting anyone or any government that aspires to limit free speech.
Wikipedia - Cult of the Dead Cow
Cult of the Dead Cow Blog: Braindumps, rants, mind viruses, deadly memes, and extreme fashion statements from the Cult of the Dead Cow folks
Forbidding And/Or Forgiving?
Tuesday, 25. July 2006, 14:41:06
A Chinese American, Wu Hao (吴皓), was detained for about five months in Beijing and was recently set free without charge. In spite of his family's repeated requests, no legal representative and family member access to the detainee was allowed during the whole detention period. His family was told by the corresponding local authorities that the case was related to national security.
Friends of the "victim" suspected it's because of their friend's investigation as a freelance documentary filmmaker into the "underground" church activities in Beijing that "misfortune" has befallen him. His latest documentary on the life of American born Chinese in China has won a prize in USA.
I try to follow the logic of the incident basing on certain discovered (D) and undiscovered (U) facts:
Chinese American (D) -> Documentary Filmmaker (D) -> Investigation (U) -> "Underground" Church (U) -> National Security (D) -> 5-month-Detention (D) -> No Trial (D) -> Released (D)
According to existing Chinese law and regulation, people who are suspected of offending national security can be held custody for no more than six months before they are put on trial. Up till now, the local authorities have basically abided by the book. But what sort of activities are considered as national security offensive? Did "underground church" activities or investigation of those activities fall into that particular basket?
It might just be a mistake or misunderstanding otherwise the "victim" would not have been set free. Or, the "victim" was being forgiven for the so called forbidding thing that he has done. Or, the case is still open and the release is only temporary. The experience of Hu Jia (胡佳) after his released early this year may shed some light on the existing condition of Wu Hao right now.
We shall keep our eyes on and sum up "lessons" from this incident to prevent ourselves from falling into this sort of "black hole". I feel sorry for Wu Hao as well as Hu Jia who have unvoluntarily set themselves up as "negative" role models.
See More about: The Unidentified Detention Incident of Wu Hao
Friends of the "victim" suspected it's because of their friend's investigation as a freelance documentary filmmaker into the "underground" church activities in Beijing that "misfortune" has befallen him. His latest documentary on the life of American born Chinese in China has won a prize in USA.
I try to follow the logic of the incident basing on certain discovered (D) and undiscovered (U) facts:
Chinese American (D) -> Documentary Filmmaker (D) -> Investigation (U) -> "Underground" Church (U) -> National Security (D) -> 5-month-Detention (D) -> No Trial (D) -> Released (D)
According to existing Chinese law and regulation, people who are suspected of offending national security can be held custody for no more than six months before they are put on trial. Up till now, the local authorities have basically abided by the book. But what sort of activities are considered as national security offensive? Did "underground church" activities or investigation of those activities fall into that particular basket?
It might just be a mistake or misunderstanding otherwise the "victim" would not have been set free. Or, the "victim" was being forgiven for the so called forbidding thing that he has done. Or, the case is still open and the release is only temporary. The experience of Hu Jia (胡佳) after his released early this year may shed some light on the existing condition of Wu Hao right now.
We shall keep our eyes on and sum up "lessons" from this incident to prevent ourselves from falling into this sort of "black hole". I feel sorry for Wu Hao as well as Hu Jia who have unvoluntarily set themselves up as "negative" role models.
See More about: The Unidentified Detention Incident of Wu Hao
China Don't Give a Damn to Gao Xingjian
Tuesday, 25. July 2006, 06:22:02
I'm recently working on a research paper on China's "Proletarian Cultural Revolution". Someone told me that Gao Xingjian's (高行健) novels based that period as his writing background. Gao is the Nobel Laureate in Literature for 2000.
I have just finished reading his Chinese novel published in 1999, namely "One Man's Bible" (一个人的圣经). It's a novel not about the Holy Bible actually. It's his own autobiography as I perceive. His way of storytelling has amazed me hence pushed me to search him on the web in order to find a little more about him and his other writings.
I have searched "高行健" at Baidu.com which gave me a total appearances of 97,100 as compared with Google.com's figure of 77,100. The searches of "Gao Xingjian" were respectively 2,430 and 285,000.
After reading a number of Chinese links presented by the two web search engines, I've found that most of the information were quite similar. Repeated information are on his simple biography and a not-very-complete list of his writings. Many of the websites are from Hongkong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. Critiques of his drama scripts, novels and theorectical essays on drama are extremely limited.
The Chinese speaking world, China in particular has very little interest on the Chinese Nobel Laureate in Literature. Is it because Gao is an exile-writer who left his country to France in 1987 and claimed for political asylum the following year, and resigned himself as a communist party member after the June-fourth incident in 1989? To the Chinese authorities, I think, no critique is the best critique.
After six years of his Nobel Prize Award, I've ordered Gao's Chinese novel "Soul Mountain" (灵山) online. It's printed by a Taiwanese publisher.
I have just finished reading his Chinese novel published in 1999, namely "One Man's Bible" (一个人的圣经). It's a novel not about the Holy Bible actually. It's his own autobiography as I perceive. His way of storytelling has amazed me hence pushed me to search him on the web in order to find a little more about him and his other writings.
I have searched "高行健" at Baidu.com which gave me a total appearances of 97,100 as compared with Google.com's figure of 77,100. The searches of "Gao Xingjian" were respectively 2,430 and 285,000.
After reading a number of Chinese links presented by the two web search engines, I've found that most of the information were quite similar. Repeated information are on his simple biography and a not-very-complete list of his writings. Many of the websites are from Hongkong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. Critiques of his drama scripts, novels and theorectical essays on drama are extremely limited.
The Chinese speaking world, China in particular has very little interest on the Chinese Nobel Laureate in Literature. Is it because Gao is an exile-writer who left his country to France in 1987 and claimed for political asylum the following year, and resigned himself as a communist party member after the June-fourth incident in 1989? To the Chinese authorities, I think, no critique is the best critique.
After six years of his Nobel Prize Award, I've ordered Gao's Chinese novel "Soul Mountain" (灵山) online. It's printed by a Taiwanese publisher.
Showing posts 1 - 10 of 12.
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[三分钟完事儿] THREE PENNY OPERA
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梦遗碎语——喝高了
我手写我心。 没有文字,写不出你的心。 我怎么知道,你的心? 失语了,无法表达。 原来世间需要语言。 语言文字,成了丈量一切色相的准则、尺度。 一个错别字,就可颠倒黑白。 打倒,五花大绑。 拥护,夹道欢迎。 你知道我的真å ...
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我不是东西
荒山鸟飞绝,尔登临此处,在看什么? 我本无他念,一心只想登高、望远。我能看见什么? 烟霞弥漫山际,云雾环抱孤峰,伸手不见五指,视野基本为零。 我正与一个不知从何处蹦出来的老朽儿闲聊。 反正此时,下不了山。 你心想什么,ä ...
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再见江南
我曾吻别这座城市, 正如我吻别你的唇。 烟花三月, 原来只是浮光掠影; 再世红梅, 最终亦是昙花一现。 为什么设法逃离, 原本就不曾存在。 现实, 从来变幻莫测; 梦想, 或会各自精彩。 没有了 记忆, 原来如此 自在。
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飞龙在天 利见大人
推开窗户,天气还好,虽然有点翳闷。 我侧对着墙身镜子,翻开《圣经》,装着看书。 心中突然浮起一些念想: 泽东同志说过:"从孔夫子到孙中山,我们应当给以总结,承继这一份珍贵的遗产" 小平同志又要求我们:"大胆吸收和借鉴人ç± ...
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第60届戛纳电影节获奖名单
金棕榈奖 《四月三周两天》/ 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (罗马尼亚) 导演：Cristian Mungiu 评委会大奖 《殡之森》/ The Mourning Forest (日本) 导演：河濑直美 60周年评委会特别奖 Paranoid Park (美国) 导演：Gus Van Sant 摄影：Chris Doyle, Rai ...
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