Today is 366 days to August 8, 2008, the date of Beijing Olympics. (The reason it is 366 days instead of 365 is, 2008 has extra day of February 29, 2008).
The celebration party at Tiananmen Square in Beijing was casted in real time last night.
This is good thing. If you plan to participant in the Olympics, it is the right time to start preparing.
I don’t think it a good thing. I would boycott it.
Tell us more about the boycotting stuff, fggfz. I believe it is a topic closely related to the Olympics.
I have met many people in China who are eager to show off their wealth. They try very hard to impress me with their cars, apartments, job titles, the stocks they own, places they went. I felt the same way towards the Beijing 2008 Olympic. The importance of the Game is overly (disproportional) emphasized by China. Would do you think?
Olympic Games are suppose to be purely about sports, but almost every Country ever hosted the eventhas turned it into a showcase fair for varies purposes. China politicized the 2008 Olympic Game by casting it as a show of rising of power in the first place, but are now seeing it back firing. The are hosts of foreign organizations are now trying to exploit the 2008 Games over political issues like, human rights, environment protection, media freedom, Tibet and even food safty. It might be too late and a little awkward now to pitch the game for pure sportsmanship instead of politics.
If history repeats, would you boycott the olympic games held in Nazi Germany (1936) or hardline Soviet Union (1980)?
Maybe you think political affairs should not be related to the olympics–I can perfectly understand that and I did think like that. But for me now, I love sports, while I love freedom much more.
fggfz, yes, the summer game at Berlin in 1936 was a stage for Hitler to promote Nazi ideology, if country like USA boycott the game, how does people like Jesse Owens, the African-American sprinter can receive his gold medals from the hands of Hitler?
The boycott of Moscow game in 1980 was the sanction imposed by USA for the downing of KAL 007, it was purely a political move and has nothing to do with freedom. The LA game was also under boycott for the same reason.
Politic and sport does not mix.
First, I think it is wise to separate boycotting against the government (or the party) from boycotting China. This is my suggestion to my readers who are in China, as I do. It takes some time to really understand what the world is, and it took me time to separate the two objects. So I think I can listen with patience about what people are saying and their reasons of boycotting. I don’t think it is a bad thing.
Sorry, mistake in my comment.
The boycott of Moscow game in 1980 was the sanction imposed by USA for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Boycott? No need to go that far. I’m planning on visiting Beijing during the Game. It’s going to be fan. However, I will have to make sure not to stay there longer than a week. Otherwise, My throat will have inflammation cause by the air. I do understand why people are spitting more often over there. Because they have to. They do have controls as where they spit on though.
I meant it’s going to be fun.
The Olympics will elevate China to a different level. At the same time, it’ll divert international attention from many of China’s issues, e.g. Tibet, human rights, etc. I believe that overall it’s a good thing for Chinese people
Want to volunteer for the Olympics? See
http://www.bordercrossed.com/2007/05/21/volunteering-for-beijing-olympics/
Olympics 2008 is going to be one premature ejaculatory mess for China.
This is not the right time and we are not ready.
There are more important and better things for us to do than to spend money on vanity projects.
The architecture is alien to our culture and urban landscape.
The foreign designers are laughing all the way to the bank.
Just what the heck were we supposed to show the world ??
Our rich and poor divide ? our pollution ? our corruption ?
our greed ? or our need to show off ???
Why wear a suit when you can’t even afford a decent pair of underwear ??
Boy, it’s going to be some hangover the next day.
@Wonton… you are really that ashamed of your beautiful country?
I am merely stating the facts. There is much to do and in my opinion we are wasting a lot of money on things that looked good but contributes little to the well being of our people. The pursuit of vanity in our country is reaching levels of vulgarity. Local governments are building copycat western edifices while the population suffer in poverty. Our people are building ridiculous looking copies of british towns for the nouveau riche. As mush as I would like to be proud, I have to admit that we are also in a whole lot of crap. I cry when historical neighbourhood are bulldozed for generic blocks of glass and steel that says absolutely nothing about our culture.
Too much is sacrificed for too little.
I have enough of people making excuses for our problems. It is condesending and insulting.
The chinese can and will be great. But lets celebrate only after we truely arrived ok ?
I am not ashamed of China and never will. But I AM ashamed at some of the things done in it’s name.
Australians might be ashamed of it’s support of the Iraq war, but they would NEVER be ashamed of Australia would they ?
Just my opinion here, but if we are going to take the olympics as an opportunity to boo and jeer countries we dislike, Japan, Taiwan,..(fill in the blank). Then we might as well not bother hosting it.
The Chinese are already great! It depends on your reference point. When my wife and in-laws talk about the upcoming games in Beijing, I see and hear so much national pride…
Being Australian (born), I’m not ashamed of the assistance given to the victims and families of the past violent and oppressive regime in Iraq. In fact, it is one of the (many) reasons that I’m proud of my home country.
Nobody questioned your national pride. You’ve missed my point completely.
You are right in regards to my reference point though, I have higher expectations.
But if you rather trade your Aussie passport for one issued by China because of it’s greatness, then be my guest.
I’ve not missed your point. You have listed so many things that are negative to your country – and you missed the point and intent of the Olympic Games. The Games are designed to bring about National Pride and unite all countries in the world. I am questioning your negativity – there are much better ways for you to bring about change and help those in need by being positive and not belittling your country.
You then in your subsequesnt post, suggested that Australians are ashamed of the part they have played in Iraq… which is frankly, quite insulting and incorrect to make such a wild generalization – and yes, it is a question of my national pride.
We live in a world of globalization, and I am proud my wife is Chinese and my son is a product of the two of us – why be so cynical as to also now question my citizenship just because I wish to support my wife and extended family’s pride and their desire to make China a better place for all? China is great and will get greater with the right attitudes of the people – what does this have to do with my passport or nationality?
To my original post on this topic – I asked a very legitimate question without any malice – with very good reason – your post was very negative to your country and misrepresents the intention of such a global unification event as the Olympic Games – it is not about ‘showing off’… I’m sorry you seem to have taken offence and opted for ‘low blows’ in return, this was not my intent.
@AussiePB
Man, you are so lost !
I repeat :”Australians might be ashamed of it’s support of the Iraq war, but they would NEVER be ashamed of Australia would they ?”
If you are offended, thats your problem because nowhere did I say that YOU are ,or should be, ashamed of your country.
HOWEVER …(warning: cheap shots ahead)
Pauline Hanson is nothing to be proud of.
I’m sure you guys loved your orange martini laced prime minister.
If anything, I am rather impressed with your people’s freedom to openly express their opinions wheather it’s in line with the government or not. The street protesters are not considered unpatriotic are they ?
Just because I failed to think happy thoughts, express my opinion about my country’s problems which happens to be true I’m now somekind of jackass with “wrong attitude”???
I repeat again.
“There are more important and better things for us to do than to spend money on vanity projects.”
It’s just a matter of setting the right priorities.
I also did not question your citizenship. Please read last post again.
I wanted to make the point that our countries are not at par. You can’t be dumb enough to think so otherwise you would have traded them. I see our people migrating to all corners of the world. I don’t see aussies becoming citizensof China. Why ?
Actually I have not taken any offense. I am just tired of putting silly smiley pictures after evey sentence.
Unlike you, I’d perfer to have my house in order before inviting the guest.
No offense but any criticism about China as to come from self introspection of it’s own people. I doubt China needs another outsider (or white man if you so chose to be offended) to teach it how to f*** up the country. I guess I am going to be accused of being nationalistic but I am just stating the current mentality of our people.
You should know what I mean. With regards to Australia, any improvement for the aboriginies must comes from themselves and not what everyone else wants. Your people have been trying to get them off the bottle for years.
I am really not such a sourpuss even though my writing may seem that way.
I am actually quite a nice guy.
:) if it helps to convince you.
Little more for me to say here, as the more I try to be positive, the more insults and racial connotations spew forth from you. The latest around aborigines and alcohol just does it for me – being part aboriginal… now it is I who really am offended – and for you to even mention Pauline Hanson espouses your ignorance. Now there is nothing for me more to say, but I would really like to meet you in person and discuss your insults.
Hi Jian Shuo – it is with great regret that after a very long time following your blogs and enjoying open and friendly discussion, I will no longer be visiting your site… unfortunately, it has attracted a person with very low intellect and even lesser moral fibre. Good luck to you and your family, I will keep in touch via email. Keep up the good work and positive attitude going – I hope that the racism desists here in the future!! Kindest regards, AussiePB…
AssiePB, please check my recent entry:
http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20070923_dont_leave_assiepb.htm
To AussiePB,
I am quite interested in your view of Pauline Hanson. I was rather young at that time (15 year ago!) when I heard about her. My impression at that time was that she was unfriendly towards migrants who are non-white and non-English speaking. The media in my country did portray her in a less positive light.
I thought she made headlines in her campaign with her opposition to Asian immigration and aboriginal rights?
Cheers!
Hi there Fujianren,
Yes she did make headlines all around the world. Although her very racist and elitest one-eyed views on immigration and aboriginal rights were supported by a minority in Australia (unfortunately, there are these sort of people everywhere in all countries), because she started up her own political party (illegally – later she spent some time in jail for this), it was portrayed across the global media as a very large issue, and the perception was that she was leading a ‘very large’ anti-immigration movement in Australia.
This could not be farther from the truth – Australians generally are embarrassed by the global attention this got, and PH was regarded as somewhat of a joke here locally – local TV stations were vying to get an interview with her to further embarrass her publically – her education is nil, and her previous job before trying her hand at politics was cooking fried fish and chips at a local shop.
The concern by mainstream Australia was that she would be afforded and enjoy global attention, and this did occur. I cannot say how many times people overseas have asked me about her – we have so many more important things that we can show to our overseas friends. We are proud of our immigration policy and multicultural society. PH was nothing and her One Nation party had next to no following, yet everyone around the world knows who she is and associates this with Australians as being racist… so embarrassiing!!
Hope this answers your question – take care… :D
To AussiePB,
Thanks a lot! I have been to Australia (Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne…) several times and the people there are really very friendly. The natural scenery is also spectacular.
Had a superb time there!
Thanks Fujianren – oh – and for everyone’s info, it seems that PH wants to make a comeback in the next Australian federal election… (unbelievable – even though I’m not physically there, I still legally need to vote)… below is a blog article from an Australian online newspaper that everyone might find interesting – it invites people to comment, and you will see that although ‘mainstream’ aussies are against her and her policies, there are some people (unbelievable) that still support her wierd racist ways…
I think in light of the posts I’ve made here, one important quote from this article is:
“I suspect she’ll splutter into deeper irrelevance, although Hanson’s uglier remarks often get wide airplay in Asia where, wrongly, she tends to be portrayed as something close to mainstream”…
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/mattprice/index.php/theaustralian/comments/who_needs_pauline_hanson/
:)
I don’t think a person should be tar and feathered because of her ignorance.
Pauline Hanson is afterall expressing her honest opinion about the world as seen through her eyes. As I understand it, her views struck a chord with many when she first appeared. It was something many agreed but afraid to support. However she still managed to receive one quarter of the votes in Queensland. From what I know, there is a difference in income, attitude and education between the city dwellers and the farm folks.
I once had a very interesting conversation with a guy in Canada. He was not a racist but he was very much against immigrants at that time. He was very angry that the government kept allowing people from 3rd world countries to come in and take over their jobs. This is very much the case for blue collared workers. Many communication problems ensued while the wages dipped. Crimes also increased because some of the refugees could not find work. He felt that only when there is enough jobs for all should the government open it’s doors. He was frustrated because everytime he speaks up people would immediately label him a racist. His family was adversly affected. I truely felt sorry for him. He became a good friend of mine.
Like I said, sometimes, the easiest thing for us is to just open the doors, but have we ever wondered if it’s the right time for it ?
Perhaps Hanson was simply concerned for the people closest to her. Unless controlled, immigration tends to affect the less educated negatively.
For a person selling Fish & Chips, I admire her conviction and willingness to stand up for her beliefs. A true democracy should have a place for people like her. It would be so easy to simply call her names. But is it necessary ? Right now even those who agree with some of her views are afraid to admit it as they are afraid to be labeled a racist. What is the message here ? to show the stupidity of fish and chips sellers ?? Bad ideas tends to die a naturally while good ones will be taken up.
A good government listens to all, a bad one selects what it wants to hear.
Perhaps I sound idealistic but hey, aren’t we all striving for a perfect world ?
@AussiePB, do you want to educate us about how to start a party legally in Australia? Why people say the One Nation Party is illegal?
You said “I cannot say how many times people overseas have asked me about her – we have so many more important things that we can show to our overseas friends.”. I think it is exactly the same situation in China…. Although everything people asked is true event, but it is not as a big deal in normal people’s life here.
@Wonton, I am with you here. The beauty of democratic system is, it give everyone a place to talk and express. Democratic society also make stupid mistakes, like one of my friend in Berkeley comments. She said it is really bad that collectively, American made the decision to put many Japanese into jail during WWII because of fair, or the previous black and white separate policy, but the good thing is, there is a mechanism to correct mistakes, and don’t make too big mistakes.
It is the same as Pauline Hanson’s case. If it is right, history will prove, and if she is wrong, history will do the same. Democratic society makes the choice is a peaceful way.
Another point is, democratic is not efficient, or convenient, and it costs a lot to implement (that is the major attack about this system). However, efficient, convenient or easy approach like traditional hierarchy power structure is proven not working.
@Wonton – I totally agree with your comments, and it is ‘free thinking’ that has made Australia the place it is today. I think the issue with PH was not so much her concerns for the welfare of Australia as a country (I am sure her ‘heart’ was in the right place), but the way in which she went (and still goes) about it. I believe that her ignorance and lack of education/understanding of the current immigration laws were the biggest reason behind this.
At the time of her maiden speech in parliament, she did attract the support of quite a large number of people in Qld, because they understood what she was trying to achieve, but did not really understand what her policies were, and the implications of them. This is why the support dropped dramatically over the next couple of years. Her viewpoints were unanimously (except for one person) abhorred by the Australian govt – state and federal.
The main issue with her policies (and this is what was not shown on international TV), was the activities in the street… racial name-calling, telling people who look different to ‘go home’ – even when they were born in Australia, physical violence based on people’s race/beliefs, and many other negative activities. Australia has come a long way to becoming ‘One Nation’ through multiculturalism, and PH’s policies were a direct reversal of the then, and current mainstream Australian views. Racism is frowned upon and not tolerated in Australia, and the hatred (on the streets) inspired by PH’s policies at the time, were quickly seen to be hurtful to the people – regardless of race.
One of her latest policies for the upcoming election is to deny immigration to all muslims and all ‘black’ Africans, so as to (try and) remove the threat of terrorism and aids in Australia… once again, we all want to remove these terrible problems from our society (and I’m sure her heart is in the right place), but by singling out a race of people or a religion, she is inviting more hatred and divide, and potentially more violence and hurtful activities.
I hope this helps clarifies my thoughts on this… :)
@Jain Shou, I will write another entry when I have time around the legalities of starting a party in Australia – I might add that PH’s legal conviction was overturned and the courts decided after many years that the party was in fact legally formed, rather the activities to form it were not within legal boundaries – it has to do with number of members required and funding offered as a result of the party membership… from memory, it was regarded as fraudulent activity involving about A$500K… I will research and refresh my memory and offer another post on this subject…
DISCLAIMER – I’m sure there are some members of Australian society – PH supporters – who may disagree in one way or another with some or all of my comments above…
Take care all…. :)
@AussiePB, applause for your wonderful explanation. I visited Australia last year (exactly these days in end of Sept), and was impressed by its beauty and the well-deserved nature. But I didn’t know the political matters too much, and didn’t pay as much attention to it as I did for U.S. (just because I travel there more often). You helped me to understand Australia better. To show you my ignorance about Australia, I haven’t heard of Pauline Hanson before. :)
@AussiePB, thanks for sharing more about Pauline Hanson and the related information. I now have a clearer perspective of the matter. Honestly when news about her came out, I thought it was a big deal. My mom, who always thinks Australia is a nice place to live in (it is), told me she wanted to emigrate there. And i was like, “But there are racists there!” Hahaha. My brother, when he was doing his National Service, was in Australia for some training. And he experienced racism first hand there. Some African Australians (is that how they’re called?) made some racist remarks to my brother and his army buddy in a public place. I always find it strange that Africans would be racist. Didn’t they themselves suffer from racism?
Anyway, I’m glad things are not as bad as it seems. Yes, Australia is a beautiful place. I’ve been to Gold Coast before, in 2000. *:)
The easiest way for evil to triumph is when the good do nothing.
When good moslems do nothing and allows the bad to hijack the religion, can anyone blame Aussies for becoming more discriminating ? Remember the innocent people killed in Bali. How many moslems rose up to protest against this babaric action ? And how many felt that the aussies deserved it ??
I don’t blame Australia if she stops more islamic immigrants.
Hey, It takes a while to recover from the wounds.
People who support Hambali deserves people like Pauline Hanson.