宋 以 朗 （ 若 果 唔 知 佢 係 邊 位 則 閣 下 good fighter Ltd 矣 ） 作 之 民 調 顯 示 ， 香 港 人 覺 得 最 應 該 保 留 之 建 築 物 係 中 環 舊 郵 政 總 局 （ 佢 訪 問 兩 個 人 ， 其 中 一 人 冇 意 見 ） 。 舊 郵 政 總 局 寶 貴 又 豈 止 其 饒 有 風 味 之 維 多 利 亞 式 建 築 而 已 ， 其 座 落 之 處 更 係 成 個 香 港 核 心 之 所 在 也 。 此 話 怎 說 ？

At issue is the opening phrase which is translated as:

Song Yi-lang (if you don't know who that is, then you must be 'good fighter Ltd') ...

What is 'good fighter Ltd'?  This is a literal translation of '好打有限'.  This is wordplay that is possible only in a bilingual city.

• [081]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/29/2007)  (HKU POP) (1,036 persons interviewed September 17-21, 2007 about their ratings (on a scale of 0 to 100) of political figures in mainland China and Taiwan)
   
  75.5: Wen Jiabao
  74.1: Zhu Rongji
  73.5: Hu Jintao
  71.4: Wu Yi
  63.2: Jiang Zemin
  58.2: Ma Ying-jeou
  44.9: Li Peng
  35.8: Lee Teng-hui
  31.4: Lu Hsiu-lien
  22.5: Chen Shui-bian

• [080]  The Eileen Chang Legacy (09/29/2007)  As you might have noticed, productivity at this website fell off the past couple of days.  Blame it on <Lust, Caution> and the attendant public attention as well as other developments with respect to Eileen Chang.  (In case you don't know, this blogger is presently administrating the business affairs of his mother Mae Fong Soong who inherited the literary estate of Eileen Chang, who wrote the story <Lust, Caution> upon which Ang Lee's movie was based.)  On the comment below about Eileen Chang's wigs (and I have no idea how Chou Feng-ling was given access to some of the information), there is a proposal for an exhibit (or even a permanent museum) of the belongings of the late Eileen Chang (wigs and all) in mainland China.  Elsewhere, there is the continuing case of Crown Press versus a number of mainland Chinese publishers over violation of the copyrights of the works of Eileen Chang.  That legal case has spilled from the courthouse into a media war (see 张爱玲侵权诉讼).  Under these prevailing atmosphere, can the belongings of Eileen Chang go on tour in mainland China without being taken to be part of the media war?  
   
  This media war is asymmetrical because Crown Press has all the facts, whereas the mainland Chinese publishers only have conjectures and speculations.  The war can be made even more asymmetrical if more information about Eileen Chang is released to the public.  Certainly, a tour of the belongings would fall into this category.  But there are many, many other things that will astound.
   
  As a tease, here is one tantalizing piece of information.  In October 2006, <Book City 書城> magazine began to publish the series of 84 handwritten letters between 1966 to 1994 from Eileen Chang to Chuang Hsin-cheng (莊信正) (see China.com.cn).  Huadong Normal University Professor Chen Zishan considered these letters to be an important event in advancing the study of Eileen Chang.  "Apart from the unpublished letters between Eileen Chang with Stephen and Mae Soong and her aunt/uncle, this is probably nothing as important as this."
   
  Among the belongings of Eileen Chang, there are more than 30 original letters from Chuang Hsin-cheng to Eileen Chang between 1983 and 1994.  Wouldn't it be nice if this was re-united with what Chuang has published?  For example, here is the Christmas card that H.C. and Gloria Chuang sent to Eileen Chang in December 1994.
   
  
   
  

[in translation]

Tunghai University associate professor and Eileen Chang expert Chou Feng-ling (周芬伶) recently published a new book titled <The Sorrow and Pain of Eileen Chang -- A Critical Review of Eileen Chang>.  This book used text and photographs to show the various possessions of Eileen Chang, from wigs, brand-name cosmetic products to fashion wear, shoes and valuable handwritten manuscripts.  Everything is there.  Chou Feng-ling called for the establishment of an Eileen Chang Museum so that more Eileen Chang fans can view her valuable possessions.  Shockingly, the fashionable Eileen Chang shaved herself bald in her final years.

<The Sorrow and Pain of Eileen Chang -- A Critical Review of Eileen Chang> used many photographs to show various possessions that have never been shown in mainland China.  The reporters was surprised to find that there were several wigs of different sizes and shapes among her possessions.  Yesterday, Professor Chou Feng-ling told the reporter that Eileen Chang suffered from a dermatological disease in her final years and was forced to shave her head bald.  "She loved to look pretty, so she would never let anyone see her bald-headed.  Therefore, she bought many wigs to wear."  In 1994, Eileen Chang received a lifetime achievement award from China Times and she sent her last photograph to the newspapers in which she wore a green sweater with white patterns.  "Actually, Eileen Chang was wearing a wig at the time.  She was already bald-headed."  Life is a beautiful gown on which fleas are crawling."  This was a famous saying from Eileen Chang, but Chou Feng-ling told the reporter that her research showed that Eileen Chang suffered from a psychological dread of fleas.  Whenever she gets anxious, she felt that the room was full of fleas.  Her dermatological and psychological problems distressed her a great deal.

Apart from the wigs, the book also showed the various clothes that Eileen Chang had worn ... The book also showed the various cosmetic items that she used ...

Among the photographs of the handwritten manuscripts, many of them are written on the back of envelops: "Eileen Chang would just pick up an envelop and start writing on the back and front.  When everything is covered up, she would write on the next envelop."

During the interview, Chou Feng-ling told the reporter that after Eileen Chang passed away, her possessions were all given to her good friends Stephen and Mae Soong.  These possessions were transported from the United States eventually to Taiwan.  Crown Press had held a small-scale exhibition after which these possessions have not appeared again.  "Actually, these possessions have great value for academic research, especially those handwritten manuscripts because it is possible to directly observe the inner progress of Eileen Chang."  Chou Feng-ling said not without some regret that the outside world does not know where these valuable possessions are being kept.  "It could be with Mae Soong, or it could be with Crown Press."

Chou Feng-ling said that she hopes that there could be an Eileen Chang Museum at which the possessions of Eileen Chang can be systematically and scientifically be displayed in order to satisfy the mass of Eileen Chang fans.  The location could be in Taiwan or Hong Kong.  But it would also be great if it is in her hometown of Shanghai.  Chou Feng-ling is making a call through this report for everybody to support the establishment of such an Eileen Chang Museum.  Shanghai Huadong Normal University professor and Eileen Chang expert Chen Zishan said that mainland scholars support this proposal from Chou Feng-ling.  "If the possessions of Eileen Chang can come to mainland China, it will definitely be a good thing for mainland fans of Eileen Chang."

Related Link:  Eileen Chang's Photograph With Kim Il-sung

• [077]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/26/2007)  (Ming Pao)  (The DAB party conducted a poll of 516 persons via automated telephone voice)
   
  Question: What do you think is the most important aspect of the work of a Hong Kong district councilor?
   
  53%: local district work
  24%: provide feedback on government administration
  11%: fight for universal suffrage
  12%: no opinion
   
  

• [073]  Halloween Bash At Hong Kong Disneyland (09/25/2007)  Not to let Ocean Park steal all the public attention (see Comment 200709#069), Disney has its own television commercial that has been the target of complaints.  So far, the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority has received 34 complaints against the Disneyland ad versus only 24 against the Ocean Park ad.
   
  In the ad, two teenage guys got a teenage girl to enter an eerie hotel in which the piano plays by itself, the bed and bathtub vibrate on their own, the tap turns itself on and so on.  The teenage girl fled while she kept looking back if something was following her.  When she got out of the hotel, it was the two teenage guys outside who were scared because the girl's head had turned 180 degrees around in the manner of the movie <The Exorcist>.
   
  You can watch the YouTube video.

• [069]  Halloween Bash At Ocean Park (09/24/2007)  (Ming Pao)  Recently, Ocean Park began screening two television commercials concerning its Halloween bash event.  These commercials were scheduled to air after 9pm in the evening.  You can see the original commercials at YouTube (note: the ones that are shown have less frightening ghosts).
   
  In one commercial, a mother scolds her son: "You have been held back in class again.  What ghosts made you so stupid?  What ghosts made you so lazy?  What ghosts made me give birth to you 又留班，鬼叫你蠢、鬼叫你懶、鬼叫我生你?"  The father at the table suddenly became a paper figure who cried out: "Objection!  I did not make any such request!"
   
  In the other commercial, two female students were riding a bus when one of them began to vomit.  The other said: "Hey, what kind of ghosts are you vommitting? 喂，你嘔乜鬼呀？"  Then a ghost appeared and began to blow kisses at the first girl who ran away screaming.
   
  The translation is tricky because the word 'ghost' 鬼 is unique to local culture and for which nothing comparable exists in English.  Proper English would have been: "Why are you so stupid?  Why are so lazy?  Why did I give birth to you?"
   
  Yes, but so what?  According to the Television and Entertainment Authority, 20 complaints have been filed against these commercials because of the "scary content" which is frightening to small children.  Advertising industry professionals are saying that the culture of complaint is getting worse in Hong Kong, and creativity is being restricted by these frivolous criticisms.

• [067]  The USA Is An Armed Camp (09/24/2007)  China Times noted the following issue with The Zogby International Poll on U.S. Opinions on Taiwan: on page 5 of the Zogby International report, the sample distribution has the following:
   
  Armed Forces Member: 860 (72%)
  Non-Armed Forces Members: 343 (29%)
   
  According to the US Census, the number of active duty and reserves is 1.4 million (or about 0.7%).  The number of veterans is 13%.
   
  Could Zogby International have been interviewing only armed forces members?  No, they said "samples are randomly drawn from telephone CD's of national listed sample."  If they said that they used these listed samples and they had a response rate comparable to similar studies, then there is a mistake somewhere because this is an impossible result.

• [066]  Taiwan By The Numbers (09/23/2007)  (UDN)  (723 adults interviewed on September 22, 2007.  A random sample of telephone numbers was drawn from the Taiwan telephone directory and then the last two digits were randomized)
   
  Support levels for presidential election candidates:
   
  Hsieh/Su (DPP)
  27%: 08/13/2007 when the Hsieh-Su team was finalized
  22%: 08/14/2007 when Ma Ying-jeou was found innocent at the initial trial for the special fees case
  27%: 09/22/2007 when Hsieh/Su were not prosecuted for their special fees cases
   
  Ma/Siew (KMT)
  40%: 08/13/2007
  52%: 08/14/2007
  51%: 09/22/2007
   
  What is the impact of the prosecution of DPP leaders Lu, Yu and Chen?
  24%: Positive impact for DPP
  22%: Negative impact for DPP
  25%: No material impact for DPP
  27%: No opinion
   
  Did the judiciary use the same standards to judge Ma Ying-jeou and the DPP leaders?
  46%: Different standards
  20%: Same stanards
  31%: Cannot decide
   
  Concerning the prosecution of vice-president Annette Lu and DPP chairman Yu Shyh-kun,
  24%: Satisfied with outcome
  30%: Dissatisfied with outcome
  45%: No opinion
   
  Concerning the decision not to prosecute DPP presidential candidate team of Frank Hsieh and Su Cheng-chang,
  25%: Satisfied with outcome
  39%: Dissatisfied with outcome
  31%: No opinion

• [065]  The <Lust, Caution> Charity Premiere (09/23/2007)  A complimentary ticket from HKU JMSC admitted me to the premiere of <Lust, Caution>.  The event was a charity premiere presented by Salvatore Ferragamo and I got to see Ang Lee, Tang Wei and Wang Leehom from afar.
  
   
  It is known that my father had given the English-language name of <Spy Ring> to this short story.  However, the film is being presented in the literal translation of <Lust, Caution>.  The reason why my father choose <Spy Ring> was that the story included a ring of amateur spies and the critical moment in the film depended on a diamond ring.  While the title <Spy Ring> might be literally interesting, it is not good marketing strategy because of title confusion.  Instead, <Lust, Caution> is a unique proposition.  After all, Ang Lee won an Oscar with the seemingly incomprehensible title of <Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon>.
   
  When the premiere guests were invited into the screening rooms, they were asked to turn in their mobile telephones for safekeeping.  In return, they got a receipt which would allow them to retrieve their mobile telephones when they leave.  Here is the photocopy of my receipt:
  
  Yes, I was 007.  But my name is not James Bond ...
   
  There was also a programme for the guests.  I am happy to say that I got an honorable mention for giving permission to use the handwritten manuscript page (see 張愛玲的書信: 有關"羊毛出在羊身上——談《色·戒》") from Eileen Chang:
  
   
  What about the film itself?  Oh, haven't you notice that I don't do film reviews here, even though I watch hundreds of movies a year?  Those who have read my old restaurant reviews (which I don't do here either) can only be grateful that I shut up.

• [063]  Taiwan By The Numbers (09/22/2007)  (TVBS) (1,036 persons age 20 or over interviewed by telephone on September 17 and 19, 2007.  A random sample of telephone numbers was selected from the telephone directory, and then the last four digits were randomized)
   
  Q1. If the presidential election were held tomorrow, which team are your likely to vote for:
  30%: Hsieh/Su (DPP)
  53%: Ma/Siew (KMT)
  17%: Undecided
   
  Q3.  Regardless of whom you vote for, who is more likely to be elected as president in 2008?
  20%: Frank Hsieh
  43%: Ma Ying-jeou
  37%: No opinion
   
  Q4. Regardless of whom you vote for, do you like Frank Hsieh?
    8%: Like a lot
  26%: Like somewhat
  22%: Dislike somewhat
  17%: Dislike a lot
  26%: No opinion
   
  Q5. Regardless of whom you vote for, do you like Ma Ying-jeou?
  14%: Like a lot
  41%: Like somewhat
  15%: Dislike somewhat
    9%: Dislike a lot
  21%: No opinion
   
  Q6. Who is better at promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relationships?
  14%: Frank Hsieh
  53%: Ma Ying-jeou
    2%: Both
    5%: Neither
  25%: No opinion
   
  Q7. Who is better at bringing economic prosperity?
  22%: Frank Hsieh
  46%: Ma Ying-jeou
    2%: Both
    5%: Neither
  25%: No opinion
   
  Q8. Who is better at maintaining political stability in Taiwan?
  20%: Frank Hsieh
  48%: Ma Ying-jeou
    3%: Both
    7%: Neither
  22%: No opinion
   
  Q9. Who is better at elevating the interational status of Taiwan?
  22%: Frank Hsieh
  49%: Ma Ying-jeou
    3%: Both
    4%: Neither
  22%: No opinion
   
  Q10. Who is better at promoting harmony among people of different provincial origin and ethnicity?
  23%: Frank Hsieh
  48%: Ma Ying-jeou
    2%: Both
    8%: Neither
  19%: No opinion
   
  Q11. Whose government team will be less corrupt if elected?
  22%: Frank Hsieh
  40%: Ma Ying-jeou
    8%: Both
    9%: Neither
  21%: No opinion
   
  Q12. Whose government team will be better at building up Taiwan if elected?
  33%: Frank Hsieh
  38%: Ma Ying-jeou
    6%: Both
    2%: Neither
  20%: No opinion
   
  Q13. Who is better at protecting the interests of the people of Taiwan?
  29%: Frank Hsieh
  39%: Ma Ying-jeou
    7%: Both
    4%: Neither
  21%: No opinion
   
  Q15. The Democratic Progressive Party has ruled for the past eight years.  Do you think that it is time to have a president from a different party?
  66%: Yes
  17%: No
  17%: No opinion

• [062]  Complimentary Copy (09/22/2007)  I just added a few more entries into What Is On My Bookshelf.  In so doing, I was surprised to find this note attached to Qian Zhongshu (錢鐘書)'s 也是集.  The note was signed by Ma Lik, the late chairman of the DAB party in Hong Kong.

• [061]  Xie Tao Speaks At Hong Kong University (09/22/2007)  (Yazhou Zhoukan; September 30, 2007 issue, p.22-23)  Early this spring, political theorist Xie Tao (謝韜) published an essay titlted <The Democratic Socialist Model and the Future of China> in the magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu (炎黃春秋).  Recently, he spoke at Hong Kong University.

• [058]  Arigigato China (09/20/2007)  (Daqi)  China rises?  A great nation requires more than the hardware (military, economy, etc) but it also must have the accompanying software (civic quality, etc).  On September 17, in Hangzhou's Huanglong stadium, Japan played Germany in the Women's Soccer World Cup.  The 40,000 mostly Chinese spectators were virtually one-sided on the side of Germany.  Whenever, Germany attacked, they cheered; whenever Germany stopped the Japanese attack, they clapped.  When Germany scored, a huge German flag appeared in the stands.  The unfriendliness of the Chinese spectators towards the Japanese reflects a certain unhealthy attitude that had been on display repeated in the past.
   
  Next year, the 29th Olympic Games will take place in Beijing.  Chinese and Japanese athletes will be competing against each other.  If the Chinese spectators continue to display these anti-Japanese sentiments, it will damage the international image of China as well as Sino-Japanese friendship.  The purpose of the Games is the pursuit of excellence AND the promption of international friendship and world peace.  To boo specific teams is against the spirt of sports and will earn the condemnation of world opinion.
   
  In the Germany-Japan game, the Japanese women were praiseworthy.  They lost the game and were eliminated as a reult.  After the game, the Japanese players poured out into the field and took out a banner which said "Arigato 谢谢 China" -- Thank you, China in three languages.  Then they bowed to the spectators, who stood up and applauded them.  May this be an example for the Beijing Olympics.
   
  

In the hearing over the Starpix agency photographs of Kelly Brook on a Caribbean beach that Oriental Daily/The Sun published and that the Hong Kong Television and Entertainment Authority/Obscene Articles Tribunal found to be Class II: Indecent, witnesses testified that during the same period: (1) the overseas magazine NOW showed the same photographs in which Kelly Brook's breasts were not covered up with pixels as Oriental Daily/The Sun did with their photographs.  However, NOW was never rated by TELA/OAT even though it was on sale in Hong Kong; (2) on the same day when Oriental Daily/The Sun published their photographs, a similiar Kelly Brook photograph appeared in Apple Daily.  Upon review, TELA/OAT found that to be neither indecent nor obscene.
 
During the hearing, the TELA lawyer said that just because these other cases were not prosecuted does not mean that they were not illegal.  The Oriental Daily/The Sun lawyer said: "In that case, you are saying that there is selective prosecution.  This is very serious.  I will use the fact that this was a dishonest prosecution and ask for a permanent stop to the hearing."  The TELA lawyer said: "Perhaps there was no prosecution due to lack of evidence, or perhaps the case was not detected ... I am just saying that we do not know why these other cases were not found to be indecent.  Therefore, the magistrate should not use them as reference."  The magistrate showed his concern: "If the classification is based upon commonly accepted moral standards in society, then why shouldn't this case be compared to previous cases classified as indecent?  Even if the NOW case should not be used for comparison, but we have the extreme situation that Apple Daily has a similar photograph but was classified as neither indecent nor obscene.  When I assess this case, can I make that comparison?"
 
Perhaps the key here is an article back in March 2006 in Oriental Daily (see link) which quotes the TELA/OAT opinion:

「涉案兩個物品使用顯眼的女性裸體照，配以挑逗性的標題字句，照片的『打格仔』效果僅遮蓋乳尖，乳房的形狀大小及身體曲線清晰可見，標題上使用如『裸你 命』、『裸胸招搖』，在內文字上使用『半裸與男友海灘調情』、『半裸大解放』一類的挑逗字眼，據此認定物品整體上產生顯著的色情效果。」

The two publications involved in the case used an eye-catching photograph of a nude female body accompanied by provocative captions.  The pixels only covered the nipple, but the shape of the breasts and the curvature of the body were clearly visible.  The captions include "Life-threatening nudity" and "Showing off bare breasts" and the texts refer to "cavorting half-naked with boyfriend on the beach" and "semi-nude liberation" and other provocative terms.  Accordingly, it was determined that the article has an obviously pornographic effect overall."

Apparently, the presence of the photographs themselves are not fatal per se -- it is the accompanying captions and text that created the "obviously pornographic effect overall."  Oh, wait, but this is completely opposite to the philosophy articulated in the case of Oiwan Lam in which two female nipples were automatically pornographic irrespective of the accompanying context.

Relevant Link: Original unpixellated photographs at The Dark Hat.

• [056]  Hong Kong District Council Elections Preview (09/20/2007)  (Ming Pao; also at Yahoo! News)  The nominations for the Hong Kong District Council elections will begin next Tuesday and the elections will be held on November 18.  There are 405 seats in the District Councils.
   
  DAB: Four years ago, the two DAB Legco members Lau Kong-wah and Yeung Yiu-chung lost in their bid for District Council seats.  Even DAB vice-chairman Yip Kwok-him lost to the parachuted Cyd Ho by 64 votes in the Kwun Lung district (Sai Wan) that he had served as District Councilor for more than 10 years.  This year, the DAB will be fielding not more than 200 candidates, fewer than in 2003.
   
  DP: In 2003, the July 1st effect allowed the Democratic Party to have 80% of its candidates to be elected.  This time, DP will field about 110 candidates, of which 70 are running for re-election and 40 are first-time candidates most of whom have more than one year in local district experience.  The principal goal is to defend the seats that they already held.
   
  CP: The Civic Party will field about 40 candidates in their first attempt in the District Council elections.
   
  Savantas: The think tank headed by Regina Ip will field two or three candidates in Hong Kong Island.
   
  LP: The Liberal Party will field about 60 candidates, of which 20 are running for re-election and 40 are first-time candidates.
   
  ADPL: The Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood will field 35 to 40 candidates, of which one-quarter are first-time candidates.  As usual, their focus will be in the western Kowloon.

• [055]  More About The Corpse In The Bag (09/19/2007)  See Comment 200709#052 for previous story.  The Filipina woman Armia denied at first any knowledge or involvement.  However, the police showed her the surveillance video tape in which Armia drove a scooter with a two-wheel trailer 12 kilometers away from her home and dumped the bag which contained the corpse.
   
  
   
  (TVBS, UDN)  38-year-old Filipina Armia Nemencia Panaglima has now given a confession to the police, "The description of the killing was consistent with our examination of the victim.  Accordingly, the prosecutor believes that the Filipina is the murderer."  The public and the victim's family had their doubts because Armia is 155cm tall compared to the 160cm tall victim.  The victim was stabbed at least ten times.  There were marks of strangulation around her neck to the point where her tongue was sticking out.  However, the fatal blow was a 13cm deep stab wound in the left chest.  According to Armia, the motive was a dispute over the agency fee that the victim wanted to charge Armia's husband for the language lessons, to the amount of NT$50 per hour (out of the total of NT$1,500 per hour).  And did Armia have the strength to commit the murder, tie the corpse up, stuff it into a bag and haul it away for dumping?
   
  (TVBS)  Meanwhile, what was the role of Armia's American husband David Michael Fillon?  He was arrested and held for almost 12 hours, released to return home for 12 hours, asked to return for more questioning and released to return home again.
   
  
   
  TVBS: Did you kill anyone.
  Fillon: No.  I did not.  I did kill anyone.
  TVBS: You know nothing?
  Fillon: I don't know anything.  I don't know.
   
  (UDN, UDN)  According to investigators, Fillon was asked about the blood stains behind the sofa at his apartment.  He claimed that he cut his hand accidentally while peeling fruit.  When the police informed him that the DNA test showed that the blood matched that of the victim Chou Mei-yun, he turned silent.  He also claimed to have a bad sense of smell, and therefore could not detect the odor from the corpse.
   
  Fillon's explanation was that he had too much to drink and fell asleep.  Therefore, he had no idea what happened.  Armia's story was consistent with that explanation.  She said that she asked Armia to come over and they had an argument over money.  Chou slapped her and so Armia killed her with a kitchen knife in anger.  Afterwards, she dragged the corpse into the storeroom.  Since Fillon always returns home drunk in the early morning, she purchased duct tape and garbage bags and stuffed the corpose into the bag.  She also washed away the blood stains and hair in the apartment, and then applied air freshener to the room.  Then she borrowed a trailer and carted the body away for disposal.
   
  
  "I don't know anything."  "I did the killing."

• [054]  No Such Person Exists (09/19/2007)  (Xici Hutong)  The program <The Human World> on Jiangsu Satellite TV presents real and touching human stories.
  
   
  On August 20, a story entitled <The Accidentally Exposed Lie> on <The Human World> told the following story.  A dozen years ago in Liuchang village, Qingzhen town (Guizhou province), the villager named Li Tingfa ignored medical advice and had a baby with his infirmed wife.  The baby turned out to be sickly too.  When the wife asked to see the baby, Li borrowed a healthy baby from his neighbor Gu Xinlong to show her.  Twelve years later, the wife accidentally discovered the truth and her illness deteriorated.  Meanwhile, Li's own son could not forgive his father for the deception.
   
  
   
  Another reporter wanted to follow up on the story and called Jiangsu Satellite TV for the contact information.  He was told that there was only a bank account to accept donations, but no contact telephone.  Since it was noted that the person named Li Tingfa resided in Liuchang village, Qingzhen town, Guizhou province, the reporter went there on August 26.  At the time, the computer network at the police station was down.  So the reporter called the leaders at the two dozen or so hamlets within Liuchang village.  None of the leaders recognize the names of Li Tingfa or Gu Xinlong.  Three days later, the reporter contacted the police station by telephone and was told that there was no such persons.  On September 4, the reporter went to the identity card section of the Qingzhen city public security bureau and observe that when the name Gu Xinlong was searched, the answer was "No such person."  When the name Li Tingfa was searched, there was a young man born in 1992.  When the search is extended to the entire Guiyang city, these people still could not be found.
   
  When the reporter contacted with Jiangsu Satellite TV with his information, he was told that he would be called back.  He is still waiting for the call.

The Kaohsiung Police Bureau said yesterday that a female Japanese teacher working in Taiwan has been questioned after a woman's body was found in a garbage bag in Kaohsiung City early on Sunday morning.  A man found the body inside a large black garbage bag in front of a store in the city's Yencheng District.  The man told police the bag had been abandoned on the street a few days ago and that stray dogs had been hanging around the bag ever since.  The man told police that he cut a hole in the bag and was surprised to see a human leg.  Police on Sunday said the deceased was 48-year-old Chou Mei-yun ( 邱美雲 ), who had been missing since last Tuesday.

... 

Police said footage from a surveillance camera near the place where the body was found showed the Japanese teacher riding a scooter and towing a big black garbage bag.  But during questioning the suspect told the police that she had loaned her motorcycle to an American man.  Chang said the teacher had had frequent cellphone contact with Chou before she disappeared.  Police suspect the deceased might have argued with the Japanese woman about brokerage fees before the incident, Chang said.

Then for something completely different on the same story in Apple Daily, China Times and United Daily News:

There has been a major breakthrough in the case of Chou Mei-yun.  The American English-language teacher David Fillon is suspected of having a financial dispute with Chou and murdered her together with his Filipina girlfriend Armia (or Malina).  Although David Fillon is a suspect, the American Institute of Taiwan requested the "protection of his human rights" and therefore the police has not declared the case to be solved as yet.

According to the police, the corpse of Chou Mei-yun was discovered at around 8pm on September 15.  Upon review of the community surveillance camera videotape, the police observed a female on a motorcycle disposed the bag at around 11pm on September 14.  The police used the motorcycle license plate number to locate the Japanese female owner, who said that she had loaned the motorcycle to the American teacher David Fillon.

On the afternoon of September 17, the police obtained a warrant to search the apartment of David Fillon.  They learned that Fillon had just moved away, but they found many blood stains as well as dog hair similar to those found inside the bag that contained the corpse.

The police then asked the Japanese woman to call Fillon to ask him and his girlfriend to come in and collect their wages.  When they showed up, the police arrested them.

Photograph of David Fillon being questioned by Kaohsiung police

The newspaper reporters also canvassed the neighborhood for impressions about David Fillon.  He is supposed to be consorting with various women, including a steady Filipina woman plus Taiwanese women and even girls that speak Japanese.  Usually, Fillon is cold and distant and does not speak to people.  He always appears sloppily dressed to be in a bad mood.  He drinks a lot, especially Taiwan beer: he says that loves Taiwan and therefore he drinks Taiwan beer.  According to the convenience store worker, Fillon usually comes in the morning for breakfast and then a 12-pack of beer at night.

In Baotou, 3000 students kneel down for Li Yang who teaches "Crazy English"

English is no doubt the most important knowledge tool at the moment.  I cannot say about any other occupation, but if you want to be involved media, then you are short-changing your job if you don't read English-language publications.  The reason is that the majority of information and opinions are written in English.  With so many people using English in so many places around the world, it is no exaggeration to say that English is the most democratic language.  Even if God should try, there is no way to force the English-language world to shut up collectively about a certain matter.  This is a blessing to those who seek the truth.

Thanks to the position of English among the languages of the world, England can rely on the Queen's accent to reap huge profits.  Many English people are endowed at birth with a skill -- even though many of them have local accents, who is going to be able to tell once they get out to Asia?  Therefore, when I asked by a number of middle school students what the most important subject is, I gave them the simple answer that they should try to learn English world.  Before they can pass the reading/speaking/listening parts of English before they graduate from high school, they will be welcomed even if they never attend university.  Those people who think that the Chinese language is the best in the world should not be angry.  You listen to my explanation: no matter how wonderful Chinese is, someone still has to translate all that marvelous stuff into English to benefit the world -- there is money to be made to facilitate communication in different language.  So your job prospects will be fantastic.

English is so useful.  Furthermore, there are free lunches everywhere.  In an age with broadband Internet access, there are innumerable free opportunities to learn English.  If you want to learn British style English, you can read The Guardian and Financial Times; if you want to learn American style English, you can listen to NPR and read the New York Times and Washington Post.  You will be just like a local in  your pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.  After spending the unavoidable several thousand hours, your English will be fluent.  You do not have to pay people like Li Yang.  He takes your money and you have to kneel down and thank him for his graces.  If he thinks that people should kneel and give thanks, then it is him who ought to thank the students who are paying their fees and feeding him.  If everybody uses these free methods to learn English, he would starve to death.

Concerning the public kneeling incident, Li Yang is feeling great.  He is recently advocating that female university students should cut their hair to show their dedication as his students.  But somehow he did not ask the same of male university students.  Fortunately, the female university students know that the length of one's hair is not related to the level of mastery of English and they refused.  If Li Yang gets with this one, he could be trying to play the "Symphony of Intercourse between Yin and Yang" in order to infuse the spirit of the English language into the bodies of the students.

The English-language cult of Li Yang shows that any language is just a tool.  If used well, it can provide excellent information.  If used for brain-washing people, it gets people to kneel down and cut their hair.  Language-learning entails rationality, self-control, dedication and repeated practice.  It is simple and straightforward, but no shortcut.  You should not hope for any genius who can enable you to advance in a flash.  To kneel down to an unknown crazy orator is sheer ignorance which is detrimental to improving your learning skills and rational thinking.  You must stay away from these kinds of so-called "teachers."  You learn English for the joy of more knowledge and thinking.  We are already unmatched in the art of kneeling, and we don't need to learn English in order to master it.

In order to save Li Yang and prevent his ailment from worsening, he should make use of the free resources to learn English.  Otherwise, he could go crazy beyond all help.

Related Link: “疯狂英语”：本质是邪教  周黎明

• [047]  Taiwan By The Numbers (09/17/2007)  (China Times)  (780 adults were interviewed on August 22-23.  A sample of telephone numbers were drawn from the telephone directory, and then the last two digits were randomized)
   
  Q. Which country is most important for Taiwan?
  United States of America: 31.5%
  China: 25.1%
  Japan: 4.5%
  Don't know: 35%
   
  Q. Can Taiwan trust the United States of America?
  Yes: 29%
  No:  37.5%
   
  Q. If China invades Taiwan, do you believe the United States will help to defend?
  Yes: 40%
  No:  44%

• [045]  Thou Shalt Obey Traffic Rules (09/15/2007)  (Daqi)  On the Qinghai-Tibet highway, the following road sign was set up to remind people about the possible consequences of not following traffic rules (such as speed limits, etc).
   
  
   
  
   
  

• [044]  Hong Kong Police Sweeps (09/15/2007)  (Apple Daily)  This is day two of the Hong Kong police clean-up of illegal brothels in the Western Kowloon district.  Today's net saw a bizarre twist beyond the usual assortment of underaged prostitutes and Internet-enabled pimps.
   
  
   
  In an old building located at 275 Shanghai Street, there was an apartment which is about about 400 square feet in area with about 100 square feet being a kitchen area.  The kitchen has 3 cooking stoves.  There was also a large amount of food, such as vegetables and meat in the kitchen.
   
  Yes, but so what?  So maybe someone likes to cook and eat.  Why was this place targeted during the police operation against illegal brothels?
   
  A little bit of history is in order.  In recent years, the most common form of organized prostitution is to import mainland Chinese girls to Hong Kong, legally or illegally.  However, the police have been watching the public places where prostitutes hang out.  Once found 'working,' these girls will be deported back to mainland China.  So a newer model is for the girls to stay inside a specific apartment without ever stepping out into the street.  Meanwhile, the clients can find them through the Internet.  Besides the listings of prostitutes in Hong Kong which are hosted on overseas websites, the operators also post to Hong Kong discussion forums under the guise of 'reviews.'
   
  If the girls are supposed to stay indoors all the time, then they need to order food in.  Most of these girls come from Hunan and Hubei provinces where the food is hot and spicy.  So the girls found the local Hong Kong food rather bland and tasteless.  The aforementioned kitchen is an unlicenced restaraunt that served the working girls in the area with home-style cooking.
   
  Five persons were arrested in that apartment, all of them being two-way-pass visitors from Hunan province.  They are cooks and delivery persons.  These people will certainly be found guilty of violating the terms of their stay and be deported back to mainland China.  Meanwhile, the police are looking for the mastermind behind the restaurant.  If found, the person may be charged with illicit profiteering from the prostitution activities of others.

• [043]  The Times They're Changin' in Hong Kong (09/13/2007)  (Apple Daily)
   
  
   
  When the movie <Exodus> was shown to the public yesterday, it carried a Class IIB (Not Suitable for Children and Young People) rating even though there were plenty of foul language in it.  This meant that everybody can watch the movie, but the promotional material must mention that it is not suitable for children and young people.  Previously, the presence of certain Cantonese terms automatically results in Class III (Adults 18 or over only) classifications.
   
  According to a Ms. Wong from the Television and Entertaining Licensing Authority: "Following considerations such as the changing times and audience reception, we have made the appropriate relevant adjustments.  When we review a movie, we no longer make a determination on the basis of the dialogue.  Instead, we must regard this based upon the totality of the movie ... For this movie, we arranged a special showing to the public and the audience were not upset by the use of foul lanaguage.  Internally, we did not feel that the movie needs to be classified Class III.  So it was ultimately rated as Class IIB ... Changing times will affect the audience's standards about morality and violence.  We will reference overseas film rating systems and continuously make adjustments."
   
  For the record, the three instances of foul language in <Exodus> were:
   
  演 員 ： 張 家 輝
  劇 情 ： 作 為 疑 犯 接 受 警 方 盤 問 時 「 發 爛 渣 」
  內 容 ：
  「 唔 信 你 就 咪 Ｘ 問 啦 ！ 」
  「 班 女 人 好 Ｘ 蠱 惑 ！ 」
  「 你 咪 戇 Ｘ Ｘ 咁 啦 ！ 知 得 少 又 懶 Ｘ 嫌 蝕 底 」
  「 呀 ！ 你 條 Ｘ 樣 ， 玩 Ｘ 夠 未 ？ 」
  
  演 員 ： 張 家 輝
  劇 情 ： 向 前 妻 解 釋 沒 有 外 遇
  內 容 ： 「 你 條 Ｘ 樣 ， 講 極 都 唔 信 ！ 」
  
  演 員 ： 溫 碧 霞
  劇 情 ： 與 男 角 發 展 情 慾
  內 容 ： 「 Ｘ 我 啦 ！ Ｘ 我 啦 ！ 」
   
  The foul language is marked by the use of 'X'.  Had Apple Daily printed the actual words, it would have been classified as Class II: Indecent Material by the Obscene Articles Tribunal of Hong Kong, and be fined accordingly.
   
• [042]  The Marketing of <Lust, Caution>  (Apple Daily)  In the past, movie distributors in Hong Kong do not pay too much attention to the Mid-Autumn Festival in their scheduling.  But the proximity of this festival to the October 1 golden week has got some of them thinking about arranging their films to appeal to the large number of mainland Chinese visitors.  The one that will get the most attention is <Lust, Caution>.  In Hong Kong, the full 156 minutes version will be on display publicly on September 26.  In mainland China, the premiere will take place about a month later with about 30 minutes deleted.  In Hong Kong, <Lust, Caution> is rated Class III (Adults only); in mainland China, there is no film rating and therefore all films must be suitable for all ages.  For mainland travellers to Hong Kong, <Lust, Caution> can be seen (1) earlier and (2) in full. 

• [041]  The Story Behind <Lust, Caution>  (09/13/2007)  Regular visitors to this website probably noted the presence of some Chinese-only articles recently: 張愛玲的書信: 有關"羊毛出在羊身上——談《色·戒》" and <色.戒> 故事.  Those articles were important because they illuminate on the origins of the Eileen Chang's short story <Lust, Caution>, which Ang Lee turned into the movie that just won the Best Film Award at the Venice Film Festival.  The material in my blog post has just been used by Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly) for this week's front cover story that spreads six pages inside (see 張愛玲色戒心結自辯手稿曝光﹕愛就是不問值得不值得  馬靄媛,亞洲周刊).
   
  
   
  
   
  When the short story <Lust, Caution> first appeared in 1977, Eileen Chang was criticized for glorifying a Chinese collaborator in the puppet government under Japanese occupation.  Therefore, she wrote a rebuttal essay whose progress was recorded in the correspondence material in my blog post.  When Ang Lee's movie gets shown in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland Taiwan, the same criticisms will no doubt come up again.  So at least we get to see what the late Eileen Chang had to say.
   
  This time around, there appears to be another line of attack.  According to some observers, the story was based upon the real-life Chinese collaborator Ding Mocun and the real-life patriot Zheng Pingru, who was executed when she failed in her attempt to assassinate Ding.  This means that the sex scenes in Ang Lee's movie will now be considered by some people as smearing the memory of a genuine patriotic martyr.  This week, Zheng's younger sister gave a tearful press conference in Los Angeles about this aspect (see video at "色戒"真實女主角80高齡胞妹:媒體扭曲傷我親姊!).  But the material in my blog post showed that Eileen Chang based the story around a group of amateur Yenking University student spies that my father knew personally about and told Eileen Chang.  The inference about Ding Mocun/Zheng Pingru is speculative and unsubstantiated.  It may help sell a few more newspaper/magazine copies with the thoroughly fascinating history of Ding and Zheng, but it is not really related to <Lust, Caution> itself.
   
  As a blogger, I have to reflect on the difference in audience reception.  I first posted the scanned images of the Chinese-language correspondence materials on this English-language website, and perhaps a few hundred people read it.  Less than half a dozen people linked to that blog post.  Many more people could have been interested, but they were not aware of its existence.  The Yazhou Zhoukan cover story, which is nicely accompanied by photographs from the movie, will bring the material to a much larger audience across the Chinese-speaking world.  On such matters, the blogosphere is still a long way behind mainstream media.  At the same time, if you have an interesting subject and you post it on a blog, the mainstream media will bite on it.

• [040]  Exodus (09/12/2007)  The new movie Exodus (出埃及記) from director Ping Ho-cheung (彭浩翔) may be groundbreaking in Hong Kong with respect to the film classification system.

 
Columnist Koo Tak Ming ((谷德昭) wrote in Apple Daily:

此 片 產 生 了 一 個 可 能 比 電 影 本 身 更 大 的 課 題 ， 電 影 的 對 白 包 含 了 一 些 廣 東 粗 口 ， 但 革 命 性 地 被 評 為 Ⅱ B 級 影 片 ， 一 直 以 來 ， 只 要 電 影 中 出 現 五 個 廣 東 粗 口 字 ， 即 是 諧 音 「 秒 」 、 「 咪 」 、 「 」 、 「 物 」 、 「 吻 」 的 五 個 門 字 部 首 字 ， 一 律 會 被 評 為 Ⅲ 級 電 影。

(in translation)  This movie created a bigger discussion theme than the movie itself, because the dialogue included a number of Cantonese obscene terms.  However, the movie has been classified as Class II-B.  Previously, it was assumed that as long as a movie contained any of five Cantonese-language terms (which are the homonyms of the sounds: "Miu," "Mai," "Mau," "Mud", and "Mun"), it will automatically be classified as a Class III movie.

Note: The columnist had to use the homonyms because the newspaper would be fined by the Television and Entertainment Authority/Obscene Articles Tribune almost automatically for using the original words.  By using the homonyms, the spirit of the law is satisfied while everybody knows exactly what the words are.  Such is the vaunted rule of law in Hong Kong.

Blogger Leona Wong attended a Baptist University movie on forum at which Ping Ho-cheung spoke.  Here is the director's thoughts on obscene language and nudity.

I never understood why movies containing obscene language, such as Jacob Leung's <Cage People>, could be classified by the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority as Class III, whereas movies with topless nudity were classified as Class IIB.  Please do not say that this is for the protection of children.  I think that the likelihood of children encountering people using obscene language in the street is far greater than them encountering naked women.

[in translation]

The situation in the by-election of the Hong Kong Island Legco seat has taken an unexpected turn today with information is that former Chief Secretary Sir David Robert Ford, Next Media Group chairman Jimmy Lai, Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen, former Democratic Party chairman and other evil dregs of British colonialism are manipulating the strings behind the curtain in order to make former Chief Secretary Anson Chan enter the race in spite of her reluctance.  This is happening because Anson Chan is the last chess piece left for the British in Hong Kong.

On Friday, August 31, which is two days before Martin Lee suddenly declared open support for Mrs. Chan while putting down Cyd Ho, Ford showed up in Hong Kong and stayed at his regular haunt of the Shangri La Hotel in Admiralty.  The news was that Ford came here with two big assignments.  The first was to persuade the hesitant Mrs. Chan enter the election.  The second is to fix the internal squabbling among the pan-democrats and force the potential candidates Cyd Ho and the Democratic Party's Kam Nai-wai to abandon their campaign efforst.  The facts show that his script is being realized scene by scene.

Whenever there is something big on the political scene in Hong Kong (including the July 1st march in 2003, the Legislative Council showdown in 2005, the 2007/2008 political reform proposal and Mrs. Chan high-profile announcement to participate in last year's July 1st march), Mrs. Chan's former British boss Ford would make a special trip to Hong Kong.  Ford came from the British intellgence agency (MI6), and he was responsible for promoting Mrs. Chan and positioning her as the first Chinese Chief Secretary.  After the return of Hong Kong to China, he continued to maintain close contact with Mrs. Chan and he is regarded as the messenger between Mrs Chan and the British government as well as her advisor behind the scenes.

Jimmy Lai and Joseph Zen have intimate ties to the United States and they are said to play active roles in this affair.  Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho and Kam Nai-wai told reporters yesterday that they met with Mrs. Chan.  A reporter asked them straight out whether Jimmy Lai and Joseph Zen were present at the meeting, but Albert Ho declined to answer.  This only makes people suspect that something more went on in the meeting.

The link is transient, so here is the original text:

立 法 會 港 島 區 補 選 形 勢 峰 迴 路 轉 ， 消 息 指 是 前 布 政 司 霍 德 、 壹 傳 媒 集 團 主 席 黎 智 英 、 天 主 港 區 主 陳 日 君 樞 機 ， 以 及 民 主 黨 前 主 席 李 柱 銘 等 「 港 英 餘 孽 」 在 幕 後 操 盤 ， 希 望 促 成 前 政 務 司 司 長 陳 方 安 生 「 唔 嫁 又 嫁 」 ， 因 為 ， 陳 方 安 生 是 英 國 人 在 港 的 最 後 一 隻 棋 子 。

上 月 三 十 一 日 星 期 五 ， 即 李 柱 銘 突 然 公 開 力 撐 陳 太 及 暗 踩 公 民 起 動 何 秀 蘭 前 兩 日 ， 霍 德 再 次 現 身 香 港 ， 下 榻 他 慣 常 入 住 的 金 鐘 香 格 里 拉 酒 店 。 消 息 指 ， 霍 德 今 次 現 身 香 港 有 兩 大 任 務 ， 其 一 是 意 圖 「 一 錘 定 音 」 ， 希 望 促 成 之 前 猶 豫 不 決 的 陳 太 參 選 ； 其 二 是 擺 平 泛 民 主 派 的 內 部 鬥 爭 ， 迫 使 有 意 參 選 的 何 秀 蘭 及 民 主 黨 甘 乃 威 逐 一 棄 選 。 事 實 證 明 ， 他 一 手 策 劃 的 劇 本 正 一 幕 一 幕 上 演 。

每 逢 香 港 政 壇 有 大 事 發 生 ， 包 括 ○ 三 年 七 ‧ 一 遊 行 、 ○ 五 年 立 法 會 表 決 ○ 七 ○ 八 年 政 改 方 案 ， 以 及 去 年 陳 太 高 調 宣 布 首 次 參 加 七 ‧ 一 遊 行 前 夕 ， 陳 太 的 英 籍 舊 上 司 霍 德 都 專 程 來 港 。 霍 德 出 身 英 國 情 報 機 構 「 軍 情 六 處 」 （ Ｍ Ｉ ６ ） ， 有 份 提 攜 陳 太 上 位 及 接 替 自 己 出 任 首 位 華 人 布 政 司 ， 回 歸 後 亦 一 直 與 陳 太 保 持 緊 密 聯 繫 ， 被 視 為 陳 太 與 英 國 政 府 的 傳 話 人 兼 幕 後 軍 師 。

與 美 國 關 係 密 切 的 黎 智 英 及 陳 日 君 ， 亦 被 指 在 今 次 事 件 扮 演 積 極 角 色 。 民 主 黨 主 席 何 俊 仁 及 甘 乃 威 昨 日 向 記 者 交 代 與 陳 太 的 會 面 時 ， 記 者 問 及 會 面 是 否 有 其 他 人 在 場 ， 何 俊 仁 神 神 秘 秘 ， 竟 答 「 可 能 有 、 可 能 冇 」 ， 記 者 再 單 刀 直 入 詢 問 黎 智 英 及 陳 日 君 是 否 在 場 ， 何 俊 仁 則 拒 絕 回 答 ， 更 加 令 人 覺 得 會 面 別 有 內 情 。

• [035]  China Mobile PK China Unicom (09/11/2007)  (Daqi)  In Sichuan, Mianyang Mobile reached an agreement with the Mianyang Teachers College and the Southwestern Science and Technology University to have a mobile telephone monopoly among students that excludes Mianyang Unicom.  But Mianyang Unicom went ahead to establish a tent in front of the entrance of the Mianyang Teachers College anyway.  This led to a series of incidents.
   
  On the night of September 5, the China Unicom tent outside the Mianyang Teachers College was set on fire by six unidentified persons and the the glass on the display cases were smashed.  The night guard was reduced to shivering in fear and mumbling incoherently.
   
  On the morning of September 6, the student direct sales workers were distributing promotional material inside the Southwestern Science and Technolgoy University, but China Mobile worker Wang Yao brought along three hooligans who attacked the student workers.  When the Unicom workers tried to stop the attack, they were assaulted and bloodied by the Mobile workers.
  
   
  At around 11:30am on September 7, four Unicom workers were promoting their services at the entrance to the Mianyang Teachers College when four Mobile workers leading more than 30 hooligans charged out from inside the university campus to begin an attack with iron rods, bricks, wooden poles.  One of the Unicom workers tried to run away but six men pursued him and hit him in the back of the head with a blunt object.  That Unicom worker passed out, but was revived at the hospital.
   
  At around noon on September 7, a Unicom worker was delivering lunch boxes to the sales people when two unidentified men assaulted him and threw him on the ground.  The two men then got on a fan with a China Mobile sign and left the scene.
   
  In a free market, the consumers should be given a choice on how and where to spend their money.  A single business should not be allowed to dominate by using outside forces to interfere with the market.  The unreasonable competitive behavior above did not do the consumers any good.  Instead, it created bad effects.

• [034]  The Most Awesome Security Guard (09/11/2007)  The photographs in The Most Awesome Security Guard in Chongqing actually drew a lot of skepticism.  For example, the first photograph showed the porter resting on the shop window ledge and then the security guard showed up later.  How did the photographer know to take that first photograph?  Was he prescient?
   
  (Southern Metropolis Daily)  By checking with the photographer as well as another eyewitness, the following was established.  The photographer was a newspaper photojournalist (which explains the professional quality of the photographs) who only began shooting after the physical action began.  The photograph of the porter resting on the ledge was staged about 30 minutes afterwards before the porter went to file a police report.

• [031]  A Reporter's List of Questions At The IAAF World Championships (09/10/2007)  Liu Xiang's win in the 110m high hurdles brought out National Flag Gate.  Another unexpected result was the public anger directed at the CCTV female reporter Dong Rinuo (冬日娜) as triggered by a blog from soccer commentator Dong Lu.
   
  
   
  (MOP)  Here is the list of questions that Dong Rinuo asked Liu Xiang:
   
  Q: "Your race number is 441.  4+4+1 equals 9.  You have been assigned to Lane 9 today.  Is 9 your lucky number?"
  Q: "Were you particularly confident before the race?"
  Q: "Did you feel very perfect in today's race?"
  Q: "Does regular participation in international competitions help your psychological state?"
  Q: "Does your coach provide you with a lot of help?"
  Q: "If newcomers appear, will you train even harder?"
   
  Here is the list of questions that Dong Rinuo asked Shi Dongpeng, the other Chinese hurdler in the race.
   
  Q: "Do you feel very sad to be in the same era as Liu Xiang?"
  Q: (pre-race)  "Are you confident about finishing second?  Because Liu Xiang is going to the win the race."
  Q: (post-race) "Did you try your best in the race that just finished?"
   
  Addendum:
  (To a male long jumper)  "I wish you the best of luck in the women's triple jump tomorrow."  Whereupon the man turned and walked away.

• [030]  A Model Hero Is Resurrected For Socialist Capitalist Construction (09/10/2007)  First, a piece of Chinese history from Stefan Landsberger:

Dong Cunrui (1929-1948), a Party member, was made a Hero of the People's Liberation Army in 1963. During a campaign in the civil war between Communist and Nationalist forces (1946-1949), the advance of the PLA was blocked by a last enemy stronghold, in the form of a pill-box built on a bridge. Dong pressed a pack of explosives against the bridge with his hand and blew the pill-box off. He was killed in the explosion.

Fast forward to here and now at People.com.cn:

The revolutionary hero Dong Cunrui's image of holding up the explosives before becoming a martyr has been used by a Guangzhou hospital for gallstone treatment.  Instead of holding explosives in this hand, he is holding a stone.  The accompanying text was "Are you a 'hero'?  You could not endure this, right?" This advertisement appeared in a free publication.  When the reporter contacted the hospital, a worker said that the advertisement was comissioned to an advertisement agency.  As such, he says that it was "totally unrelated to the hospital."  He said that the hospital has received complaints and they were depressed as a result.

• [029]  屁 (09/09/2007)  (TVBS)  On the anniversary of the Down-with-Bian movement, the "red army" returned to the Ketagalan Boulevard with thirty candles each in order to compose a 'totem' (圖騰) for the word '屁' (which means "fart", "flatulence", "an often audible discharge of intestinal gas").  This is a change from the "Down with A-Bian 阿扁下台" slogan to a "A-Bian is full of bullshit (or fart) 阿扁放屁".
  
   
  
   
• [028]  Hidden Concerns About The Virtual Internet Police (09/09/2007)  (Zhang Qianfan 张千帆 at Southern Metropolis Daily)

• [025]  School Opening Day (09/08/2007)  (Tianya)  On September 3, the Huazhong Normal University commenced school.  Out of 4,100 new students accepted this year, 2,200 receive free tuition, room and board because their families were disadvantaged.  Some of the students were brought to the university campus by their parents.  The university said, "We will not let a single new student quit on account of poverty, and we will not let a single parent sleep in the streets on account of poverty."  The following photographs were taken at the indoor gymnasium at 11:30pm on the night of September 3.  350 parents slept on mats provided by the school in the air-conditioned building.
   
  
   
  
   
  

• [024]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/08/2007)  (Ming Pao) (1,814 persons were interviewed by automated telephone September 4-7, of which 428 claimed to be Hong Kong Island residents)
   
  If former Chief Secretary Anson Chan and Savantas Think Tank chairman Regina Ip were to run against each other, who would you support?
  39.25%: Anson Chan
  35.75%: Regina Ip
  25%: Undecided
   
  Yesterday, the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme announced the results from its poll.  Here is the similar question:
   
  If only Anson Chan and Regina Ip were running in the by-election, who would you like to see elected?
  52%: Anson Chan
  32%: Regina Ip
    9%: Neither
    6%: Don't know/hard to say
   
  Why are these answers so different?  First of all, Ming Pao is running an automated telephone poll, which has lower response rate and higher survey bias.  More importantly, the questions are different -- Ming Pao asks about "Who would you support?" while HKU POP asks about "Who would like to see elected?"  The more direct question should be "Do you intend to vote"+"If yes, whom will you vote for?" but it is not yet appropriate to ask that question for two potential but undeclared candidates.

• [022]  What He Got And What She Got (09/08/2007)  Here is the difference in emphasis between the English-language and Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong:
   
  What he got (via SCMP) Government approves early retirement of RTHK chief

The government had approved the early retirement of scandal-plagued RTHK chief Chu Pui-hing, and would consider both people from within and outside the public broadcasters as candidates to fill in his post, a spokesman said on Friday.  Mr Chu, the Director of Broadcasting, sought an earlier retirement in July after being photographed hiding behind a woman reported to be a karaoke hostess.  The photo was widely carried in Hong Kong’s Chinese-language newspapers. Their reports said Mr Chu had left an exclusive karaoke bar in Causeway Bay with the woman who was a hostess at the bar and had previously worked as an exotic dancer.

What she got (The Sun)  "When My Father Learned That I Did Lap Dancing, He Slapped Me In The Face!"

At age 14, Coco left her Sichuan homedown.  She has worked as a salesperons, a street vendor, a service worker and eventually she became a dancer.  Coco has never told her family about these experiences.
 
"A couple days after I got home, reporters began to show up and my past history as a lap dancer was exposed.  When my father learned that I was a lap dancer, he thought that it was the same as being prostitute.  He thought that it was a huge loss of face and he was very angry.  He swung a slap at me.  After that, even more reporters showed up.  I had to leave home and move into a hotel.  I have lost eight kilograms since the incident.  There is a great deal of pressure.  I put the pressure on myself."

• [021]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/07/2007)  (Hong Kong Research Association)

Q4.  What should the process be for reaching universal suffrage in the direct election of the Chief Executive?
42%: 2012, establish a nominating committee immediately to reach universal suffrage
27%: 2017, after transition phases
23%: later than 2017, after transitional phases
  8%: No opinion
 
Q5. Concerning universal suffrage in the direct election of the Chief Executive, do you believe that it is like that two-thirds of the Legislative Councilors will vote for the proposal?
29%: Yes
51%: No
20%: No opinion 
 
Q6. If universal suffrage in the direct election of the Chief Executive is not possible in 2012, will you accept it in 2017 instead?
53%: Yes
32%: No
15%: No opinion
 
Q7. What should the process be for reaching universal suffrage in the direction election of the Legislative Council?
39%: 2012, in one step
26%: 2016, in phases
28%: after 2016, in phases
 
Q8. Concerning universal suffrage in the direct election of the Legislative Council in 2012, do you believe that the two-thirds of the Legislative Councilors will vote for the proposal?
30%: Yes
50%: No
20%: No opinion
 
Q9. If universal suffrage in the direct election of the Legislative Council is not possible in 2012, will you accept it in 2016 instead?
52%: Yes
31%: No
17%: No opinion

• [020]  The Lexus and the Taxi Drivers (09/07/2007)  (Daqi)

 
On August 30, a taxi driver piced up a female passenger who appeared to be following the Lexus that her husband was driving.  At the intersection of Furong Road and Songguiyuan Road, there was a red traffic stop light.  The Lexus and the taxi drivers were next to each other.  Suddenly, the Lexus driver jumped out of his car, went up to the taxi, opened the passenger door and slapped his wife in the face.  Then he jumped up on the engine  hood of the taxi and broke the front window by kicking it with his foot.  Other taxis then converged to the scene and surrounded the Lexus.  The Lexus driver talked some trash to the taxi drivers, who were infuriated and proceeded to pummel the Lexus driver.  The police raced to the scene and took the Lexus driver into the police vehicle.  From the safety of the police vehicle, the Lexus driver shouted that the taxi drivers were just "a bunch of country bumpkins."  That caused the outraged taxi drivers to vandalize and overturn the Lexus.  It took the police more than two hours to clear the scene.

Internet opinion is actually divided.  There are those who thought that the Lexus driver was an arrogant prick who thought he could vandalize the taxi cab without consequences and then he did not know enough to stop but worse things repeatedly instead.  There are others who thought that the taxi drivers were acting like gangsters who administer their own violent street rules.

• [019]  The Bridge of the Future of Liangshan (09/07/2007)  (MOP)
  Equipment: Canon EOS 5D
  Date: 2007-08-06 16:05:40
  Location: Meigu county, Liangshan, Sichuan province
  Description. The flood water washed away part of the small wooden bridge that the students used to cross the river.  To deliver the children safely to the other side, the teacher used his body as a bridge for them to step over.
  
   
  With so many fake Internet photographs lately, opinions about this one is split.  Is this a staged event to hype something or the other?  Is this a PhotoShop job?  Or is this a genuine human story?

• [018]  Eleven Mistresses Brought Down The Shaanxi CPPCC Vice-Chairman (09/07/2007)  (Southern Daily)  In early July, the Central Disciplinary Committee announced that Shaanxi provincial Communist Party Political Consultative Conference vice-chairman Pang Jiayu is involved in a corruption case.  Pang was denounced by a group of eleven of his mistresses, each of whom produced pieces of evidence based upon their personal access and knowledge.
   
  
  In 1994, Pang Jiayu became the mayor of Baoji city.  At a certain meeting of the city government families, Pang took an interest in the wife of one of his workers.  The wife named Zeng was a pretty school teacher.  On December 31, 1995, the Baoji city cadres went to a mountain resort for a business meeting along with their families.  After dinner, the husband of Zeng received an emergency call to return to Baoji immediately.  That night, Pang Jiayu knocked on the door of Zeng's room and showed her a videotape of her husband cavorting with a prostitute.  Also fearing the power and authority of Pang Jiayu, Zeng became his mistress.  Shortly afterwards, Pang Jiayu arranged for Zeng to become the general manager of a tourist agency and they continued to meet outside for trysts.
   
  In 1997, the Baoji government was due for major reassignments.  Some officials began to sent their wives to "chat" with the mayor.  At the time, the nickname of Pang Jiayu was the "zipper mayor."
   
  In March 1998, Pang Jiayu became the party secretary of Baoji city.  One of his first money-raising scheme was to set up a financial investment company where the husband of Zeng was the chairman, and another mistress Liang Mei and the husband of another mistress named Zheng Jie were the vice-chairmen.  This company did not have the required permits to engage in financial investments but when ahead anyway.  Within one year, the company had made 120 million yuan.
   
  To placate the other mistresses who were jealous, Pang Jiayu rewarded them with construction projects.  Baoji is short on water supply, and the Shaanxi provincial government injected money to construct a water supply system.  Pang Jiayu appointed himself as the overall project director and allotted the construction work to a company formed by his mistresses for this purpose.  The project was budgeted at 150 million yuan, but it ultimately cost 320 million yuan.  Within six months after the project was completed, there were quality problems such as landslides and broken pipes.
   
  In May 2003, Pang Jiayu became the Shaanxi provincial CPPCC vice-chairman.  But the illegal financial company in Baoji collapsed with more than 90 million yuan in losses.  Many citizens went to Beijing to petition about their lost investments.  As a result, the chairman and the two vice-chairpersons were taken into custody.
   
  When Zeng went to Pang Jiayu for help, he said: "You tell your husband that he better be smart and assume all the responsibility.  Then I can use my connections to get him only three years of suspended sentence.  He might even keep his job.  But if he does not know how to keep his mouth shut and wants to unload the shit on me, I will make sure that he gets the death sentence!"  Zeng's husband confessed in court and accepted all responsibility.  The court then gave him the death sentence!  Liang Mei and the husband of Zheng Jie received jail sentences of 16 and 10 years respectively.
   
  Afterwards, Zeng swore that she would bring down Pang Jiayu.  She realized that she could not bring him down by herself.  So she contacted Liang Mei, Zheng Jie and others.  A total of 11 mistresses agree to sign a complaint against Pang Jiayu.  Among them, some offered documents that Pang Jiayu accepted bribes; one of them held the financial ledger of the company belonging to Pang Jiayu's wife ... these ironclad evidence together with the letter of complaint from the eleven real-named individuals shocked the central government leaders.

• [017]  Why Does The Shaolin Temple Think That It Represents China? (09/07/2007) (Shao Jian at Southern Metropolis Daily)

In the case of the prankster who posted that a Japanese ninja defeated the Shaolin temple monks (see Comment 200708#089), the legal advisor for the temple issued a statement that condemned the "extremely irresponsible act not just to the Shaolin Temple and its monks, but to the Chinese martials arts community and the entire Chinese people."
 
The post was aimed at the Shaolin temple, and I can see that it damaged the temple and its monks.  But the condemnation also involved the 'entire Chinese people.'  How did that happen?  Is the Shaolin temple being presumptuous?  Shaolin martial arts may be known all over the world and people think that it represents Chinese martial arts.  That would indeed be an honor to the temple.  But the temple must not think that it is the entire Chinese people, and it must not think that when someone comes after them, that someone is also coming after the entire Chinese people.  The Chinese people consists of many ethnic groups and it is combined concept that has no single specific realization.  Nobody can expand themselves into the entire Chiense people.

We want the Shaolin temple to be strong, but we don't want to see it become presumptuous.  When the temple is the best in the world, it is strong.  But if the temple puts on a cloak of the "entire Chinese people," then it is presumptuous.  Being presumptuous is not being strong, just as being strong does not need being presumptuous.  Being presumptuous is the opposite of being strong.  There is no reason for the Shaolin temple to demand this netizen to apologize to the entire Chinese people.  Even if this person offended the Shaolin temple, he has not offended the entire Chinese people yet.  In the end, this so-called offense was just a prank.  If the Shaolin temple were magnanimous, it would just laugh it off because silence is golden.  Yet, the Shaolin temple was physically strong but mentally weak and it made a solemn announcement against an Internet post and demanded an apology.

How would the Shaolin temple litigate if the apology is not forthcoming?  Under what basis?  The Shaolin temple, or the entire Chinese people?  The former is farce, and the latter is unwinnable.

The other question is just why Shaolin temple tried to elevate this incident into an offense against the entire Chinese people.  Back in the "Anti-Rightist" campaign, two colleagues went shopping for cloth.  There were two kinds of cloth for sale.  So one person chose one kind and then said that the other kind was not good.  This person was then denounced as a 'rightist' because both kinds of cloth were made under socialism and therefore he was denouncing socialism.  This type of thinking is known as 上纲上线 (bringing up the principles and lines).  The principles and lines refer to class differences, class struggles, dictatorship of the proletariat, victory in the struggle between socialism and capitalism and other big issues.  Anything trivial such as leaving part of a steam bun uneaten, being late a few minutes, wearing fashionable clothing, reading books about western philosophy, dissastisfation with a party cadre, the goals of the economic plan, attitudes towards the Party and the Government, opinions about the designated successors to the leaders and so on are always evaluated to the level of the principles and lines.  If you say that this piece of cloth is not good, you are attacking socialism; if you make a prank on the Shaolin temple,  you are insulting the entire Chinese people.  The logic is identical.  

Back then, many people paid heavy prices because of the principles and lines.  But the notion has not stepped off the stage of history when that era passed away, because it seems to continue to exist in the thinking and language habits of the people.  It seems that the Shaolin monks also know about invoking the principles and lines as well.

• [016]  China Bans Sex Radio (09/07/2007)  (The Sun)  On Wednesday, the State Admnistration of Radio, Film and Television issued a notice that all radio stations must not broadcast programs related to five sex-related topics:
  (1) Sex life
  (2) Sex experience
  (3) Sex understanding
  (4) Sex organs
  (5) Sex medicine
   
  Specifically, SARFT named the Sichuan Provincial Radio Economic and Traffic Channels and the Chengdu City Traffic, Cutural and Ecnoomic Channels for using two to three hours every night after 9am to discuss and promulate contents related to the five sex-related topics.  These programs are said to have polluted the social atmosphere and damaged the mental and physical health of the general public, especially young people.  As such, they damage the reputation of radio in general.  Sichuan Provincial Radio and Chenghu City Radio have been ordered by SAFT to cease these dirty obscene programs.

• [015]  Urban Expansion Is Forcing The Chinese To Divorce (09/07/2007)  (Southern Metropolis Daily via Apple Daily)  Yufeng village, Shilou town, Guangzhou city was designated as the site for the Asian Games that will be held in Guangzhou.  All displaced villagers will be assigned new homes next spring.  According to the proposed relocation plan, each married couple constitutes one family and will receive one new home; a divorced couple consistutes two families who get two new homes.  So it is no surprise that there has been a rash of divorces.  For example, captain Guo of the village's second production brigade got a lightning divorce from his wife of more than 30 years.
   
  The relevant department held an emergency meeting and declared that divorces that occurred after August 7, 2007 do not qualify for separate homes.

• [014]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/07/2007)  (Apple Daily)  Apple Daily commissioned the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme to conduct a special poll of 505 Hong Kong Island residents on September 4-5, 2007.
   
  Q1.  Would you like Anson Chan to run in the Hong Kong Island Legco by-election?
  45%: Very much, somewhat
  35%: Somewhat not/very much not
  13%: Half/half
   6%: Don't know
  (number of respondents = 499)
   
  Q2. If only Anson Chan and Regina Ip were running in the by-election, who would you like to see elected?
  52%: Anson Chan
  32%: Regina Ip
    9%: Neither
    6%: Don't know/hard to say
  (number of respondents = 502)
   
  Yesterday evening, the Apple Daily reporter called Anson Chan to tell her that more than 50% of the HKU POP poll respondents want her to be elected in the Legco by-election, far ahead of Regina Ip.  Mrs. Chan asked: "How much?  How much?"  After the reporter repeated the result, Mrs. Chan said, "Ha, ha" a few times and then said, "I'm very grateful.  I thank the citizens for their support."  When asked if this raises the likelihood of her entering the election, Mrs. Chan said: "I'm presently considering it.  I will make a decision as soon as possible."

• [013]  But At Least I Look Good (09/05/2007)  (Daqi)  Previously, the Chinese fashionwear brand Semir (森马) had run a series of advertisements.
   
  
  (Left: I'm not going to become a sports superstar, but at least I look good)
  (Right: I'm not an Olympic torch bearer, but at least I good good)
   
  
  (Left: My tennis is rotten, but at least I look good)
  (Right: My bowling is dreadful, but at least I look good)
   
  Semir had also conducted a competition to look for similar slogans and obtained entries such as: I don't have house, car or money, but at least I look good, etc.
   
  So the advertisement theme is: even though I am no hero, at least I look good (with Semir clothes).
   
  But then Semir ran this ad:
  
  (I can't deal with global warming,
  but at least I look good.)
   
  All of a sudden, all hell breaks loose on the Internet.  Comments such as: "We need not say anything more about the urgency of the global warming problem.  This is the time when everybody has to take action.  But as a consumer company, it was obviously ignorant and immoral to announce to the public that global warming is none of its business.  What can a company with no sense of corporate social responsibility bring to the public and to society?  Could the survival of mankind be totally unrelated to the production and marketing of fashionwear?"  "This shows the sickness that exists in the cultural, marketing, publicity and entertainment fields.  They do not work from conscience and sincerity.  Instead, they strive for attention at the behest of commercial interests.  The products are either dark or maniacal, they insult the intelligence of the people and they violate the sense of aesthetics!"
   
  Although Semir's global warming ad was based upon the same creative concept, this one created a misunderstanding among some people and led to negative publicity galore.

• [012]  Reporting Style (09/05/2007)  The detailed story was published in Huashi Metropolis Daily (see The Most Awesome Fake Reporter In History), so Apple Daily (Taiwan) really does not have any original or additional information or insight.  But Apple Daily does have graphic illustrators!  This one shows the fake reporter Feng Jie conducting a job interview for the opening of administrative assistant.
  

• [011]  Why Did Front Runner Cyd Ho Withdraw From Legco By-Election? (09/05/2007)

(LSZ at Ming Pao)  

The sudden withdrawal of Cyd Ho Sau-lan from the Hong Kong Island Legco by-election surprised many pan-democrats.  Since Cy Ho has been vague about the reasons, speculations abound among people.  Yesterday, the news came out that Cyd Ho withdrew because she had lied about her academic credentials when she was a Legco member previously.  But Cyd Ho explained that she had attended Waterloo University in Canada but did not satisfy the thesis requirement for the degree.  In 1998, she was interviewed by Ming Pao and voluntarily revealed this fact.  This is now being resurrected as a result of the Legco by-election.

When Cyd Ho announced her decision to withdraw, the initial reaction was naturally that Martin Lee forced her to quit in order for Anson Chan to run.  But some pan-democrats familiar with Martin Lee's thinking said that this was unfair.  First of all, Martin Lee would never do that.  Secondly, the remaining term for this Legco position is less than one year and therefore far less important than people are making out it to be.  So there was no need to use such tactics.  Besides, the chances of Anson Chan entering are still very low.

Meanwhile, members of Cyd Ho's camp said that they recommended last weekend that she should withdraw due to the criticisms launched against her but the decision was delayed until the day before yesterday.  There are three reasons for her withdrawal.  First, the primary election mechanism that the pan-democrats agreed upon was more unfavorable to her.  For example, the weight of the public opinion poll went from 60% to 50%.  Secondly, the understanding of the pan-democrats was to come up with a formidable candidate, but those who intend to run do not have the stature to unify the pan-democrats.  With the call by many pan-democratic bosses for Anson Chan to run, Cyd Ho lost interest.  Thirdly, they found out that some people were digging up dirt on Cyd Ho such as her attendance record at the District Council meetings.  Surprisingly, such people included pan-democrats.  In the end, she better off not running this time.

 (Apple Daily)

Reason 1.  Academic credentials  (same story as in Ming Pao above).  This was old news and should not have been sufficient to force her to withdraw.

Reason 2.  According to some pan-democrats, Cyd Ho withdrew because the system of primary election was unfavorable to her.  She could handle the public opinion poll, but the second stage consists of 10 pan-democratic organizations each sending 30 representatives to attend the public forum with the candidates.  Cyd Ho had 'teethmarks' (i.e. unhappy dealings) with almost all of these organizations.  If she were to show up, she would be the target of everybody and would probably get the lowest number of votes.  Therefore, she wanted to use Anson Chan as an excuse to back out and save her from the embarrassment.

Reason 3.  The various pan-democratic bosses want to force Anson Chan to run, but she is declining because there are pan-democratic candidates alerady.  Among the three people who have already indicated their interests in running, Kam Nai-wai and Lo Wing-Lok should be easy to persuade to withdraw.  Cyd Ho is the one person who really wanted to run.  If she withdraws, the pan-democrats can force Anson Chan to enter.  But this scenario is stretching it too far.  Even if Cyd Ho withdraws, that does not mean that Anson Chan would run.  Worse yet, if Cyd Ho withdraws and Anson Chan does not run, then which pan-democrat can challenge Regina Ip?  Do they have to bring out Szeto Wah out of retirement?

(The Standard)

Civic Party lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah yesterday blamed "political heavyweights" for the surprise withdrawal of Cyd Ho Sau-lan as a candidate for December's Hong Kong Island by-election.  While Tong did not name names, he was apparently alluding to a statement by veteran democrat Martin Lee Chu-ming who had suggested former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang would not only be the ideal candidate but would also be exempt from the so-called mechanism to select one candidate.

"I feel sorry for the voters of Hong Kong Island constituency as they will have fewer people from which to choose," Tong said.  "But this was caused by some people who ignored the selection mechanism and used tactics to frighten Cyd Ho away."  "I heard what Cyd said in the RTHK program. I could feel the pressure she was under as an individual running an uphill battle without a political party to support her," he said.  "How can you discourage someone who is willing to run and then name someone who's not interested in running and turn the whole situation upside down?"

(SCMP)

Cyd Ho Sau-lan, who on Monday pulled out of the Legislative Council by-election on Hong Kong Island, last night called for an "inclusive culture" among political parties.  The democrat and former lawmaker said she could not bring "200 per cent unity" to the pan-democratic camp.  "As an independent, it is a difficult job to unite different political parties. This is a political reality," she said. "I hope there will be a more inclusive culture among political parties, where people can overlook some party constraints and work closer together for bigger ideals."  Insiders close to Ms Ho described her decision as "the climax of long-simmering frustrations".  They said she had long been plagued by "backstabbing" from rivals among the pan-democrats, despite initial support shown to her by some leading pan-democrat figures.

(The Standard)  

Pan-democratic groups have agreed on how to field a single candidate with the highest chance of winning the Legislative Council by-election to be held in December.  At a meeting yesterday, they agreed on a points system to pick the candidate with the highest score.  The method is divided into three parts. Fifty percent will be based on the results of a public opinion poll to be conducted by an academic institute, and 35 percent will be based on the result of voting by 30 representatives from 10 pan-democratic organizations which have agreed to co-ordinate in the district council elections.  The first two parts will be conducted after open debates among contenders, due to be held later this month. The remaining 15 percent will be based on the result of voting by 28 pan-democratic district councillors in the Hong Kong Island constituency.

(Those Were The Days blog)

Actually, I learned on Sunday evening from a colleague and a pan-democrat person that Cyd Ho would withdraw.  The pan-democrat person thinks that Cyd Ho was keenly aware that the pan-democrats' selection mechanism would get her into big trouble.  Among the three parts, the organizations which came up with the agreement will each send 30 representatives to a forum in which they will vote.  According to the pan-democrats, virtually all of the organizations except for Cyd Ho's own Civic Act-up are dissatisfied with her.  Therefore, Cyd Ho should be start enough if none of the organizations would cas a single vote for her, her political career is essentially terminated!  So why not use the excuse that the pan-democrat bosses want Anson Chan to run in order to back out now and save herself for the 2008 Legislative Council election when the selection mechanism is no longer there?

Nobody has asked the obvious question.  First, let us stipulate that the public opinion polls currently show that Cyd Ho is the most popular candidate among the pan-democrats who have indicated interest (Raymond Wong, Lo Wing-lok and Kam Nai-wai).  See, for example, the Ming Pao poll.  Next, let us say that the forum among the 300 representatives from the 10 pan-democratic organizations ends up with nobody else except Civic Action voting for Cyd Ho.  Why is this scenario regarded as normal?  Why is it normal for the pan-democratic camp to vote in a way that differs from public opinion?  What do they know that the public does not?  What is the meaning of democracy if the public will is to be ignored?

• [010]  National Flag Gate (09/04/2007)  (PCPOP)  At the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Liu Xiang won the gold medal in the men's high hurdles.  What does he get from the Chinese netizens?  A tsunami of complaints about how he handled the national flag that was handed over to him after he was first to cross the finish line.  Watch for yourself ...
  
   
  

• [009]  A Case of Plagiarism (09/04/2007)  (Wenxue City, ReporterHome)  Zhang Chaocang was the general manager/party secretary at the Anhui Provincial Energy Resources Group.  On July 11, he tried in the Fuyang City Middle Court on charges of corruption and bribe-taking.  Between 1989 and 2006, Zhang Chaocang took more than 2,780,000 yuan in bribes.  At the end of the trial, the previously silent Zhang Chaocang took out this reading glasses and read out a four-page letter of confession with tears in this eyes.  
  
   
  Here is the opening portion of that confession:

There are many reasons why I ended on the path of corruption, but the main reason was subjective in nature.

I am the son of farmers.  The Party sent me to university for education and then they sent me to the county for training.  Once I got in the leadership position, the promotions, posts and accomplishments caused me to feel arrogant.  I thought my accomplishments were due to my ability.  When I do someone a favor, I think that they owe me.  With such twisted thinking, I began with taking presents during festivals and holidays and I took monetary gifts until things got totally out of hand.

Since I was in a critical job post, I held the power in my hands and I could get things done on my say-so.  Many people come to me for help, and plenty of people clamber and pursue me for favors.  Slowly, I forgot all about party discipline and state laws.  Under the influence of friends, I became bolder and bolder.  By that time, I had no sense of party discipline left.  I only wanted to get something for myself, and I was never inhibited by party discipline or state laws.  The law is merciless and fair.  I am very sorry now, but it is too late.

Yes, but so what?  The reporter from <Procuratorial Daily News> discovered that Zhang Chaocang's confession had a great deal of similarity with the letter of confession published on May 29, 2007 in <Procuratorial Daily News> by Longquan Station, Chengdu, Sichuan former party secretary Zhu Fuzhong.  The similarities were beyond chance alone.  In other words, this was an act of plagiarism.

 
It was believed that the detention center has a subscription to <Procuratorial Daily News> and Zhang Chaocang must have seen Zhu's letter.  When Zhang's turn came to stand trial, he appropriated certain sections of Zhu's letter.  It may be that Zhang felt a resonance with Zhu's experience and really felt that same way.  Still, if Zhang Chaocang was truly contrite, he should not have plagiarized someone else's letter of confession.  Worst yet, Zhang has been caught for doing it.
 
Some commentators have noted that these confessions were empty talk filled with clichés.  This is certain true for some of them.  If these corrupt officials are always so full of love for the Party and the masses, how could they have gone into corruption in the first place?

• [008]  The Standard Goes Free (09/04/2007)  (The Standard)  The Standard, will switch to free circulation next Monday ... Initially, 120,000 copies will be distributed daily at more than 80 high- traffic points in the main business districts, including Central, Western, Admiralty, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Quarry Bay, and Tsim Sha Tsui.  Copies will also go to commercial buildings, residential areas, schools and universities, four- and five-star hotels, airlines and sports clubs, as well as locations in Macau.  The Standard's switch follows the introduction of two free Chinese papers by the parent company. Headline Daily is the largest-circulating free newspaper in Hong Kong at 700,000 copies, while Express Post is the top free weekend paper at more than 300,000 copies.
   
  (Apple Daily)  The Ming Pao reporter asked Sing Tao chairman Charles Ho yesterday at the press conference about his confidence.  "我 冇 信 心 ， 你 聽 成 日 聽 乜 ？ 問 咁 戇 居 ？ 我 有 水 泡 響 度 ， 知 道 唔 會 浸 死 人 ， 咪 行 ， 我 想 學 ， 得 唔 得 呀 ？ 我 想 維 持 張 報 紙 ， 小 姐 ， 有 冇 錯 呢 ？ … … 每 個 投 資 都 係 賭 博 ， 賭 錢 點 會 唔 用 大 腦 … … (translation: I don't have any confidence?  What have you been listening here all day?  How can you ask such a silly question?  I have a flotation device here, so I know that I won't drown.  Therefore, I am going ahead.  I want to learn something here.  Is that okay?  I only want to keep the newspaper going.  Miss, is that so wrong? ... Every investment is a gamble.  How can you not use your brain when you gamble with money? ...)"
  
  The Ming Pao reporter continued to ask: "Your newspaper's political position is pro-China ..."  Charles Ho responded immediately: "我 一 都 唔 覺 得 ， 講 支 持 政 府 ， 我 覺 得 你 《 明 報 》 好 出 位 ， 好 親 政 府 … … 我 好 中 立 … … (translation: I don't feel that way at all.  Speaking about supporting the government, I feel that your newspaper Ming Pao is very noticeably pro-government ... we are very neutral ...)."  Then Charles Ho added: "支 持 政 府 唔 係 犯 法 (translation: It is not against the law to support the government.)."

• [007]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/04/2007)  (Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies)  (785 citizens age 18 or older interviewed July 2023 about political reform)
   
  Q1. Which do you think is the right schedule to implement universal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive?
  52.8%: 2012
  21.5%: 2017
  17.3%: after 2017
    8.4%: Don't know/hard to say
   
  Q2. If Beijing thinks that 2017 is better for universal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive, will you accept delaying until 2017? (Base: Those 427 persons who answered 2012 in Q1 above)
    8.4%:Totally unacceptable
  26.0%: Unacceptable
  60.2%: Acceptable
    1.2%: Totally acceptable
    4.2%: Don't know/hard to say
   
  Q3. Which do you think is the right schedule to implement universal suffrage for electing the Legislative Council?
  39.5%: 2012 in one step
  36.5%: 2016 in phases
  16.1%: after 2016 in phases
    7.9%: Don't know/hard to say 
   
  Q8.  Concerning the reform of the political system in Hong Kong, do you agree that the Beijing central government has constitutional power (that is, the ultimate power to decide)?
    3.1%: Completely disagree
  22.6%: Disagree
  56.2%: Agree
  12.4%: Compltetely agree
    5.7% Don't know/hard to say

• [006]  Burn, Baby, Burn!  (09/04/2007)  (TVBS)  In Kaohsiung, a civic organization that was unhappy with the American government's opposition to Taiwan's attempt to enter the United Nations went to demonstrate at the local office of the American Institute in Taiwan.  They stomped on the American flag and set it on fire.
   
  
   
  The protestors chanted: "Taiwan nation!  Taiwan nation!  Taiwan nation!"  In total, there were 12 demonstrators who were called to action by the local underground radio stations.  The underground radio stations called out: "Surround the American Institute in Taiwan office!  Come, come, come!  See how the American flag gets stomped upon.  Come, come come!"  They were faced with more than 200 police officers armed with batons and handguns.  Nevertheless, the protestors chanted: "Yes! Yes!  Burn!  Burn!"
   
  Then the police raised the warning sign for the protestors to disperse.  Faced with the overwhelming odds, the demonstrators left reluctantly.  On this day, the American Institute of Taiwan was closed on account of the Labor Day holiday in the USA (note: the first Monday of September).  Therefore, the only persons inconvenienced were the 200 plus police officers on duty at the location.
   
• [005]  Ah-Bian Would Not Stop (09/04/2007)  In Comment 200709#002, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said that more than 70% of Taiwan judges and prosecutors are 'blue' and incapable of telling right from wrong.  Therefore, he would refuse to resign if a guilty verdict is returned in the state secret fees case even though he had previously promised to do so.
   
  Obviously, the judiciary sector has been extremely unhappy about his accusation from the supreme leader of the nation, but what can they do except to whine?
   
  (TVBS)  On this day, the Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-Wey announced at a press conference that all law officials had better publicly declare their party affiliation!  "In any case that involves poltiical figures, the judges and prosecutors must announce publicly their political party affiliation (or lack thereof).  Otherwise, their judgments will be quesioned no matter how fair they are."
  
   
  Reporter: "Will your action invoke suspicion that this is the executive branch interfering with the judiciial branch?"
  Shieh: "I do not accept the notion of interference with the judiciary."
   
  The atmosphere became somewhat tense over the debate.  Shieh said: "This has nothing whatsoever to do with the point made by President Chen.  We are asking the Nationalist Party to publish their membership list within the judiciary from the period of the martial law.  This has nothing to do with the law.  It is related to fairness and justice during the transitional period."

• [004]  The Extra Message in "Mazda 6's PK Hummer" (09/03/2007)  (hdzwx)

Recently, a video has been very popular at the various big Internet forums: due to a slight, more than 20 Mazda 6 sedans surrounded a Hummer on the Ningbo-Lianyungang Expressway and forced it to go at the slow speed of 30 kph for ten minutes until the Hummer sounded its police siren.  This video caused a storm as condemnations came in.  Some netizens initiated an Internet hunt and published the names and mobile phone numbers of the Mazda 6 owners.

After watching this video, I had to laugh: What is the big deal?  At most, this is a spat on the expressway among car downers.  If traffic rules were broken, the case should be referred to the traffic department and that was it.  Why are there rivers of Internet saliva?  Why did this get raised to the level of Internet violence where confidential information was published for no reason?

According to traditional standards, the incident and the reporting were both not very meaningful.  It is a waste of time.  But this did not affect its ability to become the center of a discussion that you cannot help but pay attention to.

In a diversified society, meaningless incidents can have unimaginable impact through the Internet -- the participants wil use a meaningless incident to express their own sentiments without paying too much attention to the incident itself.

In the case of the "Mazda 6's PK Hummer" incident, it is no longer important whether the drivers were right or wrong.  The important fact is that the Mazda 6's and the Hummer gave people a perfect reason to vent: Look, these rich people flaunt their wealth on the expressway, they abuse their wealth, they deserve to be cursed, they deserve to die!  Here, people are no longer cursing the specific individuals in this case, but they are cursing the abstract class of "rich people."

The grand background of this unbalanced mindset is the rich-poor gap in society.  Those people who feel that their interests had been damaged in the past are looking for an opportunity to vent.  Therefore, a minor matter such as the Mazda's laying siege to a Hummer became the excuse for a war of words.

It is interesting that if you observe carefully, then the people who are cursing most vehemently are not the socially vulnerable people.  Instead, white collar workers and private company owners are just as angry.  A certain private company owners wrote: "I don't want see anyone with more money that I have.  If I don't like it, I will start cursing.  I will curse out everyone that I don't like ..."

"Cursing out everyone" reflets the anxiety and uncertainty during the transitional era.  The "Mazda 6's PK Hummer" affair is a live example that directly revealed the irrational mindset from the social problems.  These types of emotions are spreading and we should take about how to treat them.  "Cursing out everyone" does not solve any problems and is bad for the construction of a harmonious society.

• [003]  Shi Jing (Jessica)'s Blog?  (09/02/2007)  In the matter of the nude photographs of the Electrolux office lady (see White Collar Photo Gate), there is a blog purportedly by the principal Jessica Shi Jing.  Here is the Q&A:

Q1.  Were you the person in the photographs on the Internet?
A. No.  The face is mine, but the body is not mine.  I have asked friends in Japan to look up the real person on the Japanese Internet or photo alumbs.  I don't feel that they were very good with their Photoshop work.

Q2. Did you participate in any part of this affair?
A. No.  Someone might have mentioned that they would make me famous.  But I never imagined that I could be famous through these perverted photographs.

Q3; Someone said that you are putting an act with Electrolux?
A: Yes, this affair has made Electrolux famous.  But is this a positive influence for the brand value?

Q4. What are you doing right now?  Will you accept interviews?
A: I am overseas where I will begin my studies immediately.  Since I am not the principal in the nude photographs, I have nothing to rebuke.  You can use photoshop to put any movie star into any photograph.  Of course, I am not a movie star, so they took my photographs to do this.  Nobody would leave it if it were a movie star.

Q5. Can you describe your place of origin and education?
A: All the Internet stuff are lies.  They are all wrong.  My confidential stuff is still secure.

Q6. Has any brand asked you to become the spokesperson?  How much do you charge?
A: I have no intention of being a spokesperson for any brand or company, including Electrolux.

Q7. Some reporters say that you leaked the photographs yourself?
A: Throughout the process, not a single reporter interviewed me.  In China, the reporters only know how to make up fake news and then they spin the fake news around and around.

Q8. Why did you suddenly start a blog at icxo.com?
A: I did it in order to be able to counterattack.  I am a manager, and so I set up a blog at icxo.com.  This is my one (and only) personal webpage.

Q9. Since the character in the nude photographs is not you, will you pursue the person(s) responsible?
A: I will.  One part of the action plan is shown in the fact that it is very hard to search for the photographs in China now.

In the comments to this blog, some netizens do not believe her assertion about the Photoshop job.  Within the series to totally nude photograhs are some in which Shi Jing stood in front of a mirror, so that she appears twice.  It would be immensely difficult for a Photoshop master to come up with two headshots that match so perfectly.  

(the red bars were imposed for the sake of 'decency' -- whatever that means)

• [002]  Ah-Bian Reconsiders (09/01/2007)  (Liberty Times)

Yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian was interviewed on a television program and said that "it was bullshit" to say that the judiciary is not interfering with the upcoming presidential election.  He also thought that more than 70% or 80% of the judges are 'blue.'  In the past, President Chen Shui-bian had said that he would resign if the state secret case should result in a guilty verdict in the first trial.  But if the judiciary is not independent and detached, knows only political colors and ignores right and wrong, he "obviously needs to reconsider." 

Yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian was interviews by SETV on the program "Talking Show 大話新聞" and he expressed strong doubts about the judiciary in Taiwan.  Concerning the presiding judge Tsai Shou-hsun in the state secret fees case and the Ma Ying-jeou special fees case, the program host Cheng Hung-yi asked whether Tsai was tainted by politics.  President Chen answered that many people are critical: "I don't know him so I cannot comment.  But I have lots of question marks."

The host brought up the claim that 70% or 80% of the judges and prosecutors are 'blue.'  Does the President agree?  President replied: "I think that the number is even higher."  When the judiciary reaches this state and more and more people feel that the judiciary only sees 'color' instead of right or wrong, it is the sorrow for the nation.

The host then asked, "Do you think that the judiciary is interfering with this election?"  President Chen said: "It would be bullshit to say that they are not."  If a few members of the judiciary can act as referees to decide for the people just who is qualified or unqualified to be elected, then there is not point to even bother with the election.  He emphasized that he is not criticizing the judiciary, but the judiciary has to command respect.  The people in the judiciary must respect the law instead of raising doubts among people.

You didn't think that he would really keep that promise, did you?

• [001]  Car License Plate Number 牛B74110 (09/01/2007)  (Southern Metropolis Daily)  In Nanjing, a traffic police was patrolling the streets when he spotted a yellow van going down a pedestrian street.  Therefore, he immediately ordered the van driver to stop.  First, he asked for and checked the driver's license.  Then he asked for the vehicle registration.  The driver said, "I didn't bring it.  I"ll do that the next time."  Then he started the van and wanted to drive away.  The policeman ordered the driver to stop the engine.  Then the police went up front to look at the license plate number and was stunned to find the hand-drawn letters '牛B74110' (which reads ‘牛B，气死110’ and translates as "Awesome!  This will infuriate the police (note: whose emergency telephone number is 110)."  
  
  According to the explanation of the driver, the vehicle belonged to a hometown friend who spent almost 20,000 yuan to buy it but never bothered to register in order to save money.  The car had been used exclusive to drive within the Red Sun Decoration Town for delivery.  He was bored and used paint to write down '牛B74110' based upon Internet language.  On this day, there was a problem with starting the engine and therefore he drove the car outside the Decoration Town to a garage for fixing.  But he was unfortunate to be stopped by a traffic policeman.  The police has impounded the vehicle, pending completion of the required paper work.