Simon World

Asia by blog

Another look at Asian blogging...

Hong Kong, Taiwan and China

• Tom reports that my homeland is caving in to pressure from China on a refugee application. You can imagine the reception waiting for her when she gets back to China.

• China is facing a shortage of migrant labour for the first time in 20 years. ALN has plenty more, as does China Herald. ALN also says China is not just attracting investment, it is starting to become a big investor itself.

• Tom takes issue with a translation by ESWN. ESWN also translates the introduction to a book by Jiao Guobiao, the professor who wrote the polemic against the CCP's Propaganda Department.

• ACB says there may be an answer to China's growing power problems: the sun.

• ESWN follows the ongoing flap over Taiwanese singer Chang A-Mei and her concert in Beijing.

• Phil finds Tex-Mex in the middle of China. He also talks about the ups and downs of trains in China.

• ACB was looking at the build-up to this weekend's soccer final. Fumier congratulates Japan on their weekend soccer win but says China has won too. ESWN wraps-up the stories and photos of the weekend's Asia Cup soccer final between Japan and China. FY looks at the whole mess from Korea, saying it proves China's not ready for an Olympics. Jodi also has more. The Ruck has photos and also has some strongly worded thoughts on the hooliganism of China's fans. What is it about soccer that brings out the worst in people? Interestingly ACB has found a case where China ignored a chance at anti-Japanese rhetoric. The catch? It was attacking US nuclear ambitions instead.

• While we're on sport, Peking Dork notes that Taiwanese fans at the Olympics have been asked to not fly their own flag, but rather an "approved" version. PD also notes the double standards between Chinese fans burning Japanese flags (deemed acceptable) and the ban on Taiwan's flag. How will China deal with the Taiwanese at the Beijing Olympics?

• Joel looks at differences between Korea and Hong Kong and has some good pics and observations of the Big Lychee.

• Fumier's (via Hemlock) got a secret he doesn't want you to pass on. He's also got the shocking news that some lawyers in China can't be trusted.

• Fons reports on another trade fair in China: the adult toy expo. It includes this interesting bit: "In Australia we sell three million vibrators per year, mostly made in China," said Michael Rutner, of 'Next to nothing'. That means on average one vibrator for every sexual active woman." Now you know why Aussie women smile so much.

• ESWN has another photo montage of pictures of China.

• Dan Washburn, now in Hunan, talks about the ongoing Chinese fascination with Mao and visits the late Chairman's home town.

Korea and Japan

• I didn't realise but South Korea is trying to ban reporting on its deployment of troops to Iraq. South Korea's obviously not as democratic as it pretends, although Gord reports the blog blockage seems over.

• Oranckay says the UN has appointed someone to look at human rights in North Korea. The question remains: will he get out of the airport?

• Marmot and Cathartidae are covering the ongoing tussle between Korea and China over that most delicate of topics: history. Marmot goes through the background of this tiff here: it seems it all started when China deleted any references to Korean history before 1948 to solve the problem of dropping references to the kingdom of Koguryo in the 1st Century AD. So they're only missing about 5,000 years. Oranckay has more and thinks the spat will serve to cure those in Korea fixated with China. What all this (and the soccer debacle above too) is the wounds of wars are not healed in Asia, because there has not been acceptance and apologies. While Europe screwed the process up after WW1, it seemed to get it right after WW2 (perhaps because the start of the Cold War) and now Germany is accepted (mostly) at face value. While the rest of Europe may have reservations, Germany re-unified and has continued to be Europe's biggest economy without raising ire or causing political problems. In Asia this hasn't happened, mostly because of Japan's refusal to confront its past. Until it does these kind of problems are going to continue and sensitivities will remain fragile. And it will be to Japan's detriment.

• IA says goodbye to Korea, emphatically.

SE Asia

• The Sassy Lawyer talks about the plague of child prostitution in Philippines and across Asia.

• Happy Birthday, Singapore. Jodi talks about Singapore's dynastic succession this week and takes a look at its future.

• Jakartass looks at Indonesia's judicial system and finds it wanting.

Miscellany

• Now I never need to worry about being called hairy again.

• The alternative Big Mac index continues, with numbers in for HK.

Finally thanks to both Shaky and Gutrumbles for the links.

Say hello

Welcome to the HK blogging club, Samantha Culp.

Leading from the front

Yet again China is turning into a, ummm, world beater. There's plenty of talk of "growing markets" and "rapid expansion". Scariest of all, for anyone who's ever tasted China's drinking water, is this statement: Wu Wei, president of one of China's largest makers of adult sex toys, says it is only a matter of time before couples accept "marital aids" as being "just like drinking water". I so hope not.

Darfur from Quarry Bay

The SCMP has, on its thankfully little-read op-ed page, a piece of excrement masquering as an opinion piece by Philip Bowring. The whole article is in the extended entry but there is a warning attached - it contains views that make little sense.

The main thrust of the article is the Western World's "selective" approach to intervention in humanitarian causes, calling efforts in "global do-goodery" as "at best irrelevant and at worst arrogant neo-imperialism".

Before we go on, let's look at what's actually happening in Darfur. The Darfur Information Center has a tonne of links and reports. Going back to late June, there's a roundup of what was happening at Passion of the Present with plenty more right through that site. To show it's not a partisan affair, Moveon.org also has an open letter with some links on the matter. An update last week was posted at Winds of Change: the toll was 30,000 dead and over a million refugees. Robert Corr has a summary of the history and links on what's happening from late July. The Economist has had several recent articles on the whoe thing here, here, here, here and here. You get the idea.

But according to Bowring, writing from his air conditioned office in Quarry Bay, it's all very cynical that the West wants to try and "save" Darfur. He uses various buzzwords to make his point. Try this: Editorials spew out demands that the said international community "must do something" to stop the killing there. The media spurs the hue and cry by presenting a black and white version of events. Ummm, actually this time it is pretty black and white. Government backed miltias are systematically torching villages in a deliberate campaign.

He actually has a point in saying that missions to complicated foreign situations need planning and solid committment of resources to be successful, as Afghanistan and Iraq have shown. Of course if Bowring's version is correct, then it was a good job the West didn't get involved in the Rwandan genocide too. He seems to think the victims of this ongoing genocide should simply let it happen to themselves, rather than arm themselves and fight against the Government armed and backed forces. He even makes the following ridiculous statement: As for ethnic cleansing, the champions of this process in the past 100 years were the victorious 1945 allies who cleansed Poland and Czechoslovakia, for example, of their German populations. It's hard to read that and think he's being serious. His main point seems to be that the West engages in "victors' justice" and they should be more even-handed; how that follows from the rest of his article I'm not entirely sure. He is implying it is better for the West to never intervene in such events rather than being seen to take sides.

The SCMP is usually a pretty mediocre paper but they manage to avoid total rubbish. This time, however, they have reached the bottom of the barrel. The article is a disgrace and Philip Bowring's confused arguement reflects badly on himself and the paper. It is literally disgusting.

The bad news for Mr. Bowring is this is a world that requires you to take sides. Fence-sitting has never been an acceptable excuse.

Continue reading "Darfur from Quarry Bay"

The numbers game

Two interesting bits of news over the weekend. Firstly China's top causes of death are lung cancer and traffic accidents. This is not a surprise for anyone that's ever been to the place. In fact I'd estimate that traffic accidents caused by drivers smoking is likely to be the highest single killer in China.

Meanwhile Hong Kong tops the developed world with the highest abortion rate. 30% of all pregnancies are terminated in Hong Kong. That's a staggering figure. The article blames Chinese cultural pressures for only being married before having babies, but the article says there is a high rate of abortions within marriages too. What is omitted is there are women in HK who also travel to the Mainland for abortions, meaning the true figure for HK is likely to be even higher. While I know the whole issue of abortion is a moral minefield it seems like, in HK at least, for some it is becoming another form of post-conception contraception. It demonstrates the need for far better sex education in schools.

Sporting

China lost to Japan in the Asian Cup soccer final. China has blamed everyone for its loss except the most obvious suspect: themselves. The coach refused to take his medal as runner-up on the grounds the refereeing was biased against the Chinese. This is despite Several coaches of opposing national teams complained that China was helped to advance by biased refereeing, and that the team's overall performance has deteriorated since the last World Cup. If the Chinese team had followed there would have been real chaos on the streets of Beijing. The match was always going to be tense, and soccer is well known for mixing sport with acting. The Chinese team played well but were outclassed by a better side. But it is impossible for them to acknowledge that when their opponents were the Japanese. China's coach deserve full sanction by the AFC. Losers never like the refereeing but you don't refuse your medal. Even worse was this statement (via SCMP):

...he (Chinese coach Haan) did not regret his actions. "I would do it again. It's the second time I didn't take my medal. At the World Cup in 1978 the whole team did not go up. Why should we accept everything just because we are sportsmen?"

You shuold it accept it because you are sportsmen, you flippin' idiot. This is not something China can take pride in. Which is a shame, because they did well to reach the finals in the first place. The real tragedy is the Chinese coach, a Dutchman, has simply disgraced himself and will drag down the reputation of his team with him. If the Chinese football authorities had any guts, they'd sack him. And they should stop looking at others to blame and simply focus on trying to get better for the next time.

US Election

My Da always used to say "Put you money where your mouth is." He also used to say "if you're so smart why aren't you rich?" but that's for another time.

So I decided there's a far better way than mere opinion polls to find out who's likely to win the US Presidential Election. I went to Tradesports.com, a betting exchange, where there is a set of bets on whether Bush will win the electoral college votes of each particular state. If he does it pays out 100, if he doesn't it pays 0. States that are solidly Bush, for example Alabama, are currently trading at 97. California is trading at 9 - in other words, there is only a 9% chance of Bush winning it. Then I assembled the electoral college votes for each state and set a simple rule: if the Tradesports number for that state exceeds 50% Bush gets those votes, otherwise they go to Kerry. Then it's a quick matter of adding it up and getting the answer.

This isn't perfect. But the fact that these are tradable contracts and are reasonably liquid (judging by the volumes) it's far more likely to be right than an opinion poll. I know there are a couple of states where the electoral college isn't winner take all, but for this I've assumed all states (and DC) are winner-take-all only. I'm happy for people to point out any other problems with the methodology. The Excel file is in the extended entry if you want to look yourself.

So with that in mind, what does it say? At the moment it has Bush with 274 to Kerry's 264 (out of 538 in total). That's awfully close. I went one step further. I said if the price was between 40 and 60, call it a "crucial state" - states where there is a reasonable chance of swinging to the other side. There are only four: Florida, Nevada, West Viriginia and Wisconsin. A swing in any one of those states would turn it around for Kerry. But according to the betting money, these are the only 4 states that matter at the moment. And I'd believe people putting their money where their mouth is more than one hundred opinion polls.

I'll look to update this from time to time. Any feedback or thoughts are welcome.

UPDATE: There's some interesting discussion on the merits of this method.

(Parked at OTB)

Continue reading "US Election"

Enemablog

It's not right: it's Friday afternoon and work is busy. That means this linkfest will be nowhere as creative as some, but as someone once said, a link by any other name would be as sweet:

Blogs

Harvey has a 12 step blogging program, although I'm breaking points 11 and 12 right here.

Helen, the best writer in the blogosphere today, talks to a dead man extremely well and says despite the many bumps in her life, it has all been worthwhile.

In the celebration stakes: Ilyka turns one; it was Jim's birthday and Matt had a baby, while Winds of Change had its 2,000,000 hit!

This was the week of the Operation Give debacle, with more from Dean, the Chief and our own man in Atlanta: Jim. The latest update is here. Hell, it's even hitting Operation Shoefly...good one Atlas Line - you've ripped off two charities at once.

On a better note, yours truly had a final spurt (so to speak) and finished second on Jim's points ladder! Damn you, Rob.

Sometimes the blogosphere gets itself tied in knots over the stupidest things. Just as it seems to be making headway, with bloggers at the DNC and Republican conventions, it seems to take a giant step backwards. You see, sometimes a t-shirt is just a t-shirt. It all started when Atrios and this guy decided they didn't like Glenn wearing a t-shirt that Frank J. (he's still not that funny, maybe because he's really Atrios!) with a collection of guns on it and the line "Celebrate Diversity". Sure it's not that funny but the reaction and hyperbole against it are way over the top, as others point out. At least there's some common sense and good humour coming out of the mess. With everything going on in the world, you'd really think there are more important things to argue about.

While we're on bloggers pretending to be other people, Paul tries it and then denies it. There's no 5th ammendment in blogging, buddy.

Rusty puts his academic brain to use and does the maths: he's not making money blogging...unlike some. He should try asking for money and then promising to go on holidays for a month. Now that's chutzpah.

Politics

Tim Blair follows-up on Margo's stupid comments part 4976. UPDATE: But wait, there's more.

Bill, Spoons and Misha on why Subway is anti-American. Well, they would have been...

In the apparently Kerry was in 'Nam files...Lots of chatter about a new political ad in the US by Swift Vets for Truth, basically calling Kerry a liar, liar, pants on fire. My take: no-one disputes he actually went and served; the problem is if he's being truthful about what happened. Who the hell ever knows what really happened in a war 30 years ago, even amongst those there? While it reflects on his character, there's far more important issues to deal with in the here and now. Hell, look at Clinton's past and it didn't stop him getting in twice - because he stayed focus on issues as much as he could. Spoons says this TV ad may backfire. Kerry missed a big opportunity to shift the focus from Vietnam to today's issues at the DNC and he lef the door open for this to continue. That was a massive mistake by him and his campaign.

The Commissar sums up the over-reactions to flight 327 (the Syrian musos who frightened a paranoid journo).

Miscellany

Via Dean comes this review of Day After Tomorrow, the only one you need to read. Comprehensive and insightful on a stupid movie.

Giles asks where are all the Japanese superheroes?

Who'd have tought trying to pass a kidney stone could be funny (even if he spells things wrong).

Now we know how Wind Rider got his name.

Via Joe comes this piece on why iPod is a passing fad and answers to questions asked from the original post. It is worth taking the time to read it all.

UPDATE 2: Via PMO comes this story of how the best way to deal with noisy kids on a plane.

Now you've followed all the links, go and have a great weekend.

China funnies

Couldn't resist this little bit from the China Daily:

The example of Hong Kong and "One Country, Two Systems" is the best model to benefit reunification of Taiwan with the motherland, said Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam yesterday...Lam said implementation of the "One Country, Two Systems" principle has enabled Hong Kong to achieve sound political and economic development over the past few years. It has enabled Hong Kong people to express different opinions on political issues and constitutional development, he said.

The Basic Law, together with Hong Kong's legal system, has made it possible to solve new problems that have popped up since the handover, he noted.

Who needs a comics section when you've got cr@p like that?

The Albert Cheng mess

Usually HK Magazine (actually a weekly newspaper) is good for one thing: the weekly fix of Savage Love (this week's is particularly good). However their editorial on the Albert Cheng story (details here and today's latest here) is worth reproducing in full because it is accurate and sarcastic all at the same time:

Continue reading "The Albert Cheng mess"

What was public is now private again?

Australia is close to signing a free-trade agreement with the USA. It's not a perfect deal by any stretch: there are serious restrictions and ommissions due to various domestic political pressures. Anyway, the Sepos have done their bit, seeing it as a thank-you to a coalition of the willing member. In Australia the deal is stuck in the Senate while the two major parties quibble over the impact on Australia's drug subsidy scheme but it is inevitable that a deal will be done: can't go p!ssing off the Americans when they are saying thanks.

One of the overlooked aspects is Australia will now have to increase the term of copyright protection by 20 years. It seems perverse that retrospectively some items that were in the public domain are now to be removed again. My limited understanding of law is usually courts frown upon retrospective legislation and this would seem to be a case of it. Is this part of the law of unintended consequences or just a mistake? I hope the latter because it defies belief that which was open and free can suddenly become copyrighted again.

(via Kolya)

Maybe we should be paying more attention to our spam

Is there anything Viagra cannot do?

Simon's Guide: What not to say when a woman is in labour

In the next instalment of the Simon Guide series, here's few handy things not to say when your wife is in labour:

Continue reading "Simon's Guide: What not to say when a woman is in labour"

Many hands

Beijing's in trouble. Their preferred set of lackeys for the LegCo elections in Hong Kong are all getting ratings that even Tung Che-hwa can laugh at:

The pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) is facing a battle for survival in next month's elections after it emerged as the least popular of all parties in a recent poll...The Article 45 Concern Group was the most popular party.

Some 78 per cent of respondents said they were unhappy with the DAB, while 74 per cent expressed dislike for the Progressive Alliance. Another 54 per cent were dissatisfied with the FTU and 51 per cent with the Liberal Party.

On the other hand, 77 per cent expressed support for the Article 45 Concern Group, followed by 68 per cent for the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL), 63 per cent for the Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) and 52 per cent for the Democratic Party.

Holy ballot-stuffers, Batman. At least Beijing had the sense to back the least bad horse: James Tien's Cartel Liberal Party. Unless something drastic happens between now and the election (and it cannot be ruled out), the democrats are heading for a landslide. This is despite them having not much of a platform other than universal suffrage.

Methinks it will not be a happy evening in the Forbidden City on September 12.

Letting the side down

Hong Kong has again been let down by a couple of bad apples. A SCMP report on a poll of Hong Kongers' eating habits has found 2% of residents do NOT have a fast food habit. Luckily the other 98% of us do - and how. The survey said HK has more than 11,000 restaurants, of which 3 had no rats in their kitchen. It also has 5,000 grocery stores, of which 1 had a staff member who cared (but whom was instantly dismissed after the release of the survey). The survey said fast food fetishists gorged on the stuff about 7 times a month. That seems amazing because there really isn't much else to eat but "fast" food in HK given Cantonese cooking is based on quick cooking.

While we are talking about people letting Hong Kong down, another survey has said there is an amazing 17% of Hong Kongers' without a mobile phone. This is an absolute disgrace. I hope this year's Christmas appeals help these unfortunate types.

And I shudder to think of the poor wretches who fall into both categories: healthy eaters sans mobile phones. I shudder at the thought. The HK Government must do something at once.

Pages

It is obvious the reporters at the South China Morning Post don't read their own paper. What's even more embarrassing is neither do the subbies or editor. The front page is a splash of Guangzhou's new white elephant Baiyun Airport, with fawing coverage under the headline "Easy takeoff with a few minor bumps." The article interviews an American who was waiting an hour and a half after landing to still leave the airport and some nutter who was "so excited" he decided to sleep at the airport just so he could be the first to leave the place. It finishes on the cheery note that a flight from Hong Kong had "some problems with the control tower, which was unable to give clear instructions on where to park." It's not a shopping centre, it's a friggin' airport.

Regardless there's an article a few pages in under the very different headline "Public gives mixed reviews for Guangzhou's showpiece airport". It proceeds to detail the litany of what went wrong: a badly designed terminal, no directions, confusing signs, misallocated baggage, unhelpful staff, dirty and inadequate toilets. Doesn't sound like a few minor bumps to me. No one ever said opening a new airport was easy (and Hong Kong should know) but the SCMP could at least get its stories straight.

Asia by blog

Who's saying what in Asian blogging? Find out below...

Hong Kong, Taiwan and China

• Via Richard comes an interesting article on how a cousin of Pu Yi, China's Last Emperor, got through the Cultural Revolution and was ironically working in the Summer Palace.

• Tom reviews China's New Rulers: The Secret Files. He recommends it with the caveat it should not be treated as gospel truth. He also says HK's Government is now just following Beijing's script in responding to questions on interpretation of the Basic Law. What a surprise.

• ESWN continues his translation of the controversial study of China's peasantry that's been banned on the Mainland. He also says Hong Kong is getting its very own flip-flopper in the shape of Albert Cheng. He's getting plenty of media coverage, which tells you how little there is for media to cover here. And it's not just me.

• Time has an article on the carnage on Asia's roads. ACB says China's authorities are taking steps to protect car owners against defective models.

• In an article asking Chinese about American Chinese food Wayne finds some great lines.

• ESWN reports on a massive police crackdown on peasants on a village in Henan Province. The reason for the riots? After trying to get central attention to the expropriation of their land and embezzlement by their local leader, the response was 600 riot police. Funny how it hasn't been reported in China. Fons has pictures.

• Taiping talks about the emergence of China as a force in modern architecture.

• Conrad fears The Standard is trying to match the SCMP in a race to the bottom. While on media Jeremy links to a review of San Francisco's six Chinese language newspapers. Even Hong Kong doesn't have that many Chinese language papers!

• Brendan from Bokane is leaving China and has a great farewell post.

• Danwei says sex education classes are starting early in China.

• Following the publication of a letter by Lu Yuegang on the realities of media in China, ESWN has a commentary on it by a fellow Chinese reporter. Jeremy reprints a WaPo article on the Southern Metropolis Daily, which has discovered the limits of independent Chinese media the hard way.

• Ralph Jennings talks about the case of Zhao Yan, the Chinese citizen bashed by a US border guard, and how it is being used as a pawn in a propaganda campaign. It also points out some stark differences in how the case is being handled to how it would be handled in China.

• Via Mad Minerva, Donald Sensing takes another look at the potential for China to invade Taiwan.

Korea and Japan

• Kevin says the Korean blogging block may be lifting on typepad and Munu blogs (or is it?). Here's hoping. However it seems the Korean Government's obsession with news control is a bigger problem than I imagined. FY has more info on the troops headed for Iraq.

• FY has pictures and an article (from Aljazeera!) on hypocritical Korean "peace" protesters.

• Just in case readers in America thought North Korea was nothing to worry about, maybe you should think again. And IA says there's an interesting middleman involved. The same middleman whom he now links to the Bushes as well; as he says, you may as well back both horses in a 2 horse race. Tony talks about the joke that is inter-Korean relations; the same North Korea that makes large amounts of foreign exchange through drugs.

• Marmot says Korean and Chinese journalists are at war.

• Andrea, posting at LiC, wonders if China is actually worried by a possible reunification of Korea?

• Spirit Fingers reports on a disturbing Japanese beauty contest. While on Japan Antti finds a Japanese imperial family impostor at work in Korea.

SE Asia

• The Sassy Lawyer says while some Singaporean students are using tablet PCs, others in the Philippines need to share textbooks. Bring back the quill and ink.

• CC asks where are the Philippine press in reporting on the revelations of Gracia Burnham. Wretchard talks about the whole mess in the Southern Philippines and wonders how much (if at all) the US should help. Also CC wonders about the Philippine response to the new sectarian violence in Iraq against Christians; he wonders about Malaysian PM Abdullah as well.

• Macam-Macam says that Wiranto just won't give up in the Indonesian election, even though he's already lost. Also via Macam-Macam comes Jakartass on cleanliness in Jakarta.

• Jodi measures the toll of the massive monsoons wrecking havoc over South Asia. She also talks about religious tolerance (or lack thereof) in Asia.

• Jodi, who's got one darn interesting and always readable blog, says it ain't easy being a husband in Thailand.

Miscellany

• Via Doug comes this article on how it can be tough for single Western women living in Asia (printed from the Asia Wall St Journal from September 2003).

• The other Big Mac index continues: numbers are in for Taiwan. Word is spreading (for example via Tim and David). Stephen is still looking for more data so help him out and eat a Big Mac.

• In the history section, Joel looks at some of the last holdouts from WW2.

• Tom talks about Japan's latest efforts to capture Olympic gold, and they are extreme.

• The last word goes to Andrea: "I told you not to go under there."

I have to crush them myself???

It turns out that instead of 72 virgins when a Muslim matyr goes to paradise, all they may actually get are white grapes. Hardly seems worthwhile.

(via Tony)

Musical interlude

The IT boffins are soon to attack my computer for "an hour" (read "as long as it takes to get it working"). They are doing it over lunchtime, so it must be important because I've rarely even seen an IT person at lunchtime, let alone seen them working.

In the meantime let me give you a quick recommendation. If you only rip off one music company this year by illegally downloading an entire set of songs off Kazaa or something similar, make it the songs from the album "O" by Damian Rice. It's friggin' good. More precisely it's mellow (read guitars and strings) ballads that are well executed. It is crafted to seem a little rough around the edges and the lyrics can take themselves too seriously at times, but these are minor quibbles. It is a smooth and solid set of songs that get better with every listen. Rice relies mostly on melody to carry the songs, with bass often provided by a quiet cello and usually without a drum at all. He has a good but not outstanding voice but he uses it effectively as another instrument in the music, rather than in opposition to it. Best of all he succeeds in filling the soundspace despite his spartan use of instruments - something many musicians struggle to do. There is nothing extraneous or unnecessary and holistically the result is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Hell, it's that good I actually bought the CD for real. If you only fill one record company's coffers this year while the artist gets 3% of the sticker price, make it this one.

HK press freedom

Deroy Murdock has an article on the encroachment by China on Hong Kong's media. It borders on hysteria at times but neatly summarises the recent pressure Hong Kong's media has come under from the CCP.

Mind you at their blog, "The Corner", they're giving air to an article from the Asia Times. Conrad has effectively looked at Asia Times and this "Spengler" previously, with more here and here. Just because it's on the net doesn't make it true.

The past catching up

Japan and China will play in the finals of the Asian Soccer Cup this weekend. The event is being hosted in China and fans are being asked to be "civilised" towards their opponents. It is often difficult for outsiders to imagine the depth of feeling Japan arouses in other Asian nations, especially Korea and China. Any analysis of history can see the justifications for such anger and hatred and it drives many of the geopolitical and economic dynamics in Asia today.

William Pesek Jr. has an interesting article on how Japan's past may now start hurting it economically. The thrust of his argument is as Korea and now China become significant economies and drivers of growth Japan will miss out unless it confronts its military past effectively and completely. Until such time as Japan is prepared to honestly face up to its past deeds it will suffer economically and politically. While culturally and domestically Japan PM Koizumi has to visit shrines honouring the war dead, including convicted war criminals, the rest of Asia will find it impossible to engage with Japan in a meaningful way. Indeed China will not let Japan's PM visit the Mainland for this very reason.

So you have Asia's two biggest powers and economies in a love-hate relationship. China has and will continue to do far better without Japan whereas Japan will miss out to a great extent if it cannot capitalise on the rapid growth in its neighbour. Pesek's conclusion is the right one: while these two countries bicker it will be the to detriment of both. But it is up to Japan to take the steps to move the relationship forward. It's in their interests, no matter how painful it may be.

UPDATE: Jodi has more.

Money for not doing anything

My folks always told me you don't get money for nothing. Or maybe it was Dire Straits. It was someone. Anyway, it turns out that in China that's not true. As part of China's ongoing population policy they are now starting to pay people for not having kids. The policy is aimed at farmers who had no children born between 1973 and 2001 in violation of state policies and regulations; they have one child, two girls or no children; (and) they are at least 60 years old. One child or two girls - you read that right. Those who qualify get an annual payment of 600 yuan, a significant sum for many in rural areas.

Ironically in places such as Singapore and Australia they are paying to have kids. If immigration limits were eased then all these Governments could save taxpayer money and population balances could be brought more into line.

On our doorstep

The daily horror of dealing with car bombs is usually the burden of Iraqis and Israelis. You can add a new addition to the list: Hong Kong. When a man is killed by a small car bomb after an unsuccessful similar car bombing attempt 4 years ago, you need to follow the advice of my wise Ma: if you swim with sharks you're gonna get bit*. Whether it was triads or Mainlanders, either way it was clear this man had pissed the wrong people off. I have a feeling Hong Kong's tourism strategy won't include mentioning this little item.

* _{while you might imagine that being said in a Southern drawl, Ma is actually a Pom turned Aussie with a slight hint of English accent about her refined voice. Hi Ma, I got me a blog!}

Everyone's doing it

This blogging thing is going all the way to the top.

(via Instapundit)

What are you doing in there, Sven?

Busy boy. Now if they can just find the twerp who's sending all that spam it would be a great day for the world.

The wealth of certain nations

I have earlier talked about the radical differences between the wealth in China's rural and urban centres and the discussion kicked along at Brad deLong's, with much bandying about of Purchasing Power Parity when comparing differences of wealth. Stephen Frost is working on an innovative Big Mac index to find how long it takes a McDonald's worker to buy a Big Mac as one alternative to the more academic PPP calculations.

Today's People's Daily has an editorial on the same subject. They seem to use it a stick to beat up on Japan (again), but it also asks the question how rich is China and has a welcome dose of reality compared to much of the Western media hype. Of course, there's an ulterior motive, but we'll get to that.

Based on World Bank and IMF figures, according to the article, Japan has 3 times China's nominal GDP but China's PPP-adjusted economic "power" is twice Japan's. That I doubt but the point remains that in 1990 China's per capita GDP was US$2,700; with a decade and a half of average 9% growth vs USA's average of 2.7%, so the gap should have closed, even allowing for population growth (which China's one-child policy has curtailed significantly). The article contends this does not represent the real situation: China has scored remarkable achievements for its economy but there is still a long way to go to have a powerful economy and an affluent population.

The article then finally reaches the nub of the matter before finishing in a confusing mess:

Any overestimation of China's GDP will bring nothing but damages to the country. By exaggerating China's national strength the truth is covered up. It will also unfairly bulge China's bills in international organizations in which China has a membership. And the access to international loans and special treatment with favorable terms will be more difficult for China.

Aaahhhhh. You see, if China's considered rich it will be expected to pay more to organisations like the UN and the World Bank and receive less in development aid and other concessions. To be rich might be glorious but no-one said it was easy.

Banditry

Xinhua reports that crime is down in Macau. The only areas where it went up were in "false money and drug trafficking". The patriots at Xinhua finish with this:

The crime rate in Macao has sustained a downturn since it returned to the motherland in 1999. Prior to that, gangland violence used to infringe the city's gaming industry, which blackened Macao's international image in the 1990s. Crimes involving in the use of gang violence has basically eradicated here in recent years with the strong support of the Chinese central government.

China cracking down on organised crime: now there's a novel idea. The biggest crime remains the obscene amounts Macau's gambling industry makes. But that's a crime where the victims choose themselves, so it is impossible to have any sympathy for them.

Forget food, there's something much worse

Everyone likes to blame fast food and movies for corrupting the youth of today. Beijing's found an even more insidious evil. Xinhua reports:

A three-month action plan focusing on the Beijing market has already discovered up to 56 kinds of illegal or unhealthy computer games--and this is even before the nationwide campaign officially gets cracking..."To protect youngsters from the influence of violent computer games and to safeguard copyright, we took action during April and June in Beijing," said Kou Xiaowei, a senior official with the State Administration of Press and Publications.

Kou said it had achieved "satisfying results."

If a Chinese official has a satifsying result, it's time to worry or get the Kleenex. The article says some of the banned games "hurt national dignity and interests". For example, 'Project IGI2: Covert Strike' has Chinese soldiers being attacked and "smears'' the Chinese army's image. Like the PLA doesn't do that itself. The other example is "Hearts of Iron", which calls for Tibetan independence and includes Taiwan Province in the territory of Japan. The horror.

I'd like to see more realistic games. One that springs to mind is where you are President of China and General-Secretary of the Communist Party and you have to run the country. There's no instruction manual because none of the controls work anyway. The game thoughtfully provides an opponent in the head of the Military Commission, who also happens to be the ex-President. Throughout the game various "crises" occur, like trouble with Taiwan, trouble with Tibet, trouble with the US, trouble with Japan and trouble with North Korea. If you go to the hardest level they include an economy factor, again over which you have little control.

Nah, it'd never sell.

Lightning striking twice

I went to a small school back in Sydney. No, not for people of less than average stature (and I still maintain 5"7' is right on average, damnit). My entire graduating year had about 30 kids in it. I say about because there were one whom I was never sure was enrolled or not, but he seemed to turn up a lot. And I say kids because surely we were. The day we all left school for good was a happy day because spending 6 years of your life with the same 30 kids going through the usual adolescent dramas ends up being a mixed bag.

So it pleases me no end to have recently revived contact with one of my closest buddies from those days. He's now living outside of San Fran (for a small class we've sure dispersed) and he even has his own blog on Business Continuity, if you like that kind of thing. In the words of the anti-semitic mouse drawer: it's a small world after all.

G'day Kolya.

There are signs and there are signs

We had a further chat with our faithful potential helper last night - the one who is waiting for a sign from God to tell her if the job was right. It turns out it was a different sign entirely she was waiting for. In the course of discussions we got down to tachlis, in particular money. After she proceeded to tell us why the job would be very difficult and worthy of a high salary, she then proceeded to tell us of her inflated expectations for her food allowance "because I've been told you need more food here." I didn't bother asking her why she figured her calorie intake need to increase when she was going to be doing the same job she was at her previous employer given she wasn't going to get the job anyway.

But we've learnt our lesson. The sign she was waiting for was a dollar sign, not a heavenly one. In the battle between God and Mammon, God hasn't got a chance.

On the road again

America's National Public Radio has a series following a reporter's 2 week trek across China. The journey on route 312 starts in Shanghai, then through rural and significantly poorer Anhui and then a report on the re-emergence of both prostitution and religion in China. It sounds like it would be great to listen to, but I'm not paying $4.95 per transcript to find out what he's got to say. Nevertheless I'd recommend it to any American readers as an insight into life in China. If any readers are able to somehow get a copy of the series I would like to hear it.

(via Richard)

Laws of unintended consequences

The Standard reports that many Chinese companies are being forced to bend or break rules to raise cash to survive. As Beijing's austerity drive bites companies are resorting to various tricks to obtain cash:

They are evading administrative roadbocks to domestic borrowing by applying for foreign currency loans which are then converted into yuan, diverting approved loans to other uses, and under-reporting production and investment in order to free up internally-generated cash.

Yet Chinese companies have for years been remarkably adroit at getting around the rules when there is money to be made. Though no one can quantify it, virtually all analysts agree that a significant part of the US$53 billion (HK$413.4 billion) in ``foreign direct investment'' last year was really mainland-controlled money that is moved offshore then brought back in order to evade capital controls and sometimes to win investment incentives aimed at foreign, not Chinese, investors. (my emphasis)

Something to bear in mind next time you read about China's record rates of foreign direct investment (FDI). Once you take into account flows coming from Hong Kong and Taiwan as well, there's far less "foriegn" money flowing into China than is commonly thought. Secondly I've talked before about how unreliable Chinese economic data can be. If companies are fiddling their reported numbers down, as the article implies, China may revert to under-reporting its growth while the underlying problems remain. While outsourcing remains a battleground in the US election, the reality is China has far bigger problems of its own making to worry about. America's politicians and Wal-Mart shoppers* (not to mention shareholders) should be more worried about China's domestic economic health than it's potential for "taking" jobs.

Finally don't forget that this austerity drive does not apply equally. Companies with the right connections can get around anything in China.

* _{Wal-Mart imported US$12 billion from China in 2002 and 10% of all US imports from China go via Wal-Mart.}

Out of sight

Tung Che-hwa has finally learnt the secret to ensure his popularity: stay out of sight. His popularity has risen to a two year, not co-incidently at the same time as he has barely featured in local news. If he keeps this up he could end up doing a double service to Hong Kong: staying out of the way and enhancing his standing. Talk about win-win. With the news dominated with the non-story of the year, which is stumping even the finest from the British Foreign Office, Tung's ratings can only rise further from here.

This is the same Hong Kong that has yet again shown its heels to its erstwhile rival, Singapore. The China Daily reports Hong Kong is the least bureaucratic region in Asia, according ot a poll of drunken expats taken at some bar after a long hot Sunday afternoon. I'm not quite sure why taking expats' opinions of Governments is considered a valid surveying technique, but whatever. I wonder if they surveyed Macau, where bureaucracy is minimal. There the casinos do Big Brother for them.

Many faces

If you like clocks...my favourite seems so childish and yet so grown-up at the same time.

Improving the inner workings

China's infrastructure is often being cited as a constraint on its economic growth. So it is good to see China is finally investing in key improvements:

China's capital Beijing, trying to flush away its reputation for primitive public toilets, plans to boost investment to build more lavatories and keep them stocked with toilet paper, the China Daily said on Tuesday.

The city government, trying to polish its image as it gears up to host the 2008 Olympic Games, pledged to invest more than 100 million yuan ($12 million) a year into modernizing its latrine infrastructure, the newspaper said.

The Olympics can already be credited with doing something good for Beijing.

Neatness

Went to the doctor with Mrs M, PB and JC last night. Our doc, an avuncular Englishman of the old school, did the appropriate doctorly things. JC and PB did the usual kids things in the waiting room, playing with the toys and removing all the brouchures. Somehow PB found a water bottle and brought in; later a nurse came asking for it and I returned it. The nurse then pulled me aside and whispered, "Sir, please make sure you wash your children's hands." I asked her why? "Because she touched the water bottle," came the slightly exasperated reply. The doctor and Mrs M, who were privvy to the conversation, both laughed at once. I reassured the nurse I would take care of it and she left happy she had done her duty. This had all come just minutes after the doctor and I had discussed the trend to overly-hygenic cleanliness and the detrimental effect it can have on immunity, especially for kids.

It's OK, I told the doc. Next time PB kisses the dog I promise to wash her hands.

How low can people go?

According to Dean and Chief Wiggles the problem with the shipping company Atlas Lines that I previously mentioned has not actually been resolved. Via Joe there's details of the company in question, Atlas Line (USA), here. The very short story is Operation Give is a charity which many in the blogosphere have contributed to and it brings toys and other items for Iraqi kids. Now the long and the short of it is this shipping company, Atlas Line, has US$30,000 belonging to Operation Give and are not giving it back. There is documentary proof and a comprehensive timeline.

Jim or anyone else that is in a position to help, you need to get in touch with Dean Esmay and see what you can do. These guys are ruining Georgia's reputation.

Even if this ends up being a misunderstanding it is very hard to see how Atlas Line can justify their actions. It's a charity they're dealing with, not a business.

Without wanting to end on a bad note, go and have a look at this photo over at Operation Shoefly.

UPDATE:I didn't realise until I read over at Sgt. Hook's Operation Shoefly that OPSF is also affected by this. So it's not one, it's two charities that are suffering here. These Atlas Line people need to know they cannot get away with this cr@p.

It's not fair and you'd better get used it

My Da, a wise man with a terrible sense of humour (sorry Da, but it's true), always told me that "money makes money". He also used to say that one day the Jade Monkey of Zandar would be his and he would use it to rule the world, but that story is for another time.

So Bill Gates is worth, on last count, about $1,432 squizzillion dollars. Yet he has realised there is a limit to the amount of wealth any one family needs. He decided to setup the world's biggest charity, modestly named after himself. This is something I have talked about before and this week's Economist looks at the issue of philanthropy too.

Then you read something like this. I don't quite understand why Bill's charity has decided to invest in equities instead of giving its money away. But this little Chinese company's shares jumped 50% just on the news Gates invested. Nothing else has changed at all. Just they have a new shareholder and it's Bill's charity.

What I want to know is why Gates doesn't employ this tactic more often? If he can make share prices jump like this imagine how much greater the endowment at his charity could be if he just took the trouble to invest a little instead of giving it way.

They never fake it with me

China is continually being accused of knocking-off brand name goods and selling cheap imitations. The latest to bleat is the maker of Zippo lighters but the article itself points to clues the issue is not as cut-and-dried as first seems:

Zippo, which employs about 700 people, has refused to manufacture overseas. Its complaints will play a prominent role in the government's case that China needs to do a better job stopping counterfeiters...The vast majority of bogus Zippos are made in southern China at factories that can knock out 45,000 replicas a day, as many as the Zippo factory in Bradford..."The stronger our brand gets worldwide, the more problematic it becomes," Booth said. "It's just the number of plants interested in counterfeiting."

With Zippos going for $30 in China - a week's pay for some workers - the demand for cheap knockoffs is immense. Counterfeiters can make so much money on fake Zippos in a few days, it can be worth setting up shop for a week, said Peter Morici, professor of international business at the University of Maryland.

Even with rampant counterfeiting, Morici and other trade experts say Zippo won't leave China anytime soon. "This is a matter of leakage, but it's a pretty big pipe and there's going to be a lot of water running through it," he said. "It becomes a question of selling 1 million lighters when you think you could be selling 2 million."

They cannot bear to look but nor they cannot bear to stay away. The reality is China excels at copying and these companies that sell their goods at high prices are going to have to get used to it or deal with it in far more imaginative ways than bleating to politicians. For a start Zippo might consider selling their lighters for far less than US$30 each in China.

In a relate note The Standard reports the US Conference Board does not see any benefit in pressuring China to revalue the yuan. As they rightly point out, most companies already do business in foreign currencies if they are dealing with overseas counterparts, and usually that's US dollars. What they forget to mention is a revaluation of the yuan is also likely to bankrupt China's banks and cause the collapse of much of its financial system. I think even George W. would be happier with a China growing at 9% per annum, providing demand for his countries exports and keeping over a billion people in a rising standard of living, rather than the alternative a revaluation could bring.

Finally Hong Kong will be hosting the WTO meeting in December 2005, with an expected 10,000 junketeers expected to attend. I've already seen estimates that it will cost HK$200 million to stage this event. With the priceless images it will present of Hong Kong to the world, it will be money well spent. You could have a nice postcard of the rabble (in their Nikes and Levis) protesting the evils of globalisation, or a great photo of a long-haired lout in the arms of a caring police officer. The rest of the world can thank Hong Kong for drawing their rabble away from them for a week - no extra charge.

The greatest irony will be the Communist People's Liberation Army will no doubt play a prominent role in the security of the event. I will pay good money for a poster sized picture of a PLA officer with a Mao-ist anarchist Trostskite in a headlock as he gets lead to a tour of the brig of the PLA's barracks.

Asia by Blog

Another edition of the highs of Asian blogging:

Hong Kong, Taiwan and China

• Richard points to the first in a series by the New York Times on the huge gap between China's urban (relatively) rich and rural poor. Richard highlights one particularly unfortunate but not uncommon story.

• Wayne reports on a rock concert in China that is about far more than music. He also looks at differences between China and the US's world views and tests sensitivities in Taiwan on the potential for a cross-straits conflict.

• ESWN says stupidity can be a two-way street in dealings between East and West. He also updates the facts on the case of Zhao Yan, the Chinese woman subjected to beatings by a US Border Guard and has a story about the treatment of Chinese brides in Taiwan. Wayne says there's no shortage of mail order bride services.

• ACB says China has celebrated the end of the US's Operation Summer Pulse 04 with a blast. They've also compiled a summary of China's assessments of various naval powers. Mad Minerva says the Chinese are taking all the fun out of the "guess the reaction" game.

• ALN has a comprehensive summary of Chinese labour related news for July. Stephen also has a post by an Indonesian migrant worker in Hong Kong on what life is like for such people. And via ALN I came to Dan Washburn's Shanghai Diaries and this report on his trip to a village in Jiangxi. Well written and interesting stuff.

• China's war on sex has gone too far, says Fons. He also points to Wang Jianshuo who says the war on these sites is causing collateral damage.

• Chris has a thorough look at two books on Chinese history. I just finished the Cambridge Illustrated History of China myself and can recommend it as a good overview (albeit necessarily brief) of Chinese history and culture. It has a great selection of photographs but a word of warning: it weighs a tonne and is bulky making it very uncomfortable to read while in bed, as several bruises on my arms will attest.

• Andrea got an Instalanche for What's on Xiamen and her weekly column. For example she's got an interesting column on what US$1 will buy you in Xiamen (hint: it's pirate DVDs).

• ACB says CCTV, China's official TV network, has subtly endorsed John Kerry.

• Peking Dork says ESWN took too much at face value on a recent corruption case.

Korea and Japan

• Conrad asks what has South Korea done to deserve such wrath from their cousins in the North? Especially when the North produces such useful products. FY has a more on the defectors and Asia Times covers the route defectors have to take. Jodi points out the difficulties facing the new arrivals in South Korea and the Marmot expands on the same topic.

• In today's South Korea blog blocking update, a letter by Gordon Sellar on the issue (mentioned in the previous Asia by Blog) was published in the Korea Times. Jodi says Japan is now censoring news too.

• Marmot says South Korea has returned serve in the latest round of cyber-tennis.

• Apparently we're losing the arms race with North Korea, via IA.

• Antti has the latest on the Korean serial murder saga.

SE Asia

• Conrad asks why foreigners would bother investing in Indonesia.

• Marc takes the Philippine Government to task over its spin efforts on the testimony of a former hostage of Abu Sayyaf. Jodi says Arroyo has got to stop nannying her citizens and stop shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to Iraq.

• As usual The Swanker is keeping you up-to-date on the latest Indonesian Presidential machinations.

• Jodi guesses that most of SE Asia would vote for John Kerry.

• Some photos of Angkor Wat via I got up.

Miscellany

• Spirit Fingers has what every Hong Konger needs.

• Jodi gives a detailed account of "booking" (with an intro here).

• Roy's trying his hand at redrawing maps.

• Taipei Kid has the best named shop in Taiwan.

• While everybody is going to see I, Robot, Tom says the future is already here.

• Paul has HK's six (yes, only six) deadly sins. Guess which one is missing?

007

Former Hulk and good Aussie bloke Eric Banner is to become the next James Bond. Apparently the beefy beat off competition from the other main contenders Jude Law and Ewan McGregor to take over the role of the super-spy in the long-running series of films.

Kudos for picking an Aussie for this important role. Although I cannot help but feel they really missed picking the right man for the job...

Continue reading "007"

Searching for signs

We are currently looking for a new domestic helper. We have found one we are happy with in terms of experience and personality and wanted her to come in for a trial run. So yesterday Mrs M delegated to me the task of ringing her to give her the news. Let's call her R. She was unsure if she was interested in working with us as her experience is only with Chinese families. After we had intereviewed her we told her to think about it, as would we, and we would get back to her. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hi, we've been talking about it and have decided that you are a very good candidate for the job."
R: "Thank you, sir. But I haven't yet made my decision."
Me: "OK, when do you think you will make a decision because we are looking for someone to start right away?"
R: "Well sir, I've prayed to God and I am waiting for 2 more days for a sign from him."
Me: *stunned silence*

If Hong Kong is overtaken by a plague of locusts or the rivers turn to blood in the next few days, I'm sorry. Mrs M and I have asked R to come in for a day anyway to help her make her decision. We're tempted to help her search for signs. The bathroom mirror reading "TAKE THE JOB" might do it. I was tempted to ask her when does she think God might be getting back to her, but blasmephy never goes down well.

It leads me to another question. After interviewing many Filipinas over the past few weeks it seems that most of them here in HK are not Catholic, as I would suppose, but rather born-again Christians belonging to a plethora of evangelical churches. I don't know if this pattern is the same in the Philippines but clearly here in HK the Catholic Church is struggling against the evangelicals. It seems a key requirement of these newer churches is for members to wear brightly coloured t-shirts to interviews to prove they are good, faithful folk rather than the hedonistic type. Clearly fashion isn't always heavenly.

Wars online

The Straits Times has an interesting article on the growing number of Chinese websites that are exposing graft in official-dom. While not necessarily blogs these sites are fulfilling many of the same roles and are starting to have results. However there is speculation there are greater powers at work here than a few lone rangers trying to shed some light on official corruption:

...several websites here have been gaining attention lately for casting an uncomfortable spotlight on official corruption and encouraging Internet users to report such abuses.

Webmasters running two of the websites, fanfubai.com and yuluncn.com, told The Straits Times they had been publishing incriminating evidence of official wrongdoing well ahead of some of the more daring newspapers here. Citing the example of the 'scandal of the moment' involving Vice-Mayor Li Xin of Shandong province's Jining city, who is under investigation and faces imminent arrest, fanfubai.com's webmaster Liu Lishun said he published several damning photos and documents a week ahead of mainstream news portals and newspapers like the Southern Weekend...

The Internet's growing influence in China and the seemingly mysterious origins of these websites have prompted speculation in some media reports that they have high-level backing. The reports have also suggested the websites could be part of the government's push to root out corrupt local officials who might otherwise use their influence to cover up their tracks or hush up the whistle-blowers. But three of the webmasters running such sites maintained that they were merely acting as concerned citizens.

'Why do I need any special status or background to do this?' asked a Chinese journalist helping to run chinatousu. org. He declined to identify himself. However, media scholars familiar with the development of the Internet in China said with certainty that there had to be some level of official support for these sites. They pointed out that the sites fit in with the government's intention of using the Internet and e-government to promote transparency and root out abuses of power. 'It is a technological solution to a deeper cultural problem,' wrote Nanyang Technological University's Associate Professor Randolph Kluver in an e-mail reply. He added: 'There is a 'tolerance' of websites that focus on criticism, especially on corrupt or incompetent local officials. If the criticism turns to the party as a whole, however, or top-level officials, it will get shut down.'

The article finishes by saying several of the websites mentioned have been shut down or are 'under construction'. Still, it's a start.

Education

Beijing's continuing crusade against p0rn websites continues apace, although they mention in passing they are also closing other "undesirable" sites. Yet the powers that be have missed the crucial role p0rn plays in society:

>Lack of sex education, especially for college students, is seen by some as another reason why there were so many young people browse p0rnographic webpages...Traditionally, Chinese parents have not discussed sex with their children. Many are still reluctant to do so.

Last year, China Social Survey, a well-known domestic sociological research firm, conducted a survey in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang and some other major Chinese cities. The findings showed that 92.5 percent of the students investigated have encountered sex-related problems, but only 2.6 percent got answers from their parents. Sex education is almost absent in universities and colleges, though related courses, limited to basic physiological knowledge, have been arranged in middle schools. Currently, only a few Chinese universities have lectures on sex education in China. Curious students are therefore often forced to turn to p0rn websites, videotapes and cartoons for answers.

That's right - p0rn is educational. I hope you learnt something today...I'd better get home and do some serious study myself.

Solid bubbles

Macau was flavour of the weekend in the newspapers here. The Sunday SCMP reported Macau's 14 casinos raked in HK$4 billion (US$512 million) last month in revenue. The Macau Government collected HK$6.5 billion in casino taxes in the first half of this year, up 42% on last year and making 78% of all Government revenue. Even bloody Willian Hung, the man who's 15 minutes is taking an awfully long time, had his Asia debut in Macau on the weekend (reports said takings were down significantly at that casino).

The genii at the SCMP have then realised there's a perfect way to drag the story out: combine Hong Kong's love of gambling with its love of property. So inevitably all this has been followed up with today's front page splash on Macau's booming property market. Admist all the hype there's even the priceless quote from a Macau property type: "This is unlike the property bubble that burst in 1993. This time, Macau's economy may be growing rapidly, and it may appear as if the property market is bubbling. But even if it is, it is a solid bubble that will not burst. Who knew there were such bubbles?

This is the same paper that followed up this story on an adult film company's recruitment efforts by sending a reporter and getting him to file a story on the experience. The article in Sunday's SCMP didn't even succeed as a schoolboy excursion in titilation. It's what we've come to expect from the SCMP...not very much.

And the whole world smiles with you

According to AFP (no link): At least 80% of mainland adults have dental problems and 57% of rural Chinese - or 500 million people - have never brushed their teeth...The National Leading Group for Dental Disease Prevention found that only 0.22% of adults had good dental health.

The natural question is...

Continue reading "And the whole world smiles with you"