Replace en_US.UTF-8 with whatever you get from step 6;
9. Reboot. For Chinese entry, press
Ctrl and Space bar
You should see a language bar in the lower right-hand corner. On the language bar, click the button immediately to the right of SCIM icon, and pick your Chinese entry methods. Press
Shift
to toggle between English (or whatever your default language) and Chinese. Press
Riffing off on the recent reports of merchants starting charging for plastic bags in China and gas price increase all over the world: These days, 9 out of 10 times, I tell the cashier that I don’t need a bag while shopping here in the US. Plastic and paper bags are free here (the common question of “Paper or Plastic” when you check out). I do ask for one when I need it, nothing wrong with that. A close and reliable source has informed me that the Swedes have been charging for plastic bags for a while. Good for them, I say.
IMHO, the general population in the US are living an EXTREMELY wasteful lifestyle: the gas-guzzling SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle, Hummer, anyone?); the aluminum and plastic cans and bottles; papers and junk mail; stupid and over-the-top product packaging; fast food packaging, disposable plates, chopsticks, forks, and knives; gadgets, laptops, and phones that use different power adapters; batteries; computer waste, the list goes on and on. It baffles me to no end why we behave in such a bone-headed way. In the last year or so, I’ve worked at a client in a western Chicago suburb, a training center in New York City, a financial firm in downtown Chicago. Of all the places, and I’ve looked for them, not a single one has paper/plastic/aluminum recycling receptacles.
There are efforts to curb that waste, but we need to do much more, such as: encouraging the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles via tax credit or other incentives, remove the subsidy to oil companies and tax their record-breaking revenue for energy research and development, define sensible regulations for less wasteful yet still tasteful packaging, encourage and make it easy to recycle, etc..
You struck a chord with me on this one, Jian Shuo.
I am with you regarding the “donation competition and condemnation”. I am sick of it myself.
I don’t know what other popular public opinion troubles you. One thing that I personally felt a little uncomfortable with was the over reaction seemingly from so many people against Sharon Stone’s comments, not that I condone her obnoxious and ignorant activities. To me, she is just one of Hollywood has-been. Total indignation from so many people to such a pathetic, attention-seeking has-been do not reflect well on the former.
Somethings change quickly, others do not. It is what it is. Cheer up and speak up in a respectful way. Things will get better, slowly but surely.
I am in Florida with the family on vacation, and put myself in web-free mode last Sunday.
Tuesday afternoon, as an older gentleman was helping us getting to our car, I commented on his New York accent. He said he had left his native NYC for a long time, and has been to many places, but didn’t seem to lose his accent. I told him that I will never lose my dialect either, though I speak good Putonghua, and can even occasionally pose as a native Beijinger. It was at that time that he told me that there was a big earthquake in Chengdu.
I quickly scanned that day’s newspapers when I got a chance at a store, and didn’t see anything reported on the front page of the New York Times, among other papers. (I stopped being a regular newspaper reader a few years ago. I do visit some papers’ web sites.) So I didn’t think too much about it.
On Wednesday I checked the web, and understood what happened in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, China. Just totally shocked, saddened, and cried quite a bit. At the same time, I am really heartened by the overwhelming response from all across China.
One of my favorite rock songs is John Lennon’s rendition of Stand By Me. I translated it as Stand By You in Chinese as the title of this post, in a reverse sort of way. I just want to list it here to show my solidarity to people who are affected and all the rescue workers.
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
No I won’t be afraid
No I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry
No I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
Whenever you’re in trouble won’t you stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Oh, stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
Darling, darling stand by me
Stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
I just read some news on wenxuecity.com, a popular overseas Chinese portal, and saw pictures below about the torch in Paris. Come on people, when you go down this low to fight for the Olympic torch with a disabled young lady sitting on a wheelchair, what kind of f****** moron are you?
I doubt an ordinary American reader would ever see these. All s/he sees are cropped images of Tibetan people being beat up by Nepalese police, and the caption would say something like a Chinese brutal crackdown. Yes, MSNBC and Chicago Tribune, I am talking about you, although you two are not mentioned in a lot of netizen’s complaints. I personally saw the pictures myself. It is an image where people seemed to be locked in a cage. The only problem is: that didn’t happen in China. In the case of MSNBC, that image probably has been taken down because I couldn’t find it anymore. For Chicago Tribune, that picture was printed on the front page in the print issue a few days ago. I may go to the library and take a picture of it when I get a chance.
Of course, footage of thugs rioting and burning down shops in Lhasa is conveniently ignored or just mentioned in passing.
Here are a few examples, so readers can understand where some Chinese’s complaints are coming from.
From Washington Post. The event in the picture happened in Nepal, but the Washington Post implied that it happened in China
Fox News. The caption says “Chinese troops parade handcuffed Tibetan prisoners in trucks” Do the soliders look like Chinese soliders?
German Bild. Sorry, that’s not China. That’s Nepal. Check out the cutting, how creative!
German N-TV. Sorry Nepal
Before CNN’s cut
After CNN’s cut
BBC’s caption for a picture of an ambulance: “There is a heavy military presence in Lhasa”
This could be a lengthy entry (It turned out to be one. Man, I’ve been working on it for hours, but I feel good afterwards, because I feel compelled to write about it and let it out of my chest.) In fact, I thought about writing this in both English and Chinese, but I don’t have the time and energy, so you will have to put up with it, dear reader.
I don’t know much about the Tibet region, so I don’t have much fact on it. Here are just some thoughts that have been going on in my mind. If I come across as being preachy, I apologize. In addition, I understand that the term of Western media is very general, but when it comes to the event in Tibet, it does look they use one voice.
For people in the west
1. In a democratic society, which China clearly is not but I think it is on that path, one certainly has every right to express his/her opinions and should be encouraged to do so;
2. When one tries to express his/her strong feelings and convictions, it needs to be done in a respectable manner. One also needs to have the humility to realize that his/her conclusions could be wrong, one-sided, and/or incomplete, which could be a result of drinking too much of one’s own kool-aid. But by all means, call it when you see bull, whether it is happening in China, US, or whatever country, with the right attitude, so serious engagement can ensue, which in turn brings positive changes.
3. The world is not just black and white. There is a lot of gray in between. The “you are either with us or against us” thinking does not fly in majority of cases. It’s best to put the high-minded, holier-than-thou, and condescending attitude on vacation. Mia Farrow, PETA, Gay pride parade people, you are giving good causes a bad name with your antics;
4. Political grandstanding and cheap shouting match in our media has seriously hurt the US, and drove the American people apart. See Jon Stewart’s excellent point in Cross Fire here (I am sorry, the bow tie guy Tucker Carlson in that show looks like a total arse). Although that show is close to 4 years old, it is still very much relevant. I am impressed with how much Obama was able to have some impact on the tone of deliberation in this primary campaign, though.
One interesting side effect of the whole Tibet business is that Western media companies have lost a lot of credibility in Chinese readers. Believe it or not, many Chinese people who can read English, especially younger generations, actually did think Western media is a model of objectivity. It certainly is way more diverse and better than Chinese government’s official mouthpiece, Xinhua. However, seeing many who cropped, edited, manipulated, PhotoShopped Tibetan riot images and videos to make the stories go certain directions, which is pretty well documented here, I am sorry to report that that illusion is gone for a lot of people. I was one of them a few years ago, but the post-911, Iraq war, and many other incidents changed my mind;
5. It is wrong to think the Chinese government as a communist, totalitarian regime, but that seem to be a lot of people’s impressions, especially in the US. Prior to Deng Xiaoping, yes. Since the early 80s, no. And I do give the regime credit for lifting millions and millions of people out of poverty. Certainly there are human rights violations and heavy-handed government measures, but the majority of people have the individual freedom that’s not possible 10 or 20 years ago. There are still enormous challenges facing China. And yes, stability is the key, because the country has a long way to go to play catchup;
6. Diplomacy conducted behind doors such as frank, private conversation always beats publicity stunt. Heck, I would use the Olympics as leverage, but I wouldn’t use it publicly to humiliate people and a government;
7. Listen but don’t necessarily buy exiles’ opinion wholesale. Remember curveball and Ahmed Chalabi? Granted, those two are mostly stooges of Bush and Cheney, but hopefully you can see my point here;
For China
1. Don’t have the knee-jerk reaction of rejecting any negative comments and/or constructive criticism out of hand. Some are very valid. Listen, draw the lesson, and move on;
2. Olympics is a great way for people to get together. Welcome everybody with open arms and treat everybody with respect, be they from America or Zambia. That does not mean that you should bend backwards to accommodate foreigners, but neglect your own fellow countryman, which I have seen happening;
3. Get rid of the internet Great Firewall once and for all. That does not mean one would not regulate the Internet, but it is time for GFW to go. Imagine the goodwill and positive publicity that will generate, both inside and outside China;
4. Tone down the rhetoric. Talk to Dalai Lama, publicly or in private. I don’t know much about him and his proposals, but he has a great deal of popularity and credibility in the West;
5. Engage in meaningful dialogue. You can certainly brush aside the usual political hackery from smartass journalists. Stop employing the usual rhetoric such as “一小撮别有用心的人的阴谋是不能得逞的”
6. Have a realistic expectation. Be prepared for more freak circus shows prior and during the event, but do your best;
7. China, don’t you ever turn back to be the inward-looking country that we once were for so long. Keep opening up, embracing challenges, and moving forward. Learn from others. Learn good things from others. At the same time, it is equally, if not more, important to learn from other’s mistakes, so it will not be repeated or the damage minimized. Maybe I am not qualified to make recommendations, but since I’ve been preaching throughout this post, I thought investigating, investing in hybrid technology and put out policy guidelines for the nascent auto industry is money well spent;
8. Both the United States and China are great countries. By working together, the benefits to people in both countries and around the world can be enormous. That should be the only way to go, because confrontations can possibly lead to the end of the human race;
9. And to Liu Xiang and all other athletes, do your best. I am with you and will cheer you on whatever the results
