The author, Peter Man, shares his personal experiences, secret thoughts, and outlandish ideas on the multifarious subjects he is interested in, which is practically everything under the sun, as well as beyond the solar system to infinity. Be sure to comment if you wish to learn more, especially about the mysteries of the trilogy.
AuthorBorn and bred in Hong Kong and educated by a Catholic English school, the author immigrated to Canada and established Canada’s first national Chinese language television station. He later worked in China in the broadcast and telecommunications technologies industry for many years, experiencing that country’s meteoric rise. Archives
October 2022
Categories |
Back to Blog
The following is an account of how my mother from a Hainanese family living in Saigon--now Ho Chi Minh City--during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949) got an education from a well-known school in China, and what happened to that school. The following is what I gathered about my mother's secondary school at Guilin, known as Hanmin Middle School 汉民中学. Hanmin is from Hu Hanmin 胡汉民, who was an early revolutionary and a right wing leader of Kuomintang 国民党 (KMT). The principal and founder of the school, Ren Zhongmin 任中敏, was the secretary of Hu Hanmin. He founded the school in 1937 at Nanjing, or Nanking, at that time the capital of the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek. He named the school Hanmin to commemorate Hu Hanmin, his old boss, who passed away in 1936 from brain hemorrhage. At the time of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's passing in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek was in charge of the Nationalist army, while the Nationalist party KMT was under the control of a triumvirate consisting of Hu Hanmin on the right, Wang Jingwei 汪精卫 on the fence (he was a hero of the 1911 Revolution but later became a famous quisling by agreeing to act as the leader of the Japanese occupation's puppet government), and Liao Zhongkai 廖仲恺 on the left (husband of famous women's rights activist He Xiangning 何香凝, father of the famous Communist leaders Liao Chengzhi 廖承志 and Liao Mengxing 廖梦醒). Liao Zhongkai was assassinated shortly after the death of Dr Sun. Although the case was never solved, the prime suspect was Hu Hanmin, as he afterwards joined Chiang Kai-shek in the bloody purge of communists from the KMT (it is not a well-known fact that under Dr Sun, many communists including Mao and Zhou Enlai became members and executives of the KMT), during which the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP, later CPC, the Communist Party of China) were decimated and Mao's wife Yang Kaihui 杨开慧 was executed by firing squad for refusing to renounce the CPC and Mao. At the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), Principal Ren moved Hanmin Middle School from Nanjing--shortly before the Fall of Nanking and the infamous massacre by the Japanese army--to Guilin 桂林, the provincial capital of Guangxi 广西 in the south-west of China, where my mother attended the school. She probably went there in 1940, when she was just fourteen years old, by sea from Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City 胡志明市) to Zhanjiang 湛江 (then known as Guangzhou Wan 广州湾 meaning Guangzhou Bay), and then by land to Guilin. She went by herself without her father's approval and was financed by her mother who had to sell some of her jewelry. At the time, the school received funding from Chiang's ROC government and was renamed National Hanmin Middle School 汉民国立中学. It was probably the only middle school in China at the time with national status. My mother returned to Saigon in 1948 for a one year break, granted by the school to all expatriates, most of whom had not seen their family for many years. My mother was twenty-two and had graduated from high school. She planned on taking continuing studies in mainland China. During her stay in Saigon, my mother witnessed the escape of Tsinghua Professor Wang Zhou 王洲--then known as Wang Anzhou 王安洲--from the colonial police. At the time, the professor's family and my mother's family both being from Wenchang 文昌--hometown of the Soong Sisters--lived in the same three-story house. Wang Zhou was a young communist from a wealthy family. The police came knocking in the middle of the night. He escaped by the night-pot opening--through which people pushed out their daily refuse into the back alley for the poop collector--to Paris, where he became an expert in nuclear physics. Prof Wang returned to China in the eighties to teach at Tsinghua. My mother cannot confirm it but the professor probably still lives at the campus at the ripe old age of 90. After the one-year break, my mother was supposed to return to Guilin for continuing studies in 1949 but got stuck in Hong Kong during her transit (by sea from Saigon to Hong Kong, and then by land to Guilin) as Chiang's regime collapsed during that year. That's how my siblings and I ended up being born in Hong Kong. My mother and Bliss (my elder daughter) visiting Prof Wang Zhou (with his Russian wife) at Tsinghua in 2003 Prof Ren never left China despite his connections with the Nationalist government. He was much more of a scholar and educator than a politician. In addition to his not insignificant contributions to ancient Chinese literature, Ren was famous for being strict with his students. According to my mother--as it is not recorded elsewhere, but this is probably a true story--he expelled his only son, a handsome young man idolized by the teenage girls at the school, from Hanmin for committing a minor mischief. Then the old man personally carried his son's luggage to attend a lesser boarding school in the area. His son later joined the Nationalist air force and died during the Sino-Japanese War. My mother said that he died in a training accident. When the report of the son's death arrived at Hanmin, it was a sad day for Principal Ren and for everyone at the school who knew the young man. After the establishment of the PRC in 1949, Hanmin Middle School became Guilin First Middle School 桂林市第一中学, making it the top rung school of the city if not the entire region. Ren continued educating and became professor of Chinese studies at Sichuan University. He returned to his hometown Yangzhou 扬州 to teach at Yangzhou University during the early eighties. Few people knew that Prof Ren came from the same city and was a fellow student as well as good friends with renowned writer/educator Zhu Ziqing 朱自清, whose famous essay "Shadow of My Father's Back" 背影 we learned as a part of secondary school syllabus in Hong Kong. Prof Ren passed away in 1991 at the age of 95. He is now fondly remembered by his students and colleagues, and a bronze bust of him was erected in the campus of Yangzhou University in 2007. My mother never knew what happened to her middle school principal and, after I told her the rest of Prof Ren's story, regretted not having visited him before he passed away. Hanmin Middle School was highly influential for my mother's career as a teacher. She did not have her credentials when she started looking for teaching jobs in Hong Kong. When she applied at a private school and hoped that the principal of that school would believe her, it turned out that the principal's son was a fellow student at Hanmin, although several classes lower. The principal knew a lot about Hanmin from his son's letters, and my mother's description of the school checked out. She was hired on the spot, as Hanmin was a sort of ivy league school in those days, famous even outside of mainland China for churning out high quality graduates. Thanks to the principal's unselfish character, he would later sponsor my mother to take the Hong Kong Teacher's Certificate Exam, as she couldn't take it without any credentials. The certificate would allow my mother to teach at public schools at much better salaries and benefits as a government employee. It was a difficult exam and the principal's wife took it ten times over ten years before finally passing. My mother passed it on her first try. Her increased income allowed me to attend university in Canada and later become Canadian. The rest is history.
Caveat: links to Wikipedia are for casual reference only. One should be aware that Wikipedia articles are not always accurate or without bias, especially when it comes to KMT and CPC or ROC and PRC. Readers who are interested in the subject should conduct more in-depth research.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog
(10/8/2021)
Rent is a Scam by Caitlin Johnstone Caitlin Johnstone is a well respected left-leaning political writer with a large readership. My comment is not meant to denigrate Caitlin or her work, but to bring to light a particular problem most of us will not notice. My Comment: Quoting from the article: "The mass media just spent years leading the world on a wild goose chase for Trump-Russia collusion that never existed and now have the absolute gall to act like people are deranged lunatics for not trusting them about elections, viruses and vaccines." But the people and the president and all the politicians from both sides of the aisle believe the mass media that China is evil and China is to blame. Where do the people get the gall to criticize the liars when they choose to believe in the lies from the same liars that satisfy their own bias? We have met the enemy and he is us. By the way, in America, not only is lying an inalienable right, hypocrisy is a virtue.
Back to Blog
(4/8/2021)
9/11 has nothing to do with Afghanistan By Ted Rall Ted Rall is a brave political cartoonist to the left of the Democratic Party who got on the nerves of too many people. Mainstream media has basically shut him down, meanwhile threatening him with oppressive lawsuits. Undaunted, Ted continues to write articles for what he believes in. This comment is not meant to denigrate Ted or his work, but tries to call a spade a spade. Peter's Comment: Invading Afghanistan was a mistake? Sorry Ted, not nearly good enough. It was a crime. What is America going to learn? That in future wars they will never allow the truth to slip out, that's what. Look what happened after the Vietnam War. The Military Industrial Complex learned how to corrupt the free press. Now Americans live and die in the cesspool of misinformation, false narratives, and war propaganda. If America really wants to learn, then (1) stop funding the MIC; (2) stop giving power and impunity to the war-mongers; (3) severely punish and fine the mainstream media and free press, including owners, CEOs, editors, and journalists, for working as the propaganda arm of the war-mongers; make it a criminal offense and confiscate their properties; (4) set up monuments to remind us of the war crimes and atrocities committed in our name; (5) make full and long term reparations to individual victims and the nations attacked and sanctioned; (6) severely punish all those war-mongers and their lap-dogs/bull-dogs, especially the decision makers including politicians and elected officials, who have committed or are culpable of crimes and atrocities against humanity; take away everything they own and throw them into an oubliette. Make statues of the chief criminals kneeling in front of their victim's monuments showing everlasting contrition, and allow righteous people to spit on them. Then maybe they'll learn something. Come on Ted, I had expected a lot more from you.
Back to Blog
(3/4/2021) Online Concert in Memory of Leslie Cheung on the 18th anniversary of his passing (d. April 1. 2003). Actually, I do not know Leslie Cheung (張國榮) well, although our paths did cross. When his career took off in Hong Kong, I was toiling in Toronto doing something fraught with difficulties, totally thankless and, certainly, not very rewarding financially ... that was starting a national Chinese language television station on a shoestring. When one is young, naïve and full of impossible dreams, one will do the darndest thing. But that's another story. Today, I'll talk about my remembrance of Leslie Cheung. For those who have never heard of Leslie Cheung, I'll provide the following short introduction. Leslie Cheung was simply one of the most popular and iconic singer-actor in Hong Kong during the 1980s and 1990s. His unforgettable performance as the opera singer in Chen Kaige's masterpiece "Farewell My Concubine" established him as a serious actor. Leslie was very handsome and was therefore a heart-throb for his female fans. He came out, however, as a bisexual person and was having a long term homosexual relationship. On April 1st, 2003, Leslie jumped off a tall building and ended his life. Now, onward to the story of my encounters with Leslie Cheung. It starts with me finishing school in Canada. (From Farewell My Concubine) After graduating from McMaster University with an engineering degree in 1977, I returned to Hong Kong upon the expiry of my student visa. Although I had applied for immigration to Canada, the process would keep me in Hong Kong at least until the end of 1978 or early 1979. When I saw an ad from RTV (later ATV) hiring production assistants, I decided to give it a try. It was not something I went to school for, but I had grown up watching movies being made in a film studio. My uncle's (mother's younger sister's husband) father was a film studio boss. Many famous Hong Kong movie stars of old came from his National Studio (國家片場). In Hong Kong's television industry of those days, production assistant (PA) is the euphemism for slave. You basically do anything your boss tells you to, and if anything goes wrong, you're the goat. "No" and "can't" do not exist in your vocabulary. Once, my producer was in charge of a dance-a-thon; I was on my feet for three days straight. I outlasted all the dancers. There is no home and no family. There are no weekends and no holidays. You don't eat, drink or sleep if there is no time. There is only your job which makes sure programming goes on air on time, on budget and without a hitch. And the salary wasn't enough to pay for lunch. I have had a single business meal in China that cost more than twice the monthly pay of a PA. Many PA newbies did not survive past the first week. Those who did were probably deranged (and what does it say about me?). Most TV producers started their careers as PAs. If you can survive and thrive as a PA, you can probably succeed in anything anywhere. I ended up building a national TV station from scratch in Canada and running it under very adverse conditions. There was also no orientation at RTV. I was simply thrown into a production that needed a PA. Given the job description, it can be understood that PAs didn't survive very long. They either got promoted or they'd quit. My group was composed of three producers and three PAs. We produced five half-hour youth programs each week. The program was titled "New Generation" (新一代). One of the program's hosts became very famous. In fact he is the host of the Online Concert in Memory of Leslie Cheung, Lawrence Cheng (鄭丹瑞), We worked together on a daily basis for almost a year. Another host became the top billing actress in a well known comedy with the Hui brothers, The Contract (賣身契), but that was about it. Her name is Tiffany Bao (鮑翠玲). My direct superior, producer-director Philip Chow (周偉材) would go on to head the Commercial Radio Hong Kong organization (香港商業電臺). Bravo! (Lawrence Cheng) My most awesome experience at RTV actually happened on my first day. I did not know anyone yet. There was no human resources staff to show me around or introduce me to people. I was still finding my bearings. When lunch time came, I went to the canteen and ate lunch by myself. It turned out that the canteen was not popular and nobody ate there. The only other people eating there that day was the staff of a variety show's studio shoot, occupying two large tables. I sat at the opposite corner of the room, so nobody was bothering anybody. And then, something strange happened. (Deanie Ip) A young woman walked over and, without introducing herself or saying hello, pointed at me and warned, "Young man, do not marry before thirty." This weird woman turned out to be the star of the variety show "Have a Laugh with Deanie" (德嫻笑一笑). Her name is Deanie Ip (葉德嫻), who would become a big movie star and eventually win the Venice Film Festival's Coppa Volpi for Best Actress for her performance in "A Simple Life" (桃姐). On that day we first met, she was already the star of her own show, and I was a lowly PA on his first day at the job, with very bad odds for lasting the week. Completely on her own initiative, with absolutely zero staring or ogling on my part—I was minding my own business chewing a piece of rubbery chicken—she walked across the breadth of the room to befriend me in that strange manner, and we became fast friends. I did not pay heed to her admonishment and I guess we know what happened. All the producers and PAs at RTV worked out of a large room, so that everyone sort of knew everyone else, even if you had never worked together on any projects. After settling down at my job, I began to notice a skinny young man in bell bottom pants and platform shoes frequently wandering into the producers' room. He was a contract artiste, an euphemism for any lowly contract performer who was not a star. RTV had a large roster of contract artistes and most of them would end up being nothing. I didn't know any of the artistes, and when we needed someone, it was usually for something inconsequential. So when I started calling people down the list, they would have all kinds of excuses to avoid having to show up, such as being in the hospital, getting married or someone in the family just died; this is no joke. I got so frazzled I said, "I don't care if your father died, if you don't show up, you need never show up at the station again." This sounds harsh, but I was told that people would walk all over me if I acted too Canadian—that was of course a very different Canada in the seventies. In any case, the artiste showed up; no one died. Everyone had a good laugh. Lying was normal; it was not personal. There were no hard feelings. The show must go on. It was business as usual. So we observed with interest this young man traipsing with some regularity into the producers' room, politely accosting everyone and chatting up the variety show producers and PAs. Some producers actually didn't think much about this kind of behavior, because if all the artistes did that, the producers and PAs wouldn't be able to work. By showing up even when there was no job, the young man made sure all the producers and PAs remembered him and knew that he was dedicated. His name is Leslie Cheung. For a long time, he did not get any breakthrough jobs. But he never gave up. In late summer of 1978, Commercial TV (佳视) failed. Their Wuxia master director, Siu Shang (萧笙), joined RTV, taking along his protégés, one of whom was Virginia Lok (乐易玲) who would eventually become the top executive of TVB, the only major broadcaster in Hong Kong after the demise of ATV. Virginia was a hot babe then, and they sat right behind my group. Director Siu was a master of his arts; there is no question. One of my fellow PAs immediately jumped ship and joined Siu Shang. His name is Siu Hin Fai (蕭顯輝). We were good friends. He urged me to leave our group as well. I did not because I knew I was immigrating to Canada by early 1979. Siu Hin Fai gave me a parting gift of a book on Chinese Mythology. I still have that book with me. He would later follow Siu Shang to TVB and became a successful executive producer of many popular shows. I never met most of these friends again after I left Hong Kong, except for Brenda Lo (盧葉媚), well known Hong Kong musician and variety show producer at RTV, who came to Toronto and actually worked at my station for a short while (Brenda and Leslie were, of course, old friends), Celfen Leung (梁蘊紅) and Siu Hin Fai, my old colleague at "New Generation." Siu Hin Fai came back into my life after many years by a strange twist of fate, but that twist ended up badly for him. He passed away alone at home at the early age of fifty from a stroke. Unfortunately, the story of what happened to Siu Hin Fai cannot be told here due to privacy reasons. In my opinion, Leslie Cheung's first breakthrough was, in fact, starring in Siu Shang's first Wuxia series at RTV (浣花洗劍錄). You probably won't hear a lot of people say that, but Leslie was a nobody before this. Out of the blues, he was the star occupying top billing of a Wuxia series directed by a well-known master and aired during prime time. He also sang the theme song. We now know this is no accident. All of a sudden, people in Hong Kong knew who Leslie Cheung was. I know I took notice. Leslie certainly took that opportunity and kept on with his steady ascension. In my opinion, he was probably the only one among his peers during those heady days of Hong Kong filmdom to have natural star quality. Sometimes, it's lonely at the top and the fall may be harder. In the summer of 1997, I was back in Hong Kong to witness the hand-over ceremony returning Hong Kong by the British government to the People's Republic of China. I was also to set up a company in Guangzhou as a subsidiary for ACE, one of the largest television and telecommunications technologies companies doing business in China. A friend, Roks Lam (Hong Kong radio jockey of golden oldies), got in touch and invited me to have dinner with him. His wife at the time was a senior producer at RTHK (Gov't owned media) and they were having dinner with a famous executive producer, Manfred Wong (文雋), and his actors doing their rounds to promote a new release. I was quite indifferent about Hong Kong movies and did not know that the beautiful girl sitting beside me was Shu Qi (舒淇). (Shu Qi) ... It's almost as embarrassing as not knowing I spent an entire evening talking to Chiang Kai-shek's grandson Chiang Hsiao-yen (蔣孝嚴). After dinner, the whole group went to their favorite watering hole to have drinks. Shu Qi seeing that I didn't pay her any attention, left early (just kidding; she probably wondered what's this guy doing here?). Guess who we bumped into on the street? Yes, the star of our story Leslie Cheung. He was at that time a superstar and he knew everyone in my group except little old me. He was with friends and we went our separate ways. At the end of the evening, when Manfred asked for the bill, the maître d' came over and discretely whispered that Leslie had picked up our tab. According to people there, that was typical Leslie. The next time I heard of Leslie Cheung was the bad news that shocked everyone. You'd think that someone who had succeeded as he had, with all the fame and wealth that a lot of people could only dream of, for which or for much less some people would sell their daughter or kill their brother, that he would think that there was no other way. My favorite Leslie Cheung film is Rouge (胭脂扣). I like the original song too. It was written by Leslie's mentor and music director of RTV (when I worked there) Michael Lai (黎小田). Michael was a La Salle alumnus (I'm a true blue La Sallite as I went from primary one to form seven in that school). The song is however sung by Leslie's co-star and another Hong Kong mega-singer/movie-star whose life was tragically cut short, Anita Mui (梅豔芳). She passed away from cancer only nine months after the passing of Leslie. (Scene from Rouge with Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung)
Excerpt from Vincent "For they could not love you But still your love was true And when no hope was left in sight On that starry, starry night You took your life as lovers often do But I could have told you, Vincent This world was never meant for one As beautiful as you."
Back to Blog
(17/1/2021)
Martin Luther King, "Americans Betrayed Their Country In Vietnam!" Now in Yemen Syria Libya Somalia Iraq Afghanistan -- by Jay Janson Jay Janson is a well respected political writer, historian, and author who is a Korean War veteran and a nonagenarian. I have followed his political commentaries for at least a couple of decades. I discovered Jay Janson when I was reading I. F. Stone's "The Hidden History of the Korean War." While I. F. Stone peeled off the lies by meticulous research, Jay Janson provided personal experience to enrich my understanding of the forgotten war. My comment is meant to be sarcastic and should in no way denigrate Jay's very salient point. "It's not fair to say that Americans are silent about everything. Americans are very vocal about China stealing, and China having no freedom, and China having no human rights, and China having the largest concentration camp for Muslims. All these must be true because our politicians and free press say so. If we don't believe them, who can we believe? Americans are right to stand up against China imperialism of Belt and Road. Americans will never be silent about China trying to take over the world's islands and oceans. As for the Capitol insurrection, we blame China for poisoning the minds of Americans with their Hong Kong revolution footage. We also blame Hong Kong freedom fighters for taking American money and training, and then messing it up. In fact, China gave Trump the royal treatment and suckered him into a trade war which damages America. China is to blame for Trump and his trade wars. China is to blame for discovering the Covid virus. On top of that, China had to make a big stink and shut down the country. China has few Covid deaths but China also has no freedom and no human rights. Don't forget some spokesmen for some secret American agency not known to be transparent and forthright said that China might have corrupted American elections. If they say so, then it must be true. Therefore, China is to blame for destroying American democracy. Who can we believe if we don't believe in patriotic American elected officials, the free press, and secretive American agencies? Don't worry Jay, Americans will be very vocal about China. They will support more patriotic wars against evil China. God bless America.
Back to Blog
(12/12/2020)
Dave Lefcourt's Article: Will the American people wake up? Dave is an author writing from the left of the Democratic Party. My comment is not meant to denigrate him or his work, but hopes to raise awareness on what I believe is the true problem. My comment: Dear Dave, Even if the American people wake up, it will not help because they'll have to first look in the mirror. The American people are not pawns. They elect the war-mongers and give them impunity. They give up their income and go into debt to feed the dogs of war. They send their sons and daughters to commit atrocities for the corporate class and the ruling class. As long as the American people continue to blame others for their problems, waking up will not help. Ask yourself how is it possible for 99% to be ruled by the 1% in a democratic and free society if the people don't allow it? It won't even happen in an authoritarian society. Don't blame it on the ruling class and the war-mongers because the American people have empowered them. Don't blame it on the free press because the people want the freedom to lie and slander. Why else would Americans accept 250,000 deaths (unfortunately to become a million in eighteen months) and blame everything on China? In fact, if this happened in China, the liars and imbeciles would be festooned on trees. China does have a long and rich history of peasant rebellions. In fact, disgruntled peasants have directly or indirectly caused the downfall of almost every Chinese dynasty since the Han dynasty more than two thousand years ago, which was established by a peasant. Don't blame our problems on that nebulous "they." Blame ourselves. We have met the enemy and he is us. By the way, globalization is an American idea. America has the dollar hegemony. It buys everything with money it creates out of thin air (actually through debt owed by the people). Others must earn that US dollar in order to pay for essentials that they need for survival, development, and trade. America is the wealthiest, most powerful, and freest country in the world, why would the people want slave wage jobs mining or making shoes? In American politics, everyone wants jobs. Have the American people lost their marbles? Why would they need 80-hour a week shit jobs that pay two dollars an hour so their children can grow up without a family? China sacrificed a generation of its people to working in shit jobs so China's children can get educated and be more competitive in the global market dominated by America and the West. Americans don't need jobs. They need the basic guarantee of a home, healthcare, education, food, and the means to communicate. Then they need to stop bombing other countries, stop sanctioning whoever whenever for whatever reasons, and use their spare time to travel the world to learn about how to live in peace with the rest of the world. The American people are not pawns. They are America. Wake up indeed and look in the mirror. Change yourself and then go out and change America. Only by changing America that we can change the world for good. That is the only hope for America and the only possibility of peace for the world.
Back to Blog
(15/8/2020)
Dr. Godfree Roberts writes many well researched articles about China. He asked me to write a short anecdote about China for his book. He wanted something to soften his non-fiction book which is full of hard data and graphs. I submitted the following. It was January 1981. I finally got to see the land where my parents and my parents' parents and their parents scratched out an existence for millennia, surviving through constant floods, famines, plagues and wars. Growing up in colonial Hong Kong and being brought up Catholic in a boys-only English school, China was so near and yet so far away. By 1981, I had already started a career and a family in my newly adopted country of Canada. China was as foreign and distant to me as Timbuktu. When the chance to visit China landed on my lap, with encouragements from a friend who had smuggled himself into Hong Kong from mainland China and then ended up in Toronto, it did not take much for me to give in to my curiosity and desire for adventure. I hopped on a plane to Hong Kong, and continued with my journey into mainland China on train. My first visit to China was an unforgettable experience, especially since I went without joining a tour group, making it possible to see a lot more of the country and the people beside the normal tourist traps. The following is one of those experiences that made my visit so memorable. I stepped off the train with the trepidation that normally accompanied foolhardiness. In those days, traveling with a foreign passport in China was restricted to a few major cities, namely Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. With the help of a friend of a friend, a bit of blind faith and my handsome Chinese face, I decided to smuggle myself to Changsha (长沙), a city which was off limits to foreigners. I was young, foolish and adventurous. To me, the whole exercise was harmless fun. I was protected by the invincible armor of ignorance and good fortunes. It turned out that the Chinese Communist Party had more pressing matters to deal with than worry about a Chinese Canadian in Changsha. I tried to blend in with the crowd but my jeans gave me away immediately. Everyone wore blue and grey. No one wore jeans. There were probably no jeans in China. I was advised by the hotel security guard not to dine outside of the hotel, suggesting ominously that it would not be safe. Since I was already breaking major rules to be in Changsha, I wasn't going to let a fear-monger stop me from eating wherever I wanted. In fact, just to prove that I was fiendishly clever, I invited the guard to dine with me at any local culinary establishment except the hotel. We ended up in a canteen which was converted from a performance hall with a stage. There were probably fifty tables each seating four. The dishes were simple, tasty and inexpensive. The place was packed during dinner hours. When I wanted to order rice, the waiter said that rice was free and that it was self-served. A gigantic vat of steamed rice was placed on the stage and patrons lined up with a bowl to get their own rice. There was an unlimited supply of free rice. Only in a communist country, I said to myself. I also noticed something very odd. Standing against the walls of the hall were men, women and children with their bowls. They wore clean clothing, and they just stood there quietly without causing discomfort to the diners. As I finished my meal and put down the bowl, several people who were standing at the wall nearest us began to walk slowly and orderly toward us. There was no rush, there was no jostling, and no one tried to cut in. The first to arrive was a family of three. The child was perhaps seven or eight years of age. They were well-kempt and respectably dressed. The father asked politely if we were done. I was perplexed. The security guard who was dining with me then told me the truth. It turned out that there had been a flood of the Yellow River in Henan province (河南). Many peasants lost their homes, their fields and their crops. Some of the refugees were moved to Changsha where the local government would have to help resettle them. In the past, this would have been disastrous. Many victims of the flood would have starved to death or would be sold to slavery. Instead, they survived by eating free rice and leftovers. I watched in wonder as the family put some of the leftovers on their rice, thanked us, and walked away. They knew two young men were lined up behind them, so they left some of the leftovers for the young men. I did not see any police or government officials organizing these refugees. They seemed to be following some form of natural law that allowed the young, the old, and the weak to eat first. There was unlimited rice, so no one needed to go hungry. As for the leftovers, everyone lined up at one table seemed to be able to mentally allot a share for everyone at the queue. I did not feel that these people were beggars or that they did anything that was undignified. Quite the contrary, I was totally impressed by how they were able to share food orderly, and how they comported themselves with dignity. I could not know that twenty years later, I would return to Changsha to do my first project building a digital television production facility for Changsha Television Station. The Changsha I saw again was a bustling city with lots of foreign businessmen coming and going. At the start of the twenty-first century, China's economy was just beginning to take flight. I would experience the fighting and jostling and chaos trying to get a McDonald's hamburger meal that would cost the same as a dinner for four at a local canteen. China would change beyond recognition, and it would continue to change. I would end up spending nearly two decades working in China, traveling all over the country and learning all about China and its people. There is much about China that I have grown to love, but I cherish most of all the memory of that China in a Changsha canteen so many years ago.
Back to Blog
(9/5/2020)
This refers to John Stanton's Counterpunch article: US Commission on the Pandemic of 2020: No Culpability, No Accountability for 70,000 Americans Killed in 60 Days John Stanton wrote in despair after 70,000 deaths. I'm still waiting for his follow-up article for a million deaths. Notice my hint that Biden would be no better and it has unfortunately come to pass. Here is my comment on John Stanton's article: Dear John, America cannot afford to be accountable now. Since the end of the Second World War, the people of America have been electing war criminals, giving them unrestrained authority, funding them with unlimited budgets, and sending their own children all over the world to commit atrocities on behalf of the Military Industrial Complex. The few courageous whistle-blowers are punished severely while the criminals and murderers enjoy impunity, wealth, and prestige. The American people blame the government or the politicians, but then they'll just elect worse criminals and liars to commit more crimes. I can feel the anguish in your words, but even you don't seem to have an answer. The problem, my friend, is not only stupidity, but hypocrisy. Americans as a people who own their government cannot wash their hands of all the atrocities committed in their name and with their funds, while enjoying complete impunity. If Trump is a lying racist misogynist selfish greedy unscrupulous moron, think of what it says about the best democratic law-abiding god-fearing country that elected him. You may disagree, but Trump represents America; he is the soul of America. After all the investigations and the impeachment, after all the unending and incessant bald-faced lies, even on the day he suggested injecting bleach, Trump's approval rating was 49%. Should we pin our hopes on Biden? No Culpability and No Accountability enjoyed by the American people finally blows back. You can't ask for accountability without being accountable for all of America's past sins and victims (I have an inexhaustible list but I'll just mention Unit 731 as an example. America danced with the devil to develop bio-weapons of mass destruction; where does that path lead to?), otherwise it's just hypocrisy, which will eventually come back to bite the hand that feeds it. Is there hope? According to the politicians and corporate leaders, we do, and that is "Blame China." What will be China's response? They will likely go their own way, as if the Americans had never come. They had done that before in 1949 and survived. They will do significantly better nowadays. No need to worry about a shooting war between the US and China. Study the Korean War and you'll know why. The ignorant lying MSM pundits will make a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The US military knows the history. They ain't gonna try. Actually, there is a way out for brave, upright, and intelligent Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. said: "A man can't ride your back unless it's bent." All one needs to do is to stand up. Unfortunately, MLK can't stand up no more. He learned the hard way. You don't take a bullhorn to a gunfight. Peter Man John Stanton's response: Peter M, Very, very well said. You are right: my words mask despair. Yes, Trump is a product of America. Trotsky said Hitler didn't just fall from the sky into Germany 80 some years ago and so neither did Trump in 2015. The quote from Norbert Weiner that accompanies this text is quite accurate, I think. We are, after all, one Tiny Blue Dot, as Carl Sagan said and all that that means. Thank you so much for your insights and, moreover, taking the time to read the piece. John S
Back to Blog
British Humour: Trumped! (9/5/2020)18/5/2022 (9/5/2020) Repost from Journal of a grumpy old man “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response: A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: • Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. • You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set. My comment: "Still waiting for the next article, Bojoed!"
Back to Blog
Sidney Rittenberg obituary (28/8/2019)17/5/2022 (28/8/2019) Also posted at Quora with 13,200 views) Sidney Rittenberg (李敦白) was a young American GI who was in China at the end of the Second World War. After being discharged from the US Army, he traveled by foot from Shanghai to the remote city of Yan’an (延安), the home base of the Communist Party of China in the province of Shaanxi. He wanted to learn about the Chinese Revolution. Being fluent in Chinese, he soon got accepted as a friend among historical figures of modern China, including Communist leaders such as Mao Zedong (毛泽东), Zhou Enlai (周恩来), Zhu De (朱德), Deng Xiaoping (邓小平), Liao Chengzhi (廖承志), Ye Jianying (叶剑英), Li Xiannian (李先念), Liu Shaoqi (刘少奇), Wang Guangmei (王光美), etc. Those were the heady days of revolution, and Sidney decided to stay and be a part of history. He would, one day, write an autobiography titled “The Man Who Stayed Behind.” In 1949, Sidney was on the winning side of the Chinese Civil War. He was a well known person among the upper echelons of the Chinese Communist leadership. Life couldn’t be better, but unpredictable disaster struck. For political reasons unrelated to Sidney and based on no evidence, Stalin accused Sidney to be an American spy. He was summarily arrested and locked up. Refusing to admit to be something that he was not, Sidney did not leave his cell until six years later, shortly after Stalin's death. Despite the six years of wrongful imprisonment, Sidney wanted to stay and work for the Chinese government. He still wanted to be a part of China’s historic revolution. He ended up getting a high level job at the Broadcasting Administration, and he met his wife Wang Yulin (王玉琳) there. Four kids and twenty years later, Sidney would get embroiled in another political turmoil. This time it was the Cultural Revolution. He was accused to be a spy again, this time by Jiang Qing (江青), Chairman Mao’s wife and a member of the so-called “Gang of Four.” He would be locked up for ten years. When Sidney got out of jail, China had undergone great changes. For reasons of health and other family considerations, Sidney decided to relocate his family to America. His dream to be a bridge between the East and the West did not die. By chance, Sidney learned how he could contribute to China’s transformation by bringing much needed American investments and businesses into China. He would set up Rittenberg Associates and help many major American corporations establish business relations with China. Sidney never blamed China for his incarceration, and he continued to love China and be a friend of China. Sidney passed away on the 24th of August. He was 98 years of age. The following is my attempt of a remembrance: Photo: From left to right, Wang Yulin, Peter Man, Sidney Rittenberg, and Yang Qianli. Sidney Rittenberg obituary It is with sadness that I receive the news that Sidney Rittenberg has left us for the Great Beyond. I was lucky enough to have been introduced to such a unique person who had such a unique experience during such a historic era in the history of China. Meeting a historical person face-to-face caused all the fuzzy images of China of the past to come alive. The person who introduced us is a distinguished gentleman by the name of Yang Qianli (杨千里). He has been a leader in China in the satellite industry since China had satellites. In fact, he was the technical leader of China's first communications satellite. Director Yang is 86 and has been dealing with health problems as most octogenarians do, but he refuses to rest and is already going full monty (not in the sense of the English comedy of the same name) in the launching of another Satellite Convention in October, which he founded and still chairs. With people like Mr. Yang, who can stop China? * I did not get to meet Sidney many times, because he was about to retire and let his eldest daughter Jenny--whom I've also met--take over the reins of his consulting company. On the other hand, every meeting we had was a tremendously enjoyable and edifying experience. The one thing about Sidney I find most striking is that he could joke about his solitary confinements in China. I believe him when he said he held no grudges. This is how Sidney described being released at the end of his first imprisonment. He said, "Stalin finally did something good; he died." When a South Carolina radio host introduced him as an American son who had returned from China disillusioned with his ideals, he retorted, "If I were disillusioned with my ideals, I would be a Republican." Sixteen years of incarceration did not blunt his acute mind, sharp wit and quick tongue. Most importantly, it did not turn him into a bitter old man. Like most products of the colonial Hong Kong education system, I never had the urge to learn anything about Chinese history of the 20th century. It was perhaps just as well. Hong Kong people did not get involved in politics and worked hard to improve their lot within the economic system established and ruled by the capitalist West. If I had read any books or articles on the subject of modern China before, I would not have remembered any of them because the people, the places,and the events simply did not register. It was different when I read Sidney's autobiography "The Man Who Stayed Behind." My ignorance drove me to read more books about the era so that I could better understand the man and the historical backdrop of his life story. Zhou Enlai (周恩来) was no longer just a handsome face on an archive picture. He toasted Sidney and his wife Wang Yulin (王玉琳) at their wedding, saying that the couple was a great example of the bridge between the East and the West. Wang Guangmei (王光美), the wife of Liu Shaoqi (刘少奇), the nation's First Lady, was no longer just the stately woman dressed in China's traditional long dress (cheongsam; 长衫) representing China on state visits with her husband, the president of China. She was someone Sidney actually dated a couple of times while he was at Yan'an. Jiang Qing (江青) was no longer just a despicable character in my father's historical novel about the Luxun Academy of Art (鲁艺) at Yan'an. She was of course much more. She also threw Sidney in jail for ten years and almost broke his family apart if not for the resoluteness of his wife Yulin. People, places and events suddenly took meaning. With this infusion of relevance and personal connection to Chinese history, I was able to study and better understand what happened in China for the past hundred years. Bit by bit, I began to discern the reality that has been warped by the deliberate dishonesty with which the mainstream media has been presenting the story of China (read "What is China?" and "Mainstream Media Dishonesty"). Allow me to warn readers who read supposedly "liberal" press such as the New York Times or Washington Post. They would describe Sidney as someone who had become disillusioned in his beliefs. Sidney, bless his soul, would beg to differ. My having lived and worked in China for almost twenty years informs me to make my own measured judgment. I must however attribute a portion of my edification and understanding of China to having met and chatted with Sidney. I heard many stories from Sidney, of course, including his presence near Tiananmen Square in 1989, what he overheard at a meeting of the Foreign Correspondents' Club, how, with Director Yang's help, his client, Craig McCaw, became the first foreigner to fly a private jet inside China (bet you didn't know that) and how he had come to the conclusion that China must open up for development (Deng's adage: "Development is the hard truth."). It's what I interpret to mean that China must play the capitalist game in order to achieve its objectives. Others use the expression "Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations." People who don't understand this will be befuddled by the current chimerical Chinese society. The one thing that I could easily notice from those few meetings with Sidney was his immutable love for China, even though he had decided to spend his last years in America. After all, Sidney had a Chinese family, most of whom still live and work in China, and he probably dreamed in Chinese at times and considered himself at least in part Chinese. He certainly had a better claim than some of us who besmirch our own heritage. Sidney has now left us to join the orchestra of the ethereal realm. We don't know where that is, but we know where his heart is. * Director Yang has since passed away on March 11, 2020. Quora Comments:
Norman Tan: "Did he tell you his motivation to return to the US?" PM Response: "Revolution is hard. It’s not for everyone. By the time Sidney was released, he was in his late fifties, in bad health, and owned nothing but his family and his sanity. After the U.S. and China established official relations on Jan 1st, 1979, Sidney’s American family sent a letter to Beijing, addressed to Sidney Rittenberg, but with no address. They did not know Sidney’s whereabouts and thought that he had died. Sidney got the letter. One thing led to another and the Rittenberg family decided to move to America. There must be many reasons, but an important one would be better healthcare. Sidney had a heart condition that China, at the time, did not have the medical expertise to handle properly. His life in America was not easy at first, and Sidney always extolled the virtues of his wife Yulin who was the anchor in his turbulent life. Sidney was speaking at schools to make ends meet when a computer company’s CEO walked up and talked business. Even then, it was Yulin who pulled the strings. That first deal was a World Bank financed purchase of $20 million dollars in computers. From this experience, Sidney learned that he could be the bridge he had always wanted to be and make a living at the same time. The consultant business was accidental. China had changed and so must he. The rest is history." William Kimley: "Shortly after he returned from China I had the privilege of having dinner with Sidney in the wine cellar of the Hotel Mac in Point Richmond CA. A long and pleasant evening. He discussed many things with us that I have not subsequently run across in writings or interviews. Many guests were interested in how Sidney survived solitary confinement. He said he developed a routine which included keeping his cell immaculate. He would clean three bricks a day using a small stick and a piece of cloth to clean every hole. His cell was so clean many guards would remove their shoes when entering. WHEN interrogated he always told the same story, “The USA is China’s best friend in the world and China best realize that.” During his second imprisonment he had a visit from his friend Zhou Enlai who asked if he needed anything. Sidney started to complain about the food and his bed. Zhou said none of that stuff mattered and he arranged for Sidney to get the daily newspaper. In retrospect Sidney said that was a major part of his survival. He, unlike other prisoners, knew what was happening and even the date. There was a guard at the door who had to sit on a stool and watch through a small window; they could not talk. However, holding up the paper so they could both could read, Sidney would, using thumbs up or down, comment on articles. Sidney said he felt the guard was more of a prisoner, at least he could walk around. Toward the end of his second imprisonment many high ranking military, bureaucrats and even leaders like Jiang Qing were his neighbors. He said many, maybe most, sort of went crazy and he could hear them, including Jiang, shouting nonsense and making ridiculous demands. Sidney thought this was because westerners tended (he emphasized “tended”) to have a self image based on memories of accomplishments, relationships, victories and achievements that they could “revisit” so they basically always knew who they were. Many Chinese had self images which were based on feedback from those around them. When this feedback was withdrawn the person they thought they were ceased to exist. He made it clear he was “just guessing” as he did not have any expertise in such matters. When he decided to return to the U.S. he went to the reopened U.S. Embassy and the young man at the window asked for his passport. Sidney said he lost it. Asked when this happened Sidney said 1946. The man looked up and seriously asked “Did you report it to the police?” A wonderful person. PM Response: "Thanks for sharing. Sidney did go into some details about his incarcerations in his book. He was a very intelligent man, which may be one of the main reasons why he survived intact. It was perhaps a bit harder than he would like us to believe. In the end, he proved to have the indomitable will of the revolutionaries he had always wanted to be a part of. He knew that revolution was not a garden party. There will be blood. He emerged without becoming a bitter and vindictive old man. Considering Deng Xiaoping was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution at 65 and 71 years of age, and he had dedicated his life to the revolution since he was in his teens. Deng’s brother committed suicide rather than submit to humiliation, and Deng’s son became a paraplegic after falling from a four story building trying to evade the Red Guards. What if Deng had become a bitter old man? Sidney knew he was not alone and he knew that he would survive the ordeal. After he was released, Yulin went and got a complete rehabilitation of Sidney’s good standing in the party, receiving compensation and an apology. Sidney will be remembered in China’s history. He was the first US citizen to join the Communist Party of China. He lived a long and fruitful life. He passed away in the presence of his family and loved ones. The party of which he was a member has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. When it was time to go, I could see him smiling in satisfaction as he remembered Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s last words, 'The revolution has not yet succeeded; my comrades, you must keep on striving.'" Simon Lim: "What a fascinating story and beautifully told. As someone who has left China as a small child, the more I read stories like this the more I’m interested in rediscovering my heritage." Joe: "Your grasp of historical events humbled the average Chinese, me inclusive. Well written, thank you." Caveat: Links to Wikipedia are for casual reference only. One should be aware that Wikipedia articles are not always accurate or without bias. Readers who are interested in the subject should conduct more in-depth research. |