EastSouthWestNorth: Daily Brief Comments September 2007

[082] Good Fighter Ltd (09/30/2007) Belatedly, someone has asked for an explanation for a certain phrase in Next Weekly (issue# 912)

宋以朗（若果唔知佢係邊位則閣下 good fighter Ltd 矣）作之 民調顯示 ，香港人覺得最應該保留之建築物係中環舊郵政總局（佢訪問兩個人，其中一人冇意見）。舊郵政總局寶貴又豈止其饒有風味之維多利亞式建築而已，其座落之處更係成個香港核心之所在也。此話怎說？

At issue is the opening phrase which is translated as:

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

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

[081] Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/29/2007) (HKU POP) (1,036 persons interviewed September 17-21, 2007 about their ratings (on a scale of 0 to 100) of political figures in mainland China and Taiwan)

75.5: Wen Jiabao
74.1: Zhu Rongji
73.5: Hu Jintao
71.4: Wu Yi
63.2: Jiang Zemin
58.2: Ma Ying-jeou
44.9: Li Peng
35.8: Lee Teng-hui
31.4: Lu Hsiu-lien
22.5: Chen Shui-bian

[080] The Eileen Chang Legacy (09/29/2007) As you might have noticed, productivity at this website fell off the past couple of days. Blame it on <Lust, Caution> and the attendant public attention as well as other developments with respect to Eileen Chang. (In case you don't know, this blogger is presently administrating the business affairs of his mother Mae Fong Soong who inherited the literary estate of Eileen Chang, who wrote the story <Lust, Caution> upon which Ang Lee's movie was based.) On the comment below about Eileen Chang's wigs (and I have no idea how Chou Feng-ling was given access to some of the information), there is a proposal for an exhibit (or even a permanent museum) of the belongings of the late Eileen Chang (wigs and all) in mainland China. Elsewhere, there is the continuing case of Crown Press versus a number of mainland Chinese publishers over violation of the copyrights of the works of Eileen Chang. That legal case has spilled from the courthouse into a media war (see 张爱玲侵权诉讼). Under these prevailing atmosphere, can the belongings of Eileen Chang go on tour in mainland China without being taken to be part of the media war?

This media war is asymmetrical because Crown Press has all the facts, whereas the mainland Chinese publishers only have conjectures and speculations. The war can be made even more asymmetrical if more information about Eileen Chang is released to the public. Certainly, a tour of the belongings would fall into this category. But there are many, many other things that will astound.

As a tease, here is one tantalizing piece of information. In October 2006, <Book City 書城> magazine began to publish the series of 84 handwritten letters between 1966 to 1994 from Eileen Chang to Chuang Hsin-cheng (莊信正) (see China.com.cn). Huadong Normal University Professor Chen Zishan considered these letters to be an important event in advancing the study of Eileen Chang. "Apart from the unpublished letters between Eileen Chang with Stephen and Mae Soong and her aunt/uncle, this is probably nothing as important as this."

Among the belongings of Eileen Chang, there are more than 30 original letters from Chuang Hsin-cheng to Eileen Chang between 1983 and 1994. Wouldn't it be nice if this was re-united with what Chuang has published? For example, here is the Christmas card that H.C. and Gloria Chuang sent to Eileen Chang in December 1994.

[079] Eileen Chang's Wigs (09/29/2007) (ChineseNewsNet)

[in translation]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[078] The Scary Minimum Wage in Hong Kong (09/26/2007) (Lam Tin-wei at Apple Daily, recommended by Erica Yuen)

[in translation]

The Tuen Mun District Council Poverty Relief Group asked Lingnan University to study the unemployment situation in Tuen Mun and learned that the principal reasons are low education level and lack of technical skills. According to the report, Lingnan University professor Ho Lok-sang recommends that the government impose a minimum wage at a 'reasonable level' such as 'HK$6,000 per month' which 'will not necessarily impact the employment rate.' This was enough to shock this writer.

Is Professor Ho aware that the Hong Kong Law Society set the minimum wage of interns at HK$6,000? Barristers defend justice for the public and they believe that the salary of university law school graduates could be as low as HK$6,000. So how come it is "reasonable" for workers who "have low education level and lack technical levels" to have a minimum wage of HK$6,000as well?

I am opposed to minimum wage because of this kind of anti-intellectual logic. If the minimum wage is to realize the dignity for those with no education and technical skills, then it is also trampling upon the dignity of those who possess the education and technical skills. If a middle-age woman comes from northwestern China not knowing Cantonese and having no education and skills can earn HK$6,000 per month in Hong Kong, then why would the grassroots parents living in public housing estates ever want their children to study hard? Their children will surely protest: What is the point of studying? After studying law for three years, we are still earning less than HK$10,000 per month; if we get an associate degree, we may earn HK$7,500 while the government expects us to pay 8% interest on the HK$100,000+ loan that we took out and which we may never be able to repay. So why not just finish Form Five, drop out and get a job as a telecommunication company salesman?

But even if there is a minimum wage, certain grassroots organizations will not be satisfied. The Catholic Labor Affairs Committee is holding a "family wages" campaign which said that the reasonable wage level should be at least equal to the "family wage" that can meet the basic needs of the entire family. Thus, the employer will have to pay a married employee twice the salary of a single employee! If a Hong Kong person is smart, he should not bother with working overtime to make more money; instead, he should be working hard with his wife every night to pro-create -- if he has eight children, then this family of ten will be earning HK$60,000 per month! There is even a "Civil Alliance To Fight For A Minimum Wage" that calls on citizens to complain about any job that pays less than HK$30 per hour. I was brought up to think that I earn for the amount of work that I do, and I cannot understand why the way to obtain higher wages is to protest in the streets as opposed to working harder! If there should be a minimum wage, then the workers will only work harder to protest more to raise the minimum wage level instead of working harder and improving their skills and knowledge.

In retrospect, it is a waste of social resources to set up a minimum wage out of "pity" for those without the education and technical skills. In the early 1980's many young women were still working in the garment manufacturing industry. As the factories began to relocate to China, the demand for such laborers decreased. First, they lost the overtime work; then they had difficulty finding any employment. The parents and teachers recognized that the garment industry was a sunset industry and they told the next generation to stay in school to acquire better education and skills. It was a gradual process back then. But if they had imposed a minimum wage at the time, more young people would have continued to enter the factories because the wages were still attractive. But the wages would result in higher costs, and this would only accelerate the relocation of the factories to mainland China. In the end, many workers would have been sorry to have joined this industry because there were no more jobs. This is the same problem with the bar benders, because more and more construction projects are using pre-fabricated units made in China for the cost reasons. Even if the housing market recovers, the demand for bar benders is not going to increase. The minimum wage can guarantee only the minimum wage, but it cannot guarantee that the workers will find work!

The government can provide welfare such as subsidies for those with low income in order to assist those without technical skills. These workers can survive and they will also recognize that they need the education and skills if they want to improve their lot. A minimum wage will disrupt the system that allocates social resources. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The minimum wage represents a slow death by poisoning; it will only numb the grassroots workers and their next generation.

[077] Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/26/2007) (Ming Pao) (The DAB party conducted a poll of 516 persons via automated telephone voice)

Question: What do you think is the most important aspect of the work of a Hong Kong district councilor?

53%: local district work
24%: provide feedback on government administration
11%: fight for universal suffrage
12%: no opinion

[076] Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/25/2007) (Hong Kong Research Association) (621 persons interviewed on September 24, 2007 by using randomly selected telephone numbers)

Q1. Are you paying attention to the pan-democratic forum to select a candidate in the Legco by-election?
39%: Yes
52%: No
9%: No opinion

Q2. Anson Chan participated in this pan-democratic forum. Do you think that she is representing the pan-democrats or her own self in this Legco by-election?
52%: Pan-democrats
38%: Herself
10%: No opinion

Q3. Are you satisfied with the pan-democrats' selection mechanism for a candidate?
27%: Satisfied
38%: Dissatisfied
35%: No opinion

Q4. Will Anson Chan be able to set up a communication platform between the central government and the pan-democrats?
38%: Yes
56%: No
6%: No opinion

Q5. Will the participation of Anson Chan in this Legco by-election cause her relationship with the central government to ...
27%: become better
42%: become worse
16%: stay the same
15%: no opinion

Q6. Will the participation of Anson in this Legco by-election cause the actual pace towards double universal suffrage to ...
26%: go quicker
31%: go slower
32%: be unchanged
11%: no opinion

Q7. Will the participation of Anson in this Legco by-election cause Hong Kong society to become ...
29%: more unified
35%: more divided
36%: no opinion

[075] More About The Pro-Democracy Legco By-Election Debate (09/25/2007) (Those Were The Days)

[in translation]

... Frankly speaking, neither person performed well. After the debate, Ma Ngok rated Anson Chan as being incapable of shedding her Chief Secretary style and he was being kind. Anson Chan kept emphasizing the need to communicate with the central government and her specific policies were identical to the recommendations from Donald Tsang: the minimum wage law depends on the results of the campaign to guarantee wages; for environmental protection, she proposed to require that waiting vehicles must have the ignition turned off; she agreed that public servants deserve wage raises ... what is the difference between her and Bowtie Tsang?

She spoke about the Legislative Council vote on July 4th, and said that June 4th will be vindicated someday. But there was just no way that she could bring herself to say whether she would vote to vindicate June 4th if she were elected to the Legislative Council. No wonder that a Democratic Party member laughed and said: "It was fortunate that Mrs. Chan said that. If this was one of my party members, Uncle Szeto Wah would have disciplined her." When the highly esteemed Professor Kwan once said that Hong Kong must dropped the baggage of June 4th in order to fight for democracy, there was a huge storm. The Civic Party had to come out to explain on behalf of Professor Kwan. At that year's June 4th candlelight virgil, Professor Kwan had to arrive early to show that he has not wavered in his position that June 4th must be vindicated. For the people of Hong Kong, June 4th meant a lot more than July 1st. Perhaps Mrs. Chan has been a government official too long and she has been waffling through these sensitive subjects. But if she is coming out to stand for election, the hardcore democrats are not going to let her waffle her way through these major issues!

As for how Anson Chan was repeatedly attacked by Dr. Lo's sarcastic barbs, a pan-democrat said that Mrs. Chan has already exceeded expectations by finishing what she wanted to say within the time limit and without falling apart. It was not easy to ask a 60-something-old lady and a senior official who has never faced questions from the public to finish such an election forum.

As for Dr. Lo, his relentless hounding tactics sent Anson Chan into disarray. But he made the same mistake that Alan Leong did in his second Chief Executive debate in that he did not know how to hold back. During the second half of this debate, he went over the top. According to a labor union person, he thought that Dr. Lo was winning at first when he went after Anson Chan. But when Dr. Lo began to talk about how he was sorry about being a Legco member in the functional constituency, how he wanted to start anew, how hard it was to fight for democracy, how many years Aung San Suu Kyi was imprisoned and so on, this person felt that it was "very fake" and "very opportunitistic." Unless you have taken the path of democracy and underwent those experiences, you should not say those things. When Szeto Wah or "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung say it, it sounds stirring and tragic; when Dr. Lo says it, sorry, it is imitative and only sounds fake.

No matter what, there is only a long shot for Anson Chan not to win in the pan-democrats' selection process. The remaining quesiton is whether Anson Chan's performance tonight is good enough to beat Regina Ip? If she offered tonight's policy platform again, Regina Ip will surely ridicule her: "Why did you bring Donald Tsang's policy platform here tonight?" In terms of debate techniques, as long as Regina Ip does not get too aggressive, she is bound to be better than Anson Chan because she had the experience of debating the pan-democrats on her own over Article 23. When the two ladies face off each other next time, Anson Chan will find it even more difficult. No wonder that even as the pan-democrats kept praising Anson Chan tonight, they also slipped and said that they need to meet quickly to review the performance in this debate.

[074] The Joss-Stick Burning Panda Case (09/25/2007) (Southern Metropolis Daily)

In October 2006, Li Jun began to work on the computer virus "Joss-stick burning panda" and asked Lei Lei for advice. Lei Lei thought that the virus was modifying the icon of the infected documents without disguising itself and it was therefore easy to detect. Therefore he recommended Li Jun to work on disguising the virus.

In early December 2006, Li Jun began to sell the virus on the Internet. He asked Wang Lei and other netizen friends to assist him. When the "Joss-stick burning panda" virus began to propagate quickly on the Internet, netizens found themselves auomatically connected to Li Jun's personal website (www.krvkr.com). When Wang Lei learned of the huge traffic volume at the website, he proposed a 50%/50% deal with Li Jun to profit from advertising.

Meanwhile Zhang Shun purchased the access from Li Jun's traffic and posted nine pieces of "trojan horse" malware on the server to steal the " online game folder" on the computers of the visitors. Then Zhang Shun sold the information for profit.

In February 2007, Li Jun, Wang Lei, Zhang Shun and Lei Lei were arrested by the public security bureau. Wang Lei and Zhang Shun gave back their loot while Li Jun turned over his ill-gotten gains as well as the tools to clean out the "Joss-stick burning panda" virus. On September 24, 2007, the court sentenced Li Jun, Wang Lei, Zhang Shun and Lei Lei to 4 years, 2 years 6 months, 2 years and one year in prison respectively. The sentence is considered lenient in view of their cooperation.

[073] Halloween Bash At Hong Kong Disneyland (09/25/2007) Not to let Ocean Park steal all the public attention (see Comment 200709#069), Disney has its own television commercial that has been the target of complaints. So far, the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority has received 34 complaints against the Disneyland ad versus only 24 against the Ocean Park ad.

In the ad, two teenage guys got a teenage girl to enter an eerie hotel in which the piano plays by itself, the bed and bathtub vibrate on their own, the tap turns itself on and so on. The teenage girl fled while she kept looking back if something was following her. When she got out of the hotel, it was the two teenage guys outside who were scared because the girl's head had turned 180 degrees around in the manner of the movie <The Exorcist>.

You can watch the YouTube video.

[072] More Than Two Decades Later (09/25/2007) In the early 1980's, I began to read the essays of Lung Ying-tai. In 2003, I started the EastSouthWestNorth blog and I began to translate the essays of/about Lung Ying-tai. Here is a partial listing:

Television News in Taiwan

The Taiwan That You May Not Know About

Lung Ying-tai on Eileen Chang

A Chairman Bowed Formally Three Times

Styles of Radical Will: Hong Kong vs. Taiwan

Please Use Civilization To Convince Us

The Window To The Chinese-language World

Hong Kong Cultural Sovereignty: Whose Tamar Is It?

Today's Lesson: Character

How I am Learning the Lesson of "Chen Shui-bian"

Lung Ying-Tai Confesses To Her Crime

Translated Excerpts from Lung Ying-tai's Melbourne Speech

If You Want Peace, You Must Not Keep Hurting Taiwan

The <Far and Wide Weekly> Interview of Lung Ying-tai

Lung Ying-tai on <Lust, Caution>

Notwithstanding your belief, I have never met her in person or even corresponded with her in any manner or fashion all this time. That was until the Hong Kong premiere of Ang Lee's film <Lust, Caution>. While it is for certain that I knew who she was, it was news that she knew who I was (namely, the person who does these unauthorized translations of her essays!). I don't like personal photos on this website, but this is one for memories -- from right to left: Lung Ying-tai, Rebecca MacKinnon and moi, with champagne glasses in hand (courtesy of Salvatore Ferragamo). May this be a toast to a long friendship ...

[071] The Pan-Democrats' Forum For The Hong Kong Legislative Council By-Election (09/25/2007) Here are some reactions from Chinese-language political bloggers about the first forum held by the pan-democrats for the Hong Kong Island Legislative Council by-election. The two pan-democratic candidates were former Chief Secretary Anson Chan (aka Lady Conscience and Goddess of Democracy) and Lo Wing-lok, vice-chairman of the League of Socialist Democrats.

(Wong Onyin's blog)

For the League of Socialist Democrats who stand up for the grassroots and vulnerable social groups, this was an important evening. The performance of their vice-chairman Lo Wing-lok exceeded expectations. He may be a petit bourgeois, but he was able to express the ideas of socialist democracy fully. Whether it was truthful or not, or whether it was pleasing or not, when have the ideas of socialism been so thoroughly articulated?

If Lo Wing-lok's performance was somewhat over-the-top, the officious tone of old Mrs. Chan was even more disappointing. When the former administrative officials Regina Ip and old Mrs. Chan talk their unbearable officialese, we will prefer to remember this forum on the first night of the campaign ...

(Plastichk)

First half:

Mrs. Chan had gone into retirement for a while. From her preliminary performance tonight, the "training" given to her by the pan-democrats is not very effective. She was tongue-tied many ties, and her responses on key questions were off the point. The questions from the professors were clearly premised upon the "pan-democratic" viewpoint, but her responses could hardly move the pan-democrats; in fact, they would be counter-productive with respect to the middle-of-the-road voters.

Of course, Lo Wing-lok continued with the League of Social Democrats' style by evading the issue. But since Mrs. Chan was clearly unprepared, Lo Wing-lok's bravado achieved the strategic objectives.

Mrs. Chan's preparation tonight was disappointing. Tonight's outcome was the worst thing possible. The strategy of the pan-democrats consists of one mistake after another. This was hurting Mrs. Chan, this ruined the whole political show and it benefited Regina Ip. This was extremely disappointing.

Second half:

The questions from the audience forced Lo Wing-lok to deal with the "suddenly long-hair" issue. But the questioners lacked debating skills, and so Lo Wing-lok continued with his "what is right today was wrong yesterday" logic and completely evaded the issues.

Mrs. Chan did not improve on her performance. But Lo Wing-lok made some mistakes, so the situation got better for her.

Conclusion:

The first mistake of the pan-democrats was to insist on holding this forum. Their preparation was totally inadequate compared to that of the League of Socialist Democrats, and they were defeated by Lo Wing-lok. On the various policies, they repeated showed the wrong policy goals which will only help Regina Ip to win over the middle-of-the-road voters. In terms of the political parties, the League of Social Democrats were able to elevate the status of Lo Wing-lok. If the Democratic Party and the Civic Party insist on holding this forum, then why won't they send their second-tier teams out? In terms of political moves, the mainstream pan-democrats have made one mistake after another. They may strike out and lose everything.

If they can't even beat Lo Wing-lok, how can they beat Regina Ip? If Mrs. Chan's election campaign team does not get a new set of people, the situation is worrisome indeed.

[070] Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/24/2007) (Oriental Daily) (1,693 persons 18 or over were interviewed by telephone. Note: I have been previously interviewed by Oriental Daily and it was through an automated computer voice system. That means that there is no proper respondent selection in the sense that the person who picks up the telephone is interviewed)

Q1. Three different newspapers had the same photograph of a nude female soldier, but the Obscene Articles Tribune came up with different classifications. What do you think?
39%: The classification is not systematic and reflects individual subjective judgments
23%: There are no standards for classifying.
14%: There are frequent problems that become scandals and jokes
10%: There is nothing wrong with the classification system and this is just an isolated case
14%: No opinion

Q2. Many newspapers published the same sexy photograph of a British model. The Obscene Articles Tribune made different classifications and the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority prosecuted some newspapers but not others. Why?
41%: The departments' classification processes are chaotic
21%: The departments are making selective prosecutions
18%: The departments are sloppy in their work, and they committed mistakes
11%: This is just an isolated case
10%: No opinion

[069] Halloween Bash At Ocean Park (09/24/2007) (Ming Pao) Recently, Ocean Park began screening two television commercials concerning its Halloween bash event. These commercials were scheduled to air after 9pm in the evening. You can see the original commercials at YouTube (note: the ones that are shown have less frightening ghosts).

In one commercial, a mother scolds her son: "You have been held back in class again. What ghosts made you so stupid? What ghosts made you so lazy? What ghosts made me give birth to you 又留班，鬼叫你蠢、鬼叫你懶、鬼叫我生你?" The father at the table suddenly became a paper figure who cried out: "Objection! I did not make any such request!"

In the other commercial, two female students were riding a bus when one of them began to vomit. The other said: "Hey, what kind of ghosts are you vommitting? 喂，你嘔乜鬼呀？" Then a ghost appeared and began to blow kisses at the first girl who ran away screaming.

The translation is tricky because the word 'ghost' 鬼 is unique to local culture and for which nothing comparable exists in English. Proper English would have been: "Why are you so stupid? Why are so lazy? Why did I give birth to you?"

Yes, but so what? According to the Television and Entertainment Authority, 20 complaints have been filed against these commercials because of the "scary content" which is frightening to small children. Advertising industry professionals are saying that the culture of complaint is getting worse in Hong Kong, and creativity is being restricted by these frivolous criticisms.

[068] The War Between The Spiritual Blessing Gangs (09/24/2007) (LSZ at Ming Pao)

The prelude to the Hong Kong Legislative Council By-election war between the two ladies will commence tonight with a debate between former Chief Secretary Anson Chan and League of Socialist Democrats vice-chairman Lo Wing-lok. Meanwhile, former Secretary for Security Regina Ip is getting to ready to announce her own candidacy on Thursday. Most citizens are looking forward to watch a "good show." But the Donald Tsang administration takes a different view, because this contest has more drawbacks than benefits for them. They even comment sarcastically that these are "political spiritual blessing gangs" deceiving the citizens who yearn for universal election.

The democrats who persuaded Mrs. Chan to enter the election has emphasized repeatedly that supporting Mrs. Chan in the by-election equates showing to the Hong Kong SAR government and the central government the desire of the people of Hong Kong for universal suffrage in 2012. This is a great opportunity for Hong Kong citizens to show their desire for democracy.

But some members of Donald Tsang's team are pessimistic. A senior official who had worked with both women said that there will be an ugly war over the next two months. The reason why it will be ugly is that the two are too familiar with the workings of the government as well as each other. When they both worked as government officials at Lower Albert Road, they left 'bite marks' on each other. They will be trying their best to win this time, for public as well as personal reasons. If a "crisis" should arise, they may use negative propaganda to attack their opponent. No wonder that the government insider said that using "female mud wresting" to describe this war between the two women will be no exaggeration.

A core member of the Donald Tsang government said privately that Mrs. Chan will surely win in his opinion as an expert, most likely by more than 10% of the votes. A big victory by Mrs. Chan will make it harder for the Donald Tsang government in the future. Specifically, the chances of success in political reforms for universal suffrage will be even more remote.

They tended to believe thatthe democrats who pushed for Anson Chan to compete against Regina Ip are the ones who really do not want to see universal suffrage in Hong Kong. The government believes that certain 'democrats' think that 'the fight for universal suffrage' is the spring of their political lives. If universal suffrage should ever be implemented in Hong Kong, these people will have nothing to fall back upon because they will no longer have any means to attract the voters. As such, they needed Hong Kong to continue to have an antagonistic and confrontational political atmosphere. Therefore, they did their best to put Anson Chan whom Beijing trusts least to run against Regina Ip whom Beijing trusts very much. They also decided to elevate this Hong Kong Legislative Council by-election to a major choice between democracy and undemocracy.

This Donald Tsang government insider said with despondency: over the next year, Mrs. Chan may assume the role as the "new goddess of democracy" to lead the movement for universal suffrage and increase the level of antagonistic politics in Hong Kong. The party lines will be clearly demarcated. In their views, there is no chance that Beijing would let Hong Kong have universal suffrage under these circumstances. Donald Tsang is therefore wasting his time with the Green Paper and any associated consultations. This person smiled and said: "Universal suffrage in 2012? You better kiss it goodbye!"

[067] The USA Is An Armed Camp (09/24/2007) China Times noted the following issue with The Zogby International Poll on U.S. Opinions on Taiwan: on page 5 of the Zogby International report, the sample distribution has the following:

Armed Forces Member: 860 (72%)
Non-Armed Forces Members: 343 (29%)

According to the US Census, the number of active duty and reserves is 1.4 million (or about 0.7%). The number of veterans is 13%.

Could Zogby International have been interviewing only armed forces members? No, they said "samples are randomly drawn from telephone CD's of national listed sample." If they said that they used these listed samples and they had a response rate comparable to similar studies, then there is a mistake somewhere because this is an impossible result.

[066] Taiwan By The Numbers (09/23/2007) (UDN) (723 adults interviewed on September 22, 2007. A random sample of telephone numbers was drawn from the Taiwan telephone directory and then the last two digits were randomized)

Support levels for presidential election candidates:

Hsieh/Su (DPP)
27%: 08/13/2007 when the Hsieh-Su team was finalized
22%: 08/14/2007 when Ma Ying-jeou was found innocent at the initial trial for the special fees case
27%: 09/22/2007 when Hsieh/Su were not prosecuted for their special fees cases

Ma/Siew (KMT)
40%: 08/13/2007
52%: 08/14/2007
51%: 09/22/2007

What is the impact of the prosecution of DPP leaders Lu, Yu and Chen?
24%: Positive impact for DPP
22%: Negative impact for DPP
25%: No material impact for DPP
27%: No opinion

Did the judiciary use the same standards to judge Ma Ying-jeou and the DPP leaders?
46%: Different standards
20%: Same stanards
31%: Cannot decide

Concerning the prosecution of vice-president Annette Lu and DPP chairman Yu Shyh-kun,
24%: Satisfied with outcome
30%: Dissatisfied with outcome
45%: No opinion

Concerning the decision not to prosecute DPP presidential candidate team of Frank Hsieh and Su Cheng-chang,
25%: Satisfied with outcome
39%: Dissatisfied with outcome
31%: No opinion

[065] The <Lust, Caution> Charity Premiere (09/23/2007) A complimentary ticket from HKU JMSC admitted me to the premiere of <Lust, Caution>. The event was a charity premiere presented by Salvatore Ferragamo and I got to see Ang Lee, Tang Wei and Wang Leehom from afar.

It is known that my father had given the English-language name of <Spy Ring> to this short story. However, the film is being presented in the literal translation of <Lust, Caution>. The reason why my father choose <Spy Ring> was that the story included a ring of amateur spies and the critical moment in the film depended on a diamond ring. While the title <Spy Ring> might be literally interesting, it is not good marketing strategy because of title confusion. Instead, <Lust, Caution> is a unique proposition. After all, Ang Lee won an Oscar with the seemingly incomprehensible title of <Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon>.

When the premiere guests were invited into the screening rooms, they were asked to turn in their mobile telephones for safekeeping. In return, they got a receipt which would allow them to retrieve their mobile telephones when they leave. Here is the photocopy of my receipt:

Yes, I was 007. But my name is not James Bond ...

There was also a programme for the guests. I am happy to say that I got an honorable mention for giving permission to use the handwritten manuscript page (see 張愛玲的書信: 有關"羊毛出在羊身上——談《色·戒》") from Eileen Chang:

What about the film itself? Oh, haven't you notice that I don't do film reviews here, even though I watch hundreds of movies a year? Those who have read my old restaurant reviews (which I don't do here either) can only be grateful that I shut up.

[064] The Zogby International Poll on U.S. Opinions on Taiwan (09/22/2007) (Zogby International) (1,205 persons interviewed from listed telephone numbers in USA (note: about 60% of telephone numbers in the USA are unlisted -- that is why professional survey organizations usually use random digit dial (RDD) methods). The cooperation rate is unreported, but it is claimed that it is 'comparable to other professional public opinion surveys conducted using similar sampling strategies.' WARNING: To the extent that they won't give you a number, it arouses suspicion that something is being covered up. It is very simple -- just say 'the response rate was XX%, which is comparable to other professional public opinion surveys conducted using similar sampling strategies.' Why won't they tell us what XX is?)

You can read the the whole thing yourself.

I read Q1 ("How familiar are you with country of Taiwan?") and found these results:
6%: Very familiar
33%: Somewhat familiar
27%: Not very familiar
34%: Not at all familiar
1%: Not sure

Then I found it impossible to reconcile this with many of the results that followed this question.

For example, the two key questions that are getting played up by the Taiwan Government Information Office (see, for example, Liberty Times) are:

Q14. At present, Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations. Taiwan should be offered membership in the U.N.
24%: Strongly agree
31%: Somewhat agree
18%: Somewhat disagree
9%: Strongly disagree
18%: Not sure

Q15. If the people of Taiwan pass a referendum to join the U.N., then the United States should not oppose Taiwan's petition for membership for the U.N.
33%: Strongly agree
37%: Somewhat agree
11%: Somewhat disagree
6%: Strongly disagree
13%: Not sure

From Q1, 39% of the people are very/somewhat familiar with Taiwan but 61% are very/somewhat unfamiliar with Taiwan. Nevertheless, 82% and 87% of these people are willing to offer their opinions on Q14 and Q15. Those who offered answers but previously stated that they were unfamiliar with Taiwan had only the lead-in paragraphs to go by. Can those issues be reduced so simply?

Thus, suppose someone just told you that she is not familiar with Taiwan. She probably cannot locate it anywhere on a map. After all, she comes from a country in which 20% of the people think the United Kingdom is in the Middle East, or that Canada is one of the states inside the United States of America. But you ask anyway: "At present, Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations. Taiwan should be offered membership in the U.N." Are you sure that you want her ill-informed answer? What good will that do for you? You will probably get comparable levels of response from Americans if Taiwan was replaced by Chechnya, Macedonia, Scotland or Tasmania in the question.

Why does the Taiwan Government Information Office want to commission and publish this kind of stuff? They want to create the impression that the majority of American citizens support Taiwan for U.N. membership. And since the United States of America is the home of democracy and freedom, the will of their people will be respected and followed by their democratic government. Why else are American soldiers dying in Iraq if not to obey the will of their people (of which only about 60% want withdrawal from Iraq)? But the second that you explain to these American citizens that this might lead to nuclear war with China, where do you think the suppport levels will go? "Oh, but you didn't tell me that ...?"

Addendedum: Comment 200709#067 in which the United States of America turned out to be an armed camp filled with trained killers ...

[063] Taiwan By The Numbers (09/22/2007) (TVBS) (1,036 persons age 20 or over interviewed by telephone on September 17 and 19, 2007. A random sample of telephone numbers was selected from the telephone directory, and then the last four digits were randomized)

Q1. If the presidential election were held tomorrow, which team are your likely to vote for:
30%: Hsieh/Su (DPP)
53%: Ma/Siew (KMT)
17%: Undecided

Q3. Regardless of whom you vote for, who is more likely to be elected as president in 2008?
20%: Frank Hsieh
43%: Ma Ying-jeou
37%: No opinion

Q4. Regardless of whom you vote for, do you like Frank Hsieh?
8%: Like a lot
26%: Like somewhat
22%: Dislike somewhat
17%: Dislike a lot
26%: No opinion

Q5. Regardless of whom you vote for, do you like Ma Ying-jeou?
14%: Like a lot
41%: Like somewhat
15%: Dislike somewhat
9%: Dislike a lot
21%: No opinion

Q6. Who is better at promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relationships?
14%: Frank Hsieh
53%: Ma Ying-jeou
2%: Both
5%: Neither
25%: No opinion

Q7. Who is better at bringing economic prosperity?
22%: Frank Hsieh
46%: Ma Ying-jeou
2%: Both
5%: Neither
25%: No opinion

Q8. Who is better at maintaining political stability in Taiwan?
20%: Frank Hsieh
48%: Ma Ying-jeou
3%: Both
7%: Neither
22%: No opinion

Q9. Who is better at elevating the interational status of Taiwan?
22%: Frank Hsieh
49%: Ma Ying-jeou
3%: Both
4%: Neither
22%: No opinion

Q10. Who is better at promoting harmony among people of different provincial origin and ethnicity?
23%: Frank Hsieh
48%: Ma Ying-jeou
2%: Both
8%: Neither
19%: No opinion

Q11. Whose government team will be less corrupt if elected?
22%: Frank Hsieh
40%: Ma Ying-jeou
8%: Both
9%: Neither
21%: No opinion

Q12. Whose government team will be better at building up Taiwan if elected?
33%: Frank Hsieh
38%: Ma Ying-jeou
6%: Both
2%: Neither
20%: No opinion

Q13. Who is better at protecting the interests of the people of Taiwan?
29%: Frank Hsieh
39%: Ma Ying-jeou
7%: Both
4%: Neither
21%: No opinion

Q15. The Democratic Progressive Party has ruled for the past eight years. Do you think that it is time to have a president from a different party?
66%: Yes
17%: No
17%: No opinion

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

How did Ma Lik know my father? My father never told me about Ma Lik, but I will leave three conjectures (without offering any evidence):
(1) Both my father and Ma Lik are specialists in the Chinese classical novel <Dream of the Red Chamber>. Thus, they must have minimally read each other's works.
(2) It is well known that my father had a tutor-friend relationship with Qian Zhongshu in Shanghai, and therefore Ma Lik sent a complimentary copy of the book to my father.
(3) My father's belief as stated to me was that he and his friend Eileen Chang were major targets for China's Department of Unification. Any statement from my father or Eileen Chang in support of the People's Republic of China would have tremendous propaganda value given their previous positions as stalwart anti-Communists.

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

Xie Tao said that the Chinese problem can be described by three words: haste, wait, push. One cannot be hasty; but one cannot wait either; so one has to push forward. The Communist Party is heading in the right direction towards constitutional democracy in small steps. It is impossible to take big steps, and those slow steps will result in many small steps that turn out to be big changes twenty or thirty years later.

"Old people like us will not be able to witness those big changes twenty or thirty years later. We will be dead by then. Those people who are in their 30's now will have gone through two decades of struggling. They are not bounded to the old system and they will have their new ideas. By the Twentieth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, there will be big changes. Although we won't be able to see them, we can keep pushing foreword. As long as we are alive, we will say what we have to say. I have weathered many storms over several decades. I joined the Party sixty years ago, and I was one of the earliest teachers of Marxist theory in China. I am in my late years and I do not have many days left in my life. If I do not speak the truth about what I experienced during my lifetime, I ought to be ashamed for myself. Before meeting God, I want to leave behind a few truth words. Such are my feelings now."

... The essay The Democratic Socialist Model and the Future of China> was written in 2006. During discussions with friends, Xie Tao foresaw that there would be a huge impact because of the questions that were raised. Under the long-term censorship, such problems cannot be discussed openly, because it is a very grave issue to negate the thoughts of Mao Zedong, Lenin and Stalin. He had to be extremely careful and so he held the essay back. But somehow someone posted the essay on the Internet and it spread quickly. At the time, he was in Chengdu and quite unaware of what was happening. But a friend at Yanhuang Chunqiu called him up and asked to publish the essay with some minor editing of certain sharp and sensitive language. So he agreed.

"Before publishing the essay, the editors studied the situation and they were prepared to deal with three types of situations. First, the supervisory department would close down the magazine. They were prepared to hire a lawyer and fight it in court. Secondly, this particular issue of the magazine would be banned. This has indeed happened before. Therefore, the editor began distributing the magazine before the scheduled date. Thirdly, the supervisory department would ask the editors to make a self-examination or otherwise apply pressure with suitable methods."

But there was no official response from the supervisory departments for five months until the People's Daily published a response to a reader's inquiry about the essay. The central government communicated the following about this essay: it will not be disseminated; it will not be re-published; it will not be criticized; it will not be argued over with the media. However, individuals are entitled to express their views.

"This was unexpected but also the best possible response that we could have. The essay was viciously attacked by the traditional leftists. There were a dozen criticism meetings during which we were accused of subverting the Communist Party, socialism, the state constitution and the Party constitution. But none of these were reasoned criticisms. They were just Cultural Revolution-style criticisms."

"Over the various historical movements in China, we built our sense of history through our personal experiences. Many people are reflecting on this history, including certain cadre leaders inside the Party. These are the rational thoughts that a normal and healthy person ought to have. I am just one of these people. Over the decades, China nurtured these types of people. When we were young, we sincerely worked for the Revolution and we sincerely tried to defend it. In our last years, after weathering the storms of several decades, we want to say a few truthful words and explore the future through the historical truths."

[060] Linfen (China) To Sue <National Geographic>? (09/21/2007) (National Geographic)

(Linfen) is listed among the world's ten most polluted places of 2007, according to the New York-based nonprofit Blacksmith Institute. Linfen sits at the center of China's prodigious coal industry, which is largely unregulated by the government. Residents describe choking on coal dust, and local health clinics have reported an upsurge in bronchitis, pneumonia, and lung cancer, according to the institute.

(Ta Kung Pao via Nanyang Siang Pau)

Linfen was listed as at number 3 among the nine most polluted cities in the world according to National Geographic magazine. In the discussion of Linfen's severe pollution problem, National Geographic reported: At 10am, the sun is invisible even though everybody knows that it is overhead; when tourists walk in the street, their clothes are covered with soot; the water is malodorous and brownish black with white foamy bubbles on top; the rate of birth defects leads the world in recent years.

Linfen city mayor Li Tiantai expressed his "strong dissatisfaction and protest" against the report. Shanxi pronvincial environmental protection agency deputy director Wang Jinglong said that Linfen has gotten rid of the label as the worst polluted city in China earlier this year. Year-to-date, the total number of Class II or better days has exceeded the grand total for all of last year. The local government officials said that National Geographic ignored their efforts to improve air quality and they indicated that they wanted to sue National Geographic.

When Linfen mayor Li Tiantai was interviewed, he expressed his "strong dissatisfaction and protest."

This is known as "shooting the messenger."

[059] Hong Kong Police Arrests Man For Internet Gambling (09/21/2007) (Apple Daily; Ming Pao; also via Yahoo)

Early morning yesterday, Mongkok Police District special services squad detectives received a tip and proceeded to stake out an Internet cafe. Twenty-five minutes later, the target male person showed up and went to visit a baccarat-gambling website that was hosted overseas. The detectives rushed up and placed the man under arrest.

The suspect was a regular visitors at this Internet cafe. He visits two to three times a week, spending one to two hours each time. Reportedly, he is a restaurant worker who did not want to use the Internet at home because his family might find out that he was gambling. Therefore, he used an Internet cafe instead. During the action, the police took away one computer, a piece of paper that recorded HKD 80,000 in bets, a piece of paper that recorded the sequence of outcomes and a credit card that was believed to be used for payment.

Under Hong Kong law, anyone who places a bet with an illegal betting organization (whether it is located inside or outside of Hong Kong) is committing a crime. The initial offense can draw a penalty of HKD 10,000 in fines and 3 months in jail; additional offenses can draw a penalty of HKD 20,000 and 6 months in jail.

According to a legal expert, it is hard for the police to gather evidence about illegal Internet gambling. Usually, they have to go undercover and watch the suspect making a bet. Then they have to retrieve the IP address from the Internet cafe's computer. Then they have to ask the Internet servive provider for the pages that the suspect had visited. This legal expert recommends that the government should issue regulations for Internet cafe to stricly record the personal identity information of the users and the times when they were on the Internet. However, he admits that it is difficult to carry out because the users don't want to feel that they are being watched.

[058] Arigigato China (09/20/2007) (Daqi) China rises? A great nation requires more than the hardware (military, economy, etc) but it also must have the accompanying software (civic quality, etc). On September 17, in Hangzhou's Huanglong stadium, Japan played Germany in the Women's Soccer World Cup. The 40,000 mostly Chinese spectators were virtually one-sided on the side of Germany. Whenever, Germany attacked, they cheered; whenever Germany stopped the Japanese attack, they clapped. When Germany scored, a huge German flag appeared in the stands. The unfriendliness of the Chinese spectators towards the Japanese reflects a certain unhealthy attitude that had been on display repeated in the past.

Next year, the 29th Olympic Games will take place in Beijing. Chinese and Japanese athletes will be competing against each other. If the Chinese spectators continue to display these anti-Japanese sentiments, it will damage the international image of China as well as Sino-Japanese friendship. The purpose of the Games is the pursuit of excellence AND the promption of international friendship and world peace. To boo specific teams is against the spirt of sports and will earn the condemnation of world opinion.

In the Germany-Japan game, the Japanese women were praiseworthy. They lost the game and were eliminated as a reult. After the game, the Japanese players poured out into the field and took out a banner which said "Arigato 谢谢 China" -- Thank you, China in three languages. Then they bowed to the spectators, who stood up and applauded them. May this be an example for the Beijing Olympics.

[057] Kelly Brook's Breasts (09/20/2007) (The Sun; The Sun)

In the hearing over the Starpix agency photographs of Kelly Brook on a Caribbean beach that Oriental Daily/The Sun published and that the Hong Kong Television and Entertainment Authority/Obscene Articles Tribunal found to be Class II: Indecent, witnesses testified that during the same period: (1) the overseas magazine NOW showed the same photographs in which Kelly Brook's breasts were not covered up with pixels as Oriental Daily/The Sun did with their photographs. However, NOW was never rated by TELA/OAT even though it was on sale in Hong Kong; (2) on the same day when Oriental Daily/The Sun published their photographs, a similiar Kelly Brook photograph appeared in Apple Daily. Upon review, TELA/OAT found that to be neither indecent nor obscene.

During the hearing, the TELA lawyer said that just because these other cases were not prosecuted does not mean that they were not illegal. The Oriental Daily/The Sun lawyer said: "In that case, you are saying that there is selective prosecution. This is very serious. I will use the fact that this was a dishonest prosecution and ask for a permanent stop to the hearing." The TELA lawyer said: "Perhaps there was no prosecution due to lack of evidence, or perhaps the case was not detected ... I am just saying that we do not know why these other cases were not found to be indecent. Therefore, the magistrate should not use them as reference." The magistrate showed his concern: "If the classification is based upon commonly accepted moral standards in society, then why shouldn't this case be compared to previous cases classified as indecent? Even if the NOW case should not be used for comparison, but we have the extreme situation that Apple Daily has a similar photograph but was classified as neither indecent nor obscene. When I assess this case, can I make that comparison?"

Perhaps the key here is an article back in March 2006 in Oriental Daily (see link) which quotes the TELA/OAT opinion:

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

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

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

Relevant Link: Original unpixellated photographs at The Dark Hat.

[056] Hong Kong District Council Elections Preview (09/20/2007) (Ming Pao; also at Yahoo! News) The nominations for the Hong Kong District Council elections will begin next Tuesday and the elections will be held on November 18. There are 405 seats in the District Councils.

DAB: Four years ago, the two DAB Legco members Lau Kong-wah and Yeung Yiu-chung lost in their bid for District Council seats. Even DAB vice-chairman Yip Kwok-him lost to the parachuted Cyd Ho by 64 votes in the Kwun Lung district (Sai Wan) that he had served as District Councilor for more than 10 years. This year, the DAB will be fielding not more than 200 candidates, fewer than in 2003.

DP: In 2003, the July 1st effect allowed the Democratic Party to have 80% of its candidates to be elected. This time, DP will field about 110 candidates, of which 70 are running for re-election and 40 are first-time candidates most of whom have more than one year in local district experience. The principal goal is to defend the seats that they already held.

CP: The Civic Party will field about 40 candidates in their first attempt in the District Council elections.

Savantas: The think tank headed by Regina Ip will field two or three candidates in Hong Kong Island.

LP: The Liberal Party will field about 60 candidates, of which 20 are running for re-election and 40 are first-time candidates.

ADPL: The Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood will field 35 to 40 candidates, of which one-quarter are first-time candidates. As usual, their focus will be in the western Kowloon.

[055] More About The Corpse In The Bag (09/19/2007) See Comment 200709#052 for previous story. The Filipina woman Armia denied at first any knowledge or involvement. However, the police showed her the surveillance video tape in which Armia drove a scooter with a two-wheel trailer 12 kilometers away from her home and dumped the bag which contained the corpse.

(TVBS, UDN) 38-year-old Filipina Armia Nemencia Panaglima has now given a confession to the police, "The description of the killing was consistent with our examination of the victim. Accordingly, the prosecutor believes that the Filipina is the murderer." The public and the victim's family had their doubts because Armia is 155cm tall compared to the 160cm tall victim. The victim was stabbed at least ten times. There were marks of strangulation around her neck to the point where her tongue was sticking out. However, the fatal blow was a 13cm deep stab wound in the left chest. According to Armia, the motive was a dispute over the agency fee that the victim wanted to charge Armia's husband for the language lessons, to the amount of NT$50 per hour (out of the total of NT$1,500 per hour). And did Armia have the strength to commit the murder, tie the corpse up, stuff it into a bag and haul it away for dumping?

(TVBS) Meanwhile, what was the role of Armia's American husband David Michael Fillon? He was arrested and held for almost 12 hours, released to return home for 12 hours, asked to return for more questioning and released to return home again.

TVBS: Did you kill anyone.
Fillon: No. I did not. I did kill anyone.
TVBS: You know nothing?
Fillon: I don't know anything. I don't know.

(UDN, UDN) According to investigators, Fillon was asked about the blood stains behind the sofa at his apartment. He claimed that he cut his hand accidentally while peeling fruit. When the police informed him that the DNA test showed that the blood matched that of the victim Chou Mei-yun, he turned silent. He also claimed to have a bad sense of smell, and therefore could not detect the odor from the corpse.

Fillon's explanation was that he had too much to drink and fell asleep. Therefore, he had no idea what happened. Armia's story was consistent with that explanation. She said that she asked Armia to come over and they had an argument over money. Chou slapped her and so Armia killed her with a kitchen knife in anger. Afterwards, she dragged the corpse into the storeroom. Since Fillon always returns home drunk in the early morning, she purchased duct tape and garbage bags and stuffed the corpose into the bag. She also washed away the blood stains and hair in the apartment, and then applied air freshener to the room. Then she borrowed a trailer and carted the body away for disposal.

"I don't know anything." "I did the killing."

[054] No Such Person Exists (09/19/2007) (Xici Hutong) The program <The Human World> on Jiangsu Satellite TV presents real and touching human stories.

On August 20, a story entitled <The Accidentally Exposed Lie> on <The Human World> told the following story. A dozen years ago in Liuchang village, Qingzhen town (Guizhou province), the villager named Li Tingfa ignored medical advice and had a baby with his infirmed wife. The baby turned out to be sickly too. When the wife asked to see the baby, Li borrowed a healthy baby from his neighbor Gu Xinlong to show her. Twelve years later, the wife accidentally discovered the truth and her illness deteriorated. Meanwhile, Li's own son could not forgive his father for the deception.

Another reporter wanted to follow up on the story and called Jiangsu Satellite TV for the contact information. He was told that there was only a bank account to accept donations, but no contact telephone. Since it was noted that the person named Li Tingfa resided in Liuchang village, Qingzhen town, Guizhou province, the reporter went there on August 26. At the time, the computer network at the police station was down. So the reporter called the leaders at the two dozen or so hamlets within Liuchang village. None of the leaders recognize the names of Li Tingfa or Gu Xinlong. Three days later, the reporter contacted the police station by telephone and was told that there was no such persons. On September 4, the reporter went to the identity card section of the Qingzhen city public security bureau and observe that when the name Gu Xinlong was searched, the answer was "No such person." When the name Li Tingfa was searched, there was a young man born in 1992. When the search is extended to the entire Guiyang city, these people still could not be found.

When the reporter contacted with Jiangsu Satellite TV with his information, he was told that he would be called back. He is still waiting for the call.

[053] Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/18/2007) (HKU POP) (1,016 persons in Hong Kong were interviewed by telephone on September 4-7, 2007 about their opinion towards Taiwan and their appraisal of past Chinese leaders)

Taiwan independence
83% oppose
11% support

Confidence in cross-strait reunification
54% confident
38% not confident

Taiwan rejoining the United Nations
68% oppose
22% support

Believed 'one country, two systems" is applicable to Taiwan
51% yes
39% no

Deng Xiaoping accrued more merits or faults
82% more merits
3% more faults

Zhao Ziyang accrued more merits or faults
59% more merits
3% more faults

Yang Shangkun accrued more merits or faults
21% more merits
20% more faults

[052] The Corpse In The Bag (09/18/2007) First from Taipei Times:

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photograph of David Fillon being questioned by Kaohsiung police

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

[051] Taiwan By The Numbers (09/18/2007) (UDN) (901 adults interviewed by telephone on September 13, 2007. A sample of telephone numbers was drawn from the Taiwan telephone directory and then the last two digits were randomized.

Q1. Would you like to see our country join or re-join the United Nations?
54%: Yes
10%: No
34%: No opinion

Q2. Are you aware that President Chen Shui-bian is pushing for a referendum to "join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan"?
77%: Yes
21%: No
2%: No opinion

Q3. Do you agree or disagree with a public referendum of "joining the United Nations under the name of Taiwan"?
43%: Yes
31%: No
25%: No opinion

Q4. Are you concerned that the referendum to join the United Nations may damage Taiwan-US relationships?
39%: Yes
39%: No
20%: No opinion

Q5. Under the circumstance in which the United States is publicly opposing the referendum in Taiwan to join the United Nations, is it necessary for the government to insist on holding the public referendum to join the United Nations?
30%: Yes
42%: No
27%: No opinion

[050] A Hong Kong Political Campaign (09/18/2007) (Apple Daily)

The Hong Kong Democratic Party hired a public relations person to present a new image of itself. The first effort is the placement of advertisement on restaurant paper mats. For the first wave, about 30 restaurants have signed on. Shortly after the campaign began, one restaurant chain store received a customer complaint about loss of appetite as a result of seeing the picture of Democratic Party members. That may or may not be the real reason for the complaint. In any case, that restaurant has withdrawn from the campaign. The advertising agency has found other restaurants to substitute. Apart from this odd affair, it is an open question about the advertising effectiveness of this kind of ad campaign.

[049] Learn English Well, But Stay Away From Li Yang (09/17/2007) (Lian Yue's Eighth Continent)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related Link: “疯狂英语”：本质是邪教 周黎明

[048] Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/17/2007) (The Sun; Oriental Daily) (1,464 adults interviewed by telephone)

In Hong Kong, three newspapers (Ta Kung Pao, Wen Hui Po and Sing Pao) were charged with publishing a Class I: Indecent photograph of a topless female British soldier. Ta Kung Pao and Wen Hui Po admitted fault and paid their fines. Sing Pao refused to plead guilty and contested the classification. Upon review by the Obscene Articles Tribunal, the photograph was reclassified as Class I: Neither Indecent Nor Obscene, and Sing Pao was not guilty. Too bad for the first two newspapers that pleaded guilty so hastily.

Another classical landmark case when a news agency photograph of model Kelly Brook appeared on December 12, 2005 in Apple Daily, Oriental Daily and The Sun. The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority charged only the latter two newspapers but not the first one.

Q1. Concerning the two different judgments with respect to the photograph of the female soldier, what do you think about the standards used by the Obscene Articles Tribunal?
38%: chaotic and unstandardized
29%: there is no system in forming adjudicators, who make judgments based upon subjective opinion
14%: frequent problems that are embarrassing and controversial
10%: there is no problem with the review process as this is just an isolated incident

Q2: The Obscene Articles Tribunal once classified the statue of David as 'indecent' while the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority classified classical literature as problematic. What do you think about these organizations?
44%: They are poor quality for they cannot tell the difference between art and pornography
28%: They are afraid of being criticized and so they send anything and everything over for review
15%: They wear colored lens through which everything is seen as indecent
8%: No opinion
5%: They did the right thing

Q3. The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority has been accused having a obsession-compulsion to be sexually pure, and they even review certain substantive reports. What do you think?
43%: The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority is running scared and they will take action as a result of a few complaints
26%: The TELA system is ridiculous
12%: TELA does have a obsession-compulsion to be sexually pure and they will review everything
9%: There is no problem with what they are doing
12%: No opinion

Q4. What are the consequences if TELA continue to send out publications for review and prosecution without any principles?
36%: The complaint system will be abused
26%: It is an international joke that will affect the image of Hong Kong
22%: It interferes with the freedom of press and the development of culture
7%: There is no problem with the present review system
9%: No opinion

Q5. How can the present Obscene Articles Tribunal system be improved?
41%: Re-establish clear standards for adjudication
27%: Install an accountability system with penalties for misjudgment
20%: Re-train the Obscene Articles Tribunal adjudicators
5%: There is no problem with the system and no improvement is necessary
7%: No opinion

[047] Taiwan By The Numbers (09/17/2007) (China Times) (780 adults were interviewed on August 22-23. A sample of telephone numbers were drawn from the telephone directory, and then the last two digits were randomized)

Q. Which country is most important for Taiwan?
United States of America: 31.5%
China: 25.1%
Japan: 4.5%
Don't know: 35%

Q. Can Taiwan trust the United States of America?
Yes: 29%
No: 37.5%

Q. If China invades Taiwan, do you believe the United States will help to defend?
Yes: 40%
No: 44%

[046] Media Bans in China (09/16/2007) (KDNet)

[in translation]

A few days ago, I spoke to friends about media work. He said, "Actually, we are all reactionary in our thinking but slavish in our behavior. What does that mean? It means that deep down inside, we are all dissatisfied with the authorities' policies towards the media. Even the propaganda department officials who wield power have divergent views. But if those views were articulated publicly, they would be considered 'reactionary.' In practice, nobody dares to overstep. Everybody carries out the duties accordingly. It is one thing for the running dogs to do so. But we are media workers who have contemporary ideas, and therefore this is painful to us. You may think that we usually sound like democrats who petition for justice for the people, but we actually continue to write paeans for the authorities. We do not express our true feelings, but we say the opposite instead and against our conscience. Is there anything worse than not being to speak our minds or articulate our own voices?"

"Oh, oh." I smiled bitterly over so many grievances. After working in the media for so long, we have all become mental eunuchs who think differently from what we write. This is an abnormal social formation. Who is to be blamed? I once tried to interview a group petitioning in front of the provincial government office. The crowd yelled: "Which one of you have the courage to report on this case?"

I did not reply. But I knew that I did not have the courage. My report will be reviewed by the director and the chief editor. Certain sensitive issues would be banned immediately. It was not my decision to make. Indeed, before even the superiors got to review what I wrote, the newspaper issued a notice from the propaganda department: "Articles about the issue of petitioning shall not be published."

So you see that when we face these media bans, all our sympathy and enthusiasm are annihilated. These bans turn all the ideals of journalism into nothing. They made us become aware that there is no freedom of press in China. Having worked in media for so many years, I have come across many bans. Some of them were clearly communicated to everybody, such as the speeches by the leader, the inside story about a state law, Taiwan is not a country, the responsibilities of the various state leaders, etc.

On one occasion, we listed the city party committee leaders in the wrong order and we were admonished. Another time, a reporter dared to publish the "dissenting opinion" and drew a "yellow card" ... other bans were communicated orally from the propaganda department or other supervisory agencies, such as certain big disasters in our province, big criminal cases, corrupt behavior by government officials, or even the rise of pork prices, etc. None of those could be reported because they could arouse panic among the public, etc. This is how the bans works.

A similar situation exists outside of our province. It is the same thing in each and every city/province of China: there is no freedom of press. A Guangzhou newspaper colleague said:

"There are two notice boards in front of the office. The weekly topics, meeting memoranda, the administrative notices and the editorial arrangements are posted there. In addition, there are all the ban orders. Guangzhou and Beijing are the two sacred founts of Chinese media. There are more elite workers there, and therefore there are many more ban orders. How much? It is a regular chore to post those ban orders every day. Sometimes, there is one list a day, but there could be as many as two or three lists per day. It is a stirring sight to see the lists of ban orders over several days. There are usually two classes of ban orders: those from the central propaganda department and those from the provincial propaganda department. Since the Southern Daily group is a provincial level entity, the Guangzhou city propaganda department has no jurisdiction. By inference, Guangzhou Daily must have at least 50% ban orders than the Southern Daily group ...

When I was working in Morning News, there were new ban orders every day. The chief editor would announce them in a serious manner at the daily meeting. When the department head goes back to the department office, he will repeat them. But over here, nobody takes these ban orders seriously to the point that I am perplexed. The ban orders are of all sorts, but they seem to fall into the same areas: mass incidents, major criminal cases, cases with bad effects, problems with local enterprises, etc. But there are also some incomprehensible ban orders. For example, a few days ago, a teacher died while trying to attempt to save students. This should be a positive story, but all reporting was banned.

Another oddity is that the Guangzhou media are over-developed and they reach everywhere. No matter what happens in China, even if it is 10,000 miles away from Guangzhou, they manage to appear in the ban orders for Guangzhou. Most of these ban orders do not come from the central propaganda department. Instead, they come from the provincial propaganda department. One can conclude from this: the ability to maintain a good relationship with the provincial propaganda department has a decisive influence on whether some negative local news elsewhere will be published.

According to a Beijing colleague, there is someone who made it a business is to collect these ban orders. The plan is to collect them and send them out to be published overseas. At first, I was curious as to who could possibly be interested in such things. Then I quickly realized that these things are the truest historical record of a nation. Oh, there is even a record that is more true: the Xinhua agency's <Report on national activities>. This is a totally secret report where the number of people authorized to access it is not more than two digits.

So you see that under these ban orders, reporters are becoming increasingly more "reactionary" even though their actions are becoming more conservative. But there is no doubt that the lack of freedom of press is the source of sadness among Chinese media workers, who are become schizophrenics as a result.

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

[044] Hong Kong Police Sweeps (09/15/2007) (Apple Daily) This is day two of the Hong Kong police clean-up of illegal brothels in the Western Kowloon district. Today's net saw a bizarre twist beyond the usual assortment of underaged prostitutes and Internet-enabled pimps.

In an old building located at 275 Shanghai Street, there was an apartment which is about about 400 square feet in area with about 100 square feet being a kitchen area. The kitchen has 3 cooking stoves. There was also a large amount of food, such as vegetables and meat in the kitchen.

Yes, but so what? So maybe someone likes to cook and eat. Why was this place targeted during the police operation against illegal brothels?

A little bit of history is in order. In recent years, the most common form of organized prostitution is to import mainland Chinese girls to Hong Kong, legally or illegally. However, the police have been watching the public places where prostitutes hang out. Once found 'working,' these girls will be deported back to mainland China. So a newer model is for the girls to stay inside a specific apartment without ever stepping out into the street. Meanwhile, the clients can find them through the Internet. Besides the listings of prostitutes in Hong Kong which are hosted on overseas websites, the operators also post to Hong Kong discussion forums under the guise of 'reviews.'

If the girls are supposed to stay indoors all the time, then they need to order food in. Most of these girls come from Hunan and Hubei provinces where the food is hot and spicy. So the girls found the local Hong Kong food rather bland and tasteless. The aforementioned kitchen is an unlicenced restaraunt that served the working girls in the area with home-style cooking.

Five persons were arrested in that apartment, all of them being two-way-pass visitors from Hunan province. They are cooks and delivery persons. These people will certainly be found guilty of violating the terms of their stay and be deported back to mainland China. Meanwhile, the police are looking for the mastermind behind the restaurant. If found, the person may be charged with illicit profiteering from the prostitution activities of others.

[043] The Times They're Changin' in Hong Kong (09/13/2007) (Apple Daily)

When the movie <Exodus> was shown to the public yesterday, it carried a Class IIB (Not Suitable for Children and Young People) rating even though there were plenty of foul language in it. This meant that everybody can watch the movie, but the promotional material must mention that it is not suitable for children and young people. Previously, the presence of certain Cantonese terms automatically results in Class III (Adults 18 or over only) classifications.

According to a Ms. Wong from the Television and Entertaining Licensing Authority: "Following considerations such as the changing times and audience reception, we have made the appropriate relevant adjustments. When we review a movie, we no longer make a determination on the basis of the dialogue. Instead, we must regard this based upon the totality of the movie ... For this movie, we arranged a special showing to the public and the audience were not upset by the use of foul lanaguage. Internally, we did not feel that the movie needs to be classified Class III. So it was ultimately rated as Class IIB ... Changing times will affect the audience's standards about morality and violence. We will reference overseas film rating systems and continuously make adjustments."

For the record, the three instances of foul language in <Exodus> were:

演員：張家輝
劇情：作為疑犯接受警方盤問時「發爛渣」
內容：
「唔信你就咪Ｘ問啦！」
「班女人好Ｘ蠱惑！」
「你咪戇ＸＸ咁啦！知得少又懶Ｘ嫌蝕底」
「呀！你條Ｘ樣，玩Ｘ夠未？」

演員：張家輝
劇情：向前妻解釋沒有外遇
內容：「你條Ｘ樣，講極都唔信！」

演員：溫碧霞
劇情：與男角發展情慾
內容：「Ｘ我啦！Ｘ我啦！」

The foul language is marked by the use of 'X'. Had Apple Daily printed the actual words, it would have been classified as Class II: Indecent Material by the Obscene Articles Tribunal of Hong Kong, and be fined accordingly.

[042] The Marketing of <Lust, Caution> (Apple Daily) In the past, movie distributors in Hong Kong do not pay too much attention to the Mid-Autumn Festival in their scheduling. But the proximity of this festival to the October 1 golden week has got some of them thinking about arranging their films to appeal to the large number of mainland Chinese visitors. The one that will get the most attention is <Lust, Caution>. In Hong Kong, the full 156 minutes version will be on display publicly on September 26. In mainland China, the premiere will take place about a month later with about 30 minutes deleted. In Hong Kong, <Lust, Caution> is rated Class III (Adults only); in mainland China, there is no film rating and therefore all films must be suitable for all ages. For mainland travellers to Hong Kong, <Lust, Caution> can be seen (1) earlier and (2) in full.

[041] The Story Behind <Lust, Caution> (09/13/2007) Regular visitors to this website probably noted the presence of some Chinese-only articles recently: 張愛玲的書信: 有關"羊毛出在羊身上——談《色·戒》" and <色.戒> 故事. Those articles were important because they illuminate on the origins of the Eileen Chang's short story <Lust, Caution>, which Ang Lee turned into the movie that just won the Best Film Award at the Venice Film Festival. The material in my blog post has just been used by Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly) for this week's front cover story that spreads six pages inside (see 張愛玲色戒心結&