做人不能太... 没有主张

Well, vanity (my favorite sin according to the devil!) takes over on June 4th. My post a while ago somehow got picked up by some website on the "media revolution" mission on Western media. Fascinating stuff. Here we go again.

It's been 19 years since a child in Hong Kong wrote a Chinese essay on how sad he was to know about tanks crushing students in Beijing and received the highest marks in his class (maybe even historically - maybe) for his writing. I wish I kept that essay somewhere.

What ever happened to the June Forth Incident? To Tibetan Riots? To Beijing Olympics? Well, the Earthquake happened. Poor Pro-Tibet supporters all scatter for cover as the Chinese free media machines wakes up to show the world how bad Sichuan is and how normal compassionate people ought to help the suffering Chinese. Pro-China advocates sigh as they use the earthquake as shield against pro-democratic protests. Beijing sighs as the spotlight switches. No, this may not all be politically correct. But you and I know it's the objective truth that happened.

Me? After 19 years, I'd like to take a moment to remember those who perished or forever scared in Tiananmen Square.

Moment.

While I was in Korea, I actually saw the Kyung Lah piece on the one-child policy on CNN again. Offended again, I wondered why she didn't report on the "extra" sadness that some children have due to the "one-parent" policy. Thankfully, on the same day, I read this objective report on human rights.

做人不能太... 没有主张. Reading media news these days takes a certain art and objectivity because the articles lack them (art and objectivity).

Take the Sharon Stone debacle. Stone wondered if the earthquake was karma. Despite her apology and explanation, I believe she used karma as a proxy for "revenge" despite karma being a Buddhist term that explains the circle of life (Go see Andy Lau's 大只佬 if you are interested, highly recommended movie). Was it wrong?

• Super yes, especially when Dior takes her commercial dollars away.
  
• Yes, since anyone would be accused to be un-American (thanks, Bushie!) if they thought 911 was karma
• No, since this was just a politically incorrect personal opinion
• Super no, why can't I say what's on my mind

Does Stone deserve all the extreme angry responses? I say only if you are ignorant. The enemy is ignorance, not fear. Nowadays, I find it especially true. If you read the transcripts and really learn about the context and situation, you can find a humble Sharon Stone trying to make the point that "you ought to be nice to people, even when they are not nice to you." Her example, Earthquake = Karma, is horrible but nonetheless reflected a portion of her opinion. Anyway, she's entitled to her opinion, me thinks.

• Here's a good Chinese article on the non-sense, and the English translation (sort of)
• More word by word analysis in Chinese
• Note that the Western media has very little covereage of this (rightfully so) non-issue. I found this to be semi-interesting

Read news, take it with a grain of salt, read different perspectives, be educated, and then, maybe, maybe form an opinion. Don't be ignorant.

And now, allow me to remember victims of man-made and nature-made tragedies. Of the world.

Moment.