Agreement Against Jackie Chan's Anti-Democratic Remarks

As a follow-up post to yesterday's comment on Jackie Chan's outrageous opinion that the democracies and freedoms of Chinese people need to be "controlled," the backlash from Hong Kong and Taiwanese legislators begins as more people become outraged at the veteran movie star's comments.

>>>Sun Star: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash (3:37 p.m.)
>>>Telegraph: Jackie Chan says Chinese people need to be 'controlled'

Published Post Number:126/132
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Hey Jackie Chan: Hong Kong Not a Democracy

Celebrities make mistakes occasionally, right? Recently, at a business panel forum in Hainan, Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan declared that Chinese people needed to be controlled. He believed that too much freedom was not good -

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not, I'm really confused now. If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." [Source]

Actually, Jackie, Hong Kong is NOT a full democracy. Its Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, was and still is appointed by Mainland China's government. The only people representing HK citizens who can vote for him include many politicians who are loyal to Beijing bureaucrats. If freedom of speech and democracy includes arresting and rejecting visitors whom are deemed 'dangerous' by Chinese official, then Hong Kong is a democracy. Hong Kongers are NOT free Jackie.

And on the matter of Taiwan, chaos results from the divisive emotions of whether to be friendly with Mainland China's government. If Beijing would be more open and tolerant with their own people, then there may not be as much chaos.

Published Post Number:125/131
Feel free to comment below!

Back from a Trip

Hi all, I'm back from my long trip to Hong Kong and Shanghai! Jet lag is starting to kick in, especially in the evenings and I already miss the awesome food and places in HK. I'll give some detail about some generalities about what they call themselves "Asia's World City" soon, and some pictures/videos (if I'm not too lazy to start organizing and uploading them.)

Warning: Made in China (2nd Post)

In October, I blogged about how all sorts of products made in China were increasingly susceptible to toxins, most recently-food. Just last week, Hong Kong authorities found trace of melamine again in imported Chinese eggs. This comes a day before the news from TIME Magazine that the avian (bird) flu was found in poultry in the city's markets. This caused a 3-week shutdown of the poultry market (some chickens are sold live in HK) and raised questions of whether the bird flu vaccine was still active. All this makes for an interesting (or deprived?) visit to Hong Kong.

Warning: Made in China

You may see that label on products soon. A new "Red Scare," this time on products made from China, is emerging as China's lack of accountability and safety standards of its manufacturing industry causes health concerns and outrage.

It started in 2007 when large batches of cat and dog food made in China and sold into the United States were contaminated with the chemical melamine, which were found in wheat gluten. Outrage from the U.S. led to China's promise of 'better health standards.'

Shortly after, Mattel and other major U.S.-based toy companies issued recalls for numerous toys for kids after it was found to contain lead paint. Where were these toys made in? China. Again, government regulators here urged US companies and the Chinese government to take responsibility and improve safety standards.

Recently, it is of even more personal concern, as our own food supply is being contaminated. In November of 2006, it was reported that some manufacturers used a banned carcinogenic dye in duck feed in order to make their eggs more red. And this past September, Chinese officials acknowledged that some baby formula was tainted with the chemical melamine in order to dilute the milk. Over 40,000 infants in China have been hospitalized and 4 have died as a result of the tainted product vital to babies. Recently, Chinese-produced eggs and meats have been red-flagged in Hong Kong as tests of imported eggs resulted in melamine levels of nearly 2 times the limit. And since the chemical was used in creating milk-based derivatives such as milk powder, whey, etc., food products containing these ingredients are under heavy suspicions.

Forget the current financial crisis. The next "bubble collapse" may come from China's manufacturing industry; but this time it will spread not only to Main St., but right onto our very own dining tables.

walkme2

Any Venture Capitalists out there with some extra cash? I was browsing around Hong Kong Island in Google Earth the other day and found a Youtube video titled "2 Causeway Bay MTR from Hong Kong Stadium". I clicked on it and a video of someone walking from the stadium to the MTR (Hong Kong's metro) appeared. I browsed around the rest of the island and found many more videos title "2...from...". I clicked on the video and was led to walkme2.com, a Hong Kong-based startup. Anyone can upload a video of a walking guide from one point of interest (say, a landmark) to another (say, a MTR station entrance). The service claims to be accessible from "popular multimedia mobile devices like the iPhone or your desktop." This seems to be an interesting way to guide lost travelers, when GPS is too 'blind' to show street details and when Google Maps Street View is too impersonal.

>>>Walkme2