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Money talks
Li Yinhe is a person of controversy. The strange thing is that her proposal to legalize homosexual marriage has been eclipsed by her demand to charge a fee for press interviews.
Artists should give credit
Pop band Flower has been troubled by a series of reports in the media and on the Internet that at least four songs on their latest album are copies of songs by a few international bands.
Tame sessions?
Will gay marriages be made legal in China? Will euthanasia be allowed? Will there be a "go slow" in the "go out" campaign?
HK's health system
Not so long ago when the Hong Kong economy was mired in a recession and the government budget steeped in red, many loud-mouthed politicians and self-proclaimed economic gurus were feverishly calling for what they considered the much-needed reform of the medical system.
Grassroots democracy
A week ago I wrote about my conversation with a village chief who had come to Beijing for the National People's Congress. The feedback I received was divided,
Deal with sadism rationally
"Cats" is now being played out in China.
Obesity battle in HK
Big Macs in Hong Kong arguably contain more fat and cholesterol than anywhere else in the world. They are the highest in calories, too, along with those dished out in the United States, according to news reports quoting figures from the fast food chain's website.
Innovators deserve recognition
With spring on the way, last Saturday my family went to Badachu, a park in the Western Hills south of the more famous Fragrant Hills Park.
Sales tax in HK
Supporters of the proposal to introduce a new sales tax in Hong Kong believe that it can broaden the tax base, which, in its present form, is widely believed to be too narrow to cope with rising public aspirations.
Don't brag about cheap labor
In a popular television talk show on business strategy, a panellist picked the acquisition of Thompson by TCL to illustrate the culture clash that usually poses the most daunting challenge to Chinese buyers of foreign companies.
Democracy & rural development
People don't often get the same kind of shock twice on the same day from vastly different parts of the world. The shocks, on Friday last week, came in two statements about China's democracy.
Learning as going along
Hui Zi famously asked the ancient philosopher Zhuang Zi: "You are not a fish. How can you feel the joy of a fish?"
Get street children into school
As dusk fell on the northern Chinese city of Zhengzhou, a 13-year-old boy huddled against the February cold on a steam grate, waiting for another aimless day to break. Without a place to call home, Zhou Ning made a bed out of a cotton quilt spread out on the pavement in front of the Henan provincial capital's railway station.
Elderly and ageing society
We Chinese have a tradition of comparing people of different ages to the sun at different hours. Late Chairman Mao Zedong likened the youths to the morning sun between seven and eight o'clock.
Coupon reminder of hungry day
A special exhibition is currently being held in Beijing. On display are a variety of commodity ration coupons used in China during the time of the planned economy, which ran from the early 1950s to the mid-1980s.
HK tax formula
The Hong Kong government budget has been widely labelled as "unimaginative" or "lacking of vision" by the local press. Many economists and social analysts have expressed their disappointment at the small tax concession to the middle class when the economy is showing definite signs of a sustained recovery.
Productivity & rural advancement
Despite having lived and worked in some of the largest cities in the world for nearly 30 years, I am still in the habit of reading about the countryside. Some colleagues even call me old-fashioned.
Place for adult humour
Let's face it: The popularity of short messaging in China has a dirty little secret. It's called "adult humour," more plainly known as sex jokes.
Laughter is best medicine
The mother apparently didn't lock her son in a suitcase to cause him any bodily harm. On the contrary, she wanted to protect him. At least that's what she said on the day the tragedy unfolded in Hong Kong last week. She returned to her flat an hour later and unlocked the suitcase, only to find that the 10-year-old had stopped breathing.
Create a culture of innovation
Creativity and innovation have become two of the most popular catchwords nowadays in China.
Punish wilful law-breakers
Traffic police in Beijing have tightened up road patrols to crack down on motorists who deliberately hide their licence plates. The move was in response to the recent rise in the number of such misdeeds. Many car drivers took off the rear licence plate or covered it with mud or graffiti to escape speed-monitoring cameras.
HK key to mainland's future
The publishing of the latest report by the Commission on Strategic Development has raised the curtain for the great debate on Hong Kong's role in China's future progress after 25 years of rapid economic growth.
Feelings expressed on Internet
This column is written to comment on some Chinese Internet opinions. I don't have sympathy for movie director Chen Kaige, because I think the way he reacted to a viewer who made fun of his recent release was not very wise.
A card game fighting crimes
Playing card games in China could be more than just a pastime. You may stumble on a small fortune if you keep your eyes open for the faces on the cards and those around you.
Protecting cultural heritages
A colleague of mine still retains fond memories of his trip to the southwest of Central China's Hunan Province a few years ago. What he remembers the most, however, is not the beautiful natural scenery that the area is best known for.
Efficiency and fairness
The government has eventually admitted that the wealth disparity between China's rich and poor populations has reached an unreasonably large extent.
Examine gov't-business ties
One of Hong Kong's most cherished traditions, the close working relationship between government and big business, is coming under increased public scrutiny.
People hate corruption, not wealth
Chinese media have a bad habit of sticking incorrect labels to people and events. They are making that mistake again right now, when they report people's complaints as a "hatred of wealth," or of wealthy people.
December-May romances
Come Valentine's Day, shop windows and magazine covers will display perfectly matched pairs happy in love. And one of the "perfections" is compatibility in age.
Raising tobacco tax
China, you have to admit, is a great place if you're a smoker.
Making welfare of locals a priority
My colleague and his wife spent a night in Fengzhen, a county-level city in North China's Inner Mongolia, on his way to a mountainous village for a Spring Festival reunion with his in-laws.
'Fair-price' hospitals
As part of its efforts to "build harmonious society," the government has taken initiatives to establish "fair-price hospitals."
Newspaper in a digital age
My daughter says I am uncool because I read the newspaper everyday. And she is not the only one telling me that newspapers have gone out of fashion.
Maintain traditions of festivals
At midnight on Lunar New Year's Eve, I stood on the balcony of my 11th floor apartment in Beijing and watched colourful fireworks rocket into the night sky from behind every building I could see. Deafening explosions swept across the city.
Festival gala tasteless
Tomorrow night is the eve of Spring Festival the Lunar New Year when hundreds of millions of Chinese families sit around a table and take in the year-end feast and the heart-warming atmosphere of family reunion.
Making journey home enjoyable
East and west, home is best, so the saying goes.
Fireworks ban ends
Beijing's ban on fireworks has finally been lifted.
Ode to Nice People
Concerning nice people in China, there are two kinds: the kind who otherwise claim to be nice because “Chinese people, with a history of 5,000 years, are always nice,” and the kind who speak through their nice acts.
HK & Chinese culture
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language daily newspaper, warned Hong Kong people against falling behind "in quest for putonghua" in a recent editorial. That's easy to understand. Our political leaders have repeatedly reminded us that the future of Hong Kong is inextricably linked to that of the mainland.
Medical reform
Inadvertently, by reporting its suggestions on China's medical reform, the business consulting firm McKinsey & Co might have made itself a perfect case study of how badly an international company can adapt to the local environment.
Names in stone
In an act of powerful inspiration, a public library has carved on its wall the names of the construction workers who built it.
China's silly season
Starting today, the silly season will be upon us, seriously. Those who haven't left to join their families for the annual family reunion dinner tomorrow are on their way and those who get in their way, watch out.
Enjoying euphoria
A devoted fan of the Backstreet Boys, my teenage daughter went to the band's gig on Monday at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing.
Chunyun tests gov't ability
"Chunyun" has become a very special word in the modern Chinese vocabulary. The word, literally meaning "spring transportation," has many implications. For people that work away from their hometown, it refers to the happiness of reuniting with loved ones and the bitterness of battling for a train ticket; for railway staff it represents 40 days of arduous work; for scalpers it suggests a busy season of business; for the police it implies a war against theft and luggage containing inflammable materials; for the government it is a test of administrative ability.
Civility in holidays
Christmas in Hong Kong is never dull. But there was something special about this one. I could feel it when I was there during the Christmas week. My journalist friends at the Foreign Correspondents' Club were talking about it, wondering aloud what had happened.
Spending on education
Being one of the largest national monopolies, education is competing with other cultural services like a superpower against small poor countries, and is pushing them into a helpless state.
'Urban villages'
The term "urban village" connotes very different things in English as it does in Chinese.
Tips on good service
The size of China's economy in 2004 was about 15 per cent higher than previously estimated, it was announced last month mainly because the contribution of the robust services sector had been largely underestimated.
Gender equality a major issue
Last Saturday, I accepted on behalf of my newspaper a shiny glass statue and a plate from a panel of media and communications experts, who honoured eight print and television media organizations as role models for promotion of gender equality in their news coverage.
1.3 Billion? Big Deal
Any small problem multiplied by 1.3 billion will end up being a very big problem, and a very big aggregate divided by 1.3 billion will come to a very tiny figure.
2005 saw progress, problems
I had a mixed feeling about 2005. There was ecstasy over great successes like the launch and return of the manned Shenzhou-VI spacecraft, and sorrow over the loss of human lives in a chain of disasters such as the coal mine blasts in several provinces. In general, however, hopes and confidence transcended frustration and disappointment.
SOE reform
In a recent talk show hosted by CCTV, a group of top mainland executives and government regulators were invited to express their views on one of the most pressing business issues in China State-owned enterprise restructuring. The speakers quickly zeroed in what they unanimously considered to be the crux of the problem, which was the lack of checks and balances at the top.
Abolition of farm tax
A small good thing is not a big good thing at least not yet. While all in China welcomed the central government decision to discontinue the 2,600-year-old agricultural tax, some press commentators might have made a mistake by exaggerating its significance.
Cost of marriage
If you're a single male living in Beijing, you need to make a mental note of this figure: 1,068,000.
A packet of green tea
When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from Hong Kong.
Homeowner satisfaction
Early one evening my father called for a meeting of our neighbours. As elected head of the neighbourhood committee of the apartment building, he discussed with tenants things we must do to keep the building and surrounding area clean.
Raising farmers' income
New Year's Day this year witnessed two significant events in China: From that day on, the World Food Programme no longer provides food aid to China, marking the end of 26 years of China receiving aid from the United Nations food organization. Also on that day, China abolished the 2,600-year-old agricultural tax.
Taking taxis in big cities
The Spring Festival holiday is only a few weeks away and the country is bracing for the travel craze that will tax the nationwide transportation network to its limit. While the media spotlight, as usual, is focused on the railway operators and the airline companies, many of the perennial problems that have been irking the travelling public daily have largely been ignored for years.
Local GDP revisions
Some regional governments have been quick to follow the change in GDP accounting made by the National Statistics Bureau (NSB). Some of the regional revisions are encouraging, and others seem to suggest new problems.
'Desperate Housewives'
'Desperate Housewives' has bombed in China.
Let's talk silly
Now that the silly season is well and truly upon us and is soon slipping away it might just be the reason to ruminate on what's really silly happening around us.
Centenary of Chinese films
Yesterday morning, a solemn and grand meeting was held at the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the centenary of Chinese films.
Don't forget the poor
Christmas Eve revelries have quietened down. But the jovial excitement evoked by the adopted Western festival seems to be continuing into next week, when the nation will bask in a three-day New Year's Day celebration.
Don't trash the streets
Many places in China either don’t have laws against littering, or if they do, don’t seriously enforce them. While this in itself is sad, Chinese people don’t have to wait on their local governments to show some respect to their streets. Law or no law, littering is uncivilized and runs counter to the notion of building a harmonious and well-off society.
Real estate oligarchy
I can't agree more with professor Sun Liping on the evil of monopoly he so eloquently exposed in his article in the December 16 edition of China Daily. At the end of his article, the good professor afforded us a chilling glimpse of the rise of the property oligarchies on the mainland.
Lessons from 'Discovered' GDP
Many lessons can be drawn from the National Bureau of Statistics' revision of China's GDP (of 2004) last week, which enlarged the previously reported figure by 16.8 per cent, to mainly represent the more than 2 trillion yuan (US$247 billion) of added value from the service industries.
Chinese style Christmas
In the United States, the conservatives and the liberals are constantly fighting over something: the war in Iraq, abortion rights, gun control, tax policy, etc. This time of the year, they have picked a topic that would surely baffle us Chinese - the Christmas holiday itself.
Green card stories
There's a story about Zhang Yimou, the acclaimed Chinese film director who also happens to be my favourite, applying for a US green card only when his daughter needed to get there for her studies and promptly returning it when she got there.
Kids have too much homework
A friend of mine has a teenage son, who will take the entrance examination for senior middle schools next June.
Punish manhole cover thieves
A few days ago, a netizen posted a message on an Internet BBS complaining about his frustrating experience of seeking help after he got a flat tyre after driving over an uncovered manhole on a road in Xi'an.
No meddling in business
Encouraging small to medium-sized companies in the private sector to help create new jobs has become a hot economic topic in China. Many of the discussions tend to focus on tax incentives, preferential loans, special land grants and other government largesse.
Media and their business readers
Two things I came across last week remind me of the inadequacies of the Chinese economic press. It is still filled with vague slogans and general figures, and does not contain much information that is useful for those who do business in this country.
Penchant for steamy topics
I've heard many media mogul wannabes proclaim their lofty goals. They've usually set their eyes on the Chinese equivalents of The New York Times, The Financial Times or Time magazine. But given the choice, I'd say they'll end up going for something like The National Enquirer or The Star.
Season for giving
Each time I dine out with Chinese friends, I'm appalled at the amount of food that is wasted. The only conclusion I can reach is that either they've been starving for ages or hibernating for decades, from the winter-means-cabbages-only era.
Better transport for more people
With eight arms, an octopus reaches out for and sucks up its prey at will.
Tougher on mine disasters?
Li Yizhong, minister of the State Administration of Work Safety, has vowed that "determined moves will be taken to shut down illegal collieries and those which, though legally registered, still fail to qualify for safe production even after rectification" and that "at least 4,000 coal mines will be closed by the end of the year."
Shanghai needs heating
Before I embarked on my latest assignment to Shanghai, friends warned me that winter in that southern city can feel colder than in Beijing. I thought they were merely echoing a tired old cliche.
Relating Confucianism to real life
The most effective way to let a tradition die is to make it boring and forgettable in everyday life. And this is the state of Confucianism today when it is taught with no connection to history, and people's real lives, nor with the modern ways of education.
Let sages enrich us
"Guoxue" is sometimes translated as "Sinology," but it actually covers a much narrower area, mainly the study of classics by such masters as Confucius, Mencius, Lao Tzu, and Chuang Tzu.
Cure for medical ills?
During an extended visit to Beijing two winters ago, I needed medical attention for - I thought - a tummy ache.
Lose the lying face
The concept of keeping and not losing one's face (reputation and so on) prevails throughout the world. However, for cultural reasons (such as the legacy of group-orientated societies) it is extremely strong -- in fact, too strong -- in most of Asia including China.
No blind eye to losses, please
Dinner tables for banquets at restaurants and hotels are being booked. Theatre seats for ballet shows or variety gigs are being reserved.
Habit tarnishes civilization
There is one thing I have never understood since my childhood: movie and theatre goers always leave before the end of the show.
Globalization vs tradition
At a business forum shortly after I arrived in Beijing last year, I was surprised that many people there were talking about the need to encourage consumer spending. To me, at least, such a move apparently would have contradicted the government macroeconomic adjustment policy that was introduced to cool off the then overheated economy.
Northeast must not let us down
There was an eerie calmness following the revelations about the poisoning of the Songhua River, a major water resource in Northeast China.
Lender-borrower relations
The story of Yang Bailao is at least 60 years old, but how he comes to epitomize the evolving fate of a debtor would have been beyond his comprehension had he lived to this day.
Sky-high confidence
One dreary winter evening in Shanghai, I had an opportunity to share a taxi with a young executive of a joint venture company. Stuck in the city's horrible traffic gridlock, we had plenty of time to talk about a wide range of topics, ranging from the weather to family to work.
Always keep red ribbon in sight
I am wearing a small red ribbon this morning to remind myself and others around me that today is World AIDS Day.
Real Xmas spirit needed
While the end of Thanksgiving traditionally marks the start of the holiday season (which ends on New Year’s Day) in the United States, some stores and restaurants in China have had Christmas trees and decorations up and employees decked in Santa gear since early November or even the end of October.
Raise miners' living standards
The coal mine explosion on Sunday that caused 134 deaths and left 15 people missing in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang Province, once again put the issue of colliery safety in the spotlight.
Shanghai needs bold action
Shanghai is a poor choice as the commercial centre for the prosperous and fast growing Yangtze River Delta region. To maintain its lead position, owed largely to historical events and, in more recent years, to central government policies, Shanghai will need to re-invent itself with daring thoughts and bold action.
Press misrepresents Drucker
The death of management consultant Peter Drucker two weeks ago has given rise to commemorative articles around the world.
Human touch on livable city
"Why do you need elevator attendants?" a puzzled expat friend of mine asked, shortly after he arrived in Beijing.
Widening urban-rural disparities
Building a "harmonious society" is today the catchphrase of China's political life, and is set to stay that way for many years to come. The road towards that goal, however, is long and arduous, for we have to overcome the widening rural-urban disparities, soaring wealth gap between the rich and the poor and unemployment. The list could go on.
The devil is in the details
I joined the buying spree in China's capital right after the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) unveiled the five mascots for the 2008 Beijing Games.
Wealth and social responsibility
If it weren't for the recent reports of a few events involving rich people, I would never realize that China's wealthy population was quite so numerous.
Branding or advertising?
Despite the hype, branding has remained a black art for many mainland entrepreneurs.
Local initiatives necessary
Officials don't usually get so much attention from the press when they retire. But as Zhang Baoqing, the former vice-minister of education, left his office for the last time, he was given the celebrity treatment by the Chinese-language press for revealing that policies from Zhongnanhai the compound of the central government are often ignored by local officials.
Taking pride in our accents
There is a tug of war for the stature of dialects in China.
Burger or noodles?
After having spent some time in Beijing and Shanghai, I can't help but wonder why any sensible Chinese man and woman in those cities would ever want to eat at fast food joints of US origin.
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