First, allow me to do some confession...
This was sometime in December 1974
“Jab-pun?”
A fellow guest in a hotel lift in Kathmandu broke the silence while we were
going up the floors.
“No,
Malaysian Chinese.” I answered.
He
took another good look at me. Sounding a little incredulous, he asked again, “China?”
And
when I shook my head, he followed up with, “where is Malaysia?”
“A
country in Southeast Asia, north of Singapore.”
Everyone
in the world already knew Japan. It was the emerging economic power. To a
Nepalese then, every well-attired East Asian-looking man had to be Japanese, I
supposed, since only Japanese could travel and stay in style then.
I
was sent to attend a week-long foundry technology workshop under a UNIDO
sponsorship in Calcutta. I took the opportunity to swing to Nepal for
sight-seeing, since it was “just next door”. Naturally, I was in my best – a
new suit, complete with necktie.
Chinese
in China were blue ants then!
Nonetheless,
I continued to take pride in my Confucian Chineseness – its pre-Qing (清 ) history, especially in the periods of Han (汉),
Tang (唐) and Sung (宋),
the writing of Kung-tze (孔子), Men-tze (孟子), Lao-tze (老子), Sun-tze (孙子) and
many others,
classics such as the Annals of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义), Water Margin (水浒传),
Romance of The Red Chamber (红楼梦),
Journey to the West (西游记),
Canonization of Deities (封神榜),
etc, and the more modern writings from scholars like Lu Shun (鲁迅). His “Ah Q’s Biography (阿Q正传)” has had a profound impact on the way I conduct myself in life. I was also fascinated
by Jin Yong’s (金庸) martial arts series,
even though we all knew they were outlandish tales. (I loved his mastery in
connecting the protagonists in his stories to the historical facts of the
time!)
Even
when I had to go to China often on Genting Group’s errands in the early 1990s,
I would always attract some curiosity, probably because of the way I spoke and
dressed. To those foreign visitors and locals who cared to ask whether I was
Chinese or where I came from, I would always make it a point to assert, “Malaysian
Chinese.” As if I was one class higher!
How silly I could be then!
********
Earlier
Waves
The
Mighty Ming’s Armada
Chinese
began to settle down in Southeast Asia as early as the 1400s, when
Admiral Zheng He, who was a Muslim, of the Ming court made epic voyages down
south and several in his entourages remained behind to transform the political
landscapes in the Malay Archipelago. (Lynn Pan in her book Sons of Yellow
Emperor (1990) has chronicled this very extensively; however, Arab
records did say that Chinese were already migrating and settling down afar in
the 7th to 8th and the 10th centuries. Professor
Wang Gungwu, the doyen of academic authorities on China history and culture,
says Chinese have lived in the Indonesian Archipelago since at least the 13th
century.)
One
of the historical facts that many Indonesians today are still not aware of is
the ethnic origin of a national hero of theirs: Trenggana. He was the son of
the founder of Demak Dynasty in East Java, a Muslim Chinese named Cek Kok Po
who adopted the name Raden Patah. It was Trenggana who in 1521 started to
expand his reign westwards. Java turned green after that. (Paul Michel Munoz, Early
Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula (2006))
(President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur (1940-2009), could
also trace his lineage to a Chinese Muslim missionary in Fujian.) There are
also claims that the Malacca sultanate’s Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were also
Chinese; however, I am in no position to verify.
The Demak expansion, thanks
to Admiral Zheng He
Borobudur, a
7th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Central Java
I
dare argue that it was Admiral Zheng He that helped Islamized the whole Malay
Archipelago, which together with the great Khmer Empire (9th -15th
century) was hitherto Hindu/Buddhist.
Abject
Poverty: The Driving Force
But
the big wave came only when abject poverty began to overwhelm China in the
dying days of the Qing dynasty, especially in the southern provinces of Fujian,
Guangdong, Guangxi, and the island of Hainan. Hunger forced them to seek new
lives in South Sea (南洋),
which was not too far a destination down the coast. The more adventuresome ones
braved the oceans and sailed further.
1840s
saw thousands braved the journey to the gold mountains in America, Australia
and even New Zealand in search of gold, despite the treacherous waters.
Apparently, in 1861, almost 40,000 or 3.3% of the Australian population had
been born in China! From 1863 to 1869, roughly 15,000 workers went to America
to help build the transcontinental railroad there. And in World War 1, some
14,000 labourers signed up to serve the British and French forces.
Left: Chinese gold diggers in California; Right: Building cross-continental railroad in the US 
Left: Modern day gold penners (the author’s grandchildren!) in Ballarat, Australia; Below: a largely forgotten Chinese temple north of Queensland. Apparently Chinese introduced groundnuts to the region.
Author in Arrow Town, one of
the first Chinese settlements in New Zealand
Many
made good, especially in South Sea (南洋) – the then Malaya, sub-continental Southeast Asia, Dutch
Indonesia, even Portuguese East Timur. And they continued to look to the Qing
court for recognition. They remained “Chinese” in every aspect of their social
life.
The
Adaptation to Local Realities
After
a generation or two, some became totally assimilated in their adopted land,
especially those who settled down in the Philippines and Siam (Thailand then).
Filipino national hero José Rizal’s (1861-1896) ancestry could be traced to
Fujian. King Rama I (1737-1809) was partly Chinese, so was his predecessor,
King Taksin (1734-1782) whose Chinese father hailed from Chaozhou.
Indonesian
Chinese went through a more tumultuous time, often at the mercy of the Dutch
colonial government. Chinese in the then Malaya (which included Singapore) felt
more welcomed, albeit simmering discontent about their hold of the economy.
Singapore has become a country that is predominantly Chinese, but thick with
western observances.
But
in South Sea, Chineseness stays strong…
However,
after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in China, many threw their lot for Sun
Yat-sen (孫逸仙/孫中山/孫文). When the then Malaya
was invaded by Japan, many local Chinese, after seeing the ineptitude of the Chiang
Kai-shek regime in China, became resistance fighters and converted to Communist
causes. When the British returned, they tried unsuccessfully to bring them into
the fold, and this resulted in the declaration of Emergency (1948-1960) which
forced them to go underground. Many young men and women packed up to return to
China. However, the bulk remained, since China was no longer a motherland.
Elsewhere
in Southeast Asia, this phenomenon was only visible in Indonesia when many
chose to return in the wake of Suharto’s purge. But today, save for some
pockets where there are still underlying lurking hostilities towards ethnic
Chinese, Indonesian Chinese are generally happy where they are. They are proud
to be Indonesian and in their Independence Day celebrations, even those who
have since migrated to Australia and elsewhere would make it a point to gather
at their respective embassies or consulates to pledge loyalty to the nation.
In
the Western World, the Inevitability of Anglicization
Not
so in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Here is a different
phenomenon altogether.
Early
Chinese settlers were largely marginalized or suppressed by the Whites, not
only socially but in an institutionalized manner, in these countries. In the
US, you have the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, in Canada, the Chinese
Immigration Act of 1923, in Australia, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1902
(more commonly known as the White Australia Policy), and in New Zealand, the
Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881.
Few
could grow roots under these institutionalized situations, many therefore
packed their bags and returned to China. Those who remained slowly became
anglicized. In Australia, I often ran into people with Chinese surnames and
upon inquiry they confirmed their great or great-great grandfather was Chinese.
But few had anything more to offer other than this fact.
No
New Waves, But Dribs and Drabs to the West
Taiwan
from the 1960s…
After
China came under Communist rule, Taiwan actually became a favourite choice for those
Chinese-educated Southeast Asian Chinese who wanted to further their studies. (Going
to China was not an option; few Chinese dared to openly associate themselves
with the “motherland” in the wake of anti-Communist stances taken by countries
like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.) However, many
Taiwanese themselves were also looking out to migrate to America, especially
those who followed Chiang Kai-Shek to the island, and those who wanted to do
post graduate degrees.
From
Southeast Asia after the 1960s
Suharto’s
New Order after he came to power in Indonesia in 1966 did prompt some ethnic
Chinese there to return to China. However, most remained and became
assimilated. However, they did retain their culture albeit on a low-key basis
until Gus Dur became the president, when he was happy for Chinese to practise
their traditions.
Malaysia’s
ethnic Chinese population could roughly be divided into the English-educated and the Chinese-educated. Siblings in the same family would end up in different medium
schools. Some like the author had the benefit of both – primary education in
Chinese and secondary and beyond, English.
From
young, we already understood the need to live harmoniously with our
schoolmates. Then came the racial riot in May 1969. We became acutely conscious
of our racial origin. The affirmative policy that followed was hurting. We
realized we were about to become second-class citizens.
We
lay low and kept to our books. Fortunately, the economy picked up, thanks to
Japan’s industrialization. American and European money was also pouring in.
Nonetheless,
many had already begun to contemplate migration, the favourite destinations
being Australia and New Zealand. Others just drove across the Causeway. Jobs
were plentiful in Singapore and Malaysians were very welcomed. But going to destinations
like Australia was not a piece of cake. A coffin maker, or a nurse, or a
hairdresser stood a better chance of getting admitted than a trained engineer!
A
Story About a Friend…
This
was in 1974. I remember I had a colleague who was hell-bent to migrate to
Australia then. He had a first-class honours degree in Chemical Engineering
from the University of New South Wales. Even though he had been officially
offered a place to do his post-graduate in his alma mater, the High Commission
in Kuala Lumpur would not issue him the necessary visa. Out of desperation, he
camped out at the High Commissioner’s official residence. At the first instance
when he saw the High Commissioner’s wife emerging, he rushed to approach her.
He was literally on his knees. He finally got his visa!
Moving
forward, this friend of mine, who had long settled down in Sydney, did not live
up to his dreams. Much of his life was spent as a junior engineer in one of the
state’s utility authorities. He has since retired and has to count on pension
to sustain his very modest lifestyle. He has two children, both of whom are
totally ignorant of things Chinese. I do not believe he is happy with his
circumstances.
Elsewhere…
In
Melbourne I often met Malaysian Chinese who had “jumped” ship and stayed
illegally to earn a living. They knew the score. Upon their exit, their
passports would be stamped “No Entry Allowed for X Years.” Those unlucky ones
who got caught faced swift deportation.
Ditto
many who went to the US, Canada, and Europe, especially the UK, under similar
circumstances. They are living under the radar but what if McCarthyism 2.0
intensifies? (A distant relative and his wife jumped ship more than 40 years
ago. They are now living in a predominantly Chinese quarter of San Francisco.
They possess no green card but strangely, their children were able to attend
Yale. Another friend disappeared suddenly but only to write to tell me months
later that he had landed himself a job in London’s Chinatown. I am sure many
readers do have comparable stories to share.)
The
bulk of immigrants are of course legal. They had done their tertiary education
in these countries and were happy to return to settle there. There is also a
group who were disillusioned with their existing environment and were looking
for greener pastures.
This
propensity to take chances to change status quo leads to something I have
always wanted to say about we Chinese in general.
In
most societies, people who are plagued by poverty or calamities would usually
be resigned to their fate and continue to stay put. Not Chinese. They would
uproot and move on.
I
was intrigue by what Silvana Condemi wrote in her A Pocket History of
Human Evolution (2019). She says scientific consensus is that Homo
sapiens left Africa about 60,000 years ago. However, the latest research shows
that earlier migrations took place, one reaching China more than 100,000 years
ago. Homo sapiens only entered preglacial Europe, Siberia, and northeaster Asia
around 45,000 years ago.
People
moved to look for food those days. Were these 100,000-year-old Homo sapiens the
forebears of Chinese today? If so, does it say something about our DNA? The
branch that was heading to China obviously did not wait to be “pitied” or “saved”
or for food to run out.
Hua-jiao
(华侨)and Hua-ee (华裔)- Need to Split Hair?
Professor
Wang makes it a point to distinguish between Hua-jiao
and Hua-ee. I
began to appreciate his philosophy in making this distinction. I should not
call myself a Hua-jiao anymore, since the term would imply that my
motherland was still China. Being a Malaysian, my future was
with this country.
I should instead call myself a Hua-ee – someone whose heritage is Chinese
but living in an adopted country.
Except
for the diehards, most Hua-ees did not hold any great affinity for the
China then. The China of the 1960s was turned upside down by the Cultural
Revolution. News flowing back from relatives in China gave a very pathetic
account of lives there.
Achievements
by its ping-pong team, however, remained a source of immense
pride to us. The “Ping-Pong” diplomacy was played out, which paved the
way for Richard Nixon to visit China in 1972. Even then, everything about China
was largely doctrinaire and Maoist There was not much to be proud of
really, until Deng Xiaoping got rehabilitated. The rest is history.
It
was not until the late 2010s that I began to realise the China I used to frown
upon had changed. It had become a nation that the world would henceforth hold
in awe. Then I began to turn to the writings of Professor Wang Gungwu, to
understand the background leading to the reemergence of China.
The
West’s Demonization of China – A New Awakening
Millions
of Hong Kongers are said to qualify for BN(O) and there is also Biden’s offer
of “safe haven” to Hong Kong residents in the US. These were dished out by the
UK and the US for only one purpose: To spite China. It has nothing to do with
their “care” or “love,” or “concern” for Hong Kongers. These were political
decisions of Boris Johnson and Joe Biden, not something that is popularly supported
because there was a real calamity coming out of that island. Simply put, these
are lip-services devoid of any “heart-felt” touch.
How
many Hong Kongers will take up these offers? My guess is that only the hardcore
Yellow Bananas will.
Once
the fundamental issues of Hong Kongers’ unhappiness are addressed, namely, (a) poor
housing availability and affordability for wage earners and (b) the lack of
pride in Chineseness amongst the young (as a result of years of indoctrination
in the education system), Hong Kongers will surely come around to accept they
are in fact Chinese.
With
the type of Sinophobia that is playing out in the US, Canada, the UK, and
Australia, which were the traditional destinations for those who want to seek a
new life, migration has now come to a crawl.
Putting up a Brave Front out of Status Quo
To
the author, the waves of the Chinese immigration over the last two hundred
years are an aberration in Chinese anthropology. Be that as it may, there are already
at least 50 million ethnic Chinese outside China.
The
Chinese in Southeast Asia are already in their third, fourth or even fifth generation.
They are generally loyal to their country but are proud of their Chinese roots.
Perhaps 70% of the top 20 richest men in Malaysia and Singapore are Chinese, so
are many tycoons in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. And many are
extremely philanthropic – greats like Malaysia’s Robert Kuok and Jeffrey Cheah,
Thailand’s Dhanin Chearavanont (Chia Kok Min), Tahir (Ang Tjoen Ming), the
Philippines’ Henry Sy Sr, and Singapore’s Lawrence Lien and Lee Seng Tee, and
many others. The societies’ professional class are thick with Chinese doctors,
lawyers, engineers, accountants, IT experts, etc. Many of them are world-class.
Most of the successful small and medium enterprises are owned by them too.
With
the reemergence of China, these diasporas have generally adopted a new worldview
about China. They can be more openly proud of China, even though they may not be
entirely comfortable with the political system there. They no longer have to
worry about natives’ perceptions of Chinese, from to be spat-upon coolies on
one extreme to exploiters of their land on the other.
However,
I cannot say this for those first-generation immigrants in the western world,
though.
The
New Chinese Sin-kehs in the West
They
have crossed the Rubicon and there was no way they could turn history back.
Many have become reasonably comfortable in their adopted country – decent job,
decent house, decent car, and decent-what-have-you. Some have made great
fortunes, like David Teoh and wife of the TPG Telecom fame in Australia. Many
have achieved national or international recognition professionally. But their
numbers are few and far between. By and large, there is always a glass ceiling,
in politics and in corporate offices.
With
the way the Western politicians are demonizing the China now, impact on local Chinese
is definitely going to be profound, even though these politicians insist they
are not targeting China or Chinese. They are just being hypocritical in
declaring this.
This
is likely going to create a sense of identity loss and even inferiority complex
amongst their Next Gens.
And
this worries me.
Most
of them were born or brought up young in their parents’ new adopted country.
Few get to know much about China or Chinese during their formative years.
Learning Chinese in a foreign land where few speak the language is a dreadful
effort to many. Many parents are therefore content to leave them to their own
circle of friends or devices. And some grow up to become quite ashamed of their
heritage in the process.
Besides
these Next Gens, there is also another shamed-to-be-Chinese source. These are
mainly young students heading to America to do their advanced degrees. They are
usually state-sponsored scholars and have come from very humble backgrounds. Theirs
would be their first-time out to a new new world. They are like Grandma Liu (刘老老) visiting the grand mansion (大观园) in the novel Romance
of the Red Chamber (红楼梦), or Convent girls going to Hollywood, or Alice getting lost
in the Wonderland, or Cinderella meeting a prince.
Thus,
many would succumb to the so-called Patricia Hearst’s
syndrome. Generally, they have no compunction in buying into views which are
anti-Mainland China and even their own very heritage.
They
write venomously about China for New York Times or the Wall Street Journal,
they supply fake research reports to western think tanks, or be anchored men or
ladies for Aljazeera. So on and so forth.
A New Trend in the Making?
Chinese
in the western world, even if there is no anti-Asian racism, will slowly get
fully melted into the big multi-cultural pot. They may marry an Asian, but who
knows when it comes to the next generation, and the following?
Even
in majority-Chinese Singapore, HSBC Bank is now running an advertisement featuring
a Chinese woman getting married to a South Asian and the news was well received
by her parents in China. They represent the sophisticated elites of the two
societies.
The
HSBC way: Born in China and India, married in London, settling down in
Singapore? And producing Olympiad champions in Mathematics and other Sciences?
To
me, this is perfectly fine. As long as there is no racism. Genetic
strengthening through DNA exchanges is always good for the future of humanity,
isn’t it?
Chinese
Vs Chinese: Christianity the Seed of It? Or Just Not the Right Understanding?
Let
us reflect a little…
It is the intolerance of
Chineseness amongst our Next Gens that I find in many about which I am most
concerned. I like to put forward a thesis that many may find uncomfortable
about.
Old China
had traditionally been a Daoist society. On philosophy and wisdom, they could
count on sages like Kung-tze (孔子), Men-tze (孟子), Lao-tze (老子), Sun-tze (孙子) and many others. Buddhism got a big
boost under the Tang (唐)
emperors and became the state religion after that. Despite this, Islam and even
Judaism were tolerated.
However,
Christianity was made illegal during the Ming (明) dynasty. The religion was
thought utterly strange and incomprehensible to the Chinese. During the dying days of the Qing
dynasty, Jesuits was able to establish an enclave in Macau. They introduced western
science, astronomy, and cartography but as we all know, their primary mission
was to bring Catholicism to China; They were able to convert several who were
close to the imperial court. Soon the protestants followed. By 1840s China
became their major destination. They set up schools and hospitals but achieved
few mass conversions. It was not until the Taiping (太平)Rebellion (1850-1864) when Hong Xiuquan
(洪秀全), who called himself the younger brother
of Jesus Christ, established the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (太平天国)with the capital at Nanjing that Christianity became widely followed. At its
height, it ruled over about 30 million people. It was eventually put down by
the Qing army with a death toll of between 20 and 30 million.
It is said that Yung Wing (容闳 Róng Hóng, 1828-1912) was the
first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, the
Yale College. After finishing his studies, Yung returned to China and worked
with western missionaries as an interpreter. He first gravitated to the Taiping
rebels, but in 1863 turned around and was dispatched by the all-powerful Zeng
Guofan (曾国藩) to the United States to buy
machinery necessary for opening an arsenal in China. He persuaded the Qing court to send young Chinese to America to study
Western science and engineering. With the government's eventual approval,
he organized what came to be known as the Chinese Educational Mission,
which saw 120 young Chinese students sent to study in the US beginning in 1872.
The Educational Mission was disbanded in 1881, but many of the students later
returned to China and made significant contributions to China's civil services,
engineering, and the sciences. Yung and most of these students were amongst the
first to become intellectual Christians, which is just natural, given the
decadence and the feudalism they personally had to endure at that time.
But soon foreign
missionaries became a prime target of attack and murder by Boxers in 1900.
The fortune
of Christianity in China took a great turn when many early leaders of the
Chinese Republic converted, the most prominent of whom is none other than Sun
Yat-sen (孫逸仙/孫中山/孫文). In 1915 Sun married Soong Ching-ling (宋庆龄) whose father was the American-educated
Methodist minister Charlie Soong (宋嘉澍),
who made a fortune in banking and in printing bibles. He was followed by Chiang
Kai-Shek (蔣介石/蔣中正) who
took the hand of a younger Soong sister. Christianity in China never looked
back since then.
The earlier Chinese
hostility to the missionary was based on the fact that Western Christianity was
utterly strange and incomprehensible to the Chinese. The Boxer Uprising was
in large part a reaction against the spread of the religion in China.
Why have I deviated
to talk about Christianity?
Following the
decline of China, the elites in China began to consider the Confucian or Ru (儒) school of thoughts as archaic. Practices in Daoism (道教) and Buddhism (佛教)were deemed superstitious.
Only Christianity could save China.
Today, maybe as many
as 20% of the Chinese diasporas are Christians, the rest practise a blend of
Daoism and Buddhism and the Confucian or Ru traditions as their guiding faith
in life. But maybe 70% or more of the Next Gens in the west, Hong Kong, and
Taiwan, are Christian or pro-Christian.
While many amongst
Chinese Christians have understood the distinction between religion and
culture, some literally treat them as inseparable. To be a Christian, you have
to cleanse yourself of anything deemed “traditional Chineseness,” aka superstitions,
in the conduct of your life. And anything about Mainland China is no-no Communism.
This mindset is now deeply etched, particularly the younger ones, in the west, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Have we wondered
why overseas Japanese are so proud of their heritage? Some may be Christians,
but they still pay respects to their Zen temples. And how many Chinese
Christians will pick up joss sticks to honour their departed loves ones?
To rebuild the civilizational
pride in them is a tall order, but without which, China will always face
“subtle sabotages” from their own kind in the western world, or in Taiwan, Hong
Kong and Singapore. They are convinced of the evil of China and are more than
happy to help destroy “Communist” China.
Need for Realignment
and How Can China Help?
With the national
security law in place, Hong Kong has finally nipped the “not proud to be
Chinese” cancer (of its detractors and saboteurs) in the bud. With the right
leadership, a new sense of belonging will surely grow. (The pro-west
organisations are quick to realise their folly and have started to disband
themselves.)
However, the
pro-Independence leaders in Taiwan are still blind to the inevitability of
history. As long as they are in power, they remain the cancer in the Chinese
souls. With the ignominious exit of the US forces in Afghanistan, let us hope a
lesson can be learned by these leaders in Taiwan.
China can serve its
Hua-ee by projecting a Strong but Gentle image. I am extremely impressed
with its performance in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Besides the medals its athletics
won in their traditional turfs of table tennis, badminton, gymnastics, and
diving, they have made headway into fencing (Sun Yi Wen) and track and field
(Su Bingtian). Such feats exude a great deal of freshness in the minds of the Hua-ee
young.
Sun Yin Wen
Need for a Deep Reflection…
I call on all
Chinese to make an effort to understand their roots. I am not asking them to be
disloyal to the country of their adoption. I just want to say that spirituality is NOT incompatible with our culture. The fact that China can remain distinctively
Chinese is because of the sustenance of its 3,000 years (or more) of cultural
practices. No other civilization has come close to this. Be proud even if you
cannot help to sustain, but do not sabotage, consciously or unconsciously.
Parents amongst
diasporas have had a key role to play in this. Do not just leave the things to
the devices of your children.
Communication is challenging
when most of Chinese diasporas in the western world have already lost
proficiency in Chinese language. China, please take note: The means to win the
hearts and minds of Hua-ees is through English, English, English!
English is the only
language most Hua-ees know. The uniqueness of China’s history, and the
philosophies expounded by its sages, and the contributions it made in science,
art, and literature should be conveyed in good English. Illustrations should be
done with great taste. Those moral stories that have been handed down
generation after generation are often poorly depicted. They may suit
traditional taste buds, but they can look very infantile or ridiculous to those
who are brought up in the western or pseudo-western worlds. (The late Lim Goh
Tong erected a temple in honour of a hometown deity in Genting Highlands. He
commissioned artisans in Fujian to specifically carved out a series of granite
tablets to exemplify filial piety. One of the tables depicted a son offering
his arm to mosquitoes so that they would not bite his mother. How silly?)
The translations in
museums and cultural sites all over China are also another case in point. They should
be totally redone.
The New Good Warriors
Good stories will prompt
them to trace their roots. And discover Confucianism. Few Next Gens outside
China watch CGTN channels or read China Daily. Apps like TikTok is the way to
go to rein them back.
Lai Yue Qian (赖岳谦)
I love to tune in to listen to this Taiwanese scholar-thinker, Lai Yue Qian(赖岳谦). Lai specializes on cross-strait issues between China and Taiwan. He is a regular guest commentator at CGTN. He also podcasts his analyses on world affairs via Facebook's "Watch" video links. His thoughts are incisive. He strongly believes in the unification of Taiwan. I wish all
he says can be translated for the western-educated Chinese. Any Chinese would
certainly be proud of him.
End
Acknowledgement
This is a truncated version of a composition penned
by the author – to spare readers of the details which they may find too
self-centric.
The author would like to thank his da-jie (Big sister) Ms Lau Chee Eng, good friend Ms
Lilian Low, school and university mate Mr Chew Hai Hong and university mate Major (Rtd) Ng Chun Ho for taking the trouble
to read through the manuscript and helped correct many typos and grammatical
mistakes. They have also made many suggestions and they have largely been
incorporated.
The views expressed by the author above are
strictly his. Some may find them objectionable. Please feel free to disagree.
Facts are all from secondary sources. He stands corrected.
His unscrupulousness is written all over his face and carried in
his gestures. Below is a picture of the conman receiving the president of
Serbia Aleksandar Vučić. How would you feel if you were Vučić? This conman has
absolutely no concept of decency, let alone the understanding of international
diplomatic protocol.
