Hello, Darren. New member here! This community definitely could use an Asian perspective.
Forget the media for a moment, and pay attention to the Chinese diaspora scattered all over the world. I'm a Chinese immigrant living in Manila, Philippines and most of us here have rarely ever left our homes. It was Chinese New Year just a week ago but the atmosphere was far from festive... The feel is quiet, somber and patient, but not the dramatic kind of sadness. However underneath this 'new normal' is a deep state of confusion and a few clouts of depression. How I wish Chinese people be more expressive.
If you look at local media in China and Taiwan right now, people seem to getting by fine. But it's deceptive of the situation Individuals and families go through. The media just is simply afraid of escalating bad news on this side of the world. The Taiwanese are bracing but not rattled.
World War 3 is NOT going to happen within the decade. I trust Jeanne's curation of predictions that the 2020s will be a decade of transformation instead.
Expect China to continue getting an upperhand in the West Philippine Sea (refuse to call it South China Sea) and the Taiwan Strait in the next 2-3 years. It sucks but they played the long-term chess game brilliantly and they're getting the quick win.
However, like one of the community's predictions, 2024 might be the year of truth. I don't know if it will be in the form of conflict or economic crash, but pretty sure people will already have enough of China as well as other exploiters (Fa-lun Gong siding Republicans of all groups).
I'm saying this because, while America has done a worse job on covid, you guys got to speak up and used it to fight against social ills. The success of covid in Asia and other parts of the world (except AUS-NZ) required dramatic social adjustments and sometimes brutal force to silence the smallest dissent. Something's gotta give. Like the Thai protests, people here are just waiting for covid to subside so that we can finally pursue democracy (our version of democracy).
@joeridgeross. Thank you for posting your perspective, so helpful. And Welcome to our community! It is nice to hear from someone who can tell us more about China. Please stay with us. We want to know what you think.
@joeridgeross What happens after China gets the upper hand? How likely of a China hegemony in Asia?
That was such an interesting post. Welcome! I also hope to hear more from you in the future. Thank you!
@joeridgeross Welcome and thank you. It's always good to see the world through all the eyes of her peoples.
@joeridgeross, welcome!
I have read an article about the younger generation in China and how hard life is for them; always achieving and achieving, because that is what's expected. On one hand it is a cliche in life ('Asians' always scoring), but sadly it seems to be true in a lot of cases. I wish this would flatten out and humanity would take over. I do think China has a lot of good to offer too as long as the 'world power' thing would stop being so threatening.
@joeridgeross, welcome!
I have read an article about the younger generation in China and how hard life is for them; always achieving and achieving, because that is what's expected. On one hand it is a cliche in life ('Asians' always scoring), but sadly it seems to be true in a lot of cases. I wish this would flatten out and humanity would take over. I do think China has a lot of good to offer too as long as the 'world power' thing would stop being so threatening.
First of all, thanks to all the kind greetings @journeywithme2 @polarberry @loveanduress. I'm happy to see civility in an online space.
I've been pretty busy, but I always make time to follow through my online postings.
That's definitely true simply because it's much more difficult to pass our subjects and there's so much of them! My basic education was spent in one Chinese school, and me and my peers had to go through two curriculums: English in the morning and Chinese in the afternoon. After-school hours are spent on more studying, mostly memorization tutoring this time, and this lasts till dinner. Supper's finished and it's not over yet! My mom would review my homework from those English curriculum subjects, from Science to History. By the way, we have two separate math classes ('Chinese math' is something alright!).
Apart from not being allowed to leave the school gates (they've changed that rule now), the administrator impart plenty of freedom and trust to us. Lots of boys choose to spend their after hours playing ball in the gym. Those who excel in senior high are given office apprenticeship work - this is a great way to get to know the powerful alumni association beyond the student body. There's also plenty of food options (albeit very unhealthy) nearby and our parents here love giving generous allowances (it's very rare to see kids having paid jobs).
Also, we don't elect student body leaders. Like China, school administrators hand pick a committee that act like ambassadors representing the school in competitions, road shows, etc.
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Okay, it's not China, we're actually partially funded by Taiwanese donors. But Chinese culture is just monolithic. Immigrants all over the world practice the same beliefs and kinks.
Let me tell you the rigid system is not the problem! I expect the world to respect our way of life. The real problem is simply a lack of inclusivity and initiatives. Those with the highest grades get rewarded, and everybody else is left behind. To give you a perspective, we have 9 to 11 classrooms and one of them is the excelling "star section" that usually gets the most attention. It's biased because they simply judge by academic grades. Sports and arts are relegated to P.E. class, which accounts for a miniscule tally in the scorecard. Hence, I had super-talented artsy peers who are relegated mediocre.
In short, our school hadn't fully recognized diversity.
On to 'humanity'....
On the other hand, we're hearing Uyghur minority oppression. Totally unrelated, but I can see how the Han-centric authorities wants them to bend over to the Han culture which they deem superior. The Uyghurs are given initiatives, but it's not inclusive relative to see Han culture as equal to theirs. So, on paper, their government seems to be doing right, but it fails to respect humanitarian needs so it's not going to be successful long-term. You cannot have a program without proper consent with your beneficiaries!!! The right way to promote inclusivity is to balance their customs (halal diet, livestock closeness) and some aspects of Han 'civility' (mostly mastery of the Mandarin language). So why are the police going hard? Because they perceive Uyghurs as potential terrorists and the Chinese are fond of using war rhetoric in politics (war on drugs, war on male feminization, etc.).
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