Sichuan

Two stories worth hearing today..

Thursday, May 7th, 2009 | Photos, posts | No Comments

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Courtesy: Brooklyn Historical Society

A new exhibit about Chinese immigration to Brooklyn is opening tonight at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

The exhibit, “Living and Learning: Chinese Immigration, Restriction and Community in Brooklyn, 1850 to Present”, will weave together a story about Chinese immigrant life in Brooklyn, showcasing historical newspaper and periodical articles, oral histories, caricatures and photographs.

I’ll be at the opening tonight to talk the curator, Brooklyn resident Andy Urban, who is completing his PhD in History through the University of Minnesota.

The exhibition will be on display between May 8 and August 30 at the Brooklyn Historical Society; 128 Pierrepont St. (at Clinton St.); Brooklyn, NY 11201.

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A new documentary debuts on HBO tonight, documenting the sorrow and rage of parents in Sichuan who lost their children when schoolhouses collapsed on them during the Sichuan earthquake almost one year ago.

I was able to screen this amazing film - China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province - at the Columbia Jschool, and blogged about it here. 

For me, I was holding back tears throughout the film. Struck by the raw testimony given by the grieving parents, but also inspired  by their striking resilience. Poor, ordinary citizens, willing to stand up, demand answers, and hold their governments accountable. The film spoke to the strength of Chinese peasants, who continue to endure many hardships and sufferings in the midst of China’s race towards modernization.

China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province airs on TONIGHT – Thursday, May 7 at 8pm on HBO.

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Tears for Sichuan

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 | posts | No Comments

Yesterday I had the privilege of screening a new documentary that will soon air on HBO. China’s Unnnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province is a film that captures the intense pain and anguish of parents whose children were killed when poorly constructed schools collapsed on them during last May’s devastating earthquake in southwestern China. The quake killed nearly 70,000 people, including 10,000 children — most of them their parents’ only child. Filmmakers Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill capture these mothers and fathers grieving. They follow one group of parents on a march of protest as they seek explanations and justice from the government.

In researching Chinese and Western media coverage of the Sichuan earthquake, I didn’t find any Chinese coverage of the shoddy schools. The stories were censored. Chinese journalists from magazines, newspapers, radio and television stations flooded Sichuan Province and provided the Chinese public with unprecedented coverage. The coverage was heavy on facts, with daily updates on the quake’s destruction and rising death toll. Victims of the earthquake were photographed extensively, feeding the public very bloody, very tragic tales of loss. The stories always ended with hope: Hope to get over this time to trouble, hope to rebuild destroyed towns, hope to make a better China.

Part of this showed the persistence and hard work of the press. A large part of this was also the unprecedented access the Chinese government allowed. For the first time, Chinese officials were available for comment outside of official press conferences. Chinese President Hu Jin Tao and Premier Wen Jia Bao, visited the earthquake region — they were photographed and seen by reporters talking to victims in hard-hit Beichuan, Wenchuan and Chengdu. Premier Wen Jia Bao, affectionately known as the compassionate “Uncle Wen”, toured the ruins in his running shoes, ordering troops through a megaphone, comforting victims, crying and hugging children and he even invited foreign journalists to shout questions to him as helicopters flew past in the distance — a great photo-op.

But then both Chinese and Western journalists started to ask some more critical questions: Why did the elementary schools in Sichuan province crumble so quickly, killing thousands of children? Did the government, in its rapid drive towards modernization, build schools poorly? There was outcry from mothers and fathers, which within weeks turned to organized protests, demanding an investigation.

While mainland Chinese media were ordered not to report on this, Hong Kong and Singapore newspapers continued talking to grieving mothers. In the headlines, parents described the schools to be as flimsy as “Tofu residue.” You see this very protest in the documentary.

One mother who lost her 10-year-old daughter cried: “We will come here every day. The children are here. We hope to stay with our children here until someone comes forward with an explanation.” 

The film highlighted a number of issues, the most profound being that there is a striking resilience among the Chinese people who are willing to stand up, demand answers, and hold their governments accountable. The film spoke to the strength of Chinese peasants, who continue to endure many hardships and sufferings.

China’s Unnnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province airs on Thursday, May 7 at 8pm on HBO. Don’t miss it.

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China’s Voltaire

Sunday, April 19th, 2009 | posts | 1 Comment

Voltaire, French Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosopher.

In defense of civil liberties it was Voltaire, the French writer, essayist and philosopher, who wrote: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Where is China’s Voltaire? How and when will he emerge?  Is he fighting to be heard or is he embodied somewhere within Chinese society today – in the form of emerging NGOs; in the developing moral consciousness sprung from the tragedy of the Sichuan earthquake; or among the chatter and the “on-line consciousness” burgeoning among the millions of netizens and net friends 网友? 

Online in chat rooms and on message boards, blogs and websites, more and more Chinese citizens are calling for change from the “bottom up.” There are over 250 million Internet users and over 70 million bloggers in China. It is the most wired country in the world, and Chinese netizens and net friends rely on the Internet for personal expression and interpersonal communication.

Ai Wei Wei, 艾未未, a leading Chinese artist, designer and architect.

One voice is indeed ringing out among the millions of net friends: Ai Wei Wei, an artist, designer and social commentator/advocate – who is on a campaign to collect all the names of the children who died in schools during the May 12 Sichuan earthquake.

Parents watched as schools were reduced to rubble in while other structures, some right next door, withstood the quake’s 7.9-magnitude force.

Recognizing that parental anger could be a political liability, the government has been doing what it can to suppress it. But over 5000 thousands parents have now given Ai Wei Wei their names – asking that he post them on his website. Each name is posted with a photograph of a burning candle.

“I want a government and a nation that bears responsibility. Without responsibility this nation goes nowhere,” Ai Wei Wei told The Toronto Star.

I e-mailed a student I know from Sichuan who was in his dorm at Sichuan University when the earthquake hit.

I asked him what he thought of Ai Wei Wei’s campaign to collect all the names of the children who died in the Sichuan earthquake.

He wrote to me: “I find my brother’s name in Ai Wei Wei’s list－his age, his school, his class.

I totally agree and appreciate what Ai Wei Wei is doing with his team.What
we need is not the number, but the name. For me, it is so important to know
their names. The name is the evidence to prove someone have ever lived in the world, as an individual, no matter how exalted or humble his life is. It is a symbol
of life. I think, it is the human right for everybody to know their names, so we can remember them, so we won’t forget.”

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