Tag Archives: politics

2016 was crap, but will 2017 be any better?

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HOPE by Robert Indiana

‘Hope’ sculpture in New York City was created by American artist Robert Indiana in 2009

 

It’s a pessimistic title, but after a roller-coaster 2016, is there anything to look forward to in 2017?

I consider myself a positive person and I have always been able to bounce back up after crises and difficult periods in my life. Yet what happened here and around the world last year has changed my outlook completely. I am starting to wonder if fascism is making a comeback (or perhaps it has always been around)? Is WWIII on the horizon? Is Trump going to start a nuclear war with China? Are the terrorists going to attack London next? Watching and reading the news depress me further, and so at times, I would rather switch off from it completely.

The simple 4-letter word ‘hope’ is a powerful word that encourages humanity to strive forward since the dawn of time. Even before the birth of the modern language, early humans must have experienced the ‘hopeful’ state in order to want to survive in a brutal world. Without hope, one is stuck in a dark, grim and depressed world full of despair. Yet the definition of this word differs with everyone; it is abstract, broad and groundless. And many people end up being wounded by their own expectations, dreams or unrealistic ideals. According to author Shannon McKenna, “Hope and fear are two sides of the same coin“. So, if we are constantly struggling between fears and hopes, then I guess finding a balance between the two or being aware of them would create a healthier state of mind.

And in difficult times, many people would also turn to astrology and religions for answers. Recently I read about the Age of Aquarius for the first time, and it kinda triggered my curiosity. According to astrologers, it is an astrological age, which occurs due to The Precession of Equinoxes i.e. the equinoxes moving westward along the ecliptic relative to the fixed stars and opposite to the motion of the Sun along the ecliptic (don’t worry if you have no clue what this means, it really means the retrograde motion of the earth). The cycle lasts around 25,800 years, and since there are 12 Zodiac constellations, the equinox moves in front of a new Zodiac constellation every 2,150 years. Some astrologers believe that we have officially entered the Age of Aquarius around 2011/12 (though this is debatable and not universally acknowledged). The actual date is not so important, because an inevitable shift in politics and society have occurred around the world last year.

Aquarius is associated with new inventions, information, technology, communication, individualism and free thinking. And judging from the rise of social media, internet and startups, it seems that we are indeed in the Age of Aquarius. I am not an astrologer, but I can see that 2016 marked a turning point in history, and we are entering a more turbulent and unpredictable time. Clearly, the models of capitalism and globalisation are collapsing, and we are going through a transitional period trying to find a new systems to replace the old models. This, undoubtedly, will take some time, but changes are starting to take place already, thanks to the younger and more forward-thinking entrepreneurial generation. At the same time, modern politicians and political parties are also losing their power and influence on the masses. As we can see from the US elections and EU referendum results, the politicians in power (then) ceased to appeal and their rhetorics failed to convince the voters. The truth is that I don’t think Trump nor leaving the EU could solve the problems we are facing in the Western world today. I also have a feeling that Trump will not be in power for long because he is too hated by many Americans including members of his own party, so let’s wait and watch the story unfolds…

Despite my occasional negative thoughts about the future of our world, I still hold a glimpse of hope for humanity. Due to the unsettling times, we are seeing more activists and youngsters stepping out and trying to make some positive changes to the world. Many of us – ordinary citizens – are all becoming more vocal and ‘political’ because we feel that we can no longer stand aside and watch everything collapses around us. Our newfound social responsibility is changing the collective consciousness, which will have a ripple effect on the society.

This is the time for us to unite, and support each other more than ever. It may sound like a cliche, but love, compassion, tolerance are the human qualities that we need to cherish and spread. 2017 may be another bumpy year, but we have to stay positive and use our intrinsic human qualities to guide us through the difficult times ahead of us.

 

A peaceful anti-Brexit protest

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In my youth, I was not into politics and I was never an activist of any sort. As I grow older, I started to care more about the world I live in, perhaps it’s partly due to the fact that we live in a more turbulent world.

The term ‘Utopia’ was created by an English lawyer and author Sir Thomas More in 1516, who wrote a controversial fiction novel under the same title in Latin. Then in 1949, another English author George Orwell published an influential fiction novel ‘1984’ on a dystopian world set in the future.

Today, our world resembles more like the dystopia depicted in ‘1984’, and the book has become more relevant than ever. Utopia has become an impossible ideal, and we are left with a world that is out of balance, increasingly more divided and dangerous.

 

brexit protest

 

The rise of populist right-wing party like UKIP reflects the sentiments of many British working class people whose voices are not being heard by the current government, and are losing out in a more globalised and polarised world. Their anger towards the government is understandable, but they were also lied to by some power-hungry politicians with hidden agendas. They voted ‘out’ believing that the outcome will bring a better future, but is this really going to be the case? Whether we like it or not, we can’t stop globalisation because we depend on each other more than we realise. And for those who are nostalgic about the past, Brexit will not be the answer that they hope for, and life will certainly get tougher ahead.

The shocking results of the referendum brought the country to a meltdown. No one was prepared for this – not even the Brexit politicians. There was no exit plan, and so panic and despair set in. Within a day, our world was turned upside down because of an unnecessary referendum. It felt like the beginning of a long nightmare. What next? Nobody had (has) any idea.

I can’t remember the last time I felt so emotional about a political issue, this Brexit issue has stirred up anger, dismay and anxiety across the nation. My friends and I went to the anti-Brexit protest days after the referendum because we felt that leaving the EU would a big mistake, and ultimately no sides would benefit from it.

 

brexit protest

brexit protest

brexit protest

brexit protest

 

We have had unsettling weather throughout the month of June, and according to the Met Office, it was the wettest ever on record. On the eve of the referendum polling day, torrential rain and floods caused chaos across the country; was nature warning us of our future ahead?

On the day of the protest, there was more rain, but this didn’t deter the protesters, nor us. Many protesters were young people under the age of 30, and they believe that their future is going to be bleaker if we leave the EU. They were angry at dishonest politicians like Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson, and their signs revealed their thoughts explicitly. Slogans like “Fromage not Farage” and “Eton mess” were cheered with laughter and support from the crowd.

 

brexit protest  brexit protest

brexit protest

brexit protest  brexit protest

 

The protest was a good-natured and peaceful one, there was no violence, disorder or misconduct. It started in Trafalgar Square, and then we marched towards the Parliament and stood under the platform staged for news reporters. We were ‘greeted’ by Jon Snow and Alistair Campbell, who were quite delighted by our presence.

 

brexit protest

brexit protest  IMG_6060-min

Bottom right: An extract from Francis Towne’s exhibition at the British Musuem

 

A few days after the referendum, I visited the British Museum and saw a free exhibition: Light, time, legacy: Francis Towne’s watercolours of Rome (until 14 August 2016). The British artist Francis Towne (1739–1816) made a remarkable group of watercolours during a visit to Rome in 1780–1781. These watercolours were Towne’s way of conveying a moral warning to 18th-century Britain not to make the same mistakes – and suffer the same fate – as ancient Rome.

As I was reading the extract from the exhibition (see above), I couldn’t help but think that history has repeated itself again. Do humans ever learn from their lessons? Apparently not. George Orwell and Francis Towne were not prophets, but they understood the nature of human beings. No matter how advanced our technology has developed, human nature seems to have evolved very little. We are still driven by our ego, power and desire. Not much has changed over time.

Of course Brexit is not the end of the world, but it may be the downfall of the United Kingdom. The whole referendum exposes the cracks in the democratic system, the inequality of the capitalist society, the growing numbers of nationalists, the incompetence of the governing politicians and the problems within the E.U.

Now that Genie out of the bottle, who is going to fix the mess?

 

Not proud to be British today…

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black

My response to today’s referendum results

 

I am sure that 48% of the British who voted to remain in the EU are feeling the same way as I do now – shocked, sad, disappointed, disillusioned, confused, anxious, pessimistic, and very angry. And we have every right to be angry with what has happened. Perhaps we are in need for some group therapy sessions to calm us down right now.

Why ‘Brexit’ – and I hate this word – is a global crisis that will have a triggering effect on the entire world? Let’s not even discuss the economical impact, but look at it from a wider perspective. These results indeed reflect how divided our world has become. The division happens not only within the UK, but also in the USA, Europe, Middle East, Russia, Africa, South America and Asia (pretty much the entire world). The rise of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage is not a coincidence, as they represent the older white working class voters who are anti-globalisation and racist – even though they would never admit this. Nationalism and xenophobia is spreading like a virus, and it brings out the worst in humanity. I think we ought to pray for the next and future generations, because they will grow up in a more dangerous and intolerant world that is likely to be run by fascists.

Yes, the economy will suffer for some time, but it will recover one day. Yet our confidence and trust in humanity is greatly tarnished by this so-called democratic referendum – which we never asked for in the first place – and I am not sure how we can fully recover from this. If we look at the poll results, we can see that 75% of people aged 18-24 voted to stay, while only 39% of those aged 65 and over backed to stay. Thanks to these patriotic pensioners, the younger generation in Britain will suffer from the consequences in the years to come.

It is not hard to see why these English working class voted the way they did. They are angry about job losses, big corporations dominating the market, the influx of immigrants and most importantly, the loss of their English identity. They are also angry at the Government because their voices were not heard, so ‘Brexit’ was their revenge on the Government. Yet this was a selfish move, and I don’t think they realise the enormity of their decisions. The fact that 52% of the population are more concerned with their own self-interests makes me feel ashamed to be part of this nation. But ultimately, it was David Cameron (who I didn’t vote for) who let both sides down. It was his misjudgements and smugness that got all of us into this mess, and although has paid a high price for this, it is relatively insignificant compare to the future of this country.

If buffoons like Boris and Donald end up running the UK and USA, I think I will seek asylum in Mars or any other planets! The thought of this sends chills down my spine, and I sincerely hope that this day will NEVER happen. But the fact that I am writing about this is already quite worrisome, because who is to say that another Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot or Stalin-like figure will not rise again? We now live in a world where people choose to see the differences between people rather than the common ground. This, to me, is the most distressing message that I received from this campaign.

Today is a historical day that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Will the 52% Brits regret their decisions in the coming months/years/decades? We shall see. Meanwhile, the rest of us will have to digest the news of divorce with immense sadness and disbelief.

 

 

 

Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution

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Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s future is depicted in the photo above… foggy & unclear

 

Originally I was going to publish further posts on the London design festival, but what has been happening in Hong Kong has prompted me to write about the city where I consider as my second home.

I was shocked and saddened by the photographs I saw over the weekend when Hong Kong’s government decided to use force (including tear gas and pepper spray) to disperse the peaceful pro-democracy protesters. Umbrellas are deployed by the protesters as the indispensable tools against the pepper spray, and this strong imaginary has inspired the media to name the protest as the “umbrella revolution” or “umbrella movement” (You can see the logos that local designers have come up with via SCMP). Ironically, this unnecessary force has escalated the protest from a relatively ‘regional’ event into a global one, gaining headline coverage from all the western media. This is what I would call a PR disaster for the Hong Kong/Chinese government.

 

Marc Allante

Marc Allante’s artwork of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest

 

The truth is that Hong Kong has been ‘unwell’ for a long time. A few years ago, I was talking to a Hong Kong friend about the future of the city and I said that a riot is likely to take place because of what has been happening to the city since the handover in 1997. And I didn’t need to a be a fortune teller to have predicted that. Although I only lived in Hong Kong before the handover, I still have family and friends living there and so I would visit the city almost annually. I can say that the Hong Kong I see today is almost unrecognisable from the one I knew before 1997 (and I don’t mean the cityscape). The widening wealth gap, influx of mainland Chinese migrants and tourists, unaffordable housing and commercial rentals, the suppression of free speech, the growing dissatisfaction with the incompetent government, the loss of identity, and the unclear political future etc all contribute to what is happening to this city now. If we trace back the history, Hong Kong’s citizens have never been able to elect their own leaders, so the psyche behind this protest is deeper and more complex, and I believe it is very much related to the citizens’ (esp. the young students) search for Hong Kong’s lost identity and pride.

Honestly, I don’t think the Chinese government would back down nor would they allow ‘real democracy’ in Hong Kong. And I don’t think other western countries can do much about it either because they are so dependent on China’s investments these days. £14 billion of trade and investment deals have been signed between UK and Chinese firms at the UK-China summit this year. Would the British government back up an ex-colony over the possibility of losing these deals? Highly unlikely. And unlike the “Jasmine Revolution” in the Middle East, the Chinese government is too powerful to be removed and it will do whatever it takes to demonstrate their power to control and shut people up.

Yet this does not mean that protests are pointless, and from what we have seen, the unnecessary force has united the citizens more and subsequently gained unexpected supporters worldwide. Again, social media plays an important role in this whole saga, and even though the Chinese government has banned Instagram (owned by Facebook) in China along with other western social media platforms, they are unable to ban it in Hong Kong where video footage and photographs are constantly being uploaded and shared to the worldwide audience. Most of my Hong Kong friends have changed their profile photos on Facebook to the picture of a yellow ribbon as their way of supporting the movement. We now live in an age when the people in power of our societies are the least trust-worthy, and so as ordinary citizens, we need to depend and support each other more than ever. People power can never be underestimated, which explains why the Chinese government is constantly monitoring all the movements of its citizens, and censoring anything that challenges its power.

It will be a struggle for Hong Kong to enjoy the democracy it once experienced (yes, I am using past tense here), and I do not want to see Hong Kong’s Central being turned into Tiananmen Square. No matter how defiant the protesters feel, they need to protect their own safety and not make unnecessary sacrifices. The entire world is now watching the events unfold, and I hope that no more violence will be witnessed as the protests continue. No matter what will be the outcome of this, there will certainly be more social and political unrest to come and the future of Hong Kong is unlikely to be clearer anytime soon.