Marilyn Mansion

Chung King Mansion!!
First and foremost, this is late. I wrote half of it a week ago.
But back to that Saturday;
I was nervous as I walked in, but intrigued with what Dan had to say. Having visited the States before, I’m familiar with the bureaucracy involved with trying to get a visa, and the hassle and degradation one has to put up with. Hong Kong itself changed its visa laws two years ago, back then I didn’t need a visa and now I do, the process itself being complicated. I wish countries were more friendly when it comes to immigration, often these are people are capable of being very productive members of society and wouldn’t resort to anything criminal were they allowed an equal chance and a shot at life.
When I saw the two Sri Lankan ladies I recognized one of them as being distinctively Sri Lankan, I thought “uh oh”, and for a second there I debated being honest about my origin, but decided to tell the truth in the end. I often tell people that I am from the States, to avoid the ton of questions that South Asians have in store as well as the other dramas that follow from the “Aunties” when they realize I don’t speak the language. The ladies were on the edges of their seats after that, and I felt like it would be rude to choose not to be in their group. What I did not expect was the exchange that took place thereafter.
We started out introducing ourselves, the students had already prepared questions which they were to ask us, basic things, about what we do for fun, etc: We were with the two Sri Lankan ladies, an Afghanistani, and another lady with a head scarf that didn’t talk, just stared. The teacher seemed to expect silence from the last lady and everyone seemed to ignore her, halfway through her phone rang, she left to answer it and never came back. But back to the group, the Afghanistani was very enthusiastic and often his enthusiasm surpassed his English skills, I understood little of what he said, I did gather that he liked to shoot, ran a grocery where he sold guns and for festivals would slaughter sheep. He also likes to watch gymnastic routines. He didn’t seem too interested in asking me questions, and soon went to the other side of the room to talk to a Japanese student from West Highland(?). The Sri Lankan ladies seized this chance to ask me the characteristic questions one expects from South Asians, this is; where do you live? What school did you go to? What do your parents do? What ethnicity are you? I answered all their questions, trying to remain a little aloof; Sri Lankans are very class segregated but they seemed to put all that aside in their excitement at having found another Sri Lankan. Knowing that these were refugees and probably Tamil, I played up on being an outsider to the war. The Sinhalese would normally not be too fond of meeting a tamil refugee as they would just caption them as being a “terrorist”, wheras a Tamil refugee wouldn’t be too fond of meeting a Sri Lankan, that is the people that victimized her, and have resulted in her having to leave her homeland. By birth right I am Sinhalese, that is the major ethnic group in Sri Lanka but I’m mixed with a tonne of others, so I told her that my mother is a malay(from Malaysia- though this is not entirely true), and I told her that I was mainly burgher(dutch/Portuguese ancestry – which is true). The fact that I couldn’t speak Sinhalese must have affirmed that with them, the burghers are another minority, and a neutral entity in this war.
After the formalities were done with, the stories unfolded and the lady told us her story, that she labeled, “her problem”. She comes from a town by the beach centered in the Northern part of the country. While this areas is accessible, often it is frequented by the tamil tigers( the terrorist group), once, she told us they came over and told her and her family that they need to leave within 24 hours or they would be shot. She seems to have left her house and come back many times, just to leave again. Most of the land that she has, acres at that have been occupied by the tamil tigers. According to her the tigers claim that she is collaborating with the Sinhalese, as she herself is a Sinhalese, while the sri lankan army, based on her darker appearance presume here to be a Tamil and perhaps a Tiger. She has a lot of trouble in Colombo, she would often get stopped at a check point and on realization that she is from the north, and is darker in appearance they check her once even putting her in Jail and demanding a bribe for her release. The Sri Lankan police are very corrupt by the way and I cannot even imagine what it must be like for a Tamil person, they need to realize that not every Tamil is a terrorist or pro Tamil Tiger. Anyway her husband has been in jail for a while and at present is in hiding, living with his mother. I didn’t ask her why, I think she said that they framed him. She also told me that she used to be in Hong Kong, and had previously stayed here ten years. Growing up in Sri Lanka you learn not to be very trusting, and while I initially felt compassion for her, I really don’t know what to believe. While I am not sure I believe her story a 100%, she is clearly a victim in this war, and doesn’t have a very rosy future. She does keep occupied, and has “a sharp eye” as she says, only needing to observe once to pick up skills. As proof she pulled out her knitting and showed it to me, I think she learnt how to knit at one of the classes Christian action has for offer. They were both very pleased with the organization, it gives them something to do, something to smile about.
The other Sri Lankan was hard to understand, she is here to work and is currently employed, making 5000HK$ a month. She mumbled something about the LTTE but she lives in a suburb of the capital; Colombo, and is clearly Sinhalese, she is an “economic migrant perhaps?” She was also very enthusiastic and kept blurting out random observations and questions, not all of which I understood. But as she left I heard her telling the other Sri Lankan, in Sinhalese that I was a, “nice boy”.
I left Christian Action wanting to come back again, to volunteer with them. The teacher was friendly, the students nice, they all had stories and tales. The Tamil looking Sri Lankan had her story etched on her face, and her black eyes were filled with emotion. She had a gaze that was defiant, that screamed that she’s not a victim, that she won’t be oppressed, that she’d find a way to survive. At one point her eyes swelled up with tears, she said that regardless she loved Sri Lanka, and that given the opportunity she’d go back to it. I felt my eyes start to well up too. Meeting other Sri Lankans, specially ones so different from myself always starts some introspective, questioning process where I compare my life, my identity to them. I have spent my life wanting to leave Sri Lanka, and given the opportunity, she would want to go back? I distance myself from my own kind, but on Saturday, despite all our differences, there was a sense of kinship. I did however feel a tad bit ashamed, I live such a different life, I have no local identity.
Chung King mansion was interesting otherwise, people just zoomed in and out minding their own business, shopping, talking. The South Asians tended to gather together, while the Africans also mixed with themselves. It wasn’t a very friendly place, but neither was it unwelcoming. Having brown skin, I didn’t stand out by myself, perhaps an odd glance or two, but no jaw dropping stares. The building was dirty, and derelict, while the occasional white, budget tourist wandered to and fro. I can see how this place seemed welcoming to the South Asian/African tourist, Chung King mansion is their Diaspora hot spot, I almost felt as if I was in another country, I’m sure everyone else felt the same way.
I couldn’t talk to anyone, no one really seemed that approachable, talking to them felt as if I would cross that buyer/seller boundary, a boundary I shouldn’t cross there. Friendliness didn’t seem to exist outside of Christian Action. I couldn’t help but contrast this place to Hong Kongs other tourist- foreign areas; Lan Kwai Fong, Soho, TST, etc: where foreigners mingle, are friendly and would invite conversation. Chung King mansions patrons were less “internationalized/globalised”, and the site itself serves as a meeting place, a haven for its minorities. Having been there at night, the place is certainly different, I get stared at more with eyes that seem to inquire the agenda of my visit. This was one of the rarer times that I have been around the Chung King mansion area and not got offered drugs.
The world needs a shift in its mentality. We are all closed, within our cultures and our ways of life. Immigrants aren’t going to pose a threat. Hong Kong is restricted in it’s mentality, the world is restricted in it’s mentality, these people need a chance at life and they’re just stagnating here, it’s a sad situation. I was disgusted by Mustafas(?) comments on how no one would give him change for his money. I have no idea why the Hong Kong government won’t sign what it needs to in order to facilitate this process, and I don’t know why it holds such negative perceptions of the African minority. We need change!

Creative Commons and business

Never before had I heard of Creative Commons(CC) licenses until attending the lecture yesterday in HKU. It is a new system of reservation of copy right, neither all rights reserved, nor no rights reserved, but some rights reserved. For more explaination accurately please click the link:http://creativecommons.org/. I am quite confused by the relation of copyrights and cultural freedom at first glance. What Prof. Lessig addressed seemed to be that strictly forbidding the remix of the original work with copyrights cannot help flourish the creative works. If the remix is not legally permitted, the generation grown up with appreciating piracy works are actually criminals under the existing copyright license. So there comes the simple solution: the change of the law-- I mean introducing the CC license under the requirement of the local law in different parts of the world. But I just thought of a simple case happening a few years ago, that is, a netizen remixed the blockbuster movie in China called The Promise( Wu Ji) with ironically humor and it was really influential among netizens. Just imagine what will happen if The Promise is under the protection of CC license and I cannot see any needs for the director to distributed his original work in a more creative way. But some can argue that with the CC license we can share his work in a better intention without some annoying legally problems and actually the problems lie in the law is not intended for every case to be distinguished. So the best choice for the director or authoritative ones is all rights reserverd. Another problem for the CC system is where the money goes( I am not sure whether I get the idea of the speaker correctly). If a remix certainly has some commercial values, of course legally permitted under CC license, how to divide the money? Is there another system of business developed suitable for the CC license?
I think if the CC license is put into practice in reality two problems have to be settled, one is to be admitted by local law and the other is the division of the money.

Hong Kong Asian Film Festival

http://www.hkaff.asia/home.html

here above is the official web site for the HKAFF, and here below is the screening schedule.

it will end at this weekend and i am thinking about to see one or two films, so if anyone wants to go together i certainly warmly welcome! Just contact me !

ps. why we students have to pay such a high ticket fee to see so-called artistic films...

there seems to be no activities for university students are organized by the organizers of film festivals to watch films with low cost. (in beijing students can sit in the cinema even for a whole day during the film festivals...)

well....i just complain a little and still hope to enjoy the films in Hong Kong...

10/10 (Fri)	7:40pm	渺渺 Miao Miao	ifc
	7:50pm	氣候Climates	bc
	9:45pm	小城歲月 / 繭 Small Town / Cocoon	bc
	9:50pm	我不賣身 我賣子宮 True Women for Sale	ifc
11/10 (Sat)	2:00pm	亞洲短打2: 第一實驗室 Asian Shorts 2: First Film Lab	bc
	2:30pm	三丁目之黃昏1 Always - Sunset on Third Street 1	ifc
	3:50pm	我無曳 They Said, I’m a Monkey	bc
	5:00pm	甜言蜜雨 Sweet Rain	ifc
	5:30pm	那一年的照相館 The Photograph	bc
	7:10pm	黑幫有個荷李活 The Magic Hour	ifc
	7:30pm	青空の行者 The Sky Crawlers	bc
	7:40pm	我的超人男友 The Man Who Was Superman	amc
	9:40pm	熱血高校 Crows - Episode O	amc
	9:50pm	我的寶萊塢偶象 The Voyeurs	bc
	9:45pm	三隻猴子 Three Monkeys	ifc
12/10 (Sun)	1:30pm	夏至 The Summer Solstice	ifc
	3:30pm	尋找幸福的日子 Happiness	ifc
	3:50pm	亞洲短打1: 彭浩翔的第一次  Asian Shorts 1: Pang Ho-cheung’s First Attempt	bc
	5:05pm	等愛 Waiting for Love	bc
	5:15pm	三愛太難 Signs of Love	amc
	5:50pm	情非得意之生存之道 What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?	ifc
	6:25pm	吉野理髮之家 Yoshino’s Barber Shop	bc
	7:35pm	死亡預告 Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit	amc
	7:45pm	遙遠 Distant	ifc
	8:10pm	我的超人男友 The Man Who Was Superman	bc
	9:50pm	愛到發燒 Some Like It Hot	ifc
	9:50pm	車票 Ticket	amc
	9:55pm	20歲的微熱 A Touch of Fever	bc
13/10 (Mon)	7:20pm	黑幫有個荷李活 The Magic Hour	bc
	7:30pm	尋找幸福的日子 Happiness	ifc
	9:50pm	山梨縣的暑假 This Window Is Yours	bc
	9:40pm	機動部隊 - 警例 Tactical Unit - The Code	ifc
	9:40pm	甜言蜜雨 Sweet Rain	amc
14/10 (Tue)	7:50pm	愛到發燒 Some Like It Hot	bc
	9:40pm	死亡預告 Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit	ifc
	9:40pm	五月碧雲天 Clouds of May	amc
	9:50pm	青瓜 Cucumber	bc
15/10 (Wed)	7:40pm	停車 Parking	bc
	7:50pm	李米的猜想 The Equation of Love and Death	ifc
	9:30pm	三丁目之黃昏2 Always - Sunset on Third Street 2	amc
	9:40pm	我們這一家影院…服務周到 Service	ifc
	9:45pm	我不賣身 我賣子宮 True Women for Sale	bc
16/10 (Thu)	7:45pm	14才 Fourteen	bc
	7:45pm	車票 Ticket	ifc
	9:40pm	同班同學 After School	amc
	9:50pm	公園和愛情旅館 ASYL: Park and Love Hotel	bc
	9:50pm	四女性 Four Women	ifc
17/10 (Fri)	7:40pm	遙遠 Distant	bc
	7:45pm	好貓 Good Cats	ifc
	7:50pm	Pk.com.cn	amc
	9:40pm	吉野理髮之家 Yoshino’s Barber Shop	amc
	9:50pm	我們這一家影院…服務周到 Service	bc
	9:50pm	14才 Fourteen	ifc
18/10 (Sat)	2:10pm	冷酷仙境 / 明信片  We Went to Wonderland / Address Unknown	bc
	3:50pm	夏旱 Dry Summer	bc
	4:35pm	三丁目之黃昏1 Always - Sunset on Third Street 1	amc
	5:30pm	三隻猴子 Three Monkeys	bc
	7:00pm	三丁目之黃昏2 Always - Sunset on Third Street 2	amc
	7:35pm	好貓 Good Cats	bc
	7:45pm	東京部落 Tokyo!	ifc
	9:40pm	李米的猜想 The Equation of Love & Death	amc
	9:50pm	海角七號 Cape No. 7	bc
	9:50pm	那一年的照相館 The Photograph	ifc
19/10 (Sun)	2:00pm	亞洲短打4:2008 JVC東京錄像作品節精選 Asian Shorts 4: The BEST of 2008 JVC TOKYO VIDEO FESTIVAL	bc
	3:40pm	夏旱 Dry Summer	bc
	4:05pm	小城歲月 / 繭 Small Town / Cocoon	ifc
	5:30pm	青空の行者 The Sky Crawlers	bc
	6:05pm	冷酷仙境 / 明信片  We Went to Wonderland / Address Unknown	ifc
	7:45pm	機動部隊 - 警例 Tactical Unit - The Code	bc
	7:50pm	氣候 Climates	ifc
	9:40pm	同班同學 After School	amc
	9:45pm	四女性 Four Women	bc
	9:45pm	鴕鳥走了 The Song of Sparrows	ifc
20/10 (Mon)	7:40pm	亞洲短打3: 少年十五二十時  Asian Shorts 3: When You Were Young	ifc
	8:00pm	無眠一夜 Unfinished Stories	amc
	8:10pm	等愛 Waiting for Love	bc
	9:30pm	黑幫有個荷李活 The Magic Hour	amc
	9:50pm	20歲的微熱 A Touch of Fever	bc
	9:50pm	夏至 Summer Solstice	ifc
21/10 (Tue)	7:35pm	我的寶萊塢偶象 The Voyeurs	ifc
	8:15pm	的哥 Taxi	bc
	9:40pm	情非得意之生存之道  What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?	bc
	9:40pm	公園和愛情旅館 ASYL: Park and Love Hotel	amc
	9:50pm	悲夢 Dream	ifc
22/10 (Wed)	7:30pm	無眠一夜 Unfinished Stories	bc
	7:50pm	Pk.com.cn	amc
	9:00pm	廢城 Ghost town	bc
	9:40pm	12蓮花 12 Lotus	amc
	9:40pm	三愛太難 Signs of Love	ifc
23/10 (Thu)	7:35pm	881	bc
	8:00pm	我無曳 They Say, I’m a Monkey	ifc
	9:40pm	悲夢 Dream	amc
	9:45pm	熱血高校 Crows - Episode O	ifc
	9:50pm	戲中戲中戲 Written	bc
24/10 (Fri)	7:45pm	少女咪咪的煩惱 Mime-Mime	ifc
	8:05pm	渺渺 Miao Miao	bc
	9:40pm	海角七號 Cape No. 7	amc
	9:45pm	出賣 Sell Out!	ifc
	9:45pm	東京部落 Tokyo!	bc
25/10 (Sat)	1:45pm	停車 Parking	ifc
	2:00pm	少女咪咪的煩惱 Mime-Mime	bc
	4:05pm	戲中戲中戲 Written	ifc
	4:10pm	出賣 Sell Out!	bc
	6:00pm	881	ifc
	6:10pm	青瓜 Cucumber	bc
	8:15pm	活著就是明天 10+4	bc
	9:40pm	五月碧雲天 Clouds of May	amc
	9:50pm	魔法阿爸 My Magic	bc
26/10 (Sun)	12:15pm	達達 Dada’s Dance	bc
	2:00pm	親密 Claustrophobia	bc
	2:00pm	魔法阿爸 My Magic	amc
	3:55pm	活著就是明天 10+4	bc
	4:40pm	三隻猴子 Three Monkeys	ifc
	5:30pm	12蓮花 12 Lotus	bc
	6:45pm	達達 Dada’s Dance	ifc
	7:50pm	鴕鳥走了 The Song of Sparrows	bc
	8:30pm	親密 Claustrophobia	ifc
	9:45pm	山梨縣的暑假 This Window Is Yours	bc