Thanks very much Yvonne and Jenny for their very prompt sharing! You can even post your photos in this space!
Maybe a further reflection would be whether some people would use the phone differently than others, at certain times of the day, eg. working people would definitely tend to use the phone for work purpose during working hours. So what conclusions can you draw from those people you saw at that certain time in the day at these places?
Also the way young people use the phones, are they only using mobile phones and not other mobile technology like interactive games?
Some personal reflection: do you think this exericise made you see more of the scenes you have been so used to by now? This is also a way to help us reflect how WE have been going through time and space, blurring public and private and coping with the differing identities at the same time.
You can certainly extend this observation over the weekend, and continue to notice how people might use it differently, in other spaces like restaurants, or even domestic spaces like the home!
lisa
Friday, November 14, 2008
My reflections of mobile phone research
My team aimed at finding how people using cell phone at the bus and the bus stops. We chose to take No.51 to start our research. As there are two floors in the bus ,we first sat separately on the first floor. I found three people using their mobile phone,two of which were sitting together. They are friends.After they talked with each other ,they began using their own mobile phones.
The rest was a girl who was keeping her phone for a long time. There were also people who checked their cell phones perhaps for either the time or the messages. On the second floor,there was an old man using cell phone.
At the bus stops,using mobile phone is a common phenomenon. I think it is a thing that did not needed to be done,but calling to people just let us feel convenience and relax.
At Tuen Mun,I also called my friend to ask whether she would like to come. That is convenient and easy to do.
My team aimed at finding how people using cell phone at the bus and the bus stops. We chose to take No.51 to start our research. As there are two floors in the bus ,we first sat separately on the first floor. I found three people using their mobile phone,two of which were sitting together. They are friends.After they talked with each other ,they began using their own mobile phones.
The rest was a girl who was keeping her phone for a long time. There were also people who checked their cell phones perhaps for either the time or the messages. On the second floor,there was an old man using cell phone.
At the bus stops,using mobile phone is a common phenomenon. I think it is a thing that did not needed to be done,but calling to people just let us feel convenience and relax.
At Tuen Mun,I also called my friend to ask whether she would like to come. That is convenient and easy to do.
observation in Zhao Kang Light Rail
Jennifer and I were in Zhaokang Light Rail station, observing people with cellphones for about half an hour. At first we were trying to find out the proportion that people with cellphones and ipods out of total people waiting the train, but later we found it just unrealistic to figure out the number because people seemed flowing all the time. but we indeed wrote down anyone using cellphone or ipod we had seen.
people in the station using cellphone mostly talk to someone and speak very fast. We sat beside a woman who were talking a little bit loud to her phone so that we can eavesdrop. she just were unaware of my existence even when i sometimes stared at her.yes, maybe we were in different time and space even though our actual distance was less than 20cm. Jennifer told me that she was making some appointment with the one over the phone. after several eavesdroping Jennifer said they were similar to the woman, all making future plans even in the so called 'waste time' in stead of asking 'useless information' like 'what are you doing'.
because it was the time when students went back home from school, we saw many groups of four or five teens who got together using only one cellphone. what interests me is that the mobile phone considered to construct a space that separates from the public is once again becoming a tool to construct a space for a certain community. teens are not so independent as adults and they have a much higher desire for recognition of identity in a community, also, at the same time resisting the public which is certainly controled by adults.
taken the concept of mental time and space into consideration, i just found it quite interesting to see a indian-like man stop talking to the phone and begin to run right after he saw the bus he needed to take. It is just like there has to be some emergency in the reality that can only draw back this person from where his mind locates.
we also saw some people with their ipod earphone even on a phone call, two elementary school students with their cellphones hanging in front of their chest, three men read traditional media-books and magazines- for killing time and etc. i'd better stop here maybe Jennifer can say a bit more!
Mobile communications, mobile identities: action research
Hi all,
Hope you have all had very interesting experience on the action research!we can compare detailed notes in next week's class, but for here we can put down main observations, especially how that helps us reflect on the impact/ implications of mobile communication technologies on our every life, with specific reference to:
i) connectivity
ii) interpersonal relationship
iii) the blurring of time and space; public and private
iv) identit(ies) and community building
v) tactics (to resist control, delay/ distruct communication)
you can also reflect on your own usage of mobile technologies!
Lisa
Hope you have all had very interesting experience on the action research!we can compare detailed notes in next week's class, but for here we can put down main observations, especially how that helps us reflect on the impact/ implications of mobile communication technologies on our every life, with specific reference to:
i) connectivity
ii) interpersonal relationship
iii) the blurring of time and space; public and private
iv) identit(ies) and community building
v) tactics (to resist control, delay/ distruct communication)
you can also reflect on your own usage of mobile technologies!
Lisa
Saturday, November 8, 2008
How the image of "Gentle" Korean man is constructed?
After two lessons on Korean and Japanese drama, I couldn't help thinking how the positive, gentle, sensitive male figure is being constructed in TV drama.
I always know that in reality Japanese or Korean male is very bossy and really look down at women. But the Korean TV drama is constructing an very opposite of male figure. And most amazingly, many women fell in love with the "illusion". I call that an illusion is because of that figure is so different from the reality male image. How could those women have consent with it? The women here is women all over the world. If the Korean man in reality is so bossy, how could they thinking and constructing a gentle and have a sense to care women figure? What is the connection between the illusion and reality?
Referring to the reading distributed last week, some Japanese women are trying to marry a "Gentle" korean man because of those dramas. I could not believe that Japanese women could be that naive. What does this tell us? Why those "illusion" is becoming a real Korean male figure? What is the "magic" behind it?
I always know that in reality Japanese or Korean male is very bossy and really look down at women. But the Korean TV drama is constructing an very opposite of male figure. And most amazingly, many women fell in love with the "illusion". I call that an illusion is because of that figure is so different from the reality male image. How could those women have consent with it? The women here is women all over the world. If the Korean man in reality is so bossy, how could they thinking and constructing a gentle and have a sense to care women figure? What is the connection between the illusion and reality?
Referring to the reading distributed last week, some Japanese women are trying to marry a "Gentle" korean man because of those dramas. I could not believe that Japanese women could be that naive. What does this tell us? Why those "illusion" is becoming a real Korean male figure? What is the "magic" behind it?
Monday, October 27, 2008
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!
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!
Friday, October 24, 2008
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.
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.
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