Global Voices » Macau (China)

Social Media Uprising in the Chinese-speaking World

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:29:09 +0000

Hong Kong In-Media, a media advocacy organization based in Hong Kong has published an e-book, Social Media Uprising in the Chinese-speaking World. The preface of the book, written by Jack Qui Linchuan is posted at interlocals.net, where you can also download a pdf preview of the book.

Taiwan: Let’s go poking around under the rock of ECFA

I-fan Lin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:09:35 +0000

The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China was signed on June 29, 2010 by the Strait Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (semi-official representatives for Taiwan and China). Later on August 17, the Legislation Yuan of Taiwan approved this agreement.

The process seems smooth and efficient at the surface, but the story is not simple. Many Taiwanese have poked around under the rock of ECFA and questioned the rationality behind the agreement.

The story of ECFA began two years ago. In 2008, Ma Ying-Jeou, the president candidate of Kuomintang (KMT), was elected as Taiwan’s 12th president. After Ma sworn into office as president, his office proposed to sign CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) with China. platocast explained how CEPA evolved to ECFA:

馬政府一開始說要跟中國簽CEPA…大家一細查，發現全世界只有香港跟中國有簽CEPA，台灣的主權被踐踏至極。馬英九政府怕了，才改成說要簽CECA，大家又發現這換湯不換藥，痛罵馬政府，於是馬英九在二月底一急之下說改簽ECFA。

In the beginning, Ma’s office proposed to sign CEPA with China…After some background check, we found only Hong Kong and Macau signed CEPA with China. Therefore, signing CEPA with China would give away Taiwan’s sovereignty. Due to the blame, Ma’s office changed their mind and proposed to sign CECA with China. However, we found CECA was similar to CEPA and blamed Ma’s office again. At last, President Ma proposed to sign ECFA in Feb (2009).

Although Taiwan’s government started to work on ECFA in Feb, 2009, the contents of ECFA were hidden from the public until it was signed by the Strait Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait in June, 2010. The blackbox process worried the opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and they called for a debate about ECFA with the president. Under the pressure, a televised debate between President Ma Ying-Jeou and the chairperson of DPP, Tsai Ing-wen, was held and aired on April 25th, 2010.

blackrain was disappointed that Ma failed to clarify the doubtful points in ECFA that were addressed by Tsai in the debate.

蔡英文的幾個質疑，加深了 ECFA 的可疑程度。例如：
。農產品開放項目將達到六、七百項之多，馬英九完全迴避這部份的補救措施
。馬英九完全不答有哪些產業會受到衝擊，或是他所宣稱的 17 個受影響的產業是什麼，加深了更多人的疑慮
。蔡英文點出馬英九靠攏財團、以及貧富差距的公義問題，馬英九完全無法回答
。蔡英文成功地反擊了馬英九所宣稱的「急迫性」，馬英九無法化解

What Tsai Ing-Wen questioned deepens the doubt toward ECFA. For example
(1) There are 600-700 agriculture products listed in ECFA, but Ma avoided answering if the government has prepared for the impact.
(2) Ma did not answer the question regarding the industries that will be influenced by ECFA or the details of the 17 industries that he claimed will be influenced by ECFA, which deepened many people’s suspicion.
(3) Tsai pointed out that Ma benefits the big firms and ignores the problems of the poverty gap and social justice, but Ma could not answer this question.
(4) When Tsai controverted the urgency (of signing ECFA) claimed by Ma successfully, Ma could not explain.

Later the DPP distributed a video below on YouTube, accusing ECFA, as CEPA, will cause social injustice:

Here is ESWN's transcription of the video:

(Cantonese voice-over)

There are lots of rich people in Hong Kong. Reports speak of the averarge income in Hong Kong, but I don't get it. There are more and more poor people; everybody works longer hours; eight out of ten street sweepers are university graduates; senior citizens have to scavenge in the streets. Actually, is the Chief Executive sent over from Beijing? It does not matter what CEPA is. It can't be a bad thing to let the people of Hong Kong make more money. But it shouldn't be this way. The rich eat shark fin, whereas the poor cannot even have a single vermicelli noodle?

(in written words) After Hong Kong signed CEPA, it has become the city with the largest wealth inequality in the world. We don't want an ECFA that let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Martin oei, who have lived in Hong Kong for more than 30 years, commented on this video,

若然簽了ＥＣＦＡ，今日香港，便是明日台灣，甚至情況會更慘。不少香港人，看完民進黨廣告後，都認為廣告反映了他們心聲，特別最尾一句，為何貧民連粉絲都沒得吃？

If Taiwan signs ECFA, Taiwan will become what Hong Kong is today. Many people in Hong Kong think this video, especially the last words, reflects their feelings: why we poor people do not even have vermicelli noodles to eat?

After the debate, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) requested to hold a referendum on the question: “Do you agree that the government signs ECFA with China?” However, this referendum was rejected by the Referendum Review Commission.

The decision made by the Referendum Review Commission reminded Taiwanese the problem of having this commission in their government. subing said,

公審會頂多有權力做程序審查，也就是說檢查一下連署人數足不足夠，有沒有作假，該送的文件有沒有到齊…根據台灣的公投法，公投要成案最後大約要87萬人連署，這21個人有什麼資格實質審查87萬人的意願？這根本就是違反民主基本原則，也違憲。

At most, the Review Commission should be only authorized to review the process, e.g., check if the number of people cosigned is enough or if all the documents are submitted…Based on the Law of Referendum, we will need 870000 people to cosign the referendum to pass it. Why do these 21 people (in the commission) have the right to judge the intention of these 870000 people? What this commission did violates the basic rules of democracy and violates our constitution.

Despite the dispute, ECFA was signed by the semi-official representatives for Taiwan and China on June 29, 2010. After the articles of ECFA were finally revealed, they stimulated a lot of discussions. For example, KuanMom criticized the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Committee mentioned in article 11,

(ECFA)第11條所成立的「兩岸經濟合作委員會」(*)，完全不受任何台灣立法機關的監督，空白授權給海基海協指定任何人選，全權負責協議的執行、解釋、爭議處理、後續所有協商的速度及廣度。ECFA第11條完全不提該委員會如何組成?對誰負責?由誰授權?受誰監督?經費何來?設置在哪?

(*)雙方成立「兩岸經濟合作委員會」（以下簡稱委員會）。委員會由雙方指定的代表組成，負責處理與本協議相關的事宜。

The 11th article (in ECFA) mention setting up the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Committee (*), but it does not mention how the Legislation Yuan of Taiwan can supervise this committee. In other words, the committee members assigned by the Strait Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait without appropriate authorization will handle the execution and explanation of ECFA, the arbitration of disputes, and all the following negotiations. The 11th article in ECFA does not mention how the committee will be organized, who it should be responsible for, where its authorization comes from, who will supervise it, the funding source of it, or the location of it.

(*) Temporary translation of this article based on the available Chinese version: Both sides should set up the ‘Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Committee’ (abbreviated as the committee). The members of this committee are assigned by both side, and these members will be responsible to the processes related to this agreement.

Despite the dispute, ECFA was sent to the Legislation Yuan. hehe complained about the process,

從媒體上，我們只看到了大肆報導某立委肢體衝突，但真正的暴力，恐怕是整個會議過程毫無程序正義的多數暴力。
坦白說，我個人對於ECFA簽不簽，並沒有太大的堅持，我也相信多數人和我一樣，希望的只是在一個民主程序下、透過多方意見的討論形成共識；縱使不能形成共識，至少也在各種意見可以得到充分表達的情況下，政府可以更周延的考量到不同立場或生存的人，可能受到的衝擊，而得以有好防範措施。
然而，影片中國會決定將ECFA等相關法案（其中牽涉可能數十、上百的法律條文）逕付二讀的過程，不禁令人懷疑，這樣的立法程序，我們還能期待什麼？

From the media, we only see the physical confrontations between some legislators. However, the real violence is the tyranny of the majority in the meeting without any justice.
To be honest, I do not have a strong opinion regarding signing ECFA or not. I believe most people are like me, and what we want is a consensus that is reached by discussions from different perspectives and following the rules in democracy. Even if we cannot reach a consensus, we hope the government can benefit from these discussions and protect those who will be influenced by ECFA.
Nevertheless, in this video, the way ECFA, which may include tens or hundreds of articles, was passed make us doubt that what we can expect with this kind of legislation process.

Well, we all know what will happen if we poke around the rocks–some very nasty things live under rocks.

China: Visa tales

John Kennedy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:08:02 +0000

Just how how hard can it be, asks Sina blogger and freelance journalist Chen Zikun in his August 6 post, for Chinese travelers to get a visa—with Chen's answer apparently being: not too hard—in which he shares the stories behind visas for the many countries he's been to:

第一次出国办理签证前，一直喜滋滋地认为：来自一个经济快速发展的大国，特别是CCTV等根红苗正的媒体经常自鸣得意地报道“中国游客的奢侈品购买力高居世界第一”时，心里的底气就更足了。中国都已经“可以说不了！”哪个国家还敢不会笑脸相迎，顺利给予签证放行呢。

然而，事与愿违……

Until I went to apply for a visa for my first ever trip out of the country, I was always happily under the impression that, being from a country with a rapidly-developing economy, and especially with how smug red-to-the-root media like CCTV are in their frequent reports about how Chinese tourists always rank first in purchasing power of luxury goods. Couldn't have felt better. China had already learned how to say No, thus there probably wasn't any country that wouldn't greet me with a smile, never mind give me a visa hassle-free.

Then, the opposite turned out to be true…..

2003年深秋，第一次办理的出国旅游签证是申根国家的奥地利。要求我提供房产、车产、银行5万存款证明，单位介绍信，介绍信的职能是，汇报我年收入在10万人民币以上，担保我肯定如期归国、绝不滞留非法打工，当然，还要求“如实填写”八辈祖宗的详细履历……

In late fall 2003, the first overseas tourist visa I applied for was for a Schengen country, Austria. They required property ownership certificates, car ownership certificates, proof of bank balance exceeding RMB 50,000, a letter of introduction from my workplace, the purpose of which being to confirm my annual salary to be over RMB 100,000 as well as guarantee that I would return to the country and not overstay my visa to work illegally. Of course, they also needed an “accurate” record of my ancestry going back eight generations….

第二次去埃及和被欧盟一直不齿的土耳其。埃及相对简单，但先决条件也不少，本以为也遭受歧视的土耳其能够通情达理，不料，这个昔日的奥斯曼帝国，对中华人民共和国公民的态度跟欧盟国家一样的傲慢！

My second time was to Egypt and that country long despised by the EU, Turkey. Egypt was fairly simple, but which isn't to say there weren't a fair number of preconditions. Being so subject to discrimination as it is, I would have though Turkey would be reasonable about processing visas. Turns out, the former Ottoman Empire country is just as arrogant toward citizens of the People's Republic of China as it is to those of European Union countries!

话说回来，别责怪人家外国人，自家的香港、澳门也要求你先办理经过严格审核的签证，才可能放行呢。其手续与程序，同办理其别人家一样复杂好繁琐，更重要的是，日后还经常遭到导游的冷眼甚至辱骂。

Having said that, don't be too quick to judge the foreigners. Even our own Hong Kong and Macau require you to first undergo a strict process before they'll issue a visa. The paperwork and procedures involved are just as complicated and elaborate as those required by anybody else, but even more important is that once you do get it, you find yourself constantly stuck with cold glares and even abuse from tour guides.

第二次进入申根国家，是法国签证，照例又是复印一大沓资料以及银行存款等财产证明，再次发誓绝不赖在人家屋檐下，一定如期回来。

My second time applying to a Schengen country was with a visa to France. Per usual, they wanted copies of yet another stack of information as well as proof of financial statements, and again I had to swear that I wouldn't remain anywhere and that I would return on schedule.

毕竟是难兄难弟，越南明显地好客，不费心调查你是否有足够的资产和计较你是否拥有体面的工作，交钱后差不多就OK了！

We are brothers of the same misfortune, after all, and Vietnam is much friendlier, not taking the trouble to check whether or not you own sufficient assets or fixating on the suitability of your job; you pay your money and then you're more or less good to go!

太平洋上的美国托管地塞班岛，虽然有美国有亲戚关系，但美国东家知道中国人再怎么聪明，也无法把塞班做跳板蹦到美国本土，所以手续相对简单，但单位介绍信还是少不了的。

In the Pacific Ocean, Saipan, although administered by the United States, its masters know that even with as clever as Chinese are, there's no way for any of us to use the island as a springboard to land on American soil, and therefore applications are relatively straightforward, but of course that employee letter is still required.

虽然曾经体制相同，俄罗斯实际上也多次尝试给予昔日小兄弟一些宽松，但发现招惹不得，稍有松懈，中国人就非法涌入、大量滞留。屡放屡收的结果是，仅仅比苛刻的欧盟强一点，但有些公证、身份证明一样不少！

Despite the similar political system we once shared, Russia has in fact made multiple attempts to relax procedures for its former brethren, at least until it became clear that each time they did, large numbers of Chinese would flood in and end up staying. The result of this tightening and relaxing has been requirements that are only marginally more strict than those of the EU, and don't forget those notarized papers and proof of identity!

最亲密的盟国朝鲜，对于中国游客的财产证明并不看中，但对职业的审查却极为严格。记者休想进入！但以盈利为目的的旅行社自有对策，把职业一栏随便改成“教师”或“经理”就平安无事了。失望的是，签证是没有“伟大领袖”的头像和他们独自一国实行的“主体元年”年历划分日的期。

Oh-so-intimate North Korea, which doesn't place much emphasis on proof of assets for Chinese travelers; screening based on profession, however, is extremely strict. Journalists, don't even think about getting in! Travel agencies, however, in pursuit of profit, have found a way around this, by changing employment status to ‘instructor' or ‘manager'. What's disappointing is that visas don't come with a picture of The Great Leader, or stamped with the special Juche year Gregorian calendar unique to their country alone.

马来西亚除了对中国年轻女子（大量性工作者活跃在马来西亚，使所有的中国良家女子也收到牵连）审查严格外，基本网开一面。新加坡也如此，只要有足够的存款证明就成。签证是另外一张纸，不占护照页面。

Malaysia, aside from harsh screening of young Chinese women (large numbers of sex workers are highly active in Malaysia, something which implicates even upstanding Chinese women), basically has its doors wide open. Singapore is the same, although proof of sufficient bank balance is needed. Visas are issued separately, not on a page in your passport.

虽然我们把他们的外交部、国防部、行政院统统打上引号，从心理上安慰自己。但是，在“一个中国原则”下，去台湾比办理去其他国家甚至还要繁琐。至少没有正式开放前的2004年是这样。

Although we put their foreign ministry, ministry of defence and Executive Yuan in quotation marks, that's just to comfort ourselves. Under the “One-China policy”, applying to go to Taiwan is far more complicated than for other countries. At least up until 2004 when things had yet to formally open up.

台湾签证与众不同，套用李登辉的话，毕竟这是“特殊的国与国”关系。幸好我不是军人、党员和官员，审查轻易通过。但去台湾却必须从香港经由第三国才能实现。

Taiwan's visas are different from most, covered in sayings from Lee Teng-hui. After all, these are “special state-to-state” relations. Fortunately I'm not a soldier, Party member or official, so getting approval was easy. Though if you go to Taiwan, you have to go through Hong Kong or another country.

这个第三国就选择了菲律宾。这个东南亚唯一的天主教国家，没有调查我的财产和职业。

For my third country, I chose the Philippines. This the only Catholic country in Southeast Asia, and neither my assets nor profession were checked.

韩国与朝鲜的签证区别明显，首尔机场人员见到我的朝鲜签证时，惊讶地问：我可以用手机拍照吗？

The difference between South and North Korean visas is obvious. When the employee at Seoul Airport saw my North Korean visa, they asked excitedly if they could take a picture of it with their cellphone.

柬埔寨既不担心中国记者的“负面报道”，更不害怕中国黑工的“非法滞留”。甚至落地再办理签证也来得及。

Cambodia is not worried about “negative reports” from Chinese journalists, and are definitely not worried about Chinese people working or staying illegally. You can even apply for a visa upon arrival.

经常被国际社会谴责践踏人权的缅甸军政权，与朝鲜有很多相同之处——都不欢迎喜欢追求真相的新闻记者。

With a military regime so frequently criticized by the international community for its human rights situation, Myanmar has a lot in common with North Korea: neither of them like journalists coming chasing after the truth.

泰国属于少有的几个最容易签证的国家之一，即使没有红衫军闹腾。不过，去那个国家没有兴趣，只不过，首都曼谷是交通枢纽，以这里放射状地飞向缅甸仰光、斯里兰卡的科伦坡、印度尼西亚的雅加达等地。

Thailand belongs to the small group of countries whose visas are easiest to obtain, even when the red shirt army isn't creating any disturbance. Although, I have no interest in traveling there except that the capital Bangkok is a transportation hub and from there one can fly on to Yangon in Myanmar, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Jakarta in Indonesia, and other places.

2005年。印度尼西亚还不对中国公民个人发放签证，必须多花一倍的钱委托旅行社办理才成。

In 2005, Indonesia was still not issuing visas to Chinese citizens; one had to pay a hundred times the normal cost to a travel agent to take care of the paperwork.

非洲的岛国塞舌尔，同另一个印度洋岛国毛里求斯相同，破例可以让中国游客同其他各国游客那样，平等免签进入。这是出入境盖的印章。只是每逢遇到中国人入境，检验就格外严格。

The African island nation of Seychelles, quite similar to the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius in that, unlike nearly all other countries, exempts Chinese travelers from a visa. This is the stamp given at the Immigration crossing. When Chinese go through, however, inspection is more thorough than normal.

满以为兄弟的非洲国家一定不会如此歧视中华人民共和国的护照，不料，强国梦在黑非洲照样破灭！坦桑尼亚与肯尼亚同样铁面无私，都必须在北京的大使馆先把签证办理完毕才能动身。幸好乌干达可以“搭车”进入。目前，在东非共同体内，有其中一个国家签证就可以通行。

With Africa full of countries we think of like brothers, definitely anyone with a People's Republic of China passport will not be faced with this kind of discrimination. Nope, turns out the Superpower Dream gets destroyed in black Africa too! Tanzania and Kenya were equally strict in requiring visa processing to be completed at their embassies in Beijing before I could go. Fortunately, I was able to “truck” into Uganda. Currently, one travel throughout the EAC with a visa from any of its member countries.

更有甚者，世界上最不发达国家之一的马达加斯加，在法文的申请表上还特意用汉字注明：本人在马达加斯加期间，保证不非法打工。另一个最不发达国家之一的赞比亚，更是明令规定：包括中国在内的六个国家不能享有落地签证待遇……

In Madagascar, the least developed country in the world, they went and stipulated in Chinese on the French-language form that “this person is not allowed to work illegally during their stay in Madagascar.” In Zambia, another least developed nation, it was much clearer: “China is one of the six countries not privy to visas upon arrival”……

要想获得津巴布韦签证，请记住，同朝鲜、缅甸一样，千万不能透露记者身份！专制政权都害怕舆论开放。

If you want a visa to Zimbabwe, please remember, as with North Korea and Myanmar, do not under any circumstances reveal that you are a journalist! Authoritarian regimes all fear open discussion.

美国签证最为麻烦，要象应聘工作那样先去使馆“面试”和按手印，北京人还好说，新疆人也得不远千里，来北京的秀水街碰运气，拒签后，100美元的签证费不退！不过，我面试时，所以的财产证明人家根本没有看！

American visas are the most troublesome. Like job-hunting, you have to first go to the embassy for an “interview” and be fingerprinted (Beijingers will tell you that Xinjiangers face the same thing when they show up and try their luck at the Xiushui Silk Market), and if you get rejected, you don't get that USD 100 back! Although, when I had my interview, they didn't even bother looking at my proof of assets!

早在1989年，遭到加拿大拒签，没想到，后来竟然去了三次这个国家。不过，第二次入境时遇到麻烦，签证官反复检查护照后，不解地质问：你为什么去伊朗？叙利亚、津巴布韦、缅甸和朝鲜这样的国家？你跟他们军人有联系吗？你见过他们的领导人吗？

Back in 1989, I got denied a Canadian visa. Who knew that I'd actually end up going there three times? Although, I had a lot of trouble the second time when the visa officer, after repeatedly going through my passport and with no explanation, kept asking my: why did you go to Iran? Or countries like Syria, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and North Korea? Were you in contact with any soldiers there? Did you meet with any of their leaders?

印度需要往返机票、1万元存款证明。但只能一次入境和30天期限。最恼火的是印度大使馆很没信誉，极不靠谱，当你按规定的时间去取护照时，往往会毫无歉意地说：“没有办好呢，明天来吧。”

India requires a return plane ticket and proof of RMB 10,000 in the bank. Only one entry is allowed for a maximum of thirty days. The biggest headache is that the Indian embassy is so unreliable—this was extremely uncool—such that when you go back to the embassy at the specified time to pick up your passport, you keep getting the completely unapologetic response of “it's not ready, come back tomorrow.”

尼泊尔是对中国最友好的国家，签证免费，且两天后即可来取。大使馆外门可罗雀，不用排队直接进入使馆内填表。不要财产证明。

Nepal is the friendliest of all countries to China: visas are free and processed in two days. No line-ups outside the embassy, you can go straight in and fill out the forms. No proof of assets necessary.

虽然，我们本家兄弟台湾、香港的游客，能够在申根以及欧盟其他许多国家享有免签厚爱，但安理会五大常任理事国之一的中国，其国民却享受不到这些待遇。去北欧四国时，又带着中国银行至少10000元的存款证明、本人在职证明和年收入证明、单位的营业代码、领导或法人代表的保证签字以及其他个人财产证明等等，来到芬兰大使馆签证。

Although travelers from our own brothers of Taiwan and Hong Kong are lovingly exempted visas for Schengen as well as European Union and many other countries, citizens of China, one of the five major permanent members of the UN Security Council, are unable to enjoy such treatment. When I went through four countries in Northern Europe, I had to bring proof of at least RMB 10,000 in savings at Bank of China, proof of employment and annual salary, my employer's company code and, among other things, a signed letter of guarantee from my leader or a legal representative as well as various proofs of assets, to get a visa from the Finnish embassy.

老挝签证费用130元，条件宽松。

A visa to Laos costs RMB 130 and requirements are loose.

同卡塔尔一样，作为中东最大的中转站，阿联酋的迪拜，也不在护照上贴签证。

As was the situation in Qatar, as the largest transportation hub in Middle East, the visa I was given in Dubai, UAE, was not stamped into the passport.

伊朗是唯一要求女性入境者提供的照片必须是带头巾的国家，不知海湾其他国家有没有类似强制规定的？

Iran is the only country that requires women to wear head scarves going through Immigration, unless other countries in the Gulf have similar forced requirements.

叙利亚，又一个以色列的敌国，为此，这本护照没有用完之前，我不敢贸然去以色列大使馆办理签证。

Syria, another enemy of Israel, which is why until this passport expires, I don't dare head to the Israeli embassy for a visa.

约旦驻华大使馆的工作人员，态度粗鲁无礼，甚至比其他驻华使馆里的一些中方雇员的态度还恶劣。

Staff at the Jordanian embassy to China were quite rude, far more vile even than attitudes of some Chinese staff at any other embassy in China.

蒙古的签证官居然能够把申请者的年月日写错，害得我发现后第二次找他们纠正。

The Mongolian visa officer actually got my date of birth wrong the first time, after I noticed I had to go back and ask them to correct it.

澳大利亚尽管要求必须把逝去了20多年、甚至40多年的父母姓名“如实填写”，彻底调查清楚我的底细，但还好允许一年内多次往返。第二次再去时，免受了一次心灵屈辱。

Although Australia required the names of both parents from the past 20-40 years “written accurately” and fully investigated my ever last detail, in the end gave my a multiple entry one year visa. The second time I went, I was spared the humiliating ritual.

日本虽然不断降低签证的门槛，但中国人要想像港台同胞一样从容第出入东京，还是一个遥不可及的梦想。也难怪，每个旅行团都面临游客中途脱逃的风险，10万现金被旅行社扣押，也依然挡不住脱逃的洪流。

Although Japan keeps lowering its visa requirements, it's a dream still years in the future when Chinese will be able to go in or out as freely as their Taiwan or Hong Kong compatriots. And no wonder, ever tour group runs the risk of travelers escaping partway through; even a deposit of RMB 100,000 kept by the travel company hasn't stopped the flood of runners.

没有与中国建交的不丹，自然不会在护照上留下签证，只是出入境是盖个章而已。

Bhutan, which has yet to establish diplomatic relations with China, naturally leaves no visa in the passport, instead just a stamp when pass through Immigration.

第三次办理尼泊尔的签证，免费时代早已结束。

By the time of my third visa to Nepal, the era of free visas had long passed.

孟加拉要求提供邀请函，没办法弄邀请函，只好委托旅行社办理，费用翻番，有的黑心旅行社甚至提高4倍！

Bangladesh requires an invitation letter, and if that can't be provided the travel agent will arrange it for several times the cost. Some evil travel agents will raise the fees as high as up to four times the original cost!

How does all that that compare to your experiences traveling?

In a final note, Chen writes:

现在，想必大家发现：一个国家的国际地位、国家实力、形象与声誉到底如何，通过办理签证得到了验证。但愿“提升国家形象”的宣传片快快播放吧，别让大陆的炎黄子孙总沦为不受欢迎的三等贱民（当然，有钱有势的人都有了其他“国籍”）。

By now, everyone must have noticed that people one can ascertain the international standing and national power, image and reputation of a country through the process of applying for visas. I hope they hurry up and release that propaganda film which will “improve China's national image” so that the Yellow children of China don't have to put up with being treated like third-rate scum any longer (of course, those with money and power already have have their own other “citizenship”).

Macau: Amendment of media law

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:47:00 +0000

Michelle from interlocals.net translated an article updating the free speech situation in Macau. Professional media workers are calling for media reform while the government wants to amend laws to control the Internet.

Macau: Alternative public sphere

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:23:48 +0000

Chong from interlocals has a summary of a local research on the development of online alternative public sphere in Macau.

Macau and China: The 10-year anniversary of Macau’s handover

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:23:12 +0000

Jottings from the Granite Studio reviewed the colonial history of Macau and the politics of historical narration by the Chinese Communist Party in the 10-year anniversary of Macau's handover.

Macau: An unpopular Chief Executive coming to town

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:59:58 +0000

Yesterday Fernando Chui Sai On, Macau's former secretary for social and cultural affairs, announced that he had obtained 286 nominations from the territory's 300-member election committee which implies that he will automatically become the next chief executive of Macau.

Different from Hong Kong, Macau has been a very apolitical city and its citizens are not very critical of the government even though they are aware of the corruption among top ranked government officials. The most notorious case is the Ao Man Long's billion dollars corruption scandal. However, this time some citizens have decided to speak up and self-organize against Fernando Chui.

In a major forum in Macau, cyberctm, a poll (dated June 17) shows that around 80% netizens have voted against Fernando Chui for being the next chief executive. Here are some of the comments explaining why:

LST0011 (2009-5-12)

無用架!你老豆有無水呀?你老豆有無佢老豆咁有面呀?你有無佢咁無齒呀?你有無佢咁中意帶住屋企人去行街同做人呀? 無呀嘛,咁咪抵佢做咯…就係咁簡單!

This is meaningless. Is your father wealthy? If so is your father as well-connected as his (Fernando)? And are you as shameless as him? Do you enjoy taking your family trademark wherever you go? I don't think anyone can do that but him… this is all too simple.

2014 (2009-5-12)

應該係研究某人係唔係要坐牢, 而非係唔係做特首

We should study whether that person should go to jail rather than be the Chief Executive.

亞嬸 (2009-5-13)

上世紀勁大貪官和珅係皇帝面前都係一隻討皇帝歡心的狗奴才…..只有狗奴才先會懂得主子的喜惡……..競選澳門的特狗的致勝之道—首要都係要取得亞爺歡心…

In last century (Ching Dynasty), the most corrupted government official is He Xin and he was a dog to the emperor. Only a dog can tell what its master like. The road to success in the CE election is to please the grand father (Beijing).

icezero1001 (2009-5-14)

明知自己冇民望都出來參選,睇來佢背後勢力都幾大

Knowing that he doesn't have public support and he still dares to be a candidate. He has really strong back up.

ohmybuddy (2009-5-15)

反對貪官奸商做特首!!澳門前途一片黑暗!!!

Against corrupted businessman to become CE!!! The future of Macau would be darken!!!

愛瞞停轉日 (2009-6-11)

中央已放棄澳門

The central government has given up on Macau.

A majority of the netizens who voted against Fernando Chui believed that he is another corrupted businessman who had given and will continue to give favor to his family business with his political power. For example, this forum post (zh) pointed out that he had given a health reform consultant contract to his own circle.

Moreover, when he acted as the secretary for social and cultural affairs, he was responsible for the East Asian Game, and it turned out that the government had exceed the budget for more than 2 billions. The following youtube video challenges Fernando Chui's integrity and ability to be Macau's CE:

The video also pointed out that as the secretary for social and cultural affair, he approved the construction of Macau-China Liaison Office building which destroyed Macau's historical and cultural heritage.

Last month (around mid May), some citizens wanted to publish an advertisement in major newspapers to voice out against Chui but their bank account was suspended by the Macau Commercial Bank. Mainstream media had censored away all the negative public opinions and Internet forum becomes the only channel for the public to discuss the CE election.

In spite of all the public discontent, Chui gained more than 90% vote in the small circle CE election committee. It is likely that the latent political tension within the community will probably increase in coming years.

China: Labour net launched

Oiwan Lam — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:44:13 +0000

A news website, China Labour net has been launched. According to the launching statement: the aim of this website is to facilitate sharing of information, experiences and opinion of the labour movement between China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the rest of the world. We will regularly upload articles on the workers’ movement, political economy, cultural thinking and monitoring of corporations from this region and from other areas.

Northeast Asia: 2008 Review

Oiwan Lam — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:55:06 +0000

The northeast Asia region is becoming more integrated politically, economically and socially. State leaders from China, Japan and South Korea recently signed a Joint Statement for Tripartite Partnership to address the serious challenges in the global economy and the financial markets. Peace talk between North and South Korea continues, while China and Taiwan have begun cross-strait direct flight. In 2008, issues related with the Beijing Olympics, food security, natural hazards and human rights, etc. are common concerns among people in the region.

China: Natural hazards, clashes, Made-in-China, Olympics and human rights

A week-long snowstorm that ravaged south China marked the beginning of 2008 in which the country suffers from abnormal natural hazards. Trains got trapped on halfway stations were crowded with tens of thousands migrant workers anxiously waiting to go home.

Natural hazards

Yet nature did not intend to let China go with only a blizzard.

May 12, Wen-chuan, 8.0Ms Earthquake claimed over 69,000 people, and many of them, unfortunately, are children. The country soon united for rescue and relief after the disaster, and besides the mass army force mobilized, a great many NGOs were born much like bamboo shoots to help millions of refugees. Citizens took actions to spread updated information, depending largely on the internet. International aid, such as that from Japan joined in since the value of human life transcended the state barriers. Though the earthquake will be a trauma of the nation forever, it will also be memorized as a monument for the courage with which people struggled for the survival and relief for both themselves and people around.

Food security

Of the global food crisis in 2008, perhaps nothing gained as much publicity as China's poisonous milk scandal. The scandal raised many questions surrounding the lacking role of the media in exposing corruption, what is considered adequate government regulation of food standards, and global interdependence.

The poisonous milk scandal raised questions about corporate responsibility; while the initial main culprit was the Sanlu Group, the scandal involved at least one fifth of all diary producers in the country, suggesting that adding melamine to diary products was an industry wide practice. It also got people wondering how many government officials were involved, what the role of the government in monitoring food safety is and setting adequate and acceptable food standards is. The scandal also led to criticism of government control of the media.

On a global level, the poisonous milk scandal showed how interconnected we are in the current age, in particular where even the EU commissioner felt compelled to make a statement by drinking Chinese milk to prove its safety, only to suffer mysteriously from kidney stones a few days later in a strange twist of fate.

Oppression-struggle-oppression, voices against injustice

2008 China witnessed a variety of ways citizens struggle for their rights and have their voices out and heard.

First of all, people strike.
As the economic growth more or less covered up social problems in the past has now faltered, social unrests erupt. Bus drivers, cabbies, and teachers have one after another launched strikes throughout the year and the country to argue for not only better pay but also a fairer rule of game. It's notable that because the government has stretched so far into nearly every corner of the economic department with its dominant power, the labor-employer conflicts have often transferred to be a confrontation between the public and the authority.

People petition and blog.
Even during the relief of the earthquake, our alert of possible corruption has never been swayed. We questioned, also, why so many innocent children were killed by the shoddy-quality, collapsed schools that should have withstood the impact of shaking. When being aware that what we ultimately need is nothing but a democratic political system to really let people's voices have their place, 08 Charters were proposed and signed.

However, even peaceful expressions, more often than not, are unacceptable by the authority. Criticizer of shoddy schools got detained, charter signers were interrogated, and petitioners, unluckily, were penned up in madhouse. Political activist, Hu Jia, won the European Parliaments' Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought were still in jail. Internet speech were closely supervised, speech freedom of paper media were clamped, and bloggers were expelled out of heir blog hosts websites. What's left? Violence seems to be a doomed answer.

That's why in the “push-up incident”, over 10,000 people in Weng'an county directly attacked the party committee and government building when a girl was doubted to be raped and killed by boys with official background who escaped punishment.

Violent protest reached its second climax when Yangjia, a person who was said to be wronged by Shanghai police, killed 6 cops with 1 knife. His brutal deed, however, is debatably called a heroic action. And his sentence of death, on the other hand, is nevertheless thought to be a tragedy.

Olympics and Torch relay

Could Olympics dispel all the unpleasant? The Game itself has indeed reached the goal, but the torch relay, as a crucial part of the sport ceremony, preludes the Game with conflicts.

Spielberg's finger-point on Darfur issue kicked off the debate. It went further as in March 14 riot broke out in Tibet. While the western world sided with the unrest monks, patriotism triggered more Chinese to defend China's sovereignty over the land. Credit of western media bankrupted in Chinese people's mind, anti-CNN formed, and the debate turned white-out as the torch relay was spoiled in France in the name of defending human rights. A special coverage featured the entire story, and the comments after the post are as attractive as the entry itself.

Writers' pick: Citizen reporter killed—by who? and Pollution map of China released.

Hong Kong: Cyberactivism

In Hong Kong, citizens are more active to use social networking tools for campaigning. The Sexy Photogate marked the confrontation between netizen and police at the beginning of 2008. Before the Beijing Olympics, bloggers formed a blogtorch chain and passed the torch around the blogosphere. During the Legislative Council election, facebook network of friends fooled the election poll. Environmental campaigns in Ha Pak Nai and Lung Mei also spread through facebook and internet forum. No wonder the government proposed to introduce mandatory internet censorship at the end of 2008, and probably we can see more bananas flying around in the Legislative council in 2009.

Writers' pick: Save the Ha Pak Nai Wetland.

Japan: Culture, media and technology

Chris has written a Japan blogosphere year-end round up here.

Writers' pick: Missing Pieces in Tainted Rice Scandal and Rikimaru Toho, the first manga narrating cantastoria

Korea: Political crisis, North and South

Soon after conservative Lee Myung Bak became the president in South Korea, his policy, in particular education was under criticism. Students demonstrated against the raise in tuition fees. The discontent among the youth, later developed into a marathon candle night vigil against the importation of American beef, a new political generation is in formation. Apart from the youth, even Buddhist monks were angry at the new president.

The relation between North and South Korea is still tense. A woman crossed the border by accident resulted in death and spy scandal happened now and then. The missing of Kim Jong Il in public function of course would lead to a lot of speculation. However, it is a relief that North Korea is no longer a listed terrorist-sponsoring state and some Korean decided to launch anti-propaganda campaign in the North by spreading propaganda leaflet. Then suddenly North Korea announced closing the land border and cutting non-military phone links with South Korea. Even train service was suspended.

Writers' pick: A New Mobile Network and Chopsticks… Rather Complicated…

Macau: Article 23

In a city where an eyewitness report on bank run would be charged by police for “fabricating dangerous information”, the further introduction of national security law is really threatening.

Writers' pick: Say No to Article 23 and White Terror.

Taiwan: Political Changes and protests

Taiwan changed their President and ruling party in 2008 from Chen Shui Bian (DDP) to Ma Ying Jeou (KMT). The change is not only significant to Taiwan society, it is also a precious lesson for mainland Chinese. Dramatically, with a few months, the former president became the key figure in the country's biggest corruption case, while the new president reminded people of the phantom of police state in dealing with protest during the visit of a mainland China official Chen Yunling. Students demanded to revise the parade and assembly law, but the government decided to harvest wild strawberries, a peaceful student movement for human rights, a few hours after the International Human Rights Day.

Photo courtesy of judie.

Direct flight between China and Taiwan has begun in 2008 marking a new era of cross-strait relation. However, it seems that ordinary Taiwan people has less concern about economic interest, but more about food security, mainland China banning of Taiwan movie Cape No.7, human rights in Tibet, and Taiwan Baseball's performance at Beijing Olympics.

Writers' pick: Observations on Yahoo! Taiwan's search filter, The return of local cinema, not just cape no7, The flying saucer houses will be torn down, Racial commercials everywhere and No city for old aborigines

This article is collectively contributed by Bob Chen, David Reid, I-fan Lin, Hyejin Kim, Oiwan Lam, Lokman Tsui and Portnoy.

Macau: Say No to Article 23 and White Terror

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:58:57 +0000

Macau SAR government issued a draft bill enacting Article 23 of the Macau Basic Law in October. The Law is very sensitive and it would affect every citizen's freedom and rights. Now it is supposed to be the public consultation period, but it seems that the government has been giving pressure to independent social groups, organizations and universities to prevent them from having open discussion. However, in spite of all the pressure, activists urge to rally on 23 of Nov (this weekend) against the legislation.

Public forum canceled

Chong from inmediahk.net was supposed to attend a public forum organized by a group of Macau University student this weekend on 22 of November, however he got an email this morning saying that the forum has been canceled because they couldn't find a venue.

According to Chong's report at inmediahk.net:

這個活動原來是由一群熱心同學舉辦的，即『關你廿三事』活動籌備小組，但他們想有學生會的名義，辦起事來比較方便，所以把幾個學生團體找來，包括澳大學生會、澳門科技大學學生會、澳門高等校際學院同學會、澳門理工學院公共行政高等學校學生。可是，現在澳大學生臨時「縮沙」，令活動胎死腹中。

This activity is originally initiated by a group of students, a preparatory committee on “To you Article 23 Concern”. Since they want to organize it with under the student unions' umbrellas, they invited several student organizations to co-host, including: The Student Union of Macau University, The Student Union of Macau UST, The Alumni Organization of Macau Higher Education, students from the School of Public Administration at Macau Polytechnic University. Suddenly the SU of Macau University decided to withdraw from the organization team and the forum has to be canceled.

很難令人相信，取消的原因跟場地有任何關係。我後來從小道消息處得知，十一月二十日，澳大校方有人打電話給澳大學生會，要求它取消這個活動，若有不從，後果如何，我未能得知。而澳大學生會中人則害怕會遭受校方處分，昨夜臨時找了籌備小組的人開會，決定不搞了，而且還於當晚即時發公告取消。

It is hard to believe that the venue be the reason for canceling the event. Then sources told me that on 20 of Nov, the university contacted the student union demanding them to cancel it. However, he doesn't know what exactly will be the consequence if they rejected the school's demand. The students were intimidated by the university officials, they called up the preparatory committee last night to discuss about the issue and decided not to host the forum. A notice on the cancellation was put up immediately.

Below is a poster for the forum:

Protect University's autonomous space

Chong makes some suggestions to follow up the issue:

1. 澳大學生及老師應該要去質問澳大學生會，是否受到校方的壓力，才作出如此倉卒決定？亦該質問校方，是否在暗地裡壓制學生及學生團體的言論自由及活動自由！

2. 澳門公民團體也應該加入，向澳門政府質詢，是否政府有向校方施壓，禁止公開討論廿三條，並要求政府保證大學自主，以及澳門的言論自由！

3. 澳門公民身體力行，繼續公開討論廿三條立法的各種問題。

1. Macau university students and teachers should ask the student union if they had been pressured by the university officials for making such a sudden decision. They should also question the university for repressing students and students organizations' free speech and activities.

2. Civic groups from Macau should post questions to the government and check out if the government has been involved in giving pressure to the university for repressing the discussion on article 23. They need to demand the government to ensure the autonomous space in university and freedom of speech in Hong Kong.

3. Macau citizens should continue to discuss the problems of article 23 in the public.

He also points out that what he has encountered is not an isolated incident:

澳門的「國家安全」還未到，白色恐怖已到來！連公開討論的權利也遭壓制，這是個怎樣的社會？在此前，我也收到消息，澳門天主教教友協進會屬下的《澳門觀察報》曾於十五日辦了一個討論會，原來打算邀請香港的天主教正義和平委員會（簡稱正委）代表，大家份屬天主教，是很正常的選擇。可是，在討論會前幾天，正委突然收到訊息「不要來了」。究竟讓正委來澳出席區區一個論壇，有何大不了？實在不得而知，只是據聞，這是來自澳門天主教上層人士的意思，而澳門天主教高層也跟北京政府及特區政府很「要好」。

“National security” hasn't arrived at Macau yet, but we can already see the white terror! What kind of society it is to repress public discussion? Before this happened, I have heard that the publication “Macau Observe” under Catholic Lay Association of Macau planned to organize a discussion in Nov 15 and they had invited representative from the committee of justice and peace from the Catholic Church in Hong Kong. As both organizations belong to the same church, such meeting is considered very ordinary. However, a few days before the meeting, the Hong Kong counterpart received a message to ask them not to go to Macau. What's the big deal for letting JP for attending the Macau Catholic forum? Sources said that the instruction was delivered by the higher rank Catholic Church in Macau and that Macau Catholic Church's relation with Beijing and Macau SAR government has been very close.

What's the rush?

Bobo, also from inmediahk.net, wrote a citizen report in early November with some statistical information about the public knowledge of this bill:

澳門街坊總會日前向一千多名居民調查，只有六成受訪者知道政府推出《維護國家安全法》草案，對草案有所瞭解的受訪者不足五成。而建設澳門聯盟亦發現絕大多數澳門巿民對澳門基本法廿三條認識不足，調查結果顯示，對基本法23條的認識「幾少」、「好少」、「完全唔認識」合共 85.4%；「完全認識」、「好多」、「幾多」合共僅佔9.1%，這說明這草案需要更多民間的討論。

The neigborhood organization in Macau conducted a survey and collected more than 1000 questionnaires. The survey result shows that only 60% of the interviewees actually knows that the government has drafted the “National security” bill. Less than 50% of the interviewees knows about the content of the bill. Macau Union for the construction of Macau pointed out that most of the Macau citizens don't have enough knowledge about article 23. Their survey shows that 85.4% respondents has little to no knowledge of the law. And only 9.1% of the respondents have adequate to full understanding of the law. It shows that a lot more public discussion is needed.

Since Hong Kong government has decided to defer the enacting of Article 23 until there is public consensus, China briefing wondered why Macau has to go ahead of Hong Kong to implement the bill:

Given no signs of an epidemic terrorism or separatism wave sweeping Macau, one is left to wonder the urgency a security bill as intrusive as Article 23 is needed for. Then of course, gamblers are highly suspect people with a record of government overthrow and sabotage…

Rally on 23 of November!

A few independent voices can be found on the internet against the legislation and drafted bill. Funny sister gives a summary of the bill and concluded that:

總括黎講…佢廿三條立法之後就連言論自由都冇!我地就冇曬可以表達ga自由,連去遊行都唔可以亂講野!如果唔係又俾佢話我地呢d星豆市民反政府!!!!

In a nutshell… with the article 23 bill passed, we don't even have freedom of speech! We don't even enjoy freedom of expression, can't demonstrate and our slogans would be monitored! All these can be viewed as anti-government activities!

Tennedy posts two ads on his blog, one is urging Macau citizen to stand up against the legislation, the other one is about the rally on 23 of Nov:

人權、自由是人類生存的基本權利，
共產黨式的封閉主義已經沒落，
請各澳門朋友們發起大遊行，
要求澳門政府停止23條立法，
澳門人也是人，澳門人站起來，
齊來保障自己的人權!!!!!

讓國際傳媒知道，澳門市民是不支持這條惡法!!

Human rights and freedom is the basic rights of people,
The isolation practice of communist party is over,
Please organize rally, my Macau fellows,
Macau people are also human being, Macau people have to stand up,
Let's protect our human rights!

Let the international media knows about this, that Macau people don't support this evil law!

Netizen survey: more than 70% opposes legislation

While the Macau government said that 65% of the citizens supported the legislation, grhvonkqyk from cyberctm forum invites internet users to vote on the bill, and more than 74% (3pm 21 of Nov) has voted against the bill.

In the discussion thread, SIOCF pointed out that

如果這是一個真正開放ge國家我無所謂
但是我們所身處的是一個假開放國家假民主ge社會
事問聲如果我們不反對的話
可想而知,我們沒有未來可言

If this is a real open country, I am ok with it
But we are in a fake open and fake democratic society,
If I don't oppose,
I won't have a future.

Tang Nan zeng said that:

我认为，目前为某条立法的时机未到，实现普选之后再立未迟。

In my opinion, this is not the time for legislation, let's wait until we have universal suffrage.

1 shot 2 kills worried about the execution of the law:

23條立法唔係問題
點樣去執法先係問題…
甚麼煽動、顛覆、國家機密
好似得你講冇我講~你話係就係
分分鐘自己衰乜都唔就話要拉要鎖

係咁o既環境之下~你叫人點會唔憂慮
不過澳門d權貴、擦鞋仔話要立
我o地d小蟻民邊有討價能力~
要立就立~結果都係一樣
o係度扮晒o野假咨詢o米仲核突~

Article 23 is not a problem.
The problem lies with exercise of the law.
What is sedition, subversion and national secret?
It relies on your definition, not mine.
People may get arrested without knowing what exactly they have done.
Under such situation, how can people not worried?
However, the powerful and the ass-wiping guys in Macau keep saying that legislation is necessary.
How can ant-like citizen have a say?
Just do it, the result will be the same.
Now the fake consultation really sucks.

Hong Kong Journalists Association's statement

The Hong Kong Journalists Association has made a public statement on the Macau article 23:

To ensure adequate and continued freedom of expression and freedom of the press as well as continued protection of Macau correspondents of Hong Kong’s news media and Hong Kong reporters who may go to Macau for reporting purposes, it is our view that some revisions are necessary to the draft newly-released for public consultation by the Macau Government. For instance we believe there is a need to be more specific in Article 6 of the draft (theft of state secrets) by adding “national and public interest” as “reasonable excuse” or “reasonable immunity” to ensure a proper balance between the needs of national security and freedom of expression as well as freedom of the press.

Macau: Netizen charged for reporting on Bank Run

Oiwan Lam — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:59:41 +0000

On September 24, there was a bank run in the Wing Hang Bank in Macau as the customers believed that the bank was caught in the sub-prime related financial crisis.

A netizen, city hermit, later known to be a school teacher, passed through a bank branch at Nova Aterro da Areia Preta and wrote down what he witnessed in a local forum, with his personal reflections on the financial crisis, when he was back home. However, according to Macao Daily's report, the netizen was summoned in October 8 and charged with two criminal offenses in “fabricating dangerous information” (濫用虛構危險訊號）and “sedition of collective violation” (煽動集體違令). The Ministerio Publico da Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (the public ministry of the special regional administration of Macau) found there was lack of evidence in the two charges and handed the case back to the police for future investigation.

On the evening of October 8, city hermit reports in the forum that he was charged by the bank for criminal libel.

So what exactly has city hermit said? Let's look at the post at cyberctm:

永亨銀行擠提
今晚,永亨銀行擠提,黑沙環支行擠滿提款人群,近十名警察在場維持秩序,銀行職員派籌明天取款,約有三百人排隊.
永亨銀行近年風頭很勁,股票從原來的十幾二十元一度升到七十多元.
永亨銀行也是本澳天主教學校發薪水的銀行(鄙人不幸也是其中一員),若該行出事,影響甚巨!
心情很壞!不知如何是好.
估計又是買了太多次按資產所致.
銀行方面說是謠言,希望是吧.
多年來省吃儉用,到頭來一場空,還不如做個月光族,活得瀟灑.
唉,人民是多麼脆弱啊!我們象螞蟻般一點點積蓄的可憐的財產,大鰐們輕易就給剝奪掉!
唉,希望不是真的啦!

Bank Run in Wing Hang Bank
Tonight, there was a bank run in the Wing Hang Bank, in the branch at Nova Aterro da Areia Preta. A crowd of bank customers tried to withdraw money from the bank. Around 10 policemen were on the spot to keep the order. The bank staff gave out appointment tickets for the customers. There were around 300 of them lining up for the tickets.
Wing Hang Bank has had a very high profile in recent year. Their stock rose from 10 - 20 dollars to 70 dollars.
Wing Hang is also handling salaries for all Catholic schools in Macau (unfortunately I am one of the staff members). If something happens to this bank, the impact would be huge.
I feel really bad and don't know what to do.
Probably the bank run is related to the sub-prime crisis.
The bank said it is a rumor, let's hope so.
People save their deposits through hard work and by repressing their consumption, now it is like an empty dream. It is better to spend all the money and live lightly.
Oh, people are so fragile, we store our savings like ants, while the crocodiles grab the money away so easily.
Oh, I hope all these are not real!

City hermit keeps updating his status at cyberctm and receives more than 700 comments, many showing their support.

User 1loveU1314 said

港澳已經越來越CCTV化, 吾好下下用老米個套資訊新聞自由, 呢度吾WORK架,

鋤你就一個莫須有, 已經搞掂你

Both Hong Kong and Macau are becoming more and more CCTV, now the slogan of freedom of press doesn't work any more. They don't even need to give you a reason for “handling” you.

User 八哥仔 said

咁好得人怕喎，其實有物係講得呀???!!!
好多發言都係自己的分析，自己有感而發的……真係無奈

This is really frightening, what can we talk about then??!!!!
When we talk, we tend to add our own analysis and our own feeling… so helpless.

User 666 commented that:

上面要和諧, 要[教訓]一下D刁民, 但又冇野入, 咪的人上去煩下囉..

下面就明知係多鳩餘, 咪例行問下, 放人囉…

情況將會係咁, 冇乜野需要擔心

People from the upper rank want to punish disobedient citizens, but they don't have any concrete charges, so they decide to create trouble and waste your time…
People from the lower ranks need to fulfill their duty, so they just do their job, ask you questions and let you go.
The situation will go on like this, no need to worry about it.

User cheese lobster was worried about user privacy issue:

藉此睇黎澳門已經無曬言論自由，白色恐怖，另外真係無私隱，cXm交個名俾司警，即係網路世界與現實世界掛勾，講左=做左，係網上呻窮話想去打劫，可能會被控告入埋罪坐埋監，依家真係諗野都唔俾，唉……

We don't have anymore freedom of speech in Macau, there is only white terror. We also don't have privacy, cXm gave the user information to the police, which means the virtual world and the real world are directly connected, what has been said = to what has been done. On the internet, if you said you are poor and want to rob a bank, probably you would get charged and put into jail. We have been banned from the mere act of thinking…

User udus:

呢d分明喺屍警濫用公權,
不過澳門d公務員喺為為金權服務嘅,
唔係為巿民服務嘅,
發生d咁嘅事最無辜嘅係d無權勢嘅巿,
又浪費時間又要背負精神壓力,
唔該d有牌爛仔做野有d分寸啦.

It is obvious that the police has abused their power.
In Macau, most civil servants are serving for power and money, not for citizens.
This kind of incident would only affect ordinary people they have to waste their time and take up the pressure. i hope the police gang can be more reasonable in their actions.

Since the mainstream reports failed to report the netizen side of the story, a new website, The Truth is out Here, has been created to criticize mainstream reports and to monitor freedom of speech and expression in Macau:

澳門的真相是一個針對澳門傳媒，揭露他們惡行的檔案式網站；使其所作所為被記錄下來讓世人知道。澳門的真相不是新聞網站亦不是雜誌式或即時報料網站。

但當有相關的重大事件發生時，澳門的真相亦不排除按情況擔當即時資訊平台。

為保持網站的可信性及客觀性，同時亦避免網站捲入爭議，一般情況下，網站不主張登出未經證實的事件或傳聞。如有需要登出未經正實的資料，網站亦會明確註明。

我們的目的，是要抗衡澳門某些傳媒多年來誤導公眾的現象。

The Truth is Out There aims to monitor the mainstream media in Macau. It is not a news website nor a web magazine but an archive for documenting and commenting on biased reports.

If there is major incident, the website can also serve as a platform for information flow.

In order to keep the website's credibility and objectivity, we would try to stay away from debate and will not post un-confirmed information or rumors. If there is un-confirmed information, there will be a footnote.

Our objective is to counter mainstream media's misleading and bias reports.

On the city hermit case, mainstream reports on October 10 took it as a fact that the “city hermit” had posted “invalid speech”. The Truth is Out Here pointed out that:

但文章中完全沒有提及或避開一個核心重點：”城市隱者”在討論區發出有關消息之前，擠提已出現；而不是”城市隱者”發貼後擠提才被引發。

The articles have omitted an essential point: before “city hermit” posted the information on the web, the bank run had already happened. “City hermit”'s post did not trigger the bank run.

On October 11, a Macau Daily article said that a netizen accused “city hermit” for spreading rumors. The Truth is Out Here pointed out that:

真相是，當時網上言論，是一面倒支持”城市隱者”，認為”城市隱者”在網上反映擠提現場的實況不應構成任何罪行。而持相反意見者在眾多網友中只佔三、幾個。而澳門日報就選擇性地引用了”少數意見”來評擊”城市隱者” “散佈別有用心的謠言”。而其他意見隻字不提。

The truth is, on the internet most of the netizens supported “city hermit” and said the report and comment on the bank run should not be regarded as a crime. There are only very few oppositional voices and the Macau Daily has selectively chosen these minority voices to attack “city hermit” for “spreading rumor with hidden intention” while omitting all other opinions.

According to city hermit, he is now consulting a lawyer to defend him in the case and will consider suing the bank in return. Further updates will be posted in the comment.

Macau: The melamine crisis and change in habits

Paula Góes — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:14:07 +0000

Leocardo [pt] describes how the melamine crisis has changed some of the consumer habits in Macau. He inquired the owner of the family owned supermarket next to his home if she had noticed any differences. “She told she had, and some Portuguese products had registered a vertiginous rise in sales… Talking about prices, a package of Compal passion fruit juice cost 9.90 patacas before the “crisis”, and now costs 13.50. It is very natural.”

Macau: Olympic winners parade

Paula Góes — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:22:31 +0000

Leocardo [pt] reports that the 63 Chinese medal winners have arrived today in Macau, part of a tour of China that, accorging to the blogger, made they look like “monkeys in a circus”: “Couldn't they have rested a few more days before this enormous embarrassment on the news across regional and foreign press? Is this the right way to demonstrate the unity and love for the SAR?”

Macau: Crime rates on the rise

Paula Góes — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:45:55 +0000

Leocardo [pt] remarks that crime rates in on the rise in Macao: “In general, crime has increased more than 11% this year compared with the same period last year. We are exposed to professional thieves, many of them from mainland China, which makes it difficult to trace the problem. Authorities feel they are powerless, they are more concerned with drugs traffic (a war they are losing), organized crime (increasingly insignificant) or these new “evils”, online crimes (which one?), or human trafficking (mummy why did they take dad?).”

Macau: Wave of solidarity with Sichuan, China

Paula Góes — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:33:58 +0000

Laocardo [pt] reports that 13 tonnes of supplies offered by the Red Cross of Macau were donated today to the relief of Sichuan victims, in China. The blogger reminds readers to be generous but cautious “Make sure that donation collectors are well identified, because - and unfortunately it is normal to happen in these situations - some people take advantage of benefactors for personal profit”.