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Japan: To Japanese women, WaiWai was sexual harassment

Chris Salzberg · 17:13, August 18th, 2008 · East Asia

lingua → es · it

Since it exploded on the Japanese Internet less than two months ago, the scandal at Mainichi surrounding the newspaper's former weekly English-language column “WaiWai” has taken on epic proportions in the Japanese media industry. Published for many years on the English version of their website (Mainichi Daily News), WaiWai featured some of the most scandalous (and largely fabricated) articles from Japan's weekly tabloids, translated to English with added “embellishments” by Australian editor Ryann Connell. Over the years WaiWai built up a faithful following of readers from across the world, all the while apparently little known among ordinary Japanese, largely for the reason that WaiWai did not appear in the Japanese version of the newspaper.

Old WaiWai articles unearthed and posted at 2ch (original thread)

This situation changed starting in April of this year, when WaiWai crossed the language barrier (apparently via a post by blogger mozu [ja]) and was picked up on 2ch [Japan's largest bulletin board], where it sparked a huge reaction, among other things inspiring the creation of two sites [ja] dedicated to documenting its track record. Although Mainichi issued an official apology on June 25th — responding to sentiment among many in Japan that WaiWai was degrading the country's image abroad — the company later announced that it would sue people on 2ch, adding fuel to the flames. More recently, it was discovered that the WaiWai history stretches back further than the 9 years claimed by Mainichi, adding further insult to injury among Mainichi's critics. Meanwhile, the range of targets has recently broadened with Japan Times now also under fire [ja] for its publication of “Tokyo Confidential“, a column in much the same vein as WaiWai.

While much has been written about the scandal of WaiWai and its deeper implications, the duration and intensity of attacks on one of Japan's largest national newspapers has surprised almost everybody. The third part (see also parts one [ja] and two [ja]) in a series of blog entries by ENOTECH consulting CEO and blogger Michi Kaifu (海部美知), posted at her blog Tech Mom from Silicon Valley on August 13th, provides a possible hint at what it is that is driving the longevity of the anti-WaiWai campaign.

In the post, titled “Acknowledgment that the problems at Mainichi are a problem of sexual harassment” [毎日新聞問題は「セクハラ問題」であるとの認識], she writes:

毎日新聞内で「これほど事件が長引くのは、陰で糸を引いている黒幕がいるからでは」との陰謀説がささやかれている、というネット記事もあるようだが、そう、いると私は思う。誰かというと、「主婦」である。

The [WaiWai] incident has dragged on so long at this point that within Mainichi Newspaper — and in articles on the Internet as well — there is a conspiracy theory going around which [attributes the incident to] political fixers pulling the strings behind the scenes. Well, I agree, [there are political fixers]. But who are they, you ask? They are [Japan's] housewives.

一連の変態記事にはいろいろあるが、一番代表的なものとしてよく挙げられるのが、「母親と息子」の話である。「おまえのかーちゃん、でべそ」という昭和古典の言いまわしがあるが、英語で「おまえのかーちゃん」をけなす言葉というのは、「でべそ」をはるかに上回るインパクトをもつ、最も下品で相手の怒りを誘うけんか用語である。「日本の母親というのは、すべからくこのようにアホで淫乱である」かのごとく、英語で書かれて世界に発信されては、けんかを売られたのと同じ。これが、個人のブログやアダルトサイトならまだ無視のしようがあるが、日本でかつては「三大紙」と言われた新聞。それも、これ一回ではない。他にも、いっぱいいっぱい、気持ちの悪い記事が並んでいる。おかあさんたちが、怒らないわけはない。

There are various different things in the series of perverted [hentai] articles, but of all the subjects featured often [in WaiWai], the one that best characterizes the series is the theme of “mother and son”. There is a saying from Japanese classics of the Showa era, “Your mother is an outie [belly button]”, but in English the words used to put down “your mother” have a far greater impact than “outie” — they're the most vulgar terms of all, fighting words that arouse anger in the person you are speaking to. When you write something to the effect of “all Japanese housewives are stupid sluts like this”, and then deliver this [message] to the whole world, you are basically asking for a fight. In the case of a personal blog or adult [porn] site, you can at least just ignore [the content], but this is a newspaper that at one time was called one of the “three large newspapers” in Japan. And on top of that, this did not just happen one time. Tons and tons of these sickening articles have piled up. There's no way that mothers would not get furious about this.

念のためここで情報を開示しておくと、私自身も、息子をもつ日本人の母親である。この問題に対して、怒っている男性は、おもに「（実際にはありもしない）日本の恥を英語で撒き散らした」ことがポイントだと思うが、女性の場合、これに「記事の中身そのもに対し、吐き気がするほどの生理的嫌悪感と、自分たちを直接侮辱されたような怒り」を覚えるという点が上乗せされるだろう。それは、私も同じである。

In the interest of disclosing all information, I should mention here that I myself am a Japanese mother with a son of my own. The men who are angry about this problem tend to focus on the point that “embarrassing (and in reality completely untrue) information about Japan was spread to the whole world in English”. In the case of women, however, this is topped off by feelings of “sickening gut-wrenching disgust at the contents of the articles, and an anger sparked by the sense of having been directly insulted”. I myself feel exactly this way.

まとめサイトによると、事件の初期の頃、火種となった問題記事に対して、不快であるとして毎日に抗議のメールを送ったのは女性であった。女性にとってはきわめて不快な内容の記事なのだから、たとえ直接相手に触ったり脅したりしていなくても、職場に女性のヌードポスターを貼ったらセクハラ、というのと同じレベルのセクハラ行為なのだ。毎日はこれを無視したわけだが、それは女性から見れば「まー、いーじゃないの、○○チャン、こんなことぐらいで騒ぐと、お嫁にいけなくなるよー。わはは。」などとのたまう「セクハラに無頓着なオジサン」という構図に見える。

According to the Matome site [site collecting information about the WaiWai scandal], it was women who first sent mails to Mainichi about the articles that later become the source of all the recent problems, protesting that these articles were distasteful. Even though they had not actually been touched or threatened, the contents of these articles were extremely revolting to women, and so they treated them in the same way as they would treat someone hanging a poster of a nude woman [on the wall] of their workplace — as sexual harassment. Mainichi ignored this, and this is why the company came off looking to these women as a bunch of “old men indifferent to sexual harassment”, smugly saying to them: “Well now, deary, it's no big deal is it? Make such a fuss about this and you won't make a good bride, will you? Haha.”

抗議行動が盛り上がったのは、２ちゃんねるの中でも「既婚女性板」*1というものらしい。また、今回、毎日の公表した自己調査の結果が間違っていた、という 11年前の新聞記事という物証を図書館のマイクロフィルムから探し出してきたのも、この板の住人だそうで、すなわち「主婦」だろう。*2 *3 毎日新聞に広告を掲載している、数多くの日用品・食品・自動車・保険・携帯電話・書籍・・・などなどの会社の大事なお客様であり、家庭の財布の紐をにぎっている「主婦」なのである。

On 2ch as well, the place where the protests apparently really picked up steam was on the “married women [bulletin board]” [既婚女性板] [*1]. The ones who dug up the evidence that results announced in Mainichi's internal investigation were incorrect — newspaper articles from 11 years ago out of library microfilm collections — were apparently also from the same bulletin board, i.e. they were probably housewives. [*2] [*3] These same “housewives” hold the strings to the household wallet, and are extremely valued as customers of companies selling countless different products — from convenience goods, to food products, to automobiles, to insurance, mobile phones, books … — commodities whose advertisements appear on the pages of Mainichi newspaper.

毎日の「君臨派」の頭の中では、広告スポンサー企業に電凸している人々は、「ニートのキモヲタ男」のイメージじゃないかという気がするのだが、実はその実態は「奥様方」なんじゃないだろうか。少なくとも、相当の数の「女性」「お母さん」たちが本気で怒っていて、本当にダメージのある行動をしているのはこの方たちなんじゃないか、と私には思える。*4

My feeling is that in the heads of the people who “run the show” at Mainichi, there is an image of “Kimo-Ota NEET guys” [creepy otaku NEET guys] as being the ones who are calling up the advertising companies and questioning their actions. In actual fact, though, the truth would seem to be that it is these housewives [who are doing this]. At the very least, seems to me that it is the actions of these women and mothers, a whole lot of whom are really pissed off, that can cause some real damage.

そして、毎日新聞の「お詫び」文面を読む限り、「日本の恥を・・・」という点については一応言及して謝っているけれど、世のお母さんや女性たちに対し、「きわめて恥ずべきセクハラ行為を行った」という認識をもって、それを真摯に詫びているようには読めない。現在に至るまでの経緯を見ても、もっぱら「ネット上の『祭り』に対する対応」ばかりを気にして、そもそもの問題は「+自分の会社の男尊女卑的セクハラ意識・体制から発したものである+」というコトの本質を全く反省していないように見える。相変わらず、「英語で書いたのと、ちょっと下品だったのは悪かったけどねー。まー、ジョークだからさ、大目にみてや。わはは。」と言っているように聞こえる。だから、彼女たちの怒りは収まらない。

Mainichi newspaper makes a point in the “apology” they issued of mentioning how they “[brought] shame upon Japan…”, and apologize [for this], but the text does not read like a sincere apology to the mothers and women of society acknowledging that [the newspaper] “committed acts of sexual harassment for which they should be extremely ashamed”. Looking at the sequence of events up to the present time, [Mainichi] looks like it's worrying only about “responding to the ‘matsuri' [literally “festival”(祭り), see note] on the Internet”, without any reflection at all on the core issue: the fact that “this problem is something which originated in your very own company, from a consciousness and system of sexual harassment through which males dominate over women.” It comes off instead as something like: “Well, it was bad that they were written in English, and that they were kind of vulgar. But hey, it was a joke, so just give us a break!” This is why the women's wrath has gone so far.
[Note: ‘matsuri' (”festival”) is a term used in this context to describe attacks against Mainichi coordinated through e.g. online bulletin boards.]

この件は「ネットと旧メディア」構図でもあると同時に、伝統的な「セクハラ問題」でもあると思う。一昨日書いたように、普通の企業では、自社で「セクハラ問題」が起きたら、どれほどメディアに叩かれるかを骨身にしみて知っている。その意味でも、伝統的な「メディア・リスク」問題でもある。確かに、ネットがなければここまで暴かれることはなかっただろうし、過去のメディア・リスクとは対応も違わなければならない。しかし普通の企業も、既存メディアだけでなく、「ねらー」による「祭り」のリスクとも日々戦っている。ソニーが「ヤラセブログ」でひどい目にあったのは記憶に新しい。置かれた環境は、毎日だけが特別ではない。繰り返すが、問題の根本は、「普通の企業としての常識」というところにある、と思うのだ。

While this issue has the pattern of “Net versus Old Media”, it also seems to me a case of a classic “sexual harassment problem”. As I wrote the day before yesterday, most ordinary companies are keenly aware of the flak they will get from the media if a “sexual harassment problem” crops up. In this sense as well, there is also the classic problem of “media risk”. Certainly if there was no Internet, this issue would not have been exposed to the degree that it has been, and [this problem] must be handled in a way that is different from the way in which media risk was dealt with in the past. However, ordinary companies are fighting every day not only with the mass media, but also with the risk of ‘matsuri' by 2-channelers. It is not so long ago that Sony was in hot water over its “fake blog” [see note]. The environment that Mainichi finds itself in is not unique to Mainichi. I will state it again: I believe that the root of the problem comes down to the “common sense of ordinary corporations”.
[Note: more about Sony's fake blog.]

この件で震え上がっている他の既存メディアの方々に、私から一つアドバイスできることがあるとしたら、「もっと女性を幹部に登用しなさい」、あるいは少なくとも「社内で女性の意見に耳を傾けなさい」ということだろう。（毎日の「君臨派」の皆様から見ると、ブロガーである私は「あの連中」の一人であり、かついまや敵となった主婦の一人でもあるから、聞いてもらえないだろうけれど。）他にもたくさんある教訓の一つ、として。

If I can offer one piece of advice to people in other media [companies] who are freaking out over this [WaiWai] incident, it would be to “appoint more women to management”, or at least to “listen to the views of women in your company”. (For all of those who “run the show” at Mainichi, I myself am a blogger and just one of “that crowd”, and moreover I am now also one of those “housewives” that have become their enemies as well, so in any case I doubt they will listen to me anyway.) Take this as just one of many other lessons to be learned.

Notes:

*1：略称「鬼女」板。

*1 : Abbreviated as the “demoness” [”kijo”/鬼女] board. [This is a play on words. The character 鬼 means “demon”, but has the same sound as the 既 (ki) in 既婚 (kikon, “married”).]

*2：もちろん、匿名なので主婦を騙っているだけかもしれないが。

*2 : Of course, they are anonymous, so it could be that they were just pretending to be housewives.

*3：別のソースでは「毒女」＝独身女性の板、との情報もあり。

*3 : There are also reports of a different source, the bulletin board of single women [独身女性の板] or “poison women” [”dokujo”/毒女]. [This is another play on words. The character 毒 means “poison”, but has the same sound as the 独 (doku) in 独身 (dokushin, “single”).]

*4：まとめWikiでは、電凸実行者の性別はわからないので、この点は私の推測である。

*4 : The gender of the people calling up companies is not included at the Matome Wiki, so this is just my own guess.

For those who can read Japanese and are looking for more background on the WaiWai affair, be sure to check out the two-part series of blog posts by former Mainichi journalist Toshinao Sasaki posted at CNET Japan: part 1 [ja] and part 2 [ja].

Update: There's an earlier blog entry on this topic at Fusou Note which I missed in writing this post, highly recommended.

Thanks to Taku Nakajima for the suggestion to translate this article.

11 comments · read »

Turkey: Bloggers Banning Themselves?

Deborah Ann Dilley · 16:18, August 18th, 2008 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → mk · it

If you are a long-time follower of the Turkish blogosphere you will have undoubtedly heard about the Turkish ban on Wordpress….and the periodic bans on YouTube, and on the social-networking widget site Slide, oh..and now on Dailymotion as well. I think that is all.. Isn't it? It is hard to keep track now-a-days and frustrating. Turkish bloggers feel the same way too, and are protesting the constant banning of sites by voluntarily banning their own.

So how are Turkish bloggers protesting these periodic bans on the internet? By putting the following up on their website: Bu siteye erişim kendi kararıyla engellenmiştir which translates roughly into “This site is blocked by [the author's] own choice”. blocked site
This protest is to last until Wednesday August 20th. And of course, this isn't an issue that many are writing about, just participating. The anafikir blog [tr] has a separate page where you can find the code to convert your website to the “blocked” page and a running list of sites that are participating. Several Turkish media sites are covering the protests and providing links to forum groups and Facebook sites. Techcrunch gives a history of the block as they have observed it:

The problem has gotten so bad that Turkish blogs are now banning themselves in protest. The fake bans started with Firat Yildiz, who put this message up on his blog[…]Then another Turkish blogger, Selim Yoruk, created this page with a piece of code that lets any blogger easily add the same message to his homepage. Nearly 200 Turkish blogs have (temporarily) shut themselves down in this manner. The point is to show Turkish Web surfers what the Internet would look like if the censorship continues unabated.

Turkish blog Metroblogging:Istanbul is supporting the ban by advertising it and encouraging dialog:

After the ban of many a video streaming websites by the Turkish government, bloggers decided to take the matter into their own hands by protesting the Chinese style censorship going on. We were getting used to the void left by YouTube when suddenly, Dailymotion, another video streaming website got banned also. […] Show us your support by leaving a comment and having a whinge with us about the whole situation :)

It is too early to predict if the protest will have any effect, however, expat blogger located in Turkey, SortiPreneur had the following to say about the situation:

The sites being shut down is a problem, and I am glad there's a voice being raised in protest. However, I think the Turkish internet community needs to address the issue with more mature moves in parallel.

The sites are shut down not as censorship, but as a result of court decisions. This is not dissimilar to Napster being shut down in the U.S. And, contrary to some of the commentary on blogs, not all bans have to do with insults to Ataturk (although a few of the bans are for those insults, due to the fact that it's illegal to insult Ataturk in Turkey) , but are a result of civil libel suits by private individuals. In other words, the site bans are in accordance with the legal system here. BTW, I am not saying I agree with any of the particular laws, but I don't categorically have a problem with a system where laws are being enforced.

The primary problem I see is the lack of understanding Turkish courts have about the internet, and especially about user-generated content. It seems to be that there needs to be specialized courts designated as venues for online content related prosecution.

Having commented on the problem, let me point out the role (or lack thereof) of Turkish NGOs that have the responsibility to lobby on behalf of the internet industry.

Is this the way to concretely address censorship in Turkey? Or are there other possibilities as SortiPreneur suggests? We invite you to weigh on this protest.

6 comments · read »

Arabeyes: Third World War in the Making?

Amira Al Hussaini · 15:11 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → bn · fr · zht · zhs

See Global Voices special coverage page on the South Ossetia crisis.

Bloggers in the Middle East are closely following the developments in Georgia, with some saying it could usher in World War Three. Here's a quick review of what bloggers in Yemen and Jordan are writing.

From Yemen, Omar Barsawad says a Third World War is probable - almost a century after the first. He explains:

Will NATO push on with its expansion? That would be reckless and extremely dangerous. As in both the first and second World Wars, accidentally - ‘one thing leads to another' until it becomes too late to stop events. The First World War happened, accidentally, mainly because one part of Europe wanted to be the dominant power there; the Second One, planned, was for the same reasons, but Hitler too - wanted to settle old scores and expand. And both World Wars, in one way or the other - were about power and dominating resources; mainly oil.

“Hasn't Europe learnt enough from their history of the last Century?” asks Barsawad. His other questions are:

Hasn't enough suffering, destruction and horrors happened there for them to learn to live with and accommodate each other, rather than one part wanting to expand and dominate? NATO continuously preaches that every country should respect each others borders, and yet it is aggressively expanding; what kind of message does that send? If Russia or China act in the same way - extending and spreading their arms and missiles, would NATO quietly and passively accept that?

Barsawad concludes:

Rubbing Russia's nose more and more and pushing it further and further could accidentally lead to the unimaginable: the Third World War. Any body ready for that? Nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction which both sides posses have so far been deterrents, but for how long?

Meanwhile, “Where's Georgia?” asks Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah after discovering that is has been wiped off the map - Google Map, that is.

When you’re my age and you read about wars and conflict in history books, everything always seems so formulaic and perhaps even a bit ancient. So I was surprised to see today, something that speaks a little more to my generation. Apparently, the Russian-invaded country Georgia that has been making headlines this month, has been wiped off the map of the world. Google maps that is.

Georgia on Google Maps

Tarawnah then explains the reason why Georgia doesn't appear on the map:

With infrastructure being the first target of most conflicts, the search engine giant, Google, doesn’t want to be seen as helping either side with its mapping technology. The company has since removed all the details normally seen on Google maps of a country, that include roads, towns and cities in Georgia, as well as from the maps of neighboring countries Azerbaijan and Armenia

Fellow blogger Hareega, also from Jordan, uses the crisis as an opportunity to poke fun of US President George Bush, calling his geographical knowledge into question:

The war between Russia and Georgia has got ugly. When President Bush heard about Georgia being under heavy fire, he asked the citizens of Atlanta to hold on and keep hosting the Olympics the best they could.

7 comments · read »

Jamaica: Woman Power!

Janine Mendes-Franco · 14:22 · Americas

lingua → fr · es

“Shelly-Ann Fraser” - Photo by Lim CK. Visit Lim's photostream.
Jamaica has done it again! If there was any doubt after Usain Bolt's 100m Gold Medal that this Caribbean nation is a powerhouse of Track and Field, the female Jamaican sprinters made sure to underscore the point by placing first (Shelly-Ann Fraser) second (Kerron Stewart) and…second (Sherone Simpson) in the final of the Women's 100m in Beijing.

The timing could not have been better. Sure, the stunning display came on the heels of Usain Bolt's comfortable trot to glory, but it also coincided with the celebration of the birthday of the island's first national hero, Marcus Garvey.

In keeping with the celebratory spirit, Hello World posts photos from the island's Independence Parade, focusing on a float called The Olympic Dream:

It was probably the most appropriate float in the parade given Jamaica's performance in the 100m sprints thus far, 2 golds, 2 silvers and lots of records broken/created. We have nothing on China or Phelps' winnings but as a small nation we have done pretty well for our self.

Jamaican bloggers would not argue with that. Can a Jamaican Take Cali? says:

That girl, that girl Shelly-Ann…I love the sheer joy that she showed after winning the 100m, I could not stop chuckling. I love the exuberance of our winners, now the haters are coming out of the woodwork saying they lack class because of the celebrations - STUFF IT! I remember Carl Lewis sticking his hand in the air every time he passed his competitors and thought he had the win! Rahtid, I love the braces just gleaming in all the pictures and love how happy both Fraser and Bolt were in their interviews.

He also feels vindicated that Jamaica “is finally getting its props in sprinting. Is ages now we thought we had some of the best sprinters and yet mysteriously the big countries with the extra cash and resources were always pulling things out.” Cali goes on to quote ESPN commentators “responding with outrage to an American commenter suggesting that for Jamaicans to now be winning they must be doping”:

The first clean Olympics since the Cold War and now JAMAICA has finally been given a chance to shine.

The blogger also makes a point of saying he is “damn tired of this move”:

When a Jamaican running for Canada, Britain or America wins they are listed as the American champ, if they pop positive for anything they suddenly become “JAMAICAN BORN sprinter”…if you own them as champs own them as cheats, because we certainly do not shy away from our people!

Then came the controversy, with the Americans filing a protest for a perceived false start. The protest was later rejected; the official results stood. But the bitter taste left in Jamaicans' mouths did not end there, thanks to the “Russia is not Jamaica” comment by The New Yorker's Michael Specter in analyzing the Georgia/South Ossetia crisis. Abeng News Magazine has this to say:

Some friends and colleagues were insulted by the Jamaican reference in the bashing of Bush on his ineptitude in dealing with Russia's incursion into Georgia. It doesn't make sense to take these insults personally anymore because they're handed out across the board by the US and its journalists. It's just as - and possibly even more - insulting to the Russians to suggest that they can now be treated as bigger children than Jamaica.

“Starting 100m Women's” - Photo by Lim CK. Visit Lim's photostream.
Trinidadian blogger Caribbean Lionesse thinks the best thing to do is just forget the controversy and savour the moment:

Can we enjoy that it was a Caribbean 1-2 in the men's 100m and then the Jamaican ladies gave us the 1-2-3 in the women's event? And that little Shelly-Ann Fraser, the Olympic champion is just as cute as a button? Her exuberant reaction was so adorable! Me personally, I'm ecstatic. As a Caribbean woman I am so very thrilled at our ascendancy, at these little rocks just showing the world the kind of heart and determination and talent we have.

Other Caribbean bloggers seemed to agree with that sentiment, as congratulations poured in for Jamaica once again. Barbadian Pull! Push! says:

Jamaicans all over the world must be going crazy this weekend and rightly so!

…while Grenada's Blah Bloh Blog regards the Jamaican win as a triumph for the Caribbean:

Our athletes doing us proud! Yes - they is ours. All ah we claiming all ah dem!

She also hopes that the rest of the region “will join Grenada in supporting Randy Lewis’s quest for gold in the triple jump. Lewis is the current World Champion and “they” say he is expected to give Grenada it’s first ever Olympic medal *prays* Come on Randy!”

Abeni from St. Vincent and the Grenadines was rendered “pretty much speechless after watching the Jamaican trio demolish the 100 metres final”:

Something tells me the awe inspiring moments are not yet over.

Caribbean Beat Blog adds:

For all the cliches about laid back, slow-moving West Indians, it's a Jamaican man and Jamaican woman who have managed to outrun the best and fastest in the world to claim the titles as the fastest man and woman alive. Jamaican athletes have made history this weekend.

They certainly have. Jamaica has caused unparalleled excitement in the Caribbean, inspiring Prime Ministerial speeches, processions and now, poetry:

We cannot forget Lightning striking for the first time. But wait. Wha' me a see?
Jamaican girls run and win one, two, three.

We wanted to make history and that we did for true.
When you look at the results you see we get one, two, two!
We see a tie for second, so we get one gold and two silver.
First time this happen? Yes, man, first time ever.

We want the anthem played three times.
We want to bawl and shed tears.
When the Jamaican flag rises up.
We want to see it fly for years.

2 comments · read »

China: Great pity for Liu's Achilles tendon

Bob Chen · 05:08, August 18th, 2008 · East Asia

lingua → fr · mg · es

The national hero, world champion of the 110-metre hurdles in Athens Olympics, Liu Xiang, quitted the game dramatically this morning due to his inflamed tendon.

BEIJING (AP) — Defending Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China pulled out of the 110-meter hurdles Monday, walking away from the blocks after coming up lame during a false start.

Before the game was going to start, in blows of exclamations, Liu attempted to adjust himself by running over past 2 hurdles. But soon he stopped, bending his brows painfully. After another racer’s fall start and as the game’s going to start again, Liu quitted. The stadium burst into a sea of shock, regret and sorrow, then into silence.

Actually, the ominous sign has been spotted yesterday. Sun Haiping, Liuxiang’s coach, revealed that Liu’s heel was aching during the training on 16th. However, though Liu’s injury was confirmed, most Chinese tried to believe it’s simply a smoke bomb.

In Fanfou.com, the Chinese twitter, sea of comments emerged soon after Liu left his lane with a painful expression.

1-lin 11:56

这次奥运会没有什么比刘翔更让我心痛

Nothing in the 2008 Games could sting me more seriously than the pulling-out of Liu Xiang

阡陌 11:58

亿万人的心，被刘翔的退赛掏空了，没有刘翔的奥运会遗憾吗？没有刘翔的鸟巢会寂寞吗？

The hearts of millions of people were emptied by Liu Xiang’s withdrawal. Will the Olympics be a pity without Liu Xiang? Will the “bird nest” without Liu Xiang be lonely?

And now people found all the athletes appeared in Adidas’ lately advertisement were met with unexpected adversities and bad luck.

Mololo 12:19

阿迪达斯那奥运广告真是个无敌诅咒。

The Adidas Olympics commercial is really a super curse.

China’s women volleyball team, football player Zhengzhi, and now Liu Xiang, seemed to be all its victims.

Some blamed Liu Xiang like this:
海蓝 12:21

刘翔,你没倒在赛道上.却倒在了奥运精神下.

Liu Xiang, you didn’t fall on the race track, but failed under the Olympics spirit.

But 微笑綻放 rebutted as many agreed to: 12:20

体育竞技本来就是这样，你ＴＭ一群什么都不懂的就只会怪别人，有本事你们上我看看。人家好你们就夸，人家伤了尽力了退出了，你们看金牌梦无望了就骂。你们干脆把奥运会改命叫抢金牌大赛好了。

That’s how the sport race is like! You these guys without a bit of knowledge know only how to blame others! You exclaimed when he excelled, but blamed when you see the dream of gold medal is lost. What about renaming the Olympics as a gold-medal-rob game?

But a netizen referred the withdrawal as a scheme

这一招实在是高
这几天我一直在想罗伯斯实力如何强劲,已经超过了刘翔,刘翔如何应对,如果输了(很大可能),商业价值必定大打折扣,人气肯定一落千丈,如果我是刘翔,该当如何?
谁知出现这种结果,这是刘翔所能做出并得到最大利益的结果,赢得了大家的同情,并保住了自己的人气,最重要的是,商业价值.
让人不能不佩服他身后的团队,实在是佩服(真心话,毕竟是同行)!

What a wonder plot it is!
I have been considering how strong Robles is in these days, much stronger than Liuxiang. And how should Liu deal with this? If he lost the game, very probably, then his commercial value would of course slump, as would his popularity. What should I do if I were him?
And the result today is what Liu can do to reach his max profit. He retained people’s compassion and his popularity, and the most important, commercial value.
I have to admire the team behind him.

And the hottest tickets of hurdle final were now on sale on the internet.

Whatever the voices are, there are always people standing firmly behind Liu.
小凤儿 said on Fanfou:

我们都应该有颗宽容的心，刘翔虽然退出北京奥运会，但他依然是我们心目中的冠军。

We should all have a lenient heart. Though he quits the Beijing Olympics, he’s still the champion in out hearts.

16 comments · read »

China: Liu Xiang is out and we are sad

John Kennedy · 04:55 · East Asia

On Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang's completely unexpected withdrawal from a competition today, rapid-response blogger He Caitou posted simply this comment from another post on Baidu:

前天晚上作了一个梦，梦见刘翔召开新闻发布会，宣布因为伤病不得已决定退出本届奥运会，并向所有关心支持自己的朋友道歉。

很奇怪的一个梦，然后第二天就看到刘翔脚伤的报道，不知道这会不会是真的。

请保留此帖，勿删，虽然我也是刘翔的粉丝，也希望他能参加并且成功卫冕。

The day before yesterday I had a dream, and I dreamt that Liu Xiang was holding a press conference, saying that due to injury he had no choice but to make the decision to pull out of the Olympic Games, and with that he apologized to all his caring supporters and friends.

A very strange dream, but then the next day I saw reports of Liu Xiang's foot injury, and I didn't know if they were real.

Please preserve this comment, do not delete it. I too am a fan of Liu Xiang's, and I hope to see him compete and successfully defend his championship.

22 comments · read »