Sim eu sei, nao escrevo a seculos e o meu blog e* uma seca. Tendo andado muito ocupado e como tal sem tempo para escrever...ou nao. Simplesmente nao tenho tido paciencia para actualizar o blog, thats it.
Estou a 3 dias de terminar o meu estagio na Organtex. Tempo voa, parece que foi ontem que cheguei a Shanghai carregado de malas e de expectativas de como seria viver no Oriente, rodeado de gente de olhos em bico e que come arroz a toda a hora...e noodles.
10 meses depois ca estou, mais vivido e com outra visao do mundo. Mundo esse que cada vez parece mais pequeno. Quando tinha cerca de 10 anos e o meu tio passava a vida em Macau, dava a ideia que ele ia viajar para o outro lado do mundo, local tao longinquo que so alguns conseguiam alcancar. Hoje em dia tudo isto parece um bairro. Encontram se pessoas nos sitios mais inesperados e reconditos que contado ninguem acredita.
Perdi algumas coisas importantes mas em contrapartida ganhei outras. Na pior das hipoteses, ganhei historias para contar. Ja viagei por 4 continentes (so me falta mesmo o cantinho Australia) e neste momento sinto me um cidadao do mundo e mais alem. Nao condeno quem fica no seu cantinho mas penso que todos deviam ter no minimo uma experiencia fora de Portugal. Viagens nao conta. Nao so se da maior valor ao que se tem em casa, como se tolera melhor comportamentos diferentes dos nossos. Viver ou no minino viajar pela Asia faz nos passar por situacoes que nunca pensamos viver ou assistir. Faz nos tambem realizar a sorte que temos em ter nascido num pais como Portugal, que apesar de muitas coisas mas tem tambem muitas coisas boas. Se for preciso sair de casa para se perceber isso, que assim seja.
Neste momento preparo me para mais uma aventura. Viajar durante 1 mes pelo Sudeste Asiatico. Irei fazer parte da viagem sozinho o que para mim sera uma experiencia totalmente nova. Reparem que disse parte da viagem. Repararam? Volto a dizer entao. Irei fazer parte da viagem sozinho. Porque parte e nao toda? Porque o meu amigo Carlos Coutinho (AKA Couto) se encontra a viajar pelo mundo e existem fortes hipoteses de nos encontrar mos na Tailandia e depois seguirmos viagem para o Laos.
Parto dia 4 (e nao 5 como previsto) porque a companhia aerea resolveu mudar o voo das 12h para as 21h. Como iria perder o dia todo resolvi antecipar 1 dia a viagem. Assim ficarei dia 5 em Guilin e de 6 a 8 em Yangshou. Dia 8 a noite irei de Night Bus/Train para Zuhai a caminho de Macau. Dia 9 parto para Bangkok. Depois tudo esta por decidir. Existe um esboco mas que pode ser alterado a qualquer momento. Como ja tinha referido, Laos , Vietnam e Cambodja sao os paises que pretendo visitar.
Outra noticia de relevo e* que hoje mudo de casa. Depois de 10 meses no famoso AP 1501 na Xinzha Lu a viver com Lena e Kid, chegou a hora de mudar. Barbara ira ocupar o meu lugar e eu passarei, temporariamente, para casa do Sr Advogado Pedro Lemos. Quem e* este senhor? Tuga que chegou faz 1 mes e que se encontra a trabalhar num escritorio espanhol de advogados. Rapidamente fez a sua entrada no seio dos contactos e como tal, foi forcado a dar me um lugar em sua casa durante esta semana. Obg avocato.
De momento e* tudo. Tentarei dar noticias sempre que puder durante a minha viagem. Antes de partir voltarei a este espaco para dizer um adeus.
Bjs e abcs em forma de ate ja
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Puxi Galore Finale, October 12th Sugar
Mais uma vez, qual ponta de lanca, Xikinha da Silva aparece nas chapas das festas em Shanghai. Palavras para que...bola na area e ele esta la para cabecear.
De referir que a meio da noite me ia envolvendo numa cena de pancadaria. Eu, ser pacifico e amigo do seu amigo, fui confrontado por 1 individuo (claramente embriagado e sem nocao da sova que se arriscava a levar) por ter tentado dar um pouco de compostura a sua suposta namorada. Esta apresentava se com um decote bem acima das normas europeias acordadas na ultima reuniao de Bruxelas. Eu, cidadao respeitador das leis da UE, achei por bem puxar o fecho eclair para cima, ate porque se encontravam criancas nas redondezas. O meu gesto foi mal interpretado, dando azo a alguma confusao no seio do parlamento europeu. Apos alguns minutos de discussao sobre a interpretacao da lei, o caso acabou por ali. Os dentes dele agradecem.
Abcs e bjs daqueles que se dao em casamentos...
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Final voyage
Step by step a viagem final comeca a ganhar forma. Objectivo e* passar por Guilin, Macau, Tailandia, Laos, Cambodja e Vietnam. A ver vamos se consigo visitar tudo. Para ja tenho confirmado:
- Dia 5 Novembro: partida as 12h10 para Guilin. Irei ficar 3 a 4 dias. Segue-se viagem ate Macau que em principio sera feita por Night Train.
- Dia 9: partida para Bangkok. Previsto estao 2 dias na capital, 2 dias numa cidade de seu nome Kanchanaburi e cerca de 5 dias nas ilhas.
- A partir daqui o plano esta em branco. Muitos mapas e meios de transporte serao estudados ate encontrar a melhor forma de visitar todos os paises que pretendo.
Como ja referi varias vezes (repito para nao me perguntarem outra vez), regresso a Portugal em definitivo dia 22 Dezembro.
Abcs e bjs Sudesto-Asiaticos
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Regresso...
Longa paragem eu sei, peco desculpa aos leitores. Por motivos de Golden Week estive ausente...do trabalho e do computador.
Durante a semana passada estive a visitar um sitio onde as pessoas tem olhos em bico. Recomendo vivamente, e* uma experiencia cultural unica.
Regressado ao trabalho e a rotina, noto em mim algum cansaco. Levantar cedo, estar 8h em frente a um PC, apanhar o mesmo metro para casa, etc, ainda para mais num pais como a China, comecam a dar cabo do meu sistema nervoso. Estava a precisar de ferias, principalmente dos Chineses e esta semana soube a mel.
O estagio corre a passos largos para o seu final. Dia 2 de Novembro termino esta aventura profissional mas nao a pessoal. Dia 5 de Novembro marca o inicio da minha viagem final. Primeiro destino: Guilin e Yangshou. Local de passagem quase obrigatoria quando se visita a China, conhecido pelas suas paisagens e pelo passeio no rio.
Em 9 meses de China, sinto que acabei por visitar pouco o pais. Como tal esta paragem torna se quase obrigatoria. O facto de a vida em Shanghai ser frenetica, faz com que os fds sejam aproveitados nao so para grandes festas e noitadas, mas tmb para descansar um pouco da semana de trabalho. Isto fez com que em 9 meses apenas tenha saido ao fds umas 5 ou 6 vezes no maximo.
Para ja iniciarei esta aventura sozinho. Talvez me encontre pelo caminho com 4 contactas de Shanghai. Who knows...
Hoje marca o dia do meu regresso aos relvados. Passado o periodo de recuperacao, sinto que estou em condicoes de no minimo dar uma perninha pela equipa nacional em Shanghai que tem claudicado nos ultimos jogos. Nunca me senti tao ansioso para ir jogar futebol.
Sem mais de momento me despeco com um ate ja com abcs e bjs asushizados...
Durante a semana passada estive a visitar um sitio onde as pessoas tem olhos em bico. Recomendo vivamente, e* uma experiencia cultural unica.
Regressado ao trabalho e a rotina, noto em mim algum cansaco. Levantar cedo, estar 8h em frente a um PC, apanhar o mesmo metro para casa, etc, ainda para mais num pais como a China, comecam a dar cabo do meu sistema nervoso. Estava a precisar de ferias, principalmente dos Chineses e esta semana soube a mel.
O estagio corre a passos largos para o seu final. Dia 2 de Novembro termino esta aventura profissional mas nao a pessoal. Dia 5 de Novembro marca o inicio da minha viagem final. Primeiro destino: Guilin e Yangshou. Local de passagem quase obrigatoria quando se visita a China, conhecido pelas suas paisagens e pelo passeio no rio.
Em 9 meses de China, sinto que acabei por visitar pouco o pais. Como tal esta paragem torna se quase obrigatoria. O facto de a vida em Shanghai ser frenetica, faz com que os fds sejam aproveitados nao so para grandes festas e noitadas, mas tmb para descansar um pouco da semana de trabalho. Isto fez com que em 9 meses apenas tenha saido ao fds umas 5 ou 6 vezes no maximo.
Para ja iniciarei esta aventura sozinho. Talvez me encontre pelo caminho com 4 contactas de Shanghai. Who knows...
Hoje marca o dia do meu regresso aos relvados. Passado o periodo de recuperacao, sinto que estou em condicoes de no minimo dar uma perninha pela equipa nacional em Shanghai que tem claudicado nos ultimos jogos. Nunca me senti tao ansioso para ir jogar futebol.
Sem mais de momento me despeco com um ate ja com abcs e bjs asushizados...
Friday, September 28, 2007
Fiesta no AP 1501
Trabalhar ao Sabado, olha que...
Digamos que depois da noite de ontem there is not going to be much work done.
O AP1501 e a Gao Ming Zhuan Org. maravilharam mais uma vez os seus convidados com uma mega festa que durou ate altas horas. Motivo: festejar os anos do Toni Hao.
Churrasco feito na varanda, muita bebida, musica e grande animacao fizeram desta talvez a melhor festa caseira nestes 8 meses. Sera naturalmente documentada com fotos.
Alem dos habituais, tivemos a presenca especial das primas do Antonio, dos amigos do Albes, dos amigos da Babuxa e de 2 tugas que a Madalena conheceu no aeroporto (isto e* Shanghai...).
Noite terminou no Atica para nao variar.
Continuam sem saber porque estou a trabalhar num Sabado. Estamos na 3 e ultima Golden Week Chinesa e como tal temos ferias. Como apenas sao dados 3 dias (2f, 3f e 4f), o que a juntar ao fds daria 5, os Chineses resolveram baralhar um pouco as coisas. Trabalham no fds anterior e assim conseguem 5 dias de ferias mais 2 do proximo fds, o que perfaz 7 dias. No minimo sera um fds diferente do habitual.
PS: queria agradecer aos vizinhos o facto de nao se terem queixado nem chamado a Policia. Proxima festa podem aparecer para dar um pezinho de danca.
Digamos que depois da noite de ontem there is not going to be much work done.
O AP1501 e a Gao Ming Zhuan Org. maravilharam mais uma vez os seus convidados com uma mega festa que durou ate altas horas. Motivo: festejar os anos do Toni Hao.
Churrasco feito na varanda, muita bebida, musica e grande animacao fizeram desta talvez a melhor festa caseira nestes 8 meses. Sera naturalmente documentada com fotos.
Alem dos habituais, tivemos a presenca especial das primas do Antonio, dos amigos do Albes, dos amigos da Babuxa e de 2 tugas que a Madalena conheceu no aeroporto (isto e* Shanghai...).
Noite terminou no Atica para nao variar.
Continuam sem saber porque estou a trabalhar num Sabado. Estamos na 3 e ultima Golden Week Chinesa e como tal temos ferias. Como apenas sao dados 3 dias (2f, 3f e 4f), o que a juntar ao fds daria 5, os Chineses resolveram baralhar um pouco as coisas. Trabalham no fds anterior e assim conseguem 5 dias de ferias mais 2 do proximo fds, o que perfaz 7 dias. No minimo sera um fds diferente do habitual.
PS: queria agradecer aos vizinhos o facto de nao se terem queixado nem chamado a Policia. Proxima festa podem aparecer para dar um pezinho de danca.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Assim vai o Pais...
Nao ha duvida que o futebol e* mais importante que a politica no nosso pais. Tambem nao ha duvida que o povo prefere ouvir Jose Mourinho a ouvir Pedro Santana Lopes (PSL) comentar as eleicoes no PSD. Posto isto, todos dirao que, em termos de audiencias, fara mais sentido por no ar a chegada de Mourinho. Ate aqui tudo bem. Agora chegar ao ponto de interromper o ex lider do PSD e ex Primeiro Ministro (goste-se ou nao) para mostrar a chegada dum treinador de futebol (mesmo tratando-se do Special One), e* demasiado grave e arrisco me a dizer de baixo nivel.
Acho que PSL esteve muito bem e estou totalmente de acordo com a posicao que tomou. Se calhar nao sou a pessoa indicada para fazer esta critica dado o meu vicio futebolistico, mas penso que a importancia dada ao futebol e aos seus dirigentes comeca a tocar o ridiculo.
Fica o video para quem nao viu, que neste momento deve ser ninguem.
Acho que PSL esteve muito bem e estou totalmente de acordo com a posicao que tomou. Se calhar nao sou a pessoa indicada para fazer esta critica dado o meu vicio futebolistico, mas penso que a importancia dada ao futebol e aos seus dirigentes comeca a tocar o ridiculo.
Fica o video para quem nao viu, que neste momento deve ser ninguem.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
Estilos diferentes...
Depois de no primeiro dia em Shanghai ter feito um sobretudo *a Mourinho 100% Caxemira...
...chegou a vez de fazer um Kispo *a Avram Grant...
...chegou a vez de fazer um Kispo *a Avram Grant...
TV Tuga
Mensagem encontrada hoje ao abrir o site Tv Tuga, que se tem revelado um dos meus melhores amigos em Shanghai:
"Devido ao elevado número de visitantes, somos obrigados a remover o futebol do TVtuga.
O tráfego gerado pelos fãs de futebol num dia é maior do que o tráfego gerado pelos fãs de televisão numa semana.
Como tal um novo site irá ser re-aberto dedicado apenas ao desporto rei e à programação dos diversos eventos desportivos que é feita por esse mundo fora.
Aguardem só mais alguns dias...."
Bela maneira de comecar a semana...
"Devido ao elevado número de visitantes, somos obrigados a remover o futebol do TVtuga.
O tráfego gerado pelos fãs de futebol num dia é maior do que o tráfego gerado pelos fãs de televisão numa semana.
Como tal um novo site irá ser re-aberto dedicado apenas ao desporto rei e à programação dos diversos eventos desportivos que é feita por esse mundo fora.
Aguardem só mais alguns dias...."
Bela maneira de comecar a semana...
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Bimbi
Bimbi atinge valor mais alto (ou mais baixo, depende da perspectiva) desde que cheguei a China. A malta agradece e pede mais, muito mais.
10,5001 por cada Euro. Venham os Bimbis.
Min 61...
Post dedicado a estreia em Mundias do meu amigo de infancia Goncalo Foro. Colega de turma dos 3 aos 16 anos e de liceu ate aos 18. Parabens pelo feito. Espero que contra a Romenia o resultado seja diferente. Com muita pena minha nao pude assistir ao jogo uma vez que outros valores falaram mais alto, mas contra a Romenia la estarei para dar o meu apoio aos Lobos.
Grande abc "Macaco"
Grande abc "Macaco"
Dia M
Na giria e para os menos entendidos nestas coisas e* o chamado dia de Merda. Para mim, para o Mourinho que acabou de ser chicoteado e para todos os treinadores na corda bamba que a partir de hoje vao tremer cada vez que nao ganharem um jogo.
Para mim porque? Eu explico:
Para mim porque? Eu explico:
- para variar a morrer de sono porque acordei para ver a Champions
- porque o Sporting perdeu num jogo em que podiamos perfeitamente ter empatado, mesmo nao jogando grande coisa
- porque o Tufao era um Fake Tufao, como tudo o resto na China. Uma chuvinha molha parvos, umas rajadas de vento e pouco mais. Para quem dizia que seria o pior em 10 anos...Fica para a proxima o visionamento Live do meu primeiro Tufao.
Chega? Todos temos dias M, hoje e* o meu.
I did it...
Finalmente consegui adormecer na fisioterapia. Decorria o minuto 20 da terceira maquina quando adormeci que nem um bebe. Desde o primeiro dia que andava a tentar e nada, mas de hoje nao passava.
Claro que noites mal dormidas, futebol as tantas da manha e obras no predio as 8h nao ajudam...
Prometi a mim mesmo que 5f nao fico acordado para ver a estreia do Pacos de Ferreira na Taca Uefa. Palavra de escuteiro que nunca fui nem nunca serei.
Mas hoje obvio que vou acordar as 2h45 locais para ver o grande Sporting derrubar o gigante Man Utd. Muito confiante, vamos ver...
Abcs e bjs do Soneca
Claro que noites mal dormidas, futebol as tantas da manha e obras no predio as 8h nao ajudam...
Prometi a mim mesmo que 5f nao fico acordado para ver a estreia do Pacos de Ferreira na Taca Uefa. Palavra de escuteiro que nunca fui nem nunca serei.
Mas hoje obvio que vou acordar as 2h45 locais para ver o grande Sporting derrubar o gigante Man Utd. Muito confiante, vamos ver...
Abcs e bjs do Soneca
Monday, September 17, 2007
Vai chuviscar...
Wipha to hit city tomorrow, 200,000 evacuated
TO prepare for the center of typhoon Wipha hitting Shanghai during evening rush hour tomorrow, the city will evacuate up to 200,000 residents from coastal areas, mobile homes and dilapidated houses.
The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau issued an orange alert, second highest alert in the four-grade system, at 6:10am today for Wipha, which was upgraded to a super typhoon this morning.
Wipha is expected to land in northcentral Zhejiang Province between tonight and tomorrow morning and keep move northwards to hit Shanghai directly.
The power of Wipha will surpass Typhoon Saomai in 2005 to become the heaviest typhoon to hit the city since 1997.
The storm will bring the winds of up to 88 kilometers an hour, and up to 50 millimeters of rain in 12 hours to the city, the bureau has said.
The typhoon will last for two or three days. Winds along the mouth of the Yangtze River and coastal areas are expected to reach up to 102kmh.
TO prepare for the center of typhoon Wipha hitting Shanghai during evening rush hour tomorrow, the city will evacuate up to 200,000 residents from coastal areas, mobile homes and dilapidated houses.
The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau issued an orange alert, second highest alert in the four-grade system, at 6:10am today for Wipha, which was upgraded to a super typhoon this morning.
Wipha is expected to land in northcentral Zhejiang Province between tonight and tomorrow morning and keep move northwards to hit Shanghai directly.
The power of Wipha will surpass Typhoon Saomai in 2005 to become the heaviest typhoon to hit the city since 1997.
The storm will bring the winds of up to 88 kilometers an hour, and up to 50 millimeters of rain in 12 hours to the city, the bureau has said.
The typhoon will last for two or three days. Winds along the mouth of the Yangtze River and coastal areas are expected to reach up to 102kmh.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Fisioterapia
3 sessoes e quase que danco o Fandango. Hj regresso e amanha termino. Espero nao precisar de mais dias, mas se precisar tambem nao tem problema que aquilo e* uma coisa barata. Apenas 50e por cada vez que la vou, coisa pouca.
Tudo comeca no 15 andar do edificio numero 6 do Huashan Hospital. Uma senhora encantadora que fala 3 palavras de ingles, todas ensinadas por mim (if vely hot, you call me), coloca uma especie de lanterna com laser sobre o meu tornozelo durante 10 min. Nao doi, nao tenho de fazer nada e da para descansar. Segue se outra maquina do genero, desta vez de ondas. Novamente 10 min a passar pelas brasas.
Segunda fase passa se no 6 andar do edicio numero 1. Comeca com 30 min numa maquina em que apenas preciso de colocar o pe no sitio e esperar. Pe movimenta se para cima e para baixo sem esforco...e sem circulacao. Ao fim de 10 min ja nao sinto nada ate a coxa. Seguem se cerca de 15 min com o estagiario fisioterapeuta e termina com um pequeno exercio de flexibilidade.
Processo todo demora cerca de 1h30.
Sera que existem maquinas fisioterapeuticas para o trabalho? Era so colocar as maos na maquina, programa-la e esperar 8h ate que o servico ficasse feito. Para cozinhar ja existe, chama se Bimbi. Para trabalhar nao era nada ma ideia. Se alguem me estiver a ler e gostar de bricolage, esta lancado o desafio.
Abcs e bjs fisioterapeuticos (Rui Bom, ando a roubar as tuas despedidas, mas fiquei fa)
Tudo comeca no 15 andar do edificio numero 6 do Huashan Hospital. Uma senhora encantadora que fala 3 palavras de ingles, todas ensinadas por mim (if vely hot, you call me), coloca uma especie de lanterna com laser sobre o meu tornozelo durante 10 min. Nao doi, nao tenho de fazer nada e da para descansar. Segue se outra maquina do genero, desta vez de ondas. Novamente 10 min a passar pelas brasas.
Segunda fase passa se no 6 andar do edicio numero 1. Comeca com 30 min numa maquina em que apenas preciso de colocar o pe no sitio e esperar. Pe movimenta se para cima e para baixo sem esforco...e sem circulacao. Ao fim de 10 min ja nao sinto nada ate a coxa. Seguem se cerca de 15 min com o estagiario fisioterapeuta e termina com um pequeno exercio de flexibilidade.
Processo todo demora cerca de 1h30.
Sera que existem maquinas fisioterapeuticas para o trabalho? Era so colocar as maos na maquina, programa-la e esperar 8h ate que o servico ficasse feito. Para cozinhar ja existe, chama se Bimbi. Para trabalhar nao era nada ma ideia. Se alguem me estiver a ler e gostar de bricolage, esta lancado o desafio.
Abcs e bjs fisioterapeuticos (Rui Bom, ando a roubar as tuas despedidas, mas fiquei fa)
Fanatico por desporto? Eu?
Fanatico por desporto? Quem eu? Mentira. Isso sao puras falsidades. Ai tem provas? Entao mostrem. Nao sejam como o Octavio Machado e avancem com provas...
....pois, mas isto e* so uma fotografia, nao prova que estive ate as 2h da manha num Irish Pub a ver os "Lobos".
....pois, mas isto e* so uma fotografia, nao prova que estive ate as 2h da manha num Irish Pub a ver os "Lobos".
...ah e tal, isto e* outra. Qq pessoa pode ter tirado esta fotografia no estadio so para me incriminar. Eu confessei noutro post que fui ao jogo? Pois. Meti a pata na poca nao foi? Ups
Isto? Isto nao sou eu a ver 2 desportos ao mesmo tempo num Domingo a noite. Inter de Milao no Pc e Moto GP na Tv? Nunca na vida. E* tudo uma questao de perspectiva. E* como aquelas fotos dos quarto dos hoteis. Uma pessoa olha e parecem gigantes e depois chega la e e* um cubiculo. Eu no fundo estava a ler artigos sobre o mundo textil e fui apanhado de surpresa com as calcas na mao, so isso.
Eu fiquei a ver o Atletico de Madrid no Pc ate a 1h da manha para depois poder ver o Estrela vs Sporting? Mais uma mentira do tamanho do mundo. Mentira. Mesmo nao conseguindo ver, fiquei acordado ate as 3h a ouvir o relato na RR? Senhor juiz, vamos a por um ponto final nesta especulacao. Chega de atirar barro a parede a ver se cola.
Posto isto nao tenho mais nada a dizer e espero ser absolvido de todas as acusacoes.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
China e os Jogos Olimpicos
Email enviado por um colega C10, sediado na Agencia Lusa em Beijing.
(um pouco extenso mas vale a pena ler, para se ter uma ideia da verdadeira China "livre" e em crescimento economico)
"Um artigo de opinião escrito por um dos líderes dos protestos estudantis que resultaram no massacre (ou será 'incidente' como lhe chamam as autoridades chinesas?) de 1989 em Tiananmen, que está exilado desde então em Taiwan."
China Mocks the Olympic SpiritSeptember 2007
by Wu'er Kaixi
When the Olympic Games take place in Beijing next summer, I will not be there. The obvious reason for this is that I was a student leader in the protests of June 4, 1989 that resulted in the Tiananmen Square massacre. I have been in exile ever since. But the less obvious corollary is that I—and untold numbers of freedom-loving people—will not be there because China has not embraced the Olympic spirit.
think it is safe to say that, if the Chinese government had embraced the Olympic spirit of unity, inclusiveness and equality, many of us who are exiled from our homeland would return to be in Beijing next year. After all, it would be an opportunity not only to enjoy the Olympic festivities, but also to be reunited with our families. But this cannot happen, and that fact makes a mockery of China's "One World, One Dream" slogan for the Beijing games, and its pretensions to being a mature member of the global community.
Mine is only one of countless stories of exile from the country with the world's fastest growing economy; but I think, in view of Beijing's triumphalism at hosting the world's premier sporting event, my exile and what it means for me personally is worth mentioning. Not only will it not be possible for me attend the Olympics, but the communist government will continue to hold hostage my family that I have not seen in 18 years, and will no doubt continue to refuse to issue them passports so that we could be reunited in a foreign country.
Many people who attend the Olympics next year will be aware that despite the newly sanitized streets of Beijing (involving the eviction of an estimated 1.5 million people), the awe-inspiring sporting facilities, and the grand panoply of ceremonies, there is a dark side to the festivities. But, just as the International Olympic Committee did when it awarded the event to Beijing, those people who attend the games no doubt will have rationalized their decision based on the misguided belief that China has made great strides towards becoming a better place in the years since Tiananmen, and so deserves a chance.
I wish this were true. If it were, I would be joining family and friends in Beijing next year. The subtitle of the 2008 Olympics has already been written: They are to be "China's coming-out party." Nineteen years after the world watched the student occupation of Tiananmen Square, China's record-breaking economic growth is poised to culminate in a spectacle calculated to awe the world and marginalize its hecklers—those who point to China's poor human-rights record; its petrodollar complicity in genocide in Darfur; its occupation of Tibet; and its aggressive stance on unification with Taiwan.
Every Olympics since the 1936 Berlin meet has been politicized in one way or another. During that dreary summer, athletes were expected to shout sieg heil as they marched past Adolf Hitler. In 1972, 11 Israeli athletes died as a result of an attack by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich games. In 1984, the U.S.S.R. boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics. But it seems likely that the Beijing Olympics, despite the hecklers, will go ahead without any boycotts, and—if Beijing has its way—without incident in the city itself.
The reason for this, I believe, is related to the complexities of the West's perceptions of and relations with China. Westerners seem to hold one of two opposing views of China: they see either the one-party state that denies basic human rights and imprisons or exiles dissenters; or as a global economic powerhouse, home to 1.3 billion potential customers.
When Beijing hosts the Olympics next year, it is the latter view the Communist Party is looking to capitalize on. It is very possible that the government will be successful in this endeavor, but as one of countless exiles from modern China who will not be able to be there in person, the summer of 2008 promises to be a major betrayal of the Olympic spirit.
For Pierre de Coubertin, who was responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1900, one of the four principles of the games was to achieve a truce: "a four-yearly festival of the springtime of mankind." In reality, Beijing has no plans for a truce of any kind. The intention is for China to parade itself to the rest of the world as the China everybody is doing business with; the China eagerly caring for its open, harmonious and peaceful society; and the China that is finally taking its rightful place as a global leader. Anything, in fact, but the truth of the matter: that the government rules by slogans and an iron fist.
The idea behind this four-yearly festival is that the world would put its conflicts to the side and come together, nation by nation, in a spirit of unity. In Beijing, that will not happen. Any Chinese national who has a grievance with the country's one-party government will have no part to play in the celebrations. That list includes anyone who campaigns for greater autonomy in Tibet, my homeland of Xinjiang, my adopted home of Taiwan, anyone who has struggled to expand participatory politics in China, or anyone who has dissented publicly from whatever the current Party line happens to be.
There should be no mistake about this. China's coming-out party is nothing of the sort. The party in Beijing will belong to the Communist Party. And if the Party were to come out truly, the free world would stand aghast. That's just why the government has long seen participating in the Olympics as a legitimizing maneuver, a public-relations coup not only on the world stage, but also in terms of winning glory for the Chinese nation, playing on nationalism and simultaneously conflating China the nation with the one dictatorial party that rules it. As the famous saying goes, "without the Communist Party, there would be no modern China."
Beijing's eye has long been fixed on the Olympic grail. With tremendous alacrity and
tremendous expenditures of resources, China has transformed itself into an effective sporting nation. It was not until the Los Angeles games in 1984 that the P.R.C. managed to win its first gold. But by the 2004 games in Athens, China was in third place behind the United States and Russia, sweeping up 32 gold medals. Winning the right to host the Olympics, then, is the final act in this more than two-decade crusade by the Communist Party to achieve legitimacy through international sporting prowess.
Of course, the Chinese government itself knows that its motives have little resonance with the Olympic spirit, and as a result it is cloaking the event in the familiar, fuzzy rhetoric of unity we see in the official slogan, "One World, One Dream," which the official Web site helpfully explains, "conveys the lofty ideal of the people in Beijing as well as in China [sharing in] the global community and civilization and [creating] a bright future hand in hand with the people from the rest of the world."
This is the message—meant to establish the legality and validity of the Party's rule—that China broadcasts to the world. But at home the Chinese government is using the Olympics to repress dissidents and activists. The terrible pity of this is that the Party is exploiting national pride, and denying the Chinese people the right to enjoy the true spirit of the Olympics. Meanwhile, the world's participation in the event is an act of collusion with a political party that in recent years has presided over a remarkable period of economic growth, but has nevertheless throughout the past six decades since 1949 been responsible for far more setbacks than it has successes. It also continues to be as oppressive as it was when I was forced into exile in 1989, despite the veneer of Westernization that can be seen in the major cities.
When China made its most recent Olympics bid, it promised the IOC that it was prepared to make substantial improvements in human rights. But just four days after winning the bid, then Deputy Prime Minister Li Lanqing announced that China should step up its efforts to counter the Falun Gong, a spiritual movement whose members are routinely imprisoned–at least 100 are thought to have died in detainment. Next, then Vice President Hu Jintao weighed in, saying it was essential for China to counter separatist movements "orchestrated by the Dali Lama and the world's anti-China forces."
This should come as no surprise to anyone, least of all the IOC, which took the surprisingly naïve position that holding the Olympics in Beijing was likely to improve China's human rights. The opposite was always bound to be the case. For Beijing to pull off the kind of Olympics it would like to, it is forced to repress anything of a political nature that might mar its moment of glory. Amnesty International, for example, is calling for the immediate release of Ye Guozhu, who was arrested in December 2004 and is serving a four-year prison sentence for attempting to organize a demonstration against forced evictions in Beijing, after two restaurants he owned were demolished in 2001 to make way for Olympics-related sports facilities. His relatives say he has health problems after having been tortured in prison, and it is claimed he was beaten with electro-shock battens in Beijing's Chaobai Prison.
An equally high-profile example is human-rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who was convicted of "subversion" in December 2006, and is now under house arrest. While under formal arrest, he claims to have been treated harshly by police. Meanwhile, in April this year, four pro-Tibetan independence protesters were arrested after they hung up a Free Tibet banner at Mount Everest base camp, protesting the government's plans to relay the Olympic torch through the Tibetan Himalayas.
According to the Olympic Charter, sport must be "at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." But groups protesting against, or calling for boycotts of next year's Olympics point to a host of Communist Party transgressions against both a peaceful society and human dignity.
A commitment to reform or abolish China's policy of "re-education through labor" appears stalled, possibly for the purposes of cleaning up the streets of Beijing of vagrants and drug-users ahead of the Olympics. Meanwhile, Amnesty reports that the lead up to the Olympics has seen "moves to expand detention without trial and 'house arrest' of activists, and … a tightening of controls over domestic media and the Internet."
For the most part, the foreign community seems to have found it relatively easy to ignore these domestic affronts to the spirit of the Olympics. The issue of Darfur is proving somewhat more problematic for China. Names such as Bob Geldof and Mia Farrow have publicly criticized China for supporting the atrocities in Darfur through massive subsidies to oil-rich Sudan. In March this year, Ms. Farrow wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal that popularized the term "the genocide Olympics." A Google search for that phrase, five months later, produces close to 1.5 million hits. (Read Joe Malchow's interview with Mia Farrow on the Olympics and China at www.feer.com/miafarrow.html)
For my part, if I were permitted to return to China for the Olympics, I admit I would seize the opportunity–it would be my chance to see the aging parents and the brother I have not seen in close to two decades. But the long-awaited family reunion will have to wait a bit longer.
Mr. Wu'er Kaixi, a Tiananmen student leader, works for an investment fund in Taipei.
(um pouco extenso mas vale a pena ler, para se ter uma ideia da verdadeira China "livre" e em crescimento economico)
"Um artigo de opinião escrito por um dos líderes dos protestos estudantis que resultaram no massacre (ou será 'incidente' como lhe chamam as autoridades chinesas?) de 1989 em Tiananmen, que está exilado desde então em Taiwan."
China Mocks the Olympic SpiritSeptember 2007
by Wu'er Kaixi
When the Olympic Games take place in Beijing next summer, I will not be there. The obvious reason for this is that I was a student leader in the protests of June 4, 1989 that resulted in the Tiananmen Square massacre. I have been in exile ever since. But the less obvious corollary is that I—and untold numbers of freedom-loving people—will not be there because China has not embraced the Olympic spirit.
think it is safe to say that, if the Chinese government had embraced the Olympic spirit of unity, inclusiveness and equality, many of us who are exiled from our homeland would return to be in Beijing next year. After all, it would be an opportunity not only to enjoy the Olympic festivities, but also to be reunited with our families. But this cannot happen, and that fact makes a mockery of China's "One World, One Dream" slogan for the Beijing games, and its pretensions to being a mature member of the global community.
Mine is only one of countless stories of exile from the country with the world's fastest growing economy; but I think, in view of Beijing's triumphalism at hosting the world's premier sporting event, my exile and what it means for me personally is worth mentioning. Not only will it not be possible for me attend the Olympics, but the communist government will continue to hold hostage my family that I have not seen in 18 years, and will no doubt continue to refuse to issue them passports so that we could be reunited in a foreign country.
Many people who attend the Olympics next year will be aware that despite the newly sanitized streets of Beijing (involving the eviction of an estimated 1.5 million people), the awe-inspiring sporting facilities, and the grand panoply of ceremonies, there is a dark side to the festivities. But, just as the International Olympic Committee did when it awarded the event to Beijing, those people who attend the games no doubt will have rationalized their decision based on the misguided belief that China has made great strides towards becoming a better place in the years since Tiananmen, and so deserves a chance.
I wish this were true. If it were, I would be joining family and friends in Beijing next year. The subtitle of the 2008 Olympics has already been written: They are to be "China's coming-out party." Nineteen years after the world watched the student occupation of Tiananmen Square, China's record-breaking economic growth is poised to culminate in a spectacle calculated to awe the world and marginalize its hecklers—those who point to China's poor human-rights record; its petrodollar complicity in genocide in Darfur; its occupation of Tibet; and its aggressive stance on unification with Taiwan.
Every Olympics since the 1936 Berlin meet has been politicized in one way or another. During that dreary summer, athletes were expected to shout sieg heil as they marched past Adolf Hitler. In 1972, 11 Israeli athletes died as a result of an attack by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich games. In 1984, the U.S.S.R. boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics. But it seems likely that the Beijing Olympics, despite the hecklers, will go ahead without any boycotts, and—if Beijing has its way—without incident in the city itself.
The reason for this, I believe, is related to the complexities of the West's perceptions of and relations with China. Westerners seem to hold one of two opposing views of China: they see either the one-party state that denies basic human rights and imprisons or exiles dissenters; or as a global economic powerhouse, home to 1.3 billion potential customers.
When Beijing hosts the Olympics next year, it is the latter view the Communist Party is looking to capitalize on. It is very possible that the government will be successful in this endeavor, but as one of countless exiles from modern China who will not be able to be there in person, the summer of 2008 promises to be a major betrayal of the Olympic spirit.
For Pierre de Coubertin, who was responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1900, one of the four principles of the games was to achieve a truce: "a four-yearly festival of the springtime of mankind." In reality, Beijing has no plans for a truce of any kind. The intention is for China to parade itself to the rest of the world as the China everybody is doing business with; the China eagerly caring for its open, harmonious and peaceful society; and the China that is finally taking its rightful place as a global leader. Anything, in fact, but the truth of the matter: that the government rules by slogans and an iron fist.
The idea behind this four-yearly festival is that the world would put its conflicts to the side and come together, nation by nation, in a spirit of unity. In Beijing, that will not happen. Any Chinese national who has a grievance with the country's one-party government will have no part to play in the celebrations. That list includes anyone who campaigns for greater autonomy in Tibet, my homeland of Xinjiang, my adopted home of Taiwan, anyone who has struggled to expand participatory politics in China, or anyone who has dissented publicly from whatever the current Party line happens to be.
There should be no mistake about this. China's coming-out party is nothing of the sort. The party in Beijing will belong to the Communist Party. And if the Party were to come out truly, the free world would stand aghast. That's just why the government has long seen participating in the Olympics as a legitimizing maneuver, a public-relations coup not only on the world stage, but also in terms of winning glory for the Chinese nation, playing on nationalism and simultaneously conflating China the nation with the one dictatorial party that rules it. As the famous saying goes, "without the Communist Party, there would be no modern China."
Beijing's eye has long been fixed on the Olympic grail. With tremendous alacrity and
tremendous expenditures of resources, China has transformed itself into an effective sporting nation. It was not until the Los Angeles games in 1984 that the P.R.C. managed to win its first gold. But by the 2004 games in Athens, China was in third place behind the United States and Russia, sweeping up 32 gold medals. Winning the right to host the Olympics, then, is the final act in this more than two-decade crusade by the Communist Party to achieve legitimacy through international sporting prowess.
Of course, the Chinese government itself knows that its motives have little resonance with the Olympic spirit, and as a result it is cloaking the event in the familiar, fuzzy rhetoric of unity we see in the official slogan, "One World, One Dream," which the official Web site helpfully explains, "conveys the lofty ideal of the people in Beijing as well as in China [sharing in] the global community and civilization and [creating] a bright future hand in hand with the people from the rest of the world."
This is the message—meant to establish the legality and validity of the Party's rule—that China broadcasts to the world. But at home the Chinese government is using the Olympics to repress dissidents and activists. The terrible pity of this is that the Party is exploiting national pride, and denying the Chinese people the right to enjoy the true spirit of the Olympics. Meanwhile, the world's participation in the event is an act of collusion with a political party that in recent years has presided over a remarkable period of economic growth, but has nevertheless throughout the past six decades since 1949 been responsible for far more setbacks than it has successes. It also continues to be as oppressive as it was when I was forced into exile in 1989, despite the veneer of Westernization that can be seen in the major cities.
When China made its most recent Olympics bid, it promised the IOC that it was prepared to make substantial improvements in human rights. But just four days after winning the bid, then Deputy Prime Minister Li Lanqing announced that China should step up its efforts to counter the Falun Gong, a spiritual movement whose members are routinely imprisoned–at least 100 are thought to have died in detainment. Next, then Vice President Hu Jintao weighed in, saying it was essential for China to counter separatist movements "orchestrated by the Dali Lama and the world's anti-China forces."
This should come as no surprise to anyone, least of all the IOC, which took the surprisingly naïve position that holding the Olympics in Beijing was likely to improve China's human rights. The opposite was always bound to be the case. For Beijing to pull off the kind of Olympics it would like to, it is forced to repress anything of a political nature that might mar its moment of glory. Amnesty International, for example, is calling for the immediate release of Ye Guozhu, who was arrested in December 2004 and is serving a four-year prison sentence for attempting to organize a demonstration against forced evictions in Beijing, after two restaurants he owned were demolished in 2001 to make way for Olympics-related sports facilities. His relatives say he has health problems after having been tortured in prison, and it is claimed he was beaten with electro-shock battens in Beijing's Chaobai Prison.
An equally high-profile example is human-rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who was convicted of "subversion" in December 2006, and is now under house arrest. While under formal arrest, he claims to have been treated harshly by police. Meanwhile, in April this year, four pro-Tibetan independence protesters were arrested after they hung up a Free Tibet banner at Mount Everest base camp, protesting the government's plans to relay the Olympic torch through the Tibetan Himalayas.
According to the Olympic Charter, sport must be "at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." But groups protesting against, or calling for boycotts of next year's Olympics point to a host of Communist Party transgressions against both a peaceful society and human dignity.
A commitment to reform or abolish China's policy of "re-education through labor" appears stalled, possibly for the purposes of cleaning up the streets of Beijing of vagrants and drug-users ahead of the Olympics. Meanwhile, Amnesty reports that the lead up to the Olympics has seen "moves to expand detention without trial and 'house arrest' of activists, and … a tightening of controls over domestic media and the Internet."
For the most part, the foreign community seems to have found it relatively easy to ignore these domestic affronts to the spirit of the Olympics. The issue of Darfur is proving somewhat more problematic for China. Names such as Bob Geldof and Mia Farrow have publicly criticized China for supporting the atrocities in Darfur through massive subsidies to oil-rich Sudan. In March this year, Ms. Farrow wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal that popularized the term "the genocide Olympics." A Google search for that phrase, five months later, produces close to 1.5 million hits. (Read Joe Malchow's interview with Mia Farrow on the Olympics and China at www.feer.com/miafarrow.html)
For my part, if I were permitted to return to China for the Olympics, I admit I would seize the opportunity–it would be my chance to see the aging parents and the brother I have not seen in close to two decades. But the long-awaited family reunion will have to wait a bit longer.
Mr. Wu'er Kaixi, a Tiananmen student leader, works for an investment fund in Taipei.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
12 de Setembro
Hoje celebra-se o 1 dia duma nova era. Dia em que retirei a bota, carinhosamente apelidade de "Robocop" e calcei um par de sapatos. Eu agradeco e o ambiente tambem. O cheiro a chule daquela menina comecava a tornar-se complicado.
Hoje vou iniciar o processo de recuperacao com a primeira sessao de fisioterapia. Espero poder jogar futebol e dancar o fandango antes do fim do Ano.
Ainda tenho 4 meses de China, ninguem me quer visitar? Ofereco uma T shirt comemorativa e uns comes e bebes. Parece me uma oferta irrecusavel.
Abcs e bjs deste maratonista
Hoje vou iniciar o processo de recuperacao com a primeira sessao de fisioterapia. Espero poder jogar futebol e dancar o fandango antes do fim do Ano.
Ainda tenho 4 meses de China, ninguem me quer visitar? Ofereco uma T shirt comemorativa e uns comes e bebes. Parece me uma oferta irrecusavel.
Abcs e bjs deste maratonista
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