Politics and Beijing Olympics — Alternative Point of View

As the Beijing Olympics fast approaches, Western media organizations are quick to pull out the well-worn cliches about repressive regimes and the Olympic Games.

It is refreshing therefore to read this interview in the Seattle Times blog with Dr Susan Brownell, an American anthropologist who does research on sports in China and their connection with politics, culture and society.

You may want to read the entire interview but here are the two excerpts extracted by Danwei:

Politics, Beijing and the Olympic Games

What I find most interesting is Dr. Brownell’s proposition that major events like the Beijing Olympics are the accelerators of great change in China. This is a departure from the usual point of view that the staging of the Olympics is merely “window dressing” a great public relations push to present China in an acceptable light.

This is a perspective of someone who knows China well. Dr Brownell is a former athlete who has spent time living and studying in China.

But will her voice be heard amidst the din of China-bashing that has become “fashionable” in some media circles?

Technorati Tags: Beijing Olympics, 2008 Olympics, Beijing, China politics, sports, Susan Brownell

Ming Pao Monthly and Chinese Intellectual Tradition

I have been amazed by how much my reading habits have changed over the past two years.

I no longer read hard copies of daily newspapers and magazines on a regular basis.

Instead I subscribe to news feeds using the Google Reader. I scan through hundreds of articles electronically on a daily basis to imbibe the latest trends of our Web 2.0 era.

But I was recently reminded of the pleasures of reading a hard copy of a magazine when I bought a copy of Ming Pao Monthly in Hong Kong.

Yes, I could read some of the articles online for free at the Ming Pao Monthly website but there is something about reading a literary and scholarly magazine slowly, on the train, in the hotel room, while waiting for a friend at a cafe…

The key word is “slowly.” Because pondering on the dilemmas of our times takes time and attention, both rare commodities these days.

Only then, will the pleasures of the essay on the encounter between ailing Chinese scholar Ji Xianlin (季羡林） and famous actress Lin Ching Hsia（林青霞） come to life on paper. So will the weight of the burden of China’s environmental crisis be truly felt.

Perusing the pages of Ming Pao Monthly, I am reminded anew of the responsibilities of the Chinese intellectual. They have to bear the burdens and sorrows of our times before everyone else. 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐。

And that certainly takes time,attention and heart.

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