SINGAPORE CENTRAL: When I was in China.....

The Singaporean community at Peking University (北京大学) taught me a very catchy phrase when I was there attending the Harvard World Model United Nations Conference 2006. The phrase was TIC. It stands for This Is China. It is such an amazing phrase because it explains all that is good and bad in China. TIC pretty much describes my 2 weeks in China. Below is the summary of my trip to China.

1. Being mesmerised by my best friend
I knew her for about 2 years since I enrolled at Imperial College London. I never fancied her seriously. We been always there for each other, taking care and looking out for each other in a foreign land. Perhaps because it was the World mUN farewell party, she decided to go out partying with us. I seen her a couple times in tube and bareback, but I was completely mesmorised by her at the party. The wild party girl attitude simply blew my mind off, seeing her in half-naked state. Deep down inside my heart, I knew this party has changed my perspective. I can no longer see her the way I used to see her. I want her. Below is her photograph. How can 1 trip to China change the way I view her? Because TIC.. It's really TIC..

2. The Chinese Delegates at Harvard World mUN
During the Harvard World mUN Conference, hardly any Chinese spoke up. Was it because the conference was conducted in English? The Chinese delegates had to compete internally to participate at the World mUN Conference, unlike delegates who came from outside China. I would have expected them to be quite outspoken instead of being generally passive. I would expect their English standard to be acceptably good if they are capable of winning the internal competition at their own respective universities to attend the Harvard World mUN. If these delegates actually spoke up, the foreign delegates would be able to exchange ideas with the Chinese delegates and gain a greater understanding of Chinese opinion on international affairs. There is also one more thing that I find baffling about the Chinese delegates. Why should they even compete to attend World mUN in the first place? The United Nations is built on democratic representation. This would imply that any Tom, Dick or Harry would qualify to attend the mUN conference and simply not the best person for the job. If it must be the best person for the job, then the internal Chinese selection competition has replaced the model UN democratic system with a technocratic representation. Sigh.. Really TIC TIC TIC.. On the other hand, the Chinese Ambassador to the UN Commision of Human Rights actually highlighted me as being an outspoken individual and encourage the Chinese delegates to take me as an example to engage into Model UN actively, instead of seating down, raising one's placard to vote in the most passive manner. I never thought I will attract positive attention from a VIP. LOL.

3. Counterfeit RMB (人民币)

We were accused of paying counterfeit RMB for our internal flight tickets. When we handed him the money for the tickets, he had checked the integrity of the notes and said they were fine. 5 hours later, he claimed we had given him counterfeit notes. He even produced the counterfeit notes to back his claim. However, many things could have happened during the 5 hours elapsed. We refused to acknowledge the counterfeit notes was ours. Fortunately, we still manage to get our tickets without compensating the ticket agent real RMB in place of the counterfeit notes. I even took a picture (see right) of the RMB notes. Not only both notes share the same serial number, the texture of the counterfeit notes were much smoother than real RMB. This suggests that a different type of paper was being used to print the counterfeit notes. How can even this happen? TIC.. TIC.. TIC.. TIC..

4. The Forbidden Palace (故宫) is too big
It is the biggest palace in the world. Jeremy, Mustafa and I toured the Forbidden Palace on our own. There were so many exhibitions and attractions at the outer court of the Forbidden Palace. We rushed to there at 10am in the morning. By the time we finished touring the outer court, it was already 1550h. We arrived 20 minutes too late at the inner court ticket booth to purchase tickets to enter the inner court. The outer court itself consumed 6 hours. The inner court (which is much grander) will definitely take hours to tour. Instead of wasting time, we happily went boating at the palace moor. We had so much fun doing ridiculous things, such as jeering at passerbys and saying "hello" to strangers in the most outrageous manner.

This is only one of the outer courts

At the Palace Moor, Mustafa is tired while Jeremy: is trying to steer

There was a park outside the Forbidden Palace. There were a lot of old folks walking around aimlessly, wearing a plague card that states their children's name, date of birth, occupation and their zodiac sign. For a while, my friends and I were shocked. We thought we crashed into a missing person "party". However, it turned out to be a matchmaking event. The parents were busy talking to one another, trying to "sell" their child to a prospective in-law. For a while, we thought the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had resorted to kidnap young people for illicit human trafficking for "extra" money. ROFL. How could this happen? TIC TIC TIC..

5. The Female Kingdom (女儿国) by Lake Ru-Kou (泸沽湖) in Li-jiang
I was quite shocked that a maternal society still survives today. Although I was not comfortable with their cultural norms, it did not spoil the beauty of the place. Lake Ru-Kou must be one of the most scenic place in China. Although it is far from the cities, there are still traces of modernity in the village. There were not only televisions, but also electrical sockets, telephones and the most important, internet terminals. It made me wonder for how long will they be able to maintain their maternal society given that the internet is a global meltpot of ideas and values. I do not think that the Mo-shuo tribe of the Female Kingdom will be able to maintain their maternal society for long.Since it is the only one left, it goes to show that the maternal system must be a backward system that cannot stand the test of time.