olympics opening ceremony

Did you watch the Olympics opening? Please look it up if you did not. I cannot find one word to describe it. Not two or even three.. it was SUPERB, beautiful, world-class, extravagant, meaningful, hard work, well-rehearsed, not a single flaw- at least nothing I spotted. The glowing Globe was my favorite. When not sure who was it with Sarah Brightman sang the theme song , You and me, standing on the globe which rised from below the Bird’s Nest. And then at the end of the song, some kids opened umbrellas that revealed the smiles of thousands of multi ethnic children, promoting the one world one family motto was so natural yet touching. the fireworks, gosh! I’m not sure if there was anything ever more extravagant than that. Mind blowing! How I wish I was there. I can go on and on. Because actually I liked everything else almost equally. I better stop now. Please please go watch the videos if you haven’t. I’m sure they’re flooding their way into youtube already..

Its amazing the amount of money, time and effort China has put into this. I was in Shanghai couple of weeks back, landed in their new airport. as usual impressed with the advancement. Though only one game in Shanghai (football if i'm not mistaken) , the whole city was set on the welcoming mood. then the whole 8-8-08 hype, the lucky combination on Chinese numerology. It worked I suppose. It’s a win win situation. world class performance for a world class recognition. changing the perception of China throughout the world. thats the aim isn't it? But what difference would it actually make to the government? Now that the eye of the world is on them, they will be transformed from autocratic ( I live this word) to an ultra autocratic government. Its like so what if the world is watching, all the better to make the point!! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against China. I’m constantly amazed with their development. Especially when I put India on the other end of pedestal. in terms of infrastructure I mean. Everything else is pretty much the same in both continents. The rich gets richer while the poor stay put.

my primary role is regional IT compliance, China naturally being one of my babies. and the loudest one of all. our issues with their Government requirement is never-ending. The transparent internet for example, top of list. Battling between one very transparent and the other extremely stringent on privacy law like EU for example. China wants visibility to everything. And you have no two ways about it. And then legal automatically gets involved. But end of the day you know what they are going to say.

Then there is the controversial One Child Policy that i absolutely disagree with. the policy that was developed in late 70s limit population growth. Their effective, if not exactly humane, population control system. When I first heard of it (from my Chinese flat-mates in Southampton days) I was taken aback. First thought being, wow. How do they do it? Having a policy is one thing. But being able to enforce it in a nation as big as that is something really.

I do not have kids yet. (thats mainly because I’m not married yet :) But when I do, kids are definitely part of the agenda. The more the better, if I can afford it. But its my decision. And my partner’s too of course. But certainly not the government’s. A full and noisy house during festivities. lots of grandchildren and family that will come visit when I'm old. I want that. And I’m not letting a darn government to take that away. Imagine a generation of adults who have grown up with no aunts and uncles, no cousins, and who are the only grandchild of doting grandparents. That’s exactly the situation in China today. Worst still for families where the child was taken by some force of nature? Or their only couldn’t reproduce for some reason? End of your line?

When the issue if insensitivity was raised when CNN commented on the flaw in the policy, I do share the sentiment on the timing to say such things. But isn’t that right? Well, if you ask if the pain on losing a child lessens when you have another alive? most definitely not. But at least, when hopefully with time, you’ve learned to accept and want to move one, there is still a reason to live. But lately the Chinese government is thinking of scraping the policy. Lots of research being carried out on this. They’ve started to acknowledge problems. only a bit too late?

Like the preference for boys. A lot of them have been using ultrasound to predict the sex of a child and basically abort female fetuses. Dunno how true it is but the ratio between male- female in China apparently is way off the world ratio. The Chinese government is aware of this and started encouraging families to value baby girls by extending special social and economic benefits. a bribe of some sort? The other one is the lonely parent. Ignored by only child. Or relocated. Even that they are talking about an obligation rule for adult children to contact or visit their parents regularly. I don’t know what else to say..

Duh, talk about sidetracking. And a totally contradicting one. From singing the praise of the Olympics opening ceremony (which by the was f-ing Fantastic) to sides of China I find over imposing. another reason to be grateful eh? But anyway, China is lucky to be where it is now. when it claims to be ahead of US by 2040, I’m not doubting it, with the way things are moving. But at the end of the day, do the people share the sentiments of the Government when it comes to success factor? Most of the time not.. so, how does it matter?