Yesterday I gave a talk to a Mizhuho, one of the megabanks of Japan, talking about my life, the Chinese New Year and the social transformation of China – all fitting into a 30 minutes talk. It was followed by 30 minutes Q&A, and a yummy dim sum lunch. All went well, I am pleased… Continue reading My talk to a Japanese bank
2022: The Year of Travelling Not So Dangerously I am sitting on the roof terrace of my co-working and co-living hostel in southern Morocco, sipping mint tea. The joyful sounds of children playing football on the narrow streets drift in, and the haunting Adhan – the Islamic call to pubic prayer – is floating in… Continue reading Wanderlust
SunDesk – The Best Hostel in the World SunDesk, the name says it all: a desk in the warm sunshine. A co-working and co-living place, catering to the needs of modern nomads. I didn’t know such a thing existed until this spring when I met a Spanish friend who stayed at SunDesk in Taghazout, Morocco.… Continue reading Co working hostel
The Madness By Fergal Keane Fergal Keane is blessed with a magical pen, under which flowers can blossom, as the Chinese would say. I think he is one of the few journalists who write like a poet. In fact, I think Keane does write poetry. The limpid prose and his unflinching honesty made this book,… Continue reading review of The Madness
On Sunday night, braving the chill, I attended a charity concert titled ‘Divine Melody Choir’, organized by Engage with China, an educational charity aimed at building up China literacy in the UK. Held at Holy Sepulchre Church, a stone’s throw from St. Pauls, the performers, led by conductor and soprano Wang Chen, delivered an outstanding… Continue reading Divine Melody choir
Conversation on Jiang Zemin I had the honour to be a contributor to the Conversation on Jiang Zemin organized by ChinaFile and the Foreign Policy Magazine. Thrilled to be among such distinguished company! Here’s the link. https://www.chinafile.com/conversation/jiang-zemin-1926-2022
Last weekend, protests broke out in multiple cities across China against excessive lockdown measures. I’ve been busy writing and commenting on this extraordinary development. Since 1989, there have been plenty of protests, typically farmers demanding proper compensation over grabbed land; workers demanding better pay. Occasionally there were protests against environmental issues. Such protests tend to… Continue reading commenting on Covid protests in China
“Rise up, rise up, those don’t want to be slaves!” Many of you are aware that anti-Covid/government protests have broken out in many cities in China. It is remarkable and extraordinary in an authoritarian country where public protests are banned. Here’s my interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, the equivalent of BBC’s Today program. https://www.npr.org/2022/11/28/1139388758/protests-which-are-outlawed-in-china-gain-attention-and-participants
Long ago, I fantasized to become a public intellectual but I was dragged out of school at 16. Having long given up that dream, I still care about the public intellectuals and I am deeply concerned about their shrinking role in China. Here’s why. https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3199681/shrinking-role-chinas-public-intellectuals-will-hold-back-countrys-rise
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