http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/education/29student.html?

The growing Chinese anger towards Western "media bias" raises a few issues.

First, there is the perception that the West is not showing respect for China, and this lack of respect is taken as a personal attack by Chinese students. They get offended by the perceived injustice, and react in an angry way.

Conflict Resolution Class: Everyone wants respect, and to be treated in a "fair way". If they are seen as being on the receiving end of unjust treatment, they get angry.

Case in point.

Anyway, another issue raised was when the Chinese students all assumed that Tibet wanted the economic development that was being forced onto their country.

"Students argue that China has spent billions on Tibet, building schools, roads and other infrastructure. Asked if the Tibetans wanted such development, they looked blankly incredulous. “They don’t ask that question,” said Lionel Jensen, a China scholar at Notre Dame. “They’ve accepted the basic premise of aggressive modernization.” "

I'm sure everyone knows what I feel about this: the happiest country in the world is Vanuatu, hardly the most developed country in the world. Obviously, the link between GDP and modernisation and life satisfaction and happiness is a non-existent one. May I even postulate a negative co-relationship: sometimes the best way to be happy is to live in a "backward" "simple" society, praying in your Buddhist monastary everyday.

That's the case of Bhutan, a slow-moving mountain Buddhist kingdom that's reportedly very happy being what it is: being at peace with nature and with one's soul.

I chatted with Gao Ting over basketball on Sunday night, and he basically repeated the stance that economic progress is always good. But towards the end of the conversation he mentioned that he'd lived in Inner Mongolia before, and he noticed that before the Hans entered that place people did not lock their doors: their's was a very communal culture which emphasised on sharing whatever one had with neighbours, who could basically enter houses and take whatever they needed. Of course, everything ended with the entrance of the Han Chinese, and "modernisation". At the end, he mused that perhaps progress had its social costs, of making people more selfish and estranged from one another.

I hope Gao Ting sees the light one day. I hope I brought him closer to seeing the light.

That's why I like Malays so much. In general, they are more relaxed, more communal, less competitive. Perhaps they don't really get rich, but I daresay they get more out of life because of their more complex and numerous social and familial relations.
In general we Chinese just sell our souls to get rich.

It is worthwhile to work hard for a worthy cause. "Progress", "modernisation" and "wealth" are definitely not worthy.

Relac-Jack man. I should get my degree, and spend my days strumming my guitar and singing rock songs. Or move to Bhutan.