I am lucky --notes after reading news

I am lucky to come here
and look back my country

I do not hava a visa
to earn pocket money in London

But still I am lucky for being here

More mainland couples give birth in Hongkong for a HK ID.
Under-paid workers are bulding the China's amazing glamoury.
Many students feel they lack the academic atmosphere.
...

Life is hard.
No equalty in the world. From born, we were seperated.We are so tiny that our faces dissapear soon in the crowd.

Compared with my mood, the weather utside in London is good enough.

I am not familiar with the world

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I keep silent
I still ask questions
like a child

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I feel desperate
I still look for the very first sunlight
outside the window

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I talk false
I still have sincerity
to sing with my heart


I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I am lonely
I am still loved and in need of love

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I am indifferent
I could still be easily touched
even a single smile on your face

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I want to escape
I still have many dreams
held tightly in my hands

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I feel lost
I still have many directions
to find the way leading me free

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I am blue
I am still positive
and look forward to tomorrow

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I have a feeling of being hurt
I still trust people
as never being hurt

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I should give up
I still want to try my best
At least I want to realise my dream
even there is no light ahead

I am not familiar with the world
But this is not the reason that I should choose from “to be” or “not to be”
I still have many other choices
Unfortunately they are not my choices

new words for today

I set up a goal for myself. To learn five words per day! Start from today. Let's see how long I could carry on.

col·lab·o·ra·tive
–adjective
characterised or accomplished by collaboration: collaborative methods; a collaborative report.

collaborate (kəˈlæbəˌreɪt)

— vb (often foll by on, with, etc )
1. to work with another or others on a joint project
2. to cooperate as a traitor, esp with an enemy occupying one's own country

Main Entry: collaborative
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: cooperative
Synonyms: collective, combining, joint, shared, synergetic /ˌsɪnərˈdʒɛtɪk/, synergic, synergistic


pen·e·tra·tion
   /ˌpɛnɪˈtreɪʃən/
–noun
1.the act or power of penetrating.
2.mental acuteness, discernment, or insight: a scholar of rare penetration.
3.the obtaining of a share of a market for some commodity or service.
4.the extension, usually peaceful, of the influence of one nation or culture into the affairs of another.
5.a military attack that penetrates into enemy territory.
6.Gunnery . the depth to which a projectile goes into the target.
7.the measure of relative depth of field of a telescope or microscope, esp. a binocular microscope.

—Synonyms
2. understanding, perception, discrimination, depth, profundity.

spec·trum

–noun, plural -tra  /-trə/ Show Spelled[-truh] Show IPA, -trums.
1.Physics .
a.an array of entities, as light waves or particles, ordered in accordance with the magnitudes of a common physical property, as wavelength or mass: often the band of colors produced when sunlight is passed through a prism, comprising red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
b.this band or series of colors together with extensions at the ends that are not visible to the eye, but that can be studied by means of photography, heat effects, etc., and that are produced by the dispersion of radiant energy other than ordinary light rays. Compare band spectrum, electromagnetic spectrum, mass spectrum.

2.a broad range of varied but related ideas or objects, the individual features of which tend to overlap so as to form a continuous series or sequence: the spectrum of political beliefs.

This week's plan

By the end of this week, finish the video for Susanna and my family.

Tomorrow, edit the video for Susanna wedding.

Wednesday, edit the video for my family.

Thursday, tell toastmaster that you wont have the camera any more because it's time to return it to the uni. Arrange the time to meet Susanna.

Friday, start writing the essay.

Saturday & Sunday- maybe go out?

write for me

Dear Xiaoqing,

I know that you are very upset today. You were later for your important meeting with your tutor. You missed the very useful guide to write your MA essay. Your brief will be marked down 10% only because your tutor changed his words. Your supervisor did not do things in the way you want. He criticised your online work but it was too late to change the content, not to mention that you once had to change your topic.

You have been frustrated with your final project since May. But you did not tell others. In the midnight you looked through the ceiling, quietly, thinking about the structure of your story. You expected someone who told you how to do it better. You don't understand why people are so easy to say that you should rely on self-learning. The cultural differences bring misunderstanding. Communications break down.

You remembered the very beginning day in Shanghai. You stood on the roof of your school's tall building. With the hot wind passed, you felt so lonely on the planet. You did not like the major. You did not have a friend then. People spoke another dialect around you. You could not find the classrooms or the cafeteria. All you remembered was in the hot hot weather, you tried your best not falling on the street.

You thought you had buried these days. The hardest days that you went through.

Actually they did not disappear. They lived in the deep bottom of your memory and would come out when you were low.

But you have to grow up to face the difficulties in your life. There will never be a person always going to help you. Yes you will meet somebody who could help you to certain extent. But you can't rely on that.

Human is a lonely straw. This is the destination.

He born alone and leaves alone.

I hope you write this, read this and become better. There is always a way to save your blue mood.

And you will come out from it on your own.

Love from
your dream

maybe I should put my story this way

Main story:
Anne, 21 a young journalst
She feels that Black Britons need their own media.
But they don't tune to their own media.
They don't think the programmes are good. Also they are not happy that the mainstream media.

Arron, 20 a journalistic student
He feels that Black Britons need their own media.
Many of his friends don't watch ethnic media.
He chooses to work in black press after graduation.

Do Black Britons need their media?
When a generation of Black British Media...
When now...

discussion:

Black British Media: at a crossroad

reading intro

Traditional black British audiences, characterised by an immigrant experience in the 1950s and 60s, have raised second and third generations of Africans and Caribbeans in Britain.

These children grow along with BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and many other platforms of national press. But some of them have rarely known their parents’ countries.

Although there was a great need of Black British Media here back in 1980s, when black people are stereotypically labeled “crime, violence”, is there still a need for this specific ethnic media today?

The black community becomes more diverse, any media that can’t keep up with that will die. Challenges and difficulties will emerge more than they used to do.

What is the role of black British media in a diverse society today? How do they survive as a niche player?

notes for my scrip

the black ‘community’ is increasingly diverse and any publication that can’t keep up with that will die. Simple. That doesn’t show there’s no desire just that you need the right product.

The guardian is one of the only papers in the uk which has a number of black voices and even then that number is TINY

we need our own media

The role of the black media is actually to broaden the media and make it more inclusive by presenting voices, perspectives and stories that often go untold and unheard.

In fact, media that does not have space for the perspectives of other groups is what’s actually divisive, exclusive and problematic. I also see black media as a space for non-black people to learn and understand more about what’s going on in black culture

I am not sure whether there is someone who believes that the mainstream perspective is THE right and only perspective, that how a dominant group of people views the world is how it is. And it’s precisely for that reason that black media exists and is needed.


Differences aren’t a problem to me, it’s how we view differences that’s the problem. The world is full of people with different experiences and perspectives, and to have their own ethinic media should reflect that.

My draft of anotherf scenario

Story behind:

Why do you establish colourful radio?

Why do you establish colourtelly?

Why do you establish the voice?

-what do they do?

-what do they offer?



why do black britons need their own media?

-street vox pop

-founder

-professor



-several years ago we have a story about black doll and white doll

do you think we need or not?

-self-hatred

-the voice



is there a solution?

Asked at that time.



Now



But, when the mainstream media begin to offer their audience (colourful radio/ the voice..)







Now comes the question: do black Britons still need their own media?

-do you think we need?

-why/why not

-do you know some? Do you watch or read?



Now we have colourtelly, colourful radio and the voice etc.





We need: why?

Because the mainstream media covers only…

They deliver an image of…

Not to have ethnic programmes in the mainstream because it is only an ideal thing but…(colourful radio, the voice)



So keep and bring more.







Future:

Discuss: in which way to survive and cater for people

My draft of one scenario

black doll and white doll

black briton's new generation are to lose their identity...

they are educated by mainstream media which cater for white britons...

you could have a british accent but do not lose your root


but it did not catch the mainstream media's attention

to offer more stories for ethnic people here

they tend to axe more...ironically

so we do need ethnic media to tell our stories for our community and our next generation,don't we?




when asked do black britons need their own media

let's think about

why we need or why we don't need

The video for my final project

Just wrap one of my video, a trailer for colourful radio.

I am really enjoying this. Four days play back and forth the footage did not disappoint me.

Conclusion: I am a creative person so there is no possibility for me to work for any organisation.

I will become a freelance!

:)

diary for my final project(2)

My story becomes much clearer after more than five times watching my footage of all interviews.

Every interview lasts no more than 40mins. I cut them into pieces to frame a story. During the process, I always got lost. I played the video back and forth only to find their footage have to be "formatted".

Although I have carefully prepared my questions, the interviewees would not follow my questions all the time. Sometimes they would turn my question to a way they like. Obviously I am not the kind of journalists who chase the interviewees without caring their feelings. For me I understand it is important to get the story but still I believe my interviewee is a human being and I have to put his feeling into priority. I will never ask the same silly question that a journalist asked a child "what is your feeling when you know you lost your parents during the earthquake".

After two weeks in a row doing the interviews from Brixton in south London to Tottam Hatch Lane in North London, I did not feel any relief. I know that more work are there waiting for me.

I did the story about black British Media. I think more about Chinese Media here, though.

Black Britons have established many platforms to express themselves, produce programmes for their community. Chinese community here has not yet established any TV station or radio station. I know there is a language difficulty. Maybe black Britons suffered too much before achieving their stage. I don't imply any racial issue when I say this. As ethnic minority in Britain, I can not stop thinking to create my own media. When I was in China, I was the majority. I interned for national media and the government.

I have no idea on minority.

I cannot say I have it yet.

The more I know, the quieter I am. I choose to listen and see more. The mistakes the Black British Media made, the challenges they are facing, the success they achieved...I walked back the road they have already walked through by listening to their stories and talking with them.

There is no simple English sentence to conclude it. In Chinese I would say "yi yan nan jin".

Last two weeks, I spent day and night-I wish the library open 24 hours-thinking my story, my video and my articles. I have been enjoying doing this. It is like I live another life by creating a story. I have no pains in doing this.

Creative things take time. I do not mind if I could finally get my degree or not because I do what I want to do. For myself not for the sake of my tutor or a degree certificate-that is just a piece of paper, isn't it?

My friends reminded me that I had not kept in touch with them as often as I did. My cousin complained that I did not call back home for a long time. Also I know that it has been even longer that I wrote my article. I devote myself to many things for the last half year.

But I feel there is no ending for work. No ending for improvement in terms of work and study. It is a matter of choice that which one I want.

What is the point of life?
Today I say that it is to realise my value.

And I am following this now.

My website basic design is done and thank you, Deming.

My story has a clue.

I will have another two weeks to polish it.

And looking forwards to, my dream.

Do we still need black British media?

Su Chang looks at whether the black British media is still relevant.

What is the role then of black British media in a diverse society today? Traditional black audiences, characterised by an immigrant experience in the 1950s and 60s, have raised second and third generations of Africans and Caribbeans in Britain who have rarely known their parents’ country and the issue for black British media is staying relevant to them.

‘I don’t think we need our own black British media,’ stresses Anne, pointing out that media should not have a colour to it.

Dotun Adebayo, no I don’t think we need….if…’’

But sometimes, yes, because we need a media to tell culture.
Aaron: if we don’t present us positively who will?
Steve: understand the culture
Dotun:why black people make a lot of noise
Henry: BBC don’t offer intellectual black presenter a job because they are not the stereotype that they expected from black Britons.
Steve: they don’t run it well even axe many
Henry:they don’t trailer ethnic programmes well




Despite a black presence in the UK dating back centuries, the question of integration continues to trouble the black population: where does it stand in contemporary Britain?

White doll and black doll trailer

Black people are over represented in the prison population. Research from the Department for Education and Skills shows that only a third of boys from black Caribbean and black other backgrounds achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE (and equivalent) in 2005, compared to 50% of white British boys. Black pupils are three times more likely to be excluded from school than their white peers. Working black Caribbean women are 8 percentage points more likely to have a degree than white women. Yet only 9% of Black Caribbean women are managers/senior managers, compared to 11% of white women, according to research from the Equal Opportunities Commission. All of this suggests that the black population is on the outside of British society looking in.

When asked if there is a need for black media, many people agree that they need. But when asked what black media they know and how often they pay attention to it, the answer turns to another way.

Vox pop answers.

For black editors, it is important that they highlight cultural differences, not only by the existence of a black media, but also by its content. But how to attract their readers and audience are challenging.

Anne: magazine for black woman’s make up; family…
Arron: no
Dele: I read news from internet but not from …
Dotun: daughter no


Born after the Brixton riots when black British people expressed rage at social exclusion and treatment at the hands of the police, The Voice, Britain’s leading black newspaper, ran front page stories about the boy…

It also dropped its slogan ‘Britain’s best black newspaper’ from its masthead to widen its readership to other ethnic minorities, raise its advertising prospects, and increase circulation.

steve‘The challenge is to redefine black media, “because

Henry, Britain is changing, especially the black community,’

The future of the voice: circulation declines suffering from their success,says Steve Pope, editor of news at The Voice.

The voice became a little bit old. We are To develop on line.

The paper’s historical mission was to express an African-Caribbean perspective on issues as its communities

Black newspapers are suffering a major decline in circulation after peaking in the 1990s. The impact of black-run satellite and cable television such as BEN TV and OBE has been limited and there has been a shift towards more niche offerings based on the internet.

Aaron and Dele: good idea to have an internet TV station





A key issue facing black British editorial and commercial management is persuading advertisers to spend money with them and target a distinctive audience.

Henry: advertising attraction not public funding because we want to be more preneur.

More of the black media is turning to the internet to publish content and reach disparate groups, but attracting sufficient advertising to remain commercially viable is still the ultimate challenge.

But it is hard to prove our circulation and persuade the ad.
Henry: we have …audience…


Henry,‘News gathering is very expensive. We take news from the sky.’



Dele:‘I am from Africa… There are two ways of living, animal and human being. Yes some people don’t care but as a human being, we have to think, to remind ourself that some of the problems that we have today are because we have lost our culture. If there’s no culture, we’re lost as a people. Strength comes from culture, but that doesn’t mean that culture needs to conflict with other cultures. There is no reason why people can’t live side by side. I’m thinking what if we all black hair, yellow face…’

Henry Bonsu, co-founder of Colourful Radio, a speech-led radio station on the internet, says that there is still a role for black British media because it can deliver accurate representation of black concerns. ‘If we are still to be relevant, we need to have a strong agenda and be distinctive from the mainstream which has more power,’ he says.

Mainstream media companies, which had previously ignored black people, pose serious competition for the black British media because of the growing interest in ethnic minority audiences, as staff and as consumers.

“I believe the mainstream media can never “represent” us,‘Their workforce may become more diverse; they may become better at reflecting black life in its diversity, but their role in catering for everyone will mean they can never be a substitute for having a black media.’

diary for my final project

May 4th Group meeting
choose the topic Media bias
unclear about my story

12th talk with Hugo

14th talk with Xinxin

21th talk with Michael

29th talk with Wesley

May 11th Group meeting
May 18th
May 25th

June 1st Not happy with
call David to
June 8th
call David
June 15th change the topic into Do we need our own media


18th
Intro:
I am a Chinese. I have been in UK for nine months but I have worked in an internet Black community TV station for six months.

what is the first black British internet TV station like?


Selling part is Why is a Chinese journalist working for black community TV station? What is this station like? Why do black people want to have a TV station? How does this station survive?


My story:


I am a Chinese journalist, 24 year old, come to London October 2010.


I was born in China where black people are rarely seen.


To be honest, I am a little bit afraid if a tall and strong black stranger stands in front of me.


I am not sure where my idea on black people are from. Maybe the image comes from American Hollywood Movies. Black people are always associated with violence, crimes, anger. The decent people are all white guys.


Also there is another kind of black people's image. They live in a place where I never have a chance to visit. They are away from modern society. They lack food, water but they are peaceful people. They do not work hard because the weather is too hot to work.



Some questions which are in my mind:


What is 'black media'?

Is there still a need for 'black media'?

How does Colourtelly differ from other more established and better funded broadcasters?

Where is the 'black British' audience today?

How does it get its news?

How do you define the news of 'black interest' - what is the criteria?

Are other more established medias unbiased in their coverage... How do they cover 'black-interest news' if at all....

Can a non-black journalist (i.e. Chinese cover black-interest news)

is 'black-interest' by its very definition biased

June 22nd
call Denisa
talk with classmates from choices of
niche market of colourtelly tv station
Do Black Britons need their own media

23rd
'Colourtelly.tv', The Guardian

Monday, July 02, 2007 Send to a friend Send to a friend
'We don't see ourselves represented on screen at all'. Britain's first general interest black internet TV station launches later this month. Founder Dotun Adebayo talks to James Silver

Dotun Adebayo is in the middle of "doing the season". And he is not referring to the one involving horse-loving debutantes in pearls called Sophie. "There's an unofficial black season too, you know," explains the broadcaster and publisher.

"Just like the season of events in the white, upper-middle-class world, which begins with Ascot, or whatever, and ends with the Proms, black people have a similar thing throughout the summer. It starts with the Afro Hair & Beauty show at Alexandra Palace in the last weekend of May and it ends with Black History Month in October, with huge events like [the Notting Hill] carnival in between."

But rather than nibbling on canapés and circulating, glass-in-hand, at such events, Adebayo and his wife, the singer Carroll Thompson, have been hard at work, frantically dishing out DVDs to promote their new venture www.colourtelly.tv, Britain's first-ever general interest black internet TV station. "July is the perfect time to be launching," he says. "We gave out 2,000 sample DVDs of the channel at the Afro Hair and Beauty show and at carnival, I hope we'll give out 20,000 more. We'll continue doing the same thing right through till October, until everyone gets to hear about us."

By under-serving or neglecting minority viewers altogether, says Adebayo, the mainstream broadcasters have left a yawning gap in the market. "The black audience pays its licence fee, but we don't really see ourselves - or stars from our community - represented on screen at all. I was watching TV last night, on several different channels, and I promise you, apart from people passing by in the street, you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of black faces your saw."

And that's where colourtelly.tv comes in, he continues. "There's nothing remotely like it out there. Yes, there are a few other black TV stations based in Britain - but they tend to be Nigerian TV stations or the obligatory black-interest music stations. Colourtelly.tv will be a very different proposition. We'll be making our own drama, our own talkshows, kids' and history programmes, all aimed at a black British audience.

"I've tapped into a whole stream of black actors. Everyone in the black community knows names like Victor Romero Evans and Patrick Robinson, who was on Casualty, but when was the last time you saw them on TV? The same goes for scriptwriters and presenters. I'm getting inundated. I spoke to the editor of a prominent black newspaper and told him about my plans and he said 'Can I have my own talkshow?' And I said, 'Of course. If Piers Morgan gets his own TV show, you should too.'"

The channel will also broadcast a daily soap opera ("a black EastEnders"), Babyfather, based on a series of books by Patrick Augustus, which were published by Adebayo's company the X Press. "The X Press put out more than 200 books by first-time authors, including [first black British bestseller] Yardie and Cop Killer," he says. "We sold the rights to a couple of them - we made about £100,000 selling the rights to Yardie, although it has never been produced, and the first Babyfather was made by the BBC - but the rest are just sitting there. We've got this whole resource about the experience of the black community in Britain which we can now turn into drama for the channel."

Born in Nigeria in 1960, Adebayo came to Britain five years later. He studied literature at the University of Stockholm and philosophy at Essex University, before going on to become a music journalist for publications including NME, Melody Maker, Time Out and Echoes. From 1987-1991 he was music editor at the Voice and a columnist on Pride magazine and the New Nation. Today, he combines presenting on Radio Five Live and BBC London with guest slots on BBC2's The Culture Show and Newsnight Review.

No one can accuse Adebayo and Thompson of not putting their money where their mouths are with their new project. Loans have been taken out. Credit cards have been "maxed out". The family home has been turned into a studio set. Equipment including Sony PD150 cameras and a Panasonic vision mixer have been purchased from eBay, and while budgets are decidedly of the shoestring variety, Adebayo stresses that "everyone gets paid for their work".

The channel is subscription-only and he estimates that with 2,000 subscribers, paying £10-a-month each, it can "just about break even producing four hours of unique broadcasting per day played on a loop". However, a 10,000 subscriber base would allow the station to be on air 24 hours. "Me and my wife are risking everything with this," he admits. "We're risking our home and our future. If the black community want it, it will be there. If they don't, well ... then we'll go under."



Subject: RE: one line of my story
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:32:52 +0100
From: D.Gyimah@westminster.ac.uk
To: fannysuchang@hotmail.com


Su

Why do you do this to yourself. You spoke to me on the phone a couple of days ago about a story about Colour TV. We spoke about it. You had a personal insight into this story. It worked. You've now delivered to me a completely different story. PLease, please call your colleagues.. tell them you need help. and sit down with them for a while to understand what it is you need to do. Your peers will be able to react with you in a way that perhaps I can't; that said I don't know why you're changing the basic story AGAIN.

Remember it is one story...

Murielles is about polution - and she has five different people talking aboutr polution in London
Randa's is about sexual harrasment and she has a number of interview to tell this story
Denisa's is about a hospital and its conditions. Be aware her story is not about the conditions of hospitals in Romania - that would be too big
Junjie - I'm not sure what her story is about - and perhaps you need to talk to her - as I'm getting no response
Alberts is about the problems likely to arise from a change in legislation for a particular court system in Kenya
Patricia's is about the effect of econ tourism on individuals - NOT Gambia, that would be too big
Su Chang - by now saying you want to do "Where to go: niche internet TV station" you have set yourself the task of covering too much ground; hence the range of your questions which are way too big and broad..

David Dunkley Gyimah




-----Original Message-----
From: Chang Su [mailto:fannysuchang@hotmail.com]
Sent: Mon 6/21/2010 5:25 PM
To: David
Subject: RE: one line of my story


Hi David,
I think there will be many stories related to this topic. I chose this as my main Story:


Where to go: niche internet TV station




My documentary
Part one: internet is a trend:


newspaper has created its website version
people are addicted to blogs, twitter, facebook...
increasing number of netizens
increasing audience of youtube...
traditional TV station BBC introduced i player
internet TV stations are established
what are the internet TV stations like? What kind of program do they produce? Do they charge people who watch their program?how can they make money? how are things going so far?




one of them enters a niche market: ethnic "colourtelly TV station"




Part two :Focus on colourtelly
do we need "black media"?
a cry for black media to report themselves.
Their differences from other internet TV stations


Part three:More to think:


Do they make money?
what is their format of survival?
Where are its audience?


interview their staff
no or low payment for interns but why do they work for colourtelly
interview their guest speakerswhy do they want to contribute to this internet TV program without money?


interview its founder
Its founders: Dotun Adebayo and his wife Carroll Thompson. Both of them are famous in black community.
why did they establish this internet TV station?what are the problems so far?


Part four:what is next? How would this black internet TV station survive? How would internet TV station survive? How could we make our minority's voice heard?




Let me know whether this could be called a story.
Thank you.
Su Chang
Subject: RE: one line of my story
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:55:22 +0100
From: D.Gyimah@westminster.ac.uk
To: fannysuchang@hotmail.com













yes but you need to write it up as a blog. Su that's what i said. Please take notes in class. I can only assisst you on the evidence of work I see and writing a blog helps you because it demonstrates you have the right elements for the story. please consult with Denisa. I asked her to do the same thing



David Dunkley Gyimah









-----Original Message-----

From: Chang Su [mailto:fannysuchang@hotmail.com]

Sent: Mon 6/21/2010 1:05 PM

To: David

Subject: one line of my story





the story is



The surviving difficulties (or the state) of the Black internet TV stations in UK-discovered by a non-black journalist in black internet TV station



Subject: RE: SU Chang's final project story

Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:25:41 +0100

From: D.Gyimah@westminster.ac.uk

To: fannysuchang@hotmail.com

















RE: SU Chang's final project story









Su - we need the story.. what's the story







David Dunkley Gyimah



















-----Original Message-----



From: Chang Su [mailto:fannysuchang@hotmail.com]



Sent: Sat 6/19/2010 5:54 PM



To: David



Subject: SU Chang's final project story











Dear David,



How are you?



It is obvious that I start my final project proposal so late and I don't want to make any excuse. But I will try my best to catch up from now on. I understand in real working atmosphere, deadline for journalists will always be like this tight rather than flexible two months long. I will treat this as a challenge, battle.



Best wishes,



Su Chang My final project: Black internet TV station's state







Why am I doing this project?1)Ethic people's voice is rarely correctly heard from UK's mainstream media (SKY, CNN, BBC). It is better to have their own media and report properly rather than criticise mainstream media. 2)Internet TV station is a new thing and could be a trend in the future.



The colourtelly TV station just combines these two elements. I would like to focus on this very one as a case to tell a story about the current state of ethic internet TV stations.



The story:



I am a Chinese journalist but work in a black-interest internet TV station. What's the internet TV stations like? What's the Black internet TV station like? How do I work with them? Then how would internet TV station survive? How could ethic minority's voice heard?







Scene 1I am a Chinese journalist, 24 year old, come to London October 2010.











I was born in China where black people are rarely seen.











To be honest, I am a little bit afraid if a tall and strong black stranger stands in front of me.











I am not sure where my idea on black people are from. Maybe the image comes from American Hollywood Movies. Black people are always associated with violence, crimes, anger. The decent people are all white guys.











Also there is another kind of black people's image. They live in a place where I never have a chance to visit. They are away from modern society. They lack food, water but they are peaceful people. They do not work hard because the weather is too hot to work.



I lack the knowledge of black people. How about you?



Scene 2: Why and How does a non-black journalist work in black internet TV station?



When I began to take part in colourfully, I did not think too much.











I feel black community, like every ethnic community, needs to be treated well. Racial problems always go to the black community while although Chinese people also suffer from being minority, but not with serious racial problems.











When I contributed to BBC 5 Live, I was asked why your Chinese people were so quiet.











I answered, that's our culture.











At the same time I realised it was not we Chinese people would like to be quiet; it was because mainstream media did not pay attention to our Chinese people.











The same happens to black community. Or the media exaggerate their negative images such as high rate of crime, being rude.











The result is devastating: when black people go to the bank, they hardly get the mortgage comparing with white people. when black students are at school, teachers tend to assume them as poor-performed students. If there is a crime associate with ethic people, the crime is easily labeled wit "black on black crime".











And black people are definitely not the only ethic people who suffer from this bias.



Since I study journalism, I could sense the inappropriate reports on black community.



So I decided to see a real black people on my own.



Scene 3: How would this black internet TV station survive? How would internet TV station survive? How could we make our minority's voice heard?



Colourtelly is the first black interest internet TV station in the UK.



By under-serving or neglecting minority viewers altogether, the mainstream broadcasters have left a yawning gap in the market.











"The black audience pays its licence fee, but we don't really see ourselves - or stars from our community - represented on screen at all. I was watching TV last night, on several different channels, and I promise you, apart from people passing by in the street, you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of black faces your saw." one interviewee said to me.











There's nothing remotely like it out there. Yes, there are a few other black TV stations based in Britain - but they tend to be Nigerian TV stations or the obligatory black-interest music stations. Colourtelly.tv will be a very different proposition. We'll be making our own drama, our own talkshows, kids' and history programmes, all aimed at a black British audience.



















But when I entered the real working atmosphere of colourfully, I should say that I can not accuse the founder, Dotun Adebayo and his wife Thompson, of not putting their money where their mouths are with their new project. I should say that I respect him because as far as I know, he and his wife are risking everything with this. They're risking our home and our future.











How can they survive, in this capital society? Who really cares about black community or your programmes? Even black people may not know your station. How do you make money?











If the station continues to burn money, in a way of producing programmes every week but hardly get its audience, I am not optimistic to its future. This internet TV station relies too much on Dotun's financial support and his fame in media. How does a non-black journalist work in black internet TV station?

June 26th
Interview Dele Ogun

29th
talk with classmates

July
4th
5th
6th
July 13th

Su Chang's story

Su Chang's story

chapter one

I am a Chinese journalist, 24 year old, come to London October 2010.

I was born in China where black people are rarely seen.

To be honest, I am a little bit afraid if a tall and strong black stranger stands in front of me.

I am not sure where my idea on black people are from. Maybe the image comes from American Hollywood Movies. Black people are always associated with violence, crimes, anger. The decent people are all white guys.

Also there is another kind of black people's image. They live in a place where I never have a chance to visit. They are away from modern society. They lack food, water but they are peaceful people. They do not work hard because the weather is too hot to work.

chapter two

London is a fantastic place.

"When you are bored of London, you are bored of life."

Many things to do; many places to go; and many peoples to see.

Peak-time London and its off-peak-time looking are so different.

Shops close very early. Towns sleep early as well. Pubs never lack custmers.

Many people have passions on politics. Every one could challenge their MP, listen to debates in Parliament.

People will go for holidays. "Work is work and holiday is holiday." The rule is well carried on.

You do not need to worry about the traffic lights. Everybody just obeys it. Unlike in China, even with a green light on, you have to double check the traffic.

Honest is the best rule here.

People respect each other.

Buses will wait for your slow movement. Special spaces spare for baby trailers. Priority seats are rarely taken by others.

Arts are respected as well. Arts make money easier.

chapter three

to be continued...

Moving out anyway, goodbye Harrow

I will move out in 5 hrs.

Goodbye Harrow.

I will start my final project now. In twenty days, I could make it!

Talk to me.

As I always do, quietly talk to me, through my words.

poem

My dream

Every time I write for my heart,

I feel so relaxed.

Down to the ground, and I get a sense of safety.

I will be a writer.

Write for my heart.

If you would love me, love me the way I love.

I want myself surrounded by books, by coffee.

So I could establish my own kingdom by using words.

My words are made from my soul.



To my lover

I lose myself unless you find me and take me home.

With warm hands.

With wide shoulders.

Give me a home.

I am alone all the journey.

Looking back and forth, I am scared of missing you.

The world is big.

Passers-by are countless.

Among the large population, my love, where are you?

I am not as strong as you think.

I will cry in the quite midnight.

When I am alone, I am more vulnerable.

Please lend me your shoulder.

Let me rest in your arms.

Show me the way.

I am always trusting you.

Close my eyes, I could see.

mood diary

Today I cried.

For those of high pressure and hard work all these days.

I am not to be a workaholic.

But I am induced to.

I am an assistant producer for an internet TV station.

Teaching Chinese.

Interpreter for a fashion family company. Maybe travel to China next month.

Plus my final project.

Not to mention I am doing some part-time filming for friends.

What am I doing?

Am I running the risk of not getting a degree?

I don't have a God to pray. But what a relief, I assume, if I have someone to resort to.

Parents are no longer the ones who I could rely on. I have to take care of them more.

Family is a faraway term for me.

I can't get rid of the temptations to learn more, do more, even burn both ends of the candle.




Final project is my nightmare now...
Struggling...

But I do have a feeling that if I jump to reach the apple, I will finally make it. And when I look back one month later, I will say, it worths.

human rights VS overpopulation: a hot potato

A Chinese professor, Yang Zhizhu, was sacked because he refused to pay £20,000 fine for his second child to the government.‏

I read this eye-freshing piece of news from a Chinese Media. Long time of being my family's only child, I have to say something.

Before we jump into the conclusion of accusing anybody, some facts should be cleared, especially for our Western readers.

Birth Control policy was adopted fourty years ago.

It will be easier to spoil the child if he is the only child of the family, according to a social study.

Most people who live in rural places of China have more children.(see the figures in the second article)

China has the largest population in the world which causes many problems such as poverty, hunger...

Western world is against abortion but China does not forbid.

The professor is teaching law in China. It is he who voilated Chinese law.

This innocent child will face many problems. She is not given her Hu Kou issued by the Government, a special civial residence evidence to go to school or hospital. Just because her father refused to pay the fine.

Freedom of having birth becomes an issue to be tackled during China's process of being a citizen society.

The fine is to support a special department of Chinese Government named Birth Control Office.

According to Hu An gang, one of brain stormer for Chinese highest level government says, "population is not the one that leads to the pressure of resource and environment problems."

One Child policy was supposed to be welcomed not a enforcement.

Ma Yinchu advised the birth control that every couple had two children almost 50 years ago. We fail to surpass him.

Chinese people hate changes. They tend to accept changes step by step, gradually.

Chinese people are the best people in the world, according to Han Han, who is just selected as an influencial youth in the world. They never seek for unstable elements to solve their own problems, which makes it easier for their government to govern.


...


BEIJING, China, April 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A prominent university professor in Beijing has been fired because he and his wife had a second child in defiance of China's infamous one-child policy, says Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
Law professor Yang Zhizhu was notified by officials from the China Youth University for Political Sciences on March 26 that he was being fired because he had violated Beijing's family planning regulations.
Yang's wife gave birth to their second child on December 21, 2009. On the same day, university officials promulgated guidelines that outlined punishments for employees who violated the city's family planning regulations, which included such sanctions as a three-year ban on promotions and a one-year suspension.
Yang has been a vocal opponent of China's population control regime, challenging the city's laws and the school's guidelines in articles and a blog.
"Prof Yang is only the latest of many Chinese government employees who have been fired for breaking the one-child policy,” commented Stephen Mosher of the U.S.-based Population Research Institute, who has done extensive on-the-ground research into China's population control policies.
"While the government now claims that the policy is enforced only by fines, the reality is that the population control police remain on the lookout for illegal children,” Mosher continued. “In the countryside village sweeps remain common, with women pregnant outside the state plan arrested and aborted.”
“In the cities both the husband and the wife can be fined, demoted, transferred, and fired for having a second child,” he added.
Because of the hefty fines levied for additional children, which amount to several years' worth of income, Mosher explained “now without employment, Prof. Zhou will still have to mortgage his family's future in order to scrape together enough money to pay this fine.”
The one-child policy, originally instituted in the 1970s, has resulted in a rapidly aging population, raising fears among some of an impending economic decline.
Realizing the demographic issues associated with the one-child policy, the city of Shanghai began encouraging married couples to have a second child last summer. Reports have indicated that their efforts are failing, however.
According to Mosher, "China's population is falling over a demographic cliff.”
“It is aging rapidly - more rapidly than any human population has ever aged - and the worker-to-retiree ratio will soon be unsustainable,” he said. “All this calls into question whether China will be able to sustain its phenomenal economic growth over the long run."


A Beijing university fires law professor for having two children
Discrimination and punishment still meted out to people who break family planning laws. A university in the capital fires professor for having a second child. The ‘One Child’ policy is undermining China’s economic growth.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – A Beijing law professor has been dismissed because his wife gave birth to a second child in violation of the country’s infamous ‘One Child’ policy, adopted in the 1970s to cut down drastically population growth. His dismissal again puts the spotlight on China’s population family planning programme, which the government ostensibly plans to review.
Chinese Human Rights Defender reported that Yang Zhizhu, an associated professor in the Faculty of Law at China Youth University for Political Sciences, was fired on 26 March because on 21 December 2009 he became a father for a second time.
On that same date, China Youth University officials issued a set of guidelines stipulating punishments for school employees who violated Beijing municipal family planning regulations.
Yang also wrote articles and began a blog to challenge the current family planning regulations as well as the school's penalties, which include a three-year ban on promotions for violators as well as a one-year suspension as a disciplinary action.
Since the late 1970s, China has enforced a ‘One Child’ policy. Couples are limited to one child (two in the countryside if the first child is female) and lawbreakers can be heavily fined and subject to discrimination at work.
In addition, abortion has been promoted as a population control method. For years, population control officials have also carried out forced abortions and sterilisation.
However, the policy is gradually undermining China’s economy. According to the Labour and Social Security Ministry, 23 per cent of the population will be over 60 by 2030, that is 351 million new pensioners to be maintained by the government. The proportion of working to non-working population will thus tip in favour of the latter. At present, three people work for every pensioner. In 20 years, that ratio will be two to one.
Labour shortages are already a problem in a country with a population of 1.3 billion people, especially in the golden belt that goes from Guangdong province to Shanghai.
The problem is so acute that Xie Lingli, director of Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission, has called on families to make more babies.
Shanghai, china’s largest city, has three million over 60, or 22 per cent of the population, a percentage that is expected to reach 34 per cent by 2020.
By 2050, the US Center for Strategic and International Studies expects China to have 438 million people over 60 and 100 million over 80.
At present, the ratio between people in working age and people over 60 is 1.6 to one. In 1975, it was 7.7 to one.

When art meets science - a romance made in a gallery

As romantic moments go, when a woman first meets her husband-to-be is usually special. But who would have thought that when the cold and calculating science of medicine came together with the soft and emotional creative arts, an even more touching moment happens- science and the art fuse together.

“If a body were to be embalmed, John Hunter was sent for… if anything strange in nature occurred, the explanation of it came from him.”*

From one of the oldest anatomical collections in the world to the latest advances in minimal access surgery, the Hunterian Museum which takes its name from reveals 400 years of medical history, a series of events that reveals the connections between microscopy and medicine. It is the 'lens of life'.

Although it has hardly been advertised or reviewed, the exhibition has attracted hundreds of visitors fascinated by the subject. But remember this is a medical museum. You wouldn't expect to see art or artists here. But you would be wrong.

Artists use their creativity to reveal the world in new and sometimes unexpected ways. And that is exactly the point. They try to think outside the box. The Hunterian Museum allows them to do that.

It's a space for them to come and spend the day uninterrupted, sketching human body parts well-preserved in jars for hundreds of years. Being surrounded by thousands of life-sized body parts in jars of varying sizes takes a moment or two of getting used to on entering the museum.

In that jar, a human brain, unremarkable in this setting. Except it belongs to Babbage, the computer inventor. Without that brain we might still be adding sums with a chalk on slate.

Over there, a line of premature babies, from four-weeks-old to nearly full term, hundreds of years have passed but still peacefully at rest, beautiful, exceptional, elegant, unexpected, and mysterious.

Arts tells its own story mysteriously too.

Artist Klein Neason is a regular visitor in need of constant inspiration for his work. His work focuses on the physical world. One day he stumbled into the Hunterian, a museum dedicated to the art and science of anatomy and surgery, and he was hooked.

“It is amazing when my art meets science,” he said. "You have to understand Nature. You cannot build your artistic world from thin air. You have to love the anatomical and have a good and useful knowledge in anatomy."
Klein uses scientific principles to create mesmerizing works of art with inspiration. Like the sketch mused from the facial expressions of premature babies to the three-inch-long foot bone of a Chinese woman.

Klein Neason is not alone.

Several years ago artist Susanna Edwards happened to come upon a collection of Victorian microscopic slides in Hunterian Museum. Intrigued by the creativity and dexterity involved in making these delicate objects, she began to delve into the world of microscopy and that journey pushed her work to a new stage. The result is her stunning photography exhibition which explores microscopy as craft and technology, art and science. Also at the Hunterian museum.

* Jesse Foot, Life of John Hunter.

Music talks

Nana Dankwa is not just a singer: he is a musician. Music to him is a like a religion and way of life. He makes a mixture of all kinds of genres, a fresh new sound best described as Afrolectricfunk. Music inspired by Africa and an electronic dash of P-Funk.

People appreciate commercial things more than real music. I do not want to be treated that way. I do not consume music like a microwave meal. Music to me is an extension of my soul its all about nature and love.

Nana came from a small town of Ghana in West Africa and spent most of his childhood in East Africa, a land full of nature and love.

“That peaceful place, is where I was born; that is where my music and I originally grew, with love, with nature.”

Nana is unsigned.

“If you want to do music, you cannot burden yourself with other concerns apart from being honest to yourself and follow your heart,” he told me.
Idealism is hard, in this money-hungry society.
Nana spent time producing hip-hop music to fit in with the current trend. And he succeeded.

Then one day he woke up. Overwhelmed by a strong feeling of emptiness. Realising what he was doing was unfulfilling, he decided to suspend his musical career.

During this break from his artform, he picked up on listening to the music he knew in his childhood, such as Hi-life from Ghana to George Clinton's P-Funk. Like a ray of sunshine a new passion in rock and electronic music burned in him.

He mentioned to me that “going back to square one" was the best thing he ever did. Spending time in his continent he returned to his root - express yourself through music. The way it used to be back in the days when African people used music to communicate with each other, to spread the message of peace, love and unity.

“We used to sing each other stories," Nana explains. "That is what I want to do with my music.... Expect the unexpected!” he laughed.
Check out Nana D’s debut album 'Blame It On The Album' released in late 2010.

Look through yourself by tattoos

It seems like everyone has a tattoo these days. What used to be the property of sailors, outlaws, and biker gangs is now a popular body decoration for many people. And it's not just anchors, skulls, and battleships anymore — from school emblems to Celtic designs to personalized symbols, people have found many ways to express themselves with their tattoos.

Cover-up or the naked truth?

“A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin. It is my permanent makeup.” says Jo Gardner, a tattoo lover.

A tattoo is a puncture wound, made deep in your skin, that's filled with ink. It is made by penetrating people’s skin with a needle and by injecting ink into the area with a special design.

“Besides your physical appearance, there are still a lot of things worth trying. Like a tattoo!” Jo unbuttoned her shirt, showing me her tattoo at her lower waist.
“For me, a tattoo is a way of regaining power, of remembering pain, tears, happiness and bitterness in life. “

For some people, tattoos represent safety and protection. It is like wearing clothes rather than going naked. You can spend a sunny afternoon narrating your story to a tattoo designer. And by sunset it's there for anyone to see. Your story. Your tattoo.

Every tattoo tells a story
Brian Richards opened a tattoo parlour on at West End of London, a most famous Soho area. As a tattoo enthusiast, he calls himself 'ink', 'tats', 'artist' or 'worker'.
He told me, “Tattoos are still associated with criminality. In the United States many prisoners and criminal gangs use distinctive tattoos to indicate facts about their criminal behaviours, prison sentences, and organizational affiliation. But it is not common to see tattoos used for that purpose here in the UK.”

Sentimental stories are always inspirational to tattoo artists. 'Love' is an endless muse. When emotions need to be expressed a tattoo can do the job.
“Every tattoo has a secret behind it." Brian says. "As a tattoo designer, you have to understand, explore and express that secret.” Getting a tattoo done can take several hours, days or even months but he never minds.

Tattoos used to be done manually — that is, the tattoo artist would puncture the skin with a needle and inject the ink by hand. Though this process is still used in some parts of the world, most tattoo shops use a tattoo machine these days.
But Brian knows how deep to drive the needle into the skin by his brilliant hands.
“We do not offer temporary tattoos. A temporary tattoo is not a tattoo.”
There is a motto on the wall of his Soho shop, says, "look through yourself by your own tattoos".

Before I said goodbye to Brian, he asked me if I would like a tattoo. I declined. For one thing I am so scared of pain and needles. Plus I'm paranoid about infections and allergic reactions. But don't let my fears put you off. Actually, getting a tattoo can hurt, but the level of pain can vary, which depends on your pain threshold, how good the person wielding the tattoo machine is, and where exactly on your body you're getting the tattoo.

Classic: let love forever

It has been raining in London for days. Lovers are held at home to kill time. If you feel blue in your love life, then watch the romantic Korean movie Classic. There can hardly be a better way to refresh your first love and treasure your partner more.

It is a movie about childhood, about dream, about us, about a deepest love across the time and space, about the simplest feeling of your first love.

The director and writer Jae-Young Kwak created a cliché love story about two similar lifes of Shy Ji-hae and her mother’s. They both have to face the situation that either she and her best friends fell in love with the same boy or being loved by two boys. The mysterious similarity just stimulates my curiosity and makes me wonder how the director will finish the story.

If the story only offers this old plot that has been shown in thousands of movies already, there is no way I will watch for another two hours.

But I cannot help appreciate the fantastic pictures that were taken by the brilliant Korean director. The sun sets down to the end of the mountains, which colours the whole movie with a romantic feeling. Then all the past stories are told by her camera smoothly along with a strong personal emotion inside.

The poetic lines as ” when the moonlight falls on the river, I am thinking of you; when the wind passes the river, I am thinking of you” become an echo that goes through from the beginning to the end. Its main piano song named Classic as well touches my heart softly and melt into my life.


My tears quietly dropped when all the mysterious things were unveiled: the younger generation's love has been doomed. This touching movie Classic is worth you and your lover watching together–even if you are single, as long as you treasure your coming love, do not miss it.

Wolfman : the last movie you should watch...

The Wolfman disappointed me. I felt cheated by the fabulous trailer and the overwhelming commercial promotions.

The Wolfman’s director is Joe Johnston, who has never made any good movies so far. He was not supposed to be the original director. Without well preparation, what he gave us is just familiar pictures which had been used in many horror movies.

Although there are four first-class actors and actresses, Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Geraldine Chaplin, they can not save the obviously-copied movie from being teased by film lovers.

What’s worse, the silly plot can be guessed from the very beginning. The writers assumed the audience all have a low IQ. The girl used love to call back the reason of the wolfman could have been the peak of the story; however, the writer failed to tell the story how they loved each other.


The most horrible part of the Wolfman is that this terrible movie created a wonderful trailer to lose me £7.

Well, you could say the last chance for their investment to come back is to do a huge promotion and a fairly brilliant trailer.

When I see the facial looks of other audience, I understand I am not the only person who regrets the decision to waste time here.

a wonderful trip in Hunterian Museum

I was always wondering how to spend my weekends in London.
Tired of tourist attractions, I am looking for an unique, inspiring and captivating experience.
Then I found this place and never need worry how to kill the weekends.

I am not joking. I am saying the Hunterian Museum.
I asked a person who had been living in London for more than 20 years. He failed to recognise what the Hunterian Museum was about.

As a foreigner getting in London for five months only, I felt so sorry for him. But do you know this museum? Obviously it is not that well-known. I can tell from your look.

The Hunterian collections contain over a million objects. Some are world-famous such as Charles Babbage's brilliant brain.

Don't let me down you have no idea about this guy. He is the one who originated the modern analytic computer. By 1834 he invented the principle of the analytical engine, the forerunner of the modern electronic computer. Wow, a great person. I am afraid none of us are "lucky" enough to meet Charles Babbage, But we can study his brain in the museum. Probably it could be a better way to make a comparison with your brain and his.

Also there is a two-tailed lizard. There are two preparations of the stomach of an East Indian tortoise. Not only those, Charles Byrne's skeleton is something that you can not miss. I am afraid if he were still alive, he could have interfered Yao Ming. Our tallest player in the NBA at 2.29m (7 ft 6 in) can not beat this Irish Giant Charles Byrne at 2.31m (7 ft 7in). This guy had words in his willing not wanting to be bought by Hunt. Ironically his body was purchased for 130 pounds and displayed after his death for three days.

Skull of 25-year-old man shows at least three times as large as a normal head, the bones of a Chinese woman's binding feet, cockerel's heads with transplanted human teeth embedded in the combs...quirky scenes can raise your horizons.

Shell-producing segment of the oviduct of a duck, cuckoo egg towards the end of its incubation, pregnant mouse, sheep, cow, pig, ovary, bat, hedgehog, kangaroo, goose etc etc. They are there telling fascinating stories, showing historically significant, either leaving puzzling or being bizarre.

I came across many visitors. None of them have anything to do with medicine. They are bank managers, artists, or even elementary pupils.

You can donate three pounds or just pretend not noticing the reminder in front of the door. By the way, what i did was showing them my journalistic card and enjoyed a great welcome by a volunteer from Taiwan who can speak Mandarin to me!

About Dalai Lama

The other day I joint a radio programme and was asked, “Why are Chinese people upset for the news that ’ Barack Obama is to meet Dalai Lama’?”

The live radio did not allow me to have more than one second to delay my response.

I answered instinctively, “ Dalai Lama’s demand is to free Tibet. It is like in your family, one of your children is trying to get rid of you. How do you feel?”

Pretty sad, I do not have a strong political standing for any side.

When I was in China, the information I got was Tibet was one part of our territory.

When I asked the westerners, they told me that our government took over this country.

That is where our main problem lies.

Our information about this story is totally different. So what is the point talking about this?

Where is the truth?

Truth lives nowhere.

Both Chinese and western worlds have their media for their own purpose. It does not necessarily mean they are telling a lie. They just dig one part of the truth and show part of the truth as a fact to play their citizens.

One of my lecturers told me to read more information in London because she believed too much censorship in mainland. She was so eager to teach me that Dalai Lama was a spiritual leader in Tibet. Our government should not have taken over this land.

But I asked her, “How do you know your media tell the truth?”

Then I asked her, “ How do you think about the conflicts between the North Ireland and England? Are you going to free it?”

She became silent.

And I said, “ We are not making decisions. Just express ourselves because we do not have the truth.”

Back to my programme, I said there was no problem to meet Dalai Lama in Whitehouse, but not treat Tibet as an independent country.

It hurts our relatives feeling if we lose any child.

I would like to find a best way to develop Tibet. So far, nobody has got the answer.

The programme presenter asked, “Dalai Lama did not allow the Tibetans to celebrate Chinese Spring Festival. Will Tibetans listen to him?”

I did not know this piece of news.

My answer was “ his religious followers may not celebrate. But why does he have the power to decide for Han people, another ethic people in Mainland. ”

My words fail me.

My feeling is just overwhelmed.

I will wait until Barack Obama finally meets or does not meet Dalai Lama and say something.

If I still have words to say.

How to Teach Chinese Speaking And Listening

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

How to Teach Chinese Speaking And Listening

View more presentations from Joanne Chen.

Review on thorns and silk

This movie by Paulina Tervo grabs your attention from the very first minute. This short movie is about four different Palestinian women telling their stories. All four of them work in male-dominated jobs: wedding filmmaker, taxi driver, policewoman and mechanic. The camera concentrates on a day-in-the-life of a woman, whose work is unusual in her society. All images lead our audience closely into these four women’s career life, the challenges that the Palestinian women face and their unseen inside parts.

“If you’d ask to choose between thorns or silk, I’d choose thorns.”

This quote probably shows best how these women fight against the traditions.



Each section of the movie consisted of the woman telling her story with accompanying images. These images are often contrasting Showing the heavy boots of police officers, it turns straight afterwards the feminine face of the woman.



The constant ethical background music, as well as fluent montage approaches, offers our audience a big visual and audio feast. The un-traditional uniform for women, the faraway drumbeats take us, the audience into a Palestinian world which the media fail to mention.



I love the part wherethe cabbie Majda takes off her Jewish headscarf in the car and ties it into a Muslim scarf Hijjab. The background music adds the atmosphere to this scene, which says so much without any spoken words.



The unveiled women-only wedding images, which stimulate audience appetite, however, can not be shown on screen due to relational restrictions despite many times of negotiations. The director uses high-heeled shoes and fingers with colourful long nails instead to portrait women. However, it leaves more space for audience imagination about their mysterious beauty under the veils. A thought-provoking documentary is always better than hundreds of educational books. From the movie, you can read certain contents such as human rights, feminism and go into deep thoughts afterwards.



The documentary thorns and silk was financially supported a grant from a research organisation called “Pathways of women’s empowerment”. The properly funded opportunity provides thorns and silk team with better equipment and professional crew throughout. Originally the movie started with images of female police officers directing traffic on the streets and later developed into the current series of four films.



Palestine and Palestinian people are always shown with a negative image in mainstream media in Europe. Paulina Tervo, however, did not stick to this stereotype. She went into a real Palestine life. Weary faced Palestinian women follow many restrictions and norms within their own territory.



When asked her comment on her first funded documentary, Paulina says, “I love this work from a storytelling angle and its visual look.”



Still some aspects are unsatisfying. The first story of the female filmmaker seems relative superficial. Deeper conflicts in Palestine are left untouched. Probably due to the length of the documentary; afterall, Paulina is a European.



The documentary thorns and silk changes our audience presumptuous idea about Palestine. From the director’s view, Palestine is not a place full of conflicts but a place full of stories. “I am determined to keep going back to tell positive, empowering stories that show Palestinians as strong and intelligent people because they deserve it.”



After the successful premier show in London, Paulina’s film is to meet its international audience gradually. We expect more from this feminist film maker more creative ideas on her next film.

How do you feel? 你做何感想？

Although the mirror is such sensational newspaper for me to read, today’s headline catches my attention.

尽管英国的镜报的煽情口味不适合我，但是今天它的标题倒是吸引我读了下去。

250th hero dies in Afghanistan.

第二百五十个英雄牺牲在阿富汗战场。

Basically it is about a new British soldier in Afghanistan battle and the news is plain and pale.

这个新闻基本上就是关于又一名英国士兵战死在阿富汗战场。

Before I came to UK, I never pay attention to any current global war. Probably is because China won’t engage in any of them, and the mainstream media seldom talk about it.

我来英国之前，本人从来不会去关注任何国际战争。可能是因为中国没参战，主流媒体又不大谈这些。

What touches me is that when her mother knew her son died yesterday, she logged in her son’s Facebook and wrote: "To all our friends & family, we would just like to let you know that we lost our Brave Soldier - Peter.

让我颇受触动的是她妈妈得知自己儿子去世的时候，就到他的facebook上面留言：致我们的家人和朋友，我来只是来告诉你，我们失去了Peter——我们勇敢的士兵。(翻译的不好，还是原文有味道，我尤其喜欢just let you know的表达)



I have not yet gone deep into how media influence our behaviour. But I think this behavior is somewhat like a show. Still I can not understand a mother who just lost her 19-year-old son is so logic to write such words.

我没深入研究过媒体是如何影响我们的行为的。但是我总感觉这个妈妈的行为有点作秀。我不太理解一个刚刚失去19岁儿子的妈妈理智地写下这一番话。



My answer is she is definitely a great mother.

我的结论是她真是一位伟大的母亲。



I do not like war. Every war has its reasonable reason but every war has too many innocent deaths.

我不喜欢战争。所有战争都有他们自己冠冕堂皇的借口，只是战争总是有太多无辜生命名的离去。



I hate the media trying to establish an image that every mother is great to sacrifice their son for the sake of their country. Especially I am just re-reading Animal Farm these days; such disgusting feeling becomes strong.

我极其厌恶媒体宣传“每个士兵的妈妈都特伟大，送自己的儿子上战场，为国捐躯”。尤其是近期我还在重读动物农场，这更加让我反感。



If you can, just leave my nonsense alone. Anyway, I am a foreigner without enough knowledge of western culture.

要是你能理解，就当我自言自语好了。不管怎么说，我还是一个不懂西方文化的外国人。

Have you watched the documentary thorns and silk?

I remember the day my classmate recommends this for our inclass review. At that time I was a bit sleepy but still strongly touched by the 13 minutes documentary.

I love documentaries more than any other commercial movies.

With a drink in hand, I always spend a peaceful afternoon watching a thought-provoking documentary that can beat my bottom heart.

The story in a documentary is not always with a happy ending. Even worse, it makes me feel myself so helpless.

But Paulina Tervo's documentary, Thorns and Silk, is everything but an encouraging one. It tells the unusual story of four Palestinian women who work in male dominated jobs in the West Bank.

The most important thing is:

I am going to interview her!

Haha, good luck to me!

If you’d ask to choose between thorns or silk, I’d choose thorns.”

quoted from thorns and silk

For me, the director, she is a rose among Thorns

"three things you should know!" from today's Guardian

first thing

working in BBC is such a "luxury" thing

If my cutting is not too bad for you to figure out the astonishing number of a BBCer’s payment, you must have already been shocked like me.

He earned 834,000 pounds last year! When we are struggling with slow speed of online watching due to our budget, he has put all money in his pocket and handsome left.


second thing
limelight is not always good for you

third thing

being raped in Dubai means up to six years in jail

It is until I read this article that I knew Dubai has some weird regulations on their citizen’s behaviour.

First: never have sex outside marriage, or you will be sentence up to six years in jail.

If this became a law in the West countries, we can imagine how large the prison will be and how many guilty or guilty-to-be persons outweigh the innocent.

Second: even you were raped, no matter how angry and desperate, never go to the police. Or you will suffer the same punishment as the former one because you have sex outside marriage.

Third: if you are not prepared then do not go to Dubai, because:

It is until I read this article that I knew Dubai has some weird regulations on their citizen’s behaviour.

Heavy snow hits Harrow

2010’s first snow comes quietly, whitens all roofs and streets in Harrow so as other areas in South England despite only light snow expected from yesterday’s weather report.

Schools closure
Many schools close today due to the disturbing traffic after the overnight snowfall. For the sake of safety and students are asked to see further information on reopenings on school websites.

University of Westminster, one that is still open this morning despite the freezing conditions, has to close its Harrow Campus at around 1pm and many ongoing classes have to be put off and rescheduled.

“It is really disturbing.” Malvins, one of professors on Harrow campus, says, “we have to make a new schedule on our task. I am sorry to let students go back home without the accomplishment on work, especially for those who spend a long time struggling here”

School then posts a shutting-down note on its website to keep all students informed.

Westminster is only one among a list of closing schools in Harrow. Many have already announced their status early in the morning due to the heavy snow and ask their students to check the updating websites.

Fun with snow
Young people enjoy playing in the snow despite this not being the first snow this winter.

Hien Bach, a 23-year-old Vietnamese girl who currently studies in London, says with an excited voice, “This is the first time I see real snow. I have already taken more than two hundred pictures with snowy scenery. ”

Although this is not the first time that Londoners see snow in winter, it is still rare to experience snow on such a big scale.

When driving past streets, you can easily to find cute snowmen either with a carrot on the face or a broom standing on the pavements.

Shopping chaos
The concern on unstable delivery leads to panic buying in harrow as weather report says a coming snow up to 40cm deep becomes.

The owner of a grocery shop near Harrow-on-the-hill tube station, James Camper, says the sales on vegetables, bread and milk is nearly doubled compared with last month.

In Tesco, the shelves for eggs and bread are nearly empty, with only some broken packages left and three staff are in soup selling area busy adding the storage.

One shopper, a middle aged housewife, Carol says, “You know, I have three children and a working husband. I have to buy more just in case. Who knows whether or not the supply will work as usual.”

1/4 on ticket price, 1/26 on income

The new China express railway price is one forth as much as that of Japan, however Japan’s per person income is 25 times more than China’s, according to the new price released by China’s Ministry of Railways on December 27th

express railway is ready to run       Picture from CFP

too expensive

Chinese Government releases the price of Guangzhou-Wuhan express railway on December 27th, which is 3.5 times as much as the replaced train.

Chinese netizens complain about the high price of the new railway. “Now express railways turn to be the privilege of the rich- namely, expensive railways.”

Qinghua dancao, a labor worker in Guangzhou says, “today when I see the price, my heart is frozen. I have been looking forward to this express railway for a long time because we heard that the speed is fast and really easy to get a ticket. So expensive! How can I afford? ”

According to the Ministry of Railways, large investment on the establishment and the operation are the main reason of the relatively high price.

The vice administer of Ministry of Railways Guo Wenqiang says, “there will be more discount in the future, especially for students, the old and the retired soldors.”

It is just one forth of a similar ticket in Japan. However, Japan’s income is 26 times as much as China’s. And this “one-forth” ticket, according to a netizen, takes up almost as much as his one- month salary.

Unsatisfied part

The purpose of express-railway establishment is to shorten the traffic time between Middle China and Southern China, relieve the burden of the Spring Festival, when around millions of Chinese will return to their hometown.

Despite the benevolent will, most Chinese say that the price is unbelievably high, even more expensive than the plane tickets.

What are worse, original trains between Gunagzhou and Wuhan are cancelled; no option left.

Financial columnist Wu Ruijiu comments in his article, “transparence on express railway price decision is in demand, to guarantee the feasibility, fairness and reason.

The author does a research on the railway price and per income of China and Japan.