Newsletter of the Humanist Movement: Asia-Pacific Issue number six, 2003 ----------------- CONTENTS ----------------- 1. Editorial 2. Hong Kong 3. China 4. Other News 5. Guest organisation - China Labour Bulletin 6. Web News 7. Contact ======= 1. Editorial ======= Hi friends, Kung Hei Fat Choi It is the Lunar New Year, in the Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Goat (Ram or sheep). It is lucky that the sheep is ranked eighth in the series of Chinese zodiac animals, for the number "eight" in China is an auspicious one, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Peace, Force and Joy Tony ****************************** Report in brief - the Humanist Movement I belong to Council 9, my orientor is Wilfredo. We have a certain style of organisation in the Movement which is repeated throughout, wherever in the world. Also, a style that’s a bit light. Our Council is growing: There are now 12, 918 members in our structure with an semestral increase of 24%, with: 1 General Coordinator 18 Coordinators 168 General Delegates 1,418 Team Delegates 11,312 Group Delegates. There are 12,906 recorded supporters (Adherents), which correspond to a semestral increase of 12%. The council is made of 47% of men and 53% of women. The origins are 54% Africans (76%), 43% Latinos (20%), 3% Asians and 1% Europeans. There are 16 meeting places, 3 in Chile, 3 in Africa (2 in Senegal, 1 in Ivory Coast), 1 in Panama, 1 in Costa Rica, 1 in Belgium, 1 in Spain and 5 in France (4 in Paris and 1 in Marseille, plus another in Bagerhat in Bangladesh We have 20 Neighbourhood Newspapers, 4 in Chile, 7 in France, 3 in Belgium, 3 in Venezuela, 2 in Africa (Ivory coast and Cameroon) and 1 in Bangladesh. Statistics: We are based in 33 countries including 20 with significant presence. 1 country with more than 3,000 people (Chile), which means 28.4% of Council 9. In 5 countries, there are more than 1,000 members (Senegal, Cameroon, Peru, Burkina Faso and Benin) In 6 countries, there are more than 250 members and more than 100 in 4 other countries. There are also 4 countries with more than 50 members. In Summary, 4 countries represent 60% of the Council (Chile, Senegal, Cameroon and Peru). 7 countries represent 80% of Council 9 (Chile, Senegal, Cameroon, Peru Burkina, Benin and Togo). The Council is represented by sympathisers in 17 countries (Brazil, Canada, Philippines, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Nederland's, Honduras, India, Italy, Liberia, Madagascar, Morocco, Mexico, Nicaragua, Rumania, Switzerland, Turquie and Zaire). Pakistan and Germany have been opened this semester. Students represent 30% of our structure. Sonority: 28% became members last semester, 18% have participated for more than 6 months, 23% for more than a year and 3% for more than 4 years. In the encyclical that arrived a talk was given on the importance of the co_presence (Read the works of Silo for details). In the circular it was stated that, “in sharing new experiences, we integrate new co_presences. There are co_presences that follow us… lots of them that we don't like. There are things that we have in mind and that don't please us. We can put into our minds new co_presences. This meeting, for instance (the talk took place at the six-monthly meeting of Council 9 in Costa Rica but I could not afford to go - read, did not apply myself with strong intention in that direction) is a co_presence which will follow us. The choice of meeting is something that we have decided. We have chosen to be here. There are a number of things that we will have to choose in the future. It is important to know that each of us will choose, because it can change our existence. The theme of what is co_present is very important. It can make a big difference in our lives. It is important to see each other once every semester to have this co_presence. It will be an important part of our lives.” ======== 2. Hong Kong ======== GOVERNMENT CHANGES TUNE ON ARTICLE 23 The people of Hong Kong should be mightily proud at the way they pressured the government to take another look and change the wording and contents of Article 23 - on treason etc. In a country ruled by law it is necessary to make the law clear so not many opposed the actual fact of having a law. Like a dog with a bone the activists, which included a disenchanted Bar Association, just would not let go. EDUCATION SUBSIDIES UNDER THREAT While this dispute which took over the English press is of more concern to a minority of the population here, in general the non-Chinese speaking sector, it did highlight aspects of Hong Kong life that underpins the whole culture. Is this really a ‘world city’ as the government keeps telling us (it should be telling people abroad, not us. We don’t need to know this)? The following was proposed to the SCMP as an article but was beaten down by the worthier offerings of top dogs in the ESF and education system. (Sorry it’s a bit long) THE SKIN OF A DEAD CAT! By Tony Henderson The emphasis of the comments by Hong Kong University pro-vice chancellor Cheng Kai-ming in his recent observations on what is going wrong with the Hong Kong education system were surprisingly and in fact radically, fresh, despite the man being very much involved in the matter himself. His clear seeing rescues those others in his lofty position that are not so focussed and tells a wide audience that all is not lost! Cheng is against raising tertiary education fees and insists there has to be another way of addressing government budget problems. He gets right down to the point, that education is not business. It is not about money or bottom line figures and profits. It is about education itself and the provision of that to as many as possible without discrimination in any form, economic, systemic-structural, affecting certain strata of the population. The lower income group. If this is the case then parents must not allow language distinctions to provoke divergent streams in the education process by relegating the non-Chinese speakers to a disadvantaged channel where cash and only cash can solve the education problems. Hong Kong is still an international city but this status is threatened in these adverse economic times when people in general cannot afford to walk the pay-as-you-go education route. People are on local not expatriate terms nowadays. English as international language is a useful tool of interchange and needs subvention as it is a minority engagement. It needs to be put on par with education in Chinese. Well, if the intention is to continue with this international tradition, otherwise no! The international community will have no other option than to leave if they cannot afford to school their children here in the internationally accepted English medium. The contrary figure in this hot debate is education minister Arthur Li Kwok-cheung who innocently remarked to the press that “Philosophically, I would like to give free education to everyone but we have to be realistic.” This statement contains the kernel of the only total answer to this question of education or business. Free education is the answer. To qualify this ‘free’, it means parents or students don’t have to fork out cash for their mainstream studies, the system pays. It comes out of taxes so of course it is not ‘free’. With this intent the entire approach has to be re-appraised. Not philosophically, practically. It could be done overnight, in one Mao Tse-tung turnaround that provokes a mini-cultural revolution involving students, parents, teachers, schools administrators and government and even those on the periphery of the schooling system, the tax payers, seeing their money invested in a clearer future. It is interesting that in his argument for cutting ESF school subsidies Li mentioned the Lantau International School (LIS)as an example of an institution that could charge far less than the ESF schools yet did not receive a government subsidy. He is right and wrong in that assumption. The LIS was a parent initiative to allow local children to have schooling without journeying all the way to Hong Kong island each day. In its heyday there was only one administrator, the secretary, though the principle and other staff daily mucked in. In fact that is how fees were kept down, and by the parents mucking in. It was the parents that provided the equivalent, and more, of any government subsidy. The nominal one dollar rent also greatly helped. Where Li is perfectly right re: LIS is, using that as an example of how things can be done. The teachers were well paid but not up to ESF heights. It was a human-scale school and related in every facet to its own community, the Christmas concert was always a ‘sellout’, parents delighted in attending the functions. They got to know each other. Can that small-school phenomena be transferred to the schools of the major conurbations, the city schools? To a degree yes, but only to a degree. The fact is the city is different from the country so LIS is not the example Li should choose. It might be an aside to the main contention here - which circles around the point of education for what - but schools are now over-organised. For example, there is too much homework and when that is added to extra-curriculum activities which keep young people away from their friends of an evening and at weekends, this is a negative. Also, there is no need to organise play. Children can be thrown together and when they stop squabbling they will play and learn directly about themselves and each other in the best way and in their neighbourhoods. We should trust young people much more than we do and leave them alone. If we cannot answer our own personal questions why meddle with the unspoilt minds of the future? However, Li is certainly correct to say that should the subsidy to taken away from ESF schools then that painful extraction should not mean fees to parents automatically increase (forty percent is the figure spoken of) though Li is not in a position to enforce that kind regard. There is no doubt that as long as education is business the ESF will pass on the dolorosa. Is Hong Kong sure in its conviction of offering universal education? Yes. Then there should be no discrimination and everyone, no matter the income level must have access to mainstream education. The non-income earning family as much as the minister of education himself. The only way to do this is by providing free education at all levels, right up to and through university. Allowing banks to give easy loans to students for fee payments simply delays the problem of repayment in the style of the accumulated American Debt (US$6.38 Trillion on January 8, 2003). That Play Now, Pay Later insistence is a threat to the entire world financial system. Now think of the administration fees saved when there is no concern over the financials. All that time, those procedures, all those overheads, gone. The attention comes to rest on education. But ESF teachers salaries must come down - Li is spot on there. They are over the top just as are the salaries of middle-to-top management and academics everywhere. The differentials are causing a social mismatch and a widening income gap - a major concern in social affairs. It is not proven that good teachers will only work for very high salaries as inferred by the ESF’s personnel manager, John Tustin’s statement to the press. Teachers, like everyone else, will work for the going rate. It’s their job. What else are they going to do? Maybe it is opportune to recall the debate about nurses - quite a while ago - when there was a demand to increase there meagre salaries and some said, “Oh, we want Florence Nightingales... Of course this is taking an extreme position, but good teachers, committed to their craft, will teach despite a less-than-grand salary. Also, how is it that the Discovery Bay School, which is as big as any ESF school, can manage their affairs with ‘only’ a principle, a deputy principle and an admin person whereas the ESF schools have 6 or 7 people in those high-salaried posts. I am sorry, but an administrator should be, relatively, a minion, a helper. The teachers deserve good payment because their’s is an onerous and exacting job which tires and one which should have a minimum of daily working hours. You cannot compensate with more money for long hours, education suffers, the teacher suffers. The proposal is, socialised education - also socialised medic-care and so on for all social services. Why are we paying taxes - are we paying taxes? Where is our tax money going? Who has all the money? Where is the accountability? The danger lies in unbridled privatization because that is business first everything else second. Who wins? The beauty of the ‘overnight change’ is everyone is involved and thus have an opportunity to see the other’s situation. And, to do something about it. They are forced into it. A dialectic takes place. Seldom does anyone in a cushy position give that up and indeed why when the other’s ain’t! That’s why the whole situation has to be turned upside down. It is also worthwhile understanding that force is not violence. The hurt that ensues in a non-violent revolution has limits. Everyone is in a similar situation. It is not as if the others did not understand. There is mutual support. There is a demand that all ages get involved in this new process. Very likely the alcohol and drugs scene will cease to be a negative as real engagement will enable young minds to focus on the priorities and not Disneyland escapism - as different from entertainment. As the title of one book puts it, “Life is real, only then, when I am.” This ‘problem’ - how come suddenly it is a problem when the whole shebang has been with us for ages - tells us that something has changed and it is not going to stop here. That something can be seen in the day’s news which is getting all the time closer to the bone, close to home and more intimate with each person’s daily life and its tremors. ’What if the parents and the young ones so intimate with the circumstance, decide on street action, strikes, non-payments, an Argentinianisation of the process? Mr Cheng though is very good to have around and Mr Li is on the right track because he is insisting ESF stop wasting money. There is waste. Consider this: on top of the $8,860 monthly fee for one child (West Island School), plus the school bus which is billed annually at $5,700, the uniform at $1,430 a shot and not to mention the $15,000 deposit. That tots up to quite a tidy sum. Then, multiply the figure by the number of students at these schools. What on earth do they do with the money? Yes, it is a wonderful school, but! A very recent class nature-outing came with a demand for $20 for dinner money and a further $120 for the trip. Is there no end to the lack of understanding of the financial plight of many parents? Education is not about mathematics or specialised studies. Those are opportunities for the so-inclined. Education is about handling life adequately and sensing one’s relation with the wider world and its peoples. Having that security where sitting under the tree is perfectly good, nothing else to do today and if I think of something worthwhile then I’ll get off my butt and do it. All in good time. Education cannot really be bought and is priceless - like the skin of a dead cat - in the sense that no one can really put a price on it! ===== 3. CHINA ===== LABOUR ACTIVISTS’ FAMILIES HARASSED While the media in mainland China are not letting on about the Liaoyang trial, the government is tightening the news blackout even further __ the families of Xiao Yunliang and Yao Fuxin have been warned by the Public Security Bureau that communication with the overseas media is not allowed. Xiao's family is very worried about his health after they learned that he cannot see properly. BLOOD DIAMONDS An international initiative to crack down on the illicit trade in diamonds, called the Kimberley Process, has taken effect in China where State Administration for the Inspection of Import and Export Commodities has established offices in over 20 customs checkpoints and in the Shanghai Diamond Exchange to curb trade in "blood diamonds." Blood diamonds are rough diamonds obtained by using or threatening to use force, and are exploited by many rebel movements to finance their activities, mainly in Africa. Under the Kimberley Process, agreed to by 39 countries and regions, any rough diamond entering or leaving a country has to be transported in a sealed container and accompanied by a certificate of origin. The new system is intended to identify a diamond's origin when it passes through customs. GIVE PEACE A CHANCE As head of a Chinese undergraduates' international relations study society, Fan Hongwei is troubled by the Iraq issue: Will the country soon fall in war or survive in peace? Fan's society, is based in the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute, has closely watched and discussed the possible war threatened by the United States. "I'm afraid the United States will trigger a war against Iraq soon after the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission submitted its report to the UN Security Council on Monday," Fan said at a discussion forum. US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned on Monday that the time for the peaceful disarmament of Iraq was fast coming to an end, accusing Baghdad of defying the world with its weapons of mass destruction. "Weapons of mass destruction just pose an excuse for the United States to overthrow President Saddam Hussein's regime," Fan said. Yang Yu, also a member of the society, seemed more optimistic. He said the inspection term could be extended due to the reactions of major powers, especially France and Russia. Such discussions are common in every corner of China's universities, even though Iraq is thousands of miles away. "Could the United States reduce casualties to the lowest possible level if a war starts? If not, could they keep fighting to the end?" asked Zhang Ming, an undergraduate in Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology in Shaanxi Province. Fudan University student Xie Weiyi was more concerned about the economic consequences. "The Gulf War and 10 years of sanctions have pulled Iraq's economy back to the level of 20 years ago. It is doomed to disintegrate in the next war," he said. Foreign Affairs College postgraduate in American studies Shang Cong holds war is meant to test the unilateralism the US has been practising. Reviewing recent wars in the Gulf, Kosovo and Afghanistan, which all involved the United States [Kosovo?], Shang said the possible Iraqi war had not yet gained approval from its traditional allies, except Britain. "The United States has alleged it could provide evidence to prove Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Does this mean the United States could launch wars against any country at any time with its own excuses?" Shang asked. "Our attitude to the issue is as important as the crisis itself," said Zhang Ran, a student at Peking University, one of China's top universities. Zhang spends about an hour every day surfing the Internet for the latest news. "Our concern about world affairs overshadows our self_concern," Zhang said, waving a newspaper carrying reports on the Iraq issue. Chang recalled a photograph published in the Beijing Youth Daily, which highlighted a little Iraqi boy with frightened eyes, a dirty face and anxiously sucking his finger. "If a war breaks out, then how many children like this will be in Iraq?" asked Chang rhetorically. Pinched fromXinhua ============= 4. OTHER NEWS ============= NON-COMMUNIST JOGGERS Thousands of fitness fanatics are using the landing strip at Thailand’s Cheng Rai for jogging, cycling, badminton and aerobics after local authorities gave up trying to prevent them swarming on to the Wing 416 base at dawn and dusk, the Bangkok Post reported. "We tried to tell them (the public) not to enter. But they kept coming, in their tens, their hundreds and now sometimes in their thousands," Sittiporn Chaiyalark, assistant chief of the air staff for logistics, was quoted saying. The airport, the centre of aerial operations against the now_defunct communist party in the north from the late 1960s through the 1980s, has been on active reserve since Chiang Rai's commercial airport was completed in 1993. A loud signal indicates an approaching plane, alerting joggers to clear the landing strip. WHO, WHAT, WHY? Cambodian protesters set the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh on fire after they entered the embassy to protest against a Thai movie star's reported comment that the world_renowned Angkor Wat temple belonged to Thailand. The actress denied the reports. However, it’s quite true. But even more true would be to see Ankor Wat belongs to the Buddha. =============== 5. Guest Organisation =============== CHINA LABOUR BULLETIN The contradictions in China's economy are sharpening as the lethal combination of the legacy from the command economy and market_reforms leaves millions of workers destitute and angry. Yet freedom of association, the most fundamental right of the working class, is still denied. China Labour Bulletin, set up in 1994, seeks to promote independent trade unionism and provide information on the activities of the official All_China Federation of Trade Unions, as well as attempts by workers to organise outside it. They have links with: Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee Asia Monitor Resource Center ICFTU_APRO Human Rights in China Human Rights Watch Amnesty International December 18 0000,0000,ffff<http://www.china_labour.org.hk/ ======== 6. WEB News ======== Google.com is still magic. Ask anything at all. And it is still free! ============================== 9. Humanist eZine subscribers-members ============================== The Humanist eZine subscribers who fill in the form (below) will be registered as members of the Humanist Movement at the level of Adherents. This does not entail any fee nor require any commitment other than helping to spread the humanist message and feeling solidarity with us. Full membership of the Humanist Movement means a commitment are to actively help in spreading the new humanist message under the general head of Humanize the Earth and participate in the Financial Collect. 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Check out the Hong Kong details at: http:is2.pacific.home.hk/~tonyhen Please fill in/out and return the information Personal Data Form Familyname: Givenname: Address: Sex: Date_of_birth: Date: Occupational status: unemployed worker student housewife independent professional business Profession: Phone: Fax: Email: Web page: ================================= 10. CONTACTS TONY HENDERSON, Editor My phone (852) 29840094 _ G/F, 49 Kau Tsuen, Mui Wo, Lantau Island, Hong Kong E_mail: tonyhen@humanist.org.hk Web http//is2.pacific.net.hk/~tonyhen for Australia Decler Mendez <www.PeaceBound.com <www.hmonline.org <www.humanism.org E-MailsDecler@PeaceBound.com & Decler@unsw.edu.AU Ph+61.2.9385 6487 (W) Mb(0414) 861 755 Fx+61.2.9662 4061(W) ---