BEGGARS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS. CHOOSERS MAY BE BEGGARS.

Buddhist monks are not supposed to earn money. They receive the mercy of fellow brothers from their community. James Nachtwey published a Burma Aftermath photographic essay. Seeing a monk begging at the corner of the street reminded me of the habitual, accepted routine of Romanian monks and nuns. Mostly, the latter nation’s holy people beg for money that is supposed to roof a holy prayer edifice. Society came to see them as privileged beggars.

Nae Cranfil's Filantropica speaks about the smart tramp Romanian mafia. A lead of the film is the idea that one has to have a story to sell in order to trick people into becoming false philanthropists by bestowing their kindness on a stranger in need. He then points to the Police’s involvement, having hidden camera documentaries to back his point (not mentioned in the drama). But the privileged beggar in this case is a high school teacher who earns too little to impress his Lolita. Therefore, he resorts to the local beggars' godfather.

A few years ago, I was writing about a social home for under-aged. The institution was and is financed by the state. The case of a 12 year old socked me: he was found in Timisoara (West Romania) begging on the streets. His family lived in central Romania. He fled from home because he could not stand a drunken father, who forbids him to go to school. His father would knock him out if there was a god-given day when he would not bring money home for his booze. The social care staff, according to their regulations, could keep the child for only two weeks. After that, they returned the boy to his family.

There is no defined law regarding begging in Romania. For years I keep seeing very young gipsies at the traffic lights, hoping that the red colour will bring some petty cash. For years, this man, cotton stuffed in his years and wearing all his clothes no matter the season, fronts the entrance of the Lutheran Red Church. For years this child, now turned into teenager, goes from pub to pub 'selling' flowers or tiny calendars. For years single-legged, single-armed or injured fellows pop in the reeking 'personal' train, invoking God's name while stretching three fingers for a coin. Social home have not been able to host any of them, because the no smoking, no drinking, no doping policies do not suit them. Can protest for a better payment be considered a louder and legalised form of begging? It is not the action in itself that I’m not comfortable with, it is the fact that many Romanian professional categories - the most famous being the teachers - are left with no other choice.

Please also see

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1670047_1460842,00.html

'I AM NOT CHINESE!' - Equations Of An Identity

China is loosing its once-taken-pride-in identity and blindly adopts the Western life style. Attempting to stern awareness on China’s brain washed generations, Chinese visual artist Pok U Chan speaks about the way the communist system uses the lack of confidence and knowledge of the people to persuade them into a new identity brand: consumerism.

Ctrl+C Ctrl+V

There’s a contemporary war happening in China: fragmentation, cultural earthquake, twist, ambiguity, ambivalence. A single stick is easy to break, but a thicker bunch is more difficult. I want Chinese to be stronger. When you experience one thing for long, you get used to it. But upon changing your angle of perception, you start thinking more. Living in the UK, I could see better what happens in China. It felt difficult for me to think while living in Macau. Chinese identity trade mark will soon be endangered. My family made me think of Chinese-ness.

Nowadays, Chinese fashion considers that what makes you white is what makes you beautiful. Thus people do not have enough courage to accept their own minds. “The paradise is loosing confidence”, to quote one of the thinkers I admire. And I am disappointed with the attitude in the country. I truly believe that “what we give to the future are the choices we make today”. But we seem to settle to take on a Ctrl + C Ctrl + V attitude.

I feel Chinese have blind faith in modernity. This is the impression that I get when I see them destroying the city to raise “modern” buildings. For example the Olympic construction: the government sponsored it, without demanding any trace of Chinese architecture. The real communication with the world comes when we learn to admire other culture, and not copy it.

Child, you need to be rich!
You can see the Chinese minds still suffering from the Cultural Revolution. Mao said tradition was crap, so it had to be thrown out. Today, Chinese don’t know or cannot believe their history. “Child, don’t believe your history. You need to be rich!” The Chinese cannot see what they have inside anymore. This prevents them from knowing who they really are and it somehow becomes easier to be fond of material things. They have blind faith in everything. They look for energy outside to make them feel strong instead of searching inside for who they are. If you don’t believe your culture, how can you improve who you are?

When you’re in a society where everybody is telling you “You need to be rich! You need to be rich!” you start thinking that you really do. Maybe the fast pace of the way things are going is to blame for people not having time to think and for their preferring to buy ready-served identities. I believe a war is happening: the inner war. Chinese tradition and open statement vs. the culture import results in clashes of ideas.

White skin - the new standard

A book on Chinese film development reads that my people have “little memory and sentiment for the past… They use foreign aesthetics to establish their existence and worth. China is a fascinating social laboratory where a once levelled society is reordering itself into different classes.” And they resort to luxury brands, white skin, and Western style for that purpose. I wonder why they can’t put their energy into what is ours. We have a great history and valuable traditions. In the past, the white skin was the make up for actors staring in Chinese operas. They were regarded as a low social class. Now, white skin symbolizes wealth.

Whatever Mao said, it was the standard. He was portrayed as the God and I think Chinese had blind faith in him. But it is a Chinese habit to have blind faith in something because they do not know which way to go. The brands apply the same politics. Owning a brand product is advertised as owning happiness and being rich. So they will try make you think $ = happiness. Chinese must be self conscious first.

Mao means fashion

In my work, I mixed Mao, MacDonald and Mickey Mouse. They mean fashion. Mao was treated as a king. So is Mickey in Walt Disney. So is MacDonald clown in the fast food industry. There are equal in rank.

Chinese consider their tradition a fashion. What really brings me sadness is the fact that Chinese don’t believe their culture anymore. Youth tend to forget their traditional festivals. They will celebrate it if one is heavily advertised. Just for social reasons, not for the sake of keeping the tradition alive.

After seeing my work, some of my friends told me I couldn’t go back home. But I hope that my work can give the Chinese a new perspective on their routine.

Photography with the courtesy of the artist. To see more of Pok U Chan work, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/13511967@N04/

UP IN SMOKE

Shisha is a custom that traditionally fosters conversation, debate and laughter. It is not smoked at home or alone. Take a stroll through London’s Little Lebanon – otherwise known as Edgware Road – and inhale the sweet smells of grape, apple and strawberry that spill from nearby shisha cafes. But the sand from the hourglass has almost run through. Despite customarily being the preserve of Arabic men, shisha smoking in London has extended its client base to include many women and non-Arabic men. However, two thirds of the people smoking it remain Arabic. The Amazon coffee shop is one Egyptian venue from Little Lebanon that wants to lose neither its clients nor a day’s profit that shisha can still bring. They’ve already prohibited smoking, except for the aromatic water-pipe. The July ban on smoking will confine shisha lovers to their homes, thus loosing the essence of the custom. But until the ban is enforced, the prohibition can only thicken the smoke and liven the debate coming out of the Arabic coffee shops.



Featured in aMuse magazine, 2007

IMMIGRANT

Diwali 2007, London