Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

A brief survey of the leading magazines and newspapers on the Indian subcontinent often leads to an outsider confused by the excess obsession with China. The foreign affairs section sees sensationalized reports of Chinese military or economic superiority splashed across the headlines, filling pages with gloomy analysis of Indian doom in case of open competition with China. And brief chats with scholars from the subcontinent here in London illustrates that China does indeed loom large in the subconscious of the Indians and the Pakistanis, who often mentions China in the framework of subcontinental affairs. The growing influence of China in global affairs, after years of economic and military expansion, is no longer a surprise to anyone. American, European, and East Asian media cannot live without giving their readers daily reports of China's growing threats and problems . But there is still a key difference to them and the South Asians. Compared to the floods of Americans, Jap

The view outside the large, cleanly wiped windows was absolutely spectacular: across the River Thames on the Westminster Bridge is a full panorama of the House of Parliament, with Big Ben proudly standing on one side as if an attentive soldier on guard. As the afternoon sun began its descent, a bright red hue lit up the sculptured details of the historical building, giving us, right on the spot, an artistic feast of representing the glorious heydays of the British Empire . And as bright red hue disappears into the darkness of a typical autumn night, subtle yellow and green lights around the building project the fullness of the imperial beauty into the River. And all this, from a well-maintained bed on the 8th floor of one of the most reputed comprehensive hospitals on the British Isles. Dinner is served as we messed around with the fully functioning bedside Internet system. You may ask just how much were we, the poor students of LSE, were willing to pay for this experience (not to

Walking around the meticulously kept grassy grounds of the Windsor Castle, the hordes of foreign tourists simply could not hide their excitement. Snapping away with their cameras at every wall sculpture, every statue, and every traditional-looking signage, they shouted to their friends to stop and look, filling the traditional heart of the British monarchy with simultaneous calls in dozens of foreign tongues. The keepers and guards of the Castle, dressed in the traditional costumes little changed since the Empire's heydays, can do little but to smile politely at the incomprehensible noises. Once, the Castle was the home of a ruler governing half the world, including the lands that now send these enthusiastic tourists. And for centuries, the rulers of the Empire sought to educate these colonial subjects in all matters British, from that standard Queen's accent (which I still find exotically attractive after a week here) to every aspect of the British culture, the highest mate

The registration of new LSE students on the first day was by any means “epic.” Even with a dozen computers working simultaneously to complete a process that takes no more than 2 minutes each, the registration staff was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. The queue of students, minutes after registration opened, snaked out of the largest auditorium on the campus and spilled onto the busy main boulevard in front of the building. And the crowd that had gathered was, well, a curious bunch. Most came in groups of twos and threes, easily identifiable by their respective nationalities. Small talks consistently appeared to be something not local. Overwhelming noises of Mandarin Chinese are mixed in with various European and South Asian languages, occasionally broken by spurts of American English. Distinctive British accent only came from the administrators trying to keep the whole place in order. Indeed, judging from the actual registrations, the vast majority of the people i

More than a year ago when I was solo backpacking through central China, I argued that the illegal underground markets for imitation products provide an economic way for increase material consumption and employment of relatively poor areas. But the argument back then was still much too deviated from the legal reality to make much of a difference. After all, the value of expensive brands exist because of high quality and restricted supply, both of which are undoubtedly disturbed by the very existence of such markets for imitation goods. And people have the perfectly legal alternative to buy cheaper, non-branded, legally produced goods serving the exact same functions. The closure of the imitation market should not fundamentally reduce the standard of living for their consumers. The illegal markets fulfilled a "want" (most likely for "face" and bragging of the consumers to fulfill a standard Asian mental desire to out-compete others in everything ) rather than an

To the eyes of humans living today, history is full of bad decision-making. To almost every historical event that occurred, someone can wisely say "If the leaders at the time carried out the plan this way, the results would be different, and people of today would not have to suffer through the bad consequences." Unfortunately, most of such wise comments are exclusively based on information of the said "bad consequences" available to us but not even imaginable to the decision-makers of the past. Thus, it is not only unfair to judge events of the past through modern lenses, but any conclusions from such exercise are also completely meaningless. The political events occurring on the Korean Peninsula serve as the perfect example to illustrate the point. To the dismay of the entire world, the authoritarian regime of the North continue to flaunt a brinkmanship-based military power at the expense of trapping the necessary resources for developing the national economy a

In the course of modern politics, great power relations has always defined what is considered right and wrong in international relations. Whether it be the Europeans and their colonial imperialism, the Germans and their theories of racial superiority, the Soviets and their communist ideologies, and most recently, America and her democratic internationalism, for centuries, those with superior military and economic powers always forced their philosophies upon the weak. And as they also dominated the education of the ruling elites and control of media across the world, such great powers, at their height of power, managed to affect public opinions in their favor on a global scale. However, even as American superpower continue to follow such a trend in the post-Cold War era, the emergence of so-called "non-state actors," especially in the Middle East, is slowly changing how people perceive the right and wrong. First came the truly ironic instance of Egyptians using that "t

Some people speak of America's primary strength as her constituents' multitude of different backgrounds ; the different cultures, religions, customs, philosophies lead to a country tolerant and accepting of differences. Others argue that the singular pride for being Americans, based on her economic, cultural, and military might on a global scale , unites all her constituents and presents that powerful nationalism superseding superficial differences in backgrounds. Yet, the more I observe the country, the more I realize that the aspect in which America is truly unique is a fundamental existence of voluntary mutual support among individuals in the populace, without any coercion from the government to do so. While there are plenty of coldhearted-looking people in major cities (especially New York), even when there are not any crises on the horizon, it seems like the average American has been keen on helping out with the normal functioning of their communities. The willingness t

Back when I was applying for college, all my acquaintances used to joke around that the greatest disadvantage I had was simply being Asian. Of course, the joke is sadly, halfway true. Asians worked hard to get there. They tend to study more than anyone, go to so many different prep programs for SATs and college applications after school and during vacations , that competing with them in the same "affirmative action" bracket was simply academically and logically unfair by any means. All Asians had to go through the dilemma. And for many, they have to think of any possible method to get ahead in the face of stiff competition. Diligence just was not going to be enough, they would think. So, all sorts of otherwise illegal, and immoral-looking methods are devised for the students and their parents with the financial capability and ethical blindness to do so. In the past, I already spoke about students paying off professionals to write their entire college applications . B

The Chinese proverb goes, "禍不單行" (disasters do not come alone). Just as today the world remember the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 , some people are also recalling the equally shocking and much more lethal Quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan exactly half a year ago . For the many people like myself who experienced the chaos, the strength, and socio-economic impacts of the Quake firsthand, its immediate aftermath is something that is bound to be never forgotten in our entire lives. In many ways, many parallels can be drawn between the two events. Both came suddenly to a completely unprepared populace. The Americans believed in their military superiority meant 100% security of the homeland from "foreign attacks." The Japanese thought their decades of experiences in dealing with quakes and their negative effects meant the casualties will be limited. Both "woke up" on the 11th to the emotionally damaging realization of helplessness and vulnerability

The ceremonies are certainly as solemn as they have ever been. Across the nation, people remembered that pivotal day exactly ten years ago, when America bore witness to a whole new kind of terrorism. As buildings collapsed and lives lost, the Americans everywhere were forced to come to realization that the mighty economic and military strength of the only remaining superpower are not enough to protect themselves against a few skilled and determined “foreign operatives.” Shock and sorrow are bound to be accompanied by a certain degree of irrationality. In the wake of the disaster, the Americans became blinded by their emotions. They simply entrusted the government with handling any responses to 9/11, thinking that perhaps, amid their own sense of helplessness, their political leaders can come up with solid plans for revenge, for compensation, and for comprehending what was really going on that day. With the emotionally distraught constituents casting aside their usual doubts of gov

Another day, another American making a scene in some distant foreign country and draw the ire of the locals. The latest is what has never been that uncommon of a phenomenon involves an African-American English teacher beating up a middle-aged Korean man for supposed use of "nigga," the derogatory term for blacks. The Korean man was in fact saying "니가..." Korean for "You..." Perhaps the black man was so drunk that he did not realize that the Korean man was speaking to him in Korean. He did not bother clarifying the situation; he just immediately resorted to shouting back in English and throwing punches. Obviously, this pathetic idiot cannot possibly be your typical representative of a foreign man living in a country where he does not speaks the language. He cannot represent America, or the typical African-American. But at the same time, it is not the first instance in which obvious conflicts between locals and Americans have occurred, and comparativel

It is not news that Chinese has been repeatedly voted around the world (even by the Chinese themselves), as the most difficult language to master. In addition to the weird pronunciation system involving for tones, the loose grammar rules, the most troubling of the language's characteristic to haunt the learners is the thousands and thousands of individual characters that must be memorized before basic reading and writing can be accomplished. With so many of these characters floating around, it is not surprising for even native speakers to forget the most commonly used ones. The advent of computing seemed to resolve the problem. With the language turned into a Latin alphabet-based phonetic code called Pinyin, turning spoken Chinese into writing has never been easier. Just type in the sound with a regular keyboard, and a list of characters is automatically generated. Type in a combination of sounds to form vocabulary, and the character combinations are automatically narrowed dow

Labor Day celebrates the hardworking men and women that made America the rich country that she is. But as America increasingly depends on her continued control of the world financial system for sustained wealth (keep issuing debts, printing paper money, and buying up foreign-made products), one can only wonder what the role of these "hard-working men and women" really is today. Evident enough, by the looks of a rusting industrial capital of Detroit and the enthusiasm new college grads have for dubiously "value"-generating sectors of investment banking and consulting, the positions of the traditional working class has been in steady decline in he this country. Gone are the days that even a senior worker in the factory can be considered "middle class" by definition. And increasingly, their decline in social status to mere "working class" has been accompanied by increased social gap with the new middle class of professional white collars, some of

With the ballooning of the Chinese immigrant population in America, it has become increasingly common for random Chinese people to meet as random neighbors in a random place in the U.S. Especially in major cities of an Asian-infested Southern California (such as San Diego), these random meetings have been quite a catalyst in forming rather deep networks among the local new immigrants. And with common pains of immigration ( not fitting in the local society , for one) and common concerns (mostly about sending their kids into elite colleges in America), they certainly have much to talk about under any occasion. To channel their excess energy for random chatting, these new immigrants have been developing a whole new custom of home parties, combining the distinct Chinese affinity toward loudness and crowds (something that naturally comes with living in a densely over-populated country) and the big size of American homes (hardly imaginable in China, where most people living in high-

The first post of my September also marks the one hundredth post for the year 2011. The post finds me becoming a bit calmer after another scare for my UK visa application to be rejected (Thankfully, after staying up until 2am last night to call the LSE Admissions Office, the officers were very responsive and helped me obtain the necessary new materials within one business day. As I sent off the new materials to the Border Agency in New York, my visa application is officially back on track). The fact is that after suffering through so many natural and man-made disasters, I am getting so accustomed to the idea of something bad unexpectedly happening that my mind no longer feels any sort of panic in facing them. Whether it be the near-death experience through the Quake in Japan or dealing with prospects of not getting my visa to UK (even now), I can think beyond the initial fear or scare of everything not going according to the "normal way." No longer do I feel any sor

In the day and age when the economic and international political power of a rising China is no longer doubted, the image of the country abroad has, at the same time, been declining steadily. While her economic freedom has increased, there is increasing criticism regarding a lack of a corresponding increase in political freedom. And what's more worrisome is the fact that the continued strict social controls are bound to make her proud export- and investment-led economic growth to ground to a halt as people get both wealthier and older in age.

Walking on the streets of America after more than a year of absence from permanent residence, I cannot help but notice that many of the fashion trends prevalent during my years in high school and college have not changed much. In fact, if anything, the trends have been greatly intensified. For instance, the most noticeable one has been the affinity of the American youth toward loose-fitting pants that are pulled down to the level of their butts. After all these years the pants seem to have only gotten looser and the level of the pants' waist have become lower and lower. In contrast, the trends in Asia have moved in the opposite direction. The adherence to the American urban dress culture (loose jeans, decorated T-shirts, sneakers, etc) has been significantly altered along Asian tastes in the past few years. Jeans have been becoming noticeably tighter, T-shirts are becoming increasingly abandoned in favor of causal dress shirts, and the Asian love for black-rimmed glasses

Four years of economics courses at Yale has not prepared me for in-depth analysis of the global economic, not to mention financial, system. While Yale can be partially blamed the lack of technical knowledge she infused into her curriculum , it could be fairly said that no amount of so-called "economic expertise" can prepare one for the realization that the "expertise" is worth little in the constantly changing conditions of global economy. Especially with a global financial industry at its helm, the global economy becomes so volatile that no theory can last without constant revisions and updates. Despite sounding condescending, I must say that the controlling factors governing the future directions of economic health are just too complicated to understand for the average layperson. And after watching a documentary on the supposed causes of the 2008 financial crisis, such realization becomes more established and deeply rooted. "The Inside Job," as

My parents love to watch Chinese war dramas. The dramas all invariably depict poor Chinese farmer-turned-militiamen fighting relentlessly against the immoral, arrogant Japanese invaders. Shouting patriotic messages of the freeing the country from foreign domination, the Chinese militiamen use various sabotage tactics and mind games to win struggles of attrition against the otherwise dimwitted-looking Japanese. Sometimes a few heroes die of dramatic deaths, but at the end, the established formula always fate the Japanese aggressors with devastating, unrecoverable blows. And my parents are not alone in their hobby. Such war dramas still constitute a large portion of domestic productions in China every year, even more than six decades after the end of the events they portray. And the continued production, above their propagandist value of showcase for patriotism and devotion to the Communist Party , actually makes economic sense. When asked about the reason for continued producti