Yesterday, I went to the public library to renew my borrowing of Joe Chung's controversial book I Don't Want to be Chinese Again. Before even checking the computer system, the young man at the counter said: "The chance is slim. This book is very popular." A glance at the monitor confirmed that he was right. "It has been reserved," he said.
The hugely popular book was inspired by an online poll conducted by a Mainland Chinese website, the result of which showed that the majority of Chinese people taking the poll were unwilling to be Chinese again if they were to have a next life. As expected, the poll was quickly banned.
So is this book by Joe Chung, which is about the problems with the Chinese people and culture. The book is available in Hong Kong but not in China. This is another example of the inequality between the people of Hong Kong and the Mainland in terms of access to information, even though we are people of the same country. We Hongkongers are the lucky ones here, but we have to be wary of the injustice.
It is heartening to see a book on this subject being so popular. While it shows that many people do care, it is important that the readers reflect on the scathing attacks and see what lessons there are to be learned.
2 comments:
do you know is there an english edition for this book? I want to buy it(although I am Hokkienese Indonesian, I can't read Hanzi)
The poor guy has had to emigrate to Norway. Says a lot about the real level of freedom of expression in Hong Kong.
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