Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

Camping club

San Francisco State University is not immune to the pro-Palestine protests that’s been going around American college campuses. You expect nothing less in a bastion city of liberalism. (Except when it comes to building housing. On that we are conservative as heck!) Protesters have been camping on the SFSU campus lawns since last Wednesday. One question I do have: how do we know some of them aren’t actual homeless people looking to shack up for a time, undisturbed?

Whatever the endgame is, I hope it doesn’t turn violent like it has in Columbia University and UCLA. Protest in CSU Humboldt caused the remainder of the Spring semester to go virtual. What a freaking waste! Imagine surviving through the worst pandemic of ours lives (god willing), enduring years of online classes, only to have to do it all again. I’d be pissed if I paid full price tuition. All because some people thought camping on university grounds is an effective way to make a difference for two countries situated on the other side of the globe.

But more power to them - so long as things stay chill and peaceful. SFSU is a public university, so First Amendment rights are paramount. I am sure the same grace will be allotted to groups whose messages are not so majorly supported by the campus community. (Shoutout to the Bible-thumper guy who comes to SFSU from time to time, calling every passerby sinners and adulterers.) It was only a year ago when Riley Gaines was nearly chased away from making a speech.

Because universities should be a place for exchange of ideas. A coliseum for verbal jousting between those ideas. It’s a tremendous disservice if during a student’s four years of college that they never once hear something they strongly disagree with. That’s how you get people who got mental breakdowns when Trump was elected in 2016. The 2024 presidential election is rubbing its hands in anticipation.

Hangout spot.

Out of the fire

And into the frying pan.

Today was suppose to mark the end of the coronavirus quarantine. It was suppose to be a day when we can finally begin to rebuild some semblance of our old normalcy. Yet here I am, typing this on June the 1st, under curfew conditions in San Francisco because protests and riots have broken out all over America. We’ve come out of one hell and onto the next. The uprising is caused by the brutal killing of George Floyd - a black man - at the hands of police in Minnesota last week. In what is another graphic episode of police brutality towards African Americans, it seems to have lit the fuse to an explosive tinderbox that’s been at a boiling point for a very long time.

No doubt the COVID-19 lockdowns and the disastrous economic situation - 100,000 plus Americans dead, and 40 million plus unemployed - are contributing factors to the sudden and rapid proliferation of chaos. It’s morbidly interesting that both sides of the political spectrum - even Republicans who have generally sided with police - have condemned the horrific murder of Floyd, and yet this is the one to break the proverbial camel’s back, the very last straw. Having been stuck inside our homes for three straight months with huge looming economic uncertainty probably added significant fuel to the fire.

The people was waiting for something to rebel against, and police corruption is as good a platform as any.

So it’s great to see crowds fighting out there in the streets, protesting for justice. Though I have to say it seems we’ve forgotten about the coronavirus entirely: can’t exactly socially distance amongst a protesting crowd, can you? I fear in two weeks’ time there will be a huge spike in cases, though I obviously hope I am wrong. Also, shame on the opportunists who are using the peaceful protests as a cover to destroy businesses and loot from stores. Destruction of property is never the answer and should not be tolerated. These terrible people completely undermines the message, and the damage caused will have negative ramifications long after this is over.

But it isn’t over yet; San Francisco’s curfew is indefinite. I pray the worse isn’t yet to come before the eventual resolution, whatever it may be.

The E30 BMW probably belongs to someone who works here.

HKG is not the same

I bought plane tickets for my trip back home to Guangzhou way back in June of last year, well before the Hong Kong protests started. I then - along with the rest of the world - saw the uprisings happen, and the mess have lingered and continued on into 2020. My father joked that there is no way the protests will last the many months to coincide with our trip through Hong Kong, and yet there we were two weeks ago, flying into HKG whilst protest was scheduled to happen in the city yet again that very day.

It’s a shame, because the Hong Kong part of the trip on the way to Guangzhou is something I enjoy immensely, well worth the extra four hours it takes to fully complete the journey compared to flying directly into Baiyun International. Some years I even spend a few days or a week in Hong Kong before going home. It’s a city I have great affinity for, but unfortunately due to the demonstrations, I was unable to do my usual tour. Rather not risk any potential clashes, though I do wonder what the protesters think of a person like me: born in mainland China, but is now a citizen of the United States.

Anyways, the game plan then was to immediately hop on a direct bus to Guangzhou right at the airport. Upon exiting out into the arrivals lobby, I immediately knew that these were not normal times: they’ve shut down the outbound transport terminal, which used to be in an external building. Instead, the ticketing for buses are now inside Terminal 1 itself. After purchasing our tickets, we walked through guarded doorways to get to our waiting hired car, which is something I’m so not used to seeing in what is one of the safest metropolises on the planet. Surrounding the airport itself are many police barriers and fencing, a legacy from the unrest that reached HKG last year.

Coming back into Hong Kong for the flight home was different as well. We took the same direct bus in the reverse direction, and it’s when we arrived outside the departure deck that things got interesting. The entrances to the terminal are cordoned off by police barricades, third-world checkpoint style. To get in, you have to show your passport, and either the flight confirmation or boarding pass. I’m not even sure they would let family or friends who are seeing you off to go inside with you. The price of fighting for liberty, as it were.

I have no dog whatsoever in the Hong Kong situation. I only selfishly hope that on my next trip home, HKG -and Hong Kong - will be back to what it were: a fabulous airport that’s one of my favorites.

Graffiti in China? Only if they let you.