A very moving plea from the Gweilo Diaries to support Bali, where tourism rates have plunged and heartbreaking tales of woe abound. I was there only a few weeks before the Big Blast, and my heart goes out to the delightful people there, most of whom were poor enough before the tragedy and who must now be near the breaking point.

At the Web site up ahead, you’ve just crossed into…The Twilight Zone

For those of you with a taste for the macabre, a fascination with the other-worldly, a morbid curiosity regarding “life” in the world’s last die-hard bastion of Stalinism, you simply must visit the official Web site of the world’s most peculiar country.

This site caters especially to those with an affinity for the novels of Huysmans — those who marvel at things that appear to be not-of-this-earth, unreal and bizarre, weirdly “off.” Wading through its pages is an exercise in pure creepiness. It seems that the nation’s official Web site was designed by a zit-faced freshman at a community college trying to master Frontpage, with decidedly mixed results. Similarly, the “text” must have been written by a Pyongyang lad who flunked out of his English As a Second Language course. This is a true experience. Here’s a little taste of what lies inside:

I wonder who does Dear Leader’s pompadour. Anyway, that’s just for starters. Check it out.

Matters of Opinion

Once again I revisit China Hand’s thoughtful and on-target commentary on the hubris of the Honkies, especially his observation that “Hong Kong people have always had a feeling of separateness from the rest of the black, hair, black eyed, yellow skinned people. The Chinese students in Australian universities right from the very early days quickly divided into two groups: Honkies and the rest. Honkies of course were a cut above the Taiwanese, Malaysian, Singaporean, and mainland students. Of course it was obvious.”

Having lived in HK for nearly two years I understand this all too well, and it was driven home dramatically during my recent trip to Thailand. One morning at breakfast I started chatting with a fellow from Hong Kong, who pointed out a group of Singaporeans also staying at the hotel and suggested I might want to practice my Mandarin by talking with them. When I asked him if they were in Bangkok for business or pleasure he astounded me with his reply: “I don’t know. I refuse to speak with people whose native language is Mandarin.” He went on to tell me in the nastiest tones how he is sickened by all the Mainlanders visiting Hong Kong. They are the worst of the disgusting lot, he said, with people from Singapore and Taiwan only a bit less vile. I was taken aback at his having no qualms whatsoever about revealing his prejudices.

I did meet up with the Singaporeans, where I had a similarly unexpected conversation. One of them told me how “a friend” he knows was absolutely delighted with the September 11th slaughter. He went on, always prefacing his remarks with words like, “Now, I don’t think this way, but my friend says…,” and he’d go on to cite a litany of reasons why Americans had it coming to them for their vanity, their cocky attitude about the world being their playground, their contempt for non-Americans, their racism, their obscene wealth, their smugness, etc., etc. It didn’t take me more than a minute to know that there was no such “friend,” that he was stating his own repellent beliefs. I listened to everything he said and I just smiled. When he was done, I said I had to go get some coffee and walked away.

It has been vastly interesting living overseas and seeing how certain people think and how they view us. Generalities are always dangerous — there are, for example, plenty of absolutely magnificent Hong Kong people. But one cannot help noticing how certain peoples have certain characteristics and beliefs, just as they have different ways of stepping into elevators. I found wherever I went that English people, for example, held similar thoughts on Israel (diametrically opposed to my own). Honkies in general view Mainlanders with a mix of contempt, nausea and, increasingly, a sense of jealousy. The only topic where I heard total unanimity irrespective of race or creed was the perception of President Bush. I find it truly extraordinary that every European and Asian I’ve met has identical thoughts on our leader. Identical.

Two milestones this week:

1. Today marks my being in Beijing for an entire five months. In a strange way, the months have gone by quickly, while the individual hours and days have at times seemed to drag on for an eternity.

2. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of Richard Wagner, the musician who more than any other single force has shaped me into the person I am today. I don’t have the time or energy to go into my love of Wagner’s music right now; suffice it to say that, although I rarely listen to his music (I save it for the most special times), it is integral to my entire existence, it is my lifeblood, my inspiration for living and striving and working and loving. There are moments in Wagner’s music that I know were written for me and for me alone, moments that speak to me on a level that is wholly unexplainable and indescribable, a level that is so intimate and so intense that I can only describe my relationship to it as a mystical one.

Shit, I said I wasn’t going to write about Wagner, and look what happens. Let me stop here while I can. But also let me add that not only Wagner’s music possesses me; there are works of Mozart and Bach and Faure that affect me similarly, but they always fade away as insignificant once Wagner comes on….

Interestingly, I taught a seminar on classical music to my Chinese colleagues today, but included no Wagner — his music is truly an acquired taste, and never easy to digest for newcomers. Instead I played Mozart, Bach and some excerpts from La Boheme. They seemed to really enjoy it.

Are Republicans Truly Wicked?

Joshua Marshall has done a remarkable job monitoring and documenting a brewing scandal involving Republican dirty tricks in New Hampshire. This is a must-read. Mark Kleiman is running with it as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it take on a life of its own in the days to come.

At the heart of the scandal is telemarketing firm GOP Marketplace, hired by Republicans to jam the phone banks at the offices of the New Hampshire Democratic Coordinated Campaign and the Manchester Firefighters’ Union Local on election day last November. That’s a no-no, a violation of state and federal law. The executive director of the NH Republican Party was caught lying about it to the Manchester Union Guardian and promptly resigned. As interesting as Marshall’s sleuthing is the deafening silence from all but the New Hampshire media. The shadowy GOP Marketplace seems to have been involved in other GOP campaigns, and its founder Allan Raymond appears to be connected to some of the top names in the party. Again, watch this one carefully.

Journalism at its Finest

From today’s China Daily:

Acording to Chen Tong, vice president and editor-in-chief of Sina.com, a famous Internet gateway website in China, there are about 15-20 million people surfing his new webpages every day and 80 percent show concern about the situation in Iraq. Chen said most of the Internet surfers expressed their sympathy for the Iraqi people and opposition towards war in the region. The forum has given rise to heated debates about the United States’ role in the crisis, with some people believing the evidence provided by Washington to the United Nations Security Council does not prove Iraq possesses weapons of mass destructions.

First the obvious: How on earth does this guy know that 80 percent of 20 million surfers “show concern” for the iraq and that “most” are show sympathy “for the Iraqi people and opposition towards war.” If they were so sympatheitc with the Iraqi people, how could they be against the war? Despite how badly Bush has botched his argument, it does include liberation of one of the most oppressed people on our planet.

Then we get to China Daily’s signature propaganda tool: The anonymous opinionizer. Note in the last sentence the use of the phrase “some people.” Just imagine a real newspaper, not a puppet, saying in its story as a matter of fact that “Some people don’t like Bush,” and not following it up with who those people are or how the information was obtained. Here it is totally status quo. My favorite is, “Experts say….” This catch-all propaganda gimmick is used ad nauseum on CCTV, allowing the announcer to regurgitate whatever nonsense The State wants to be heard.

(If you’re new to my site, it helps to know that I am a former newspaper reporter and have strong feeling about the abuse of media.)

It is always reassuring to see that Andrew Sullivan has not been so blinded by his adoration of President Bush that he cannot see his weak spots. Sullivan very soberly comments on Bush’s Achilles heel:

“It’s the economy, smarty-pants. No, not the growth rate which the public is smart enough is not amenable to easy manipulation. Not even the unemplyment rate, which may well recover after the war. I mean the explosive rate of current government spending and the president’s utter insouciance about how to pay for it. I’ve been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but his latest budget removes any. He’s the most fiscally profligate president since Nixon. He’s worse than Reagan, since he’s ratcheting up discretionary spending like Ted Kennedy and shows no signs whatever of adjusting to meet the hole he and the Republican Congress are putting in the national debt.”

Like father, like son? In four separate pieces, Sullivan goes on to pick apart his majesty’s “fiscal policy” (i.e., spend a lot of money). A very refreshing balance to his recent drum beating and proof that he’s still a must-read.

Air China Postscript….

A colleague has reminded me that we flew to Hong Kong on Air China back in September, and while the food and the service were sub-standard, there were no nightmares or atrocities that approached what I went through last week. Was it just a fluke, an isolated incident? Maybe, but even so, that doesn’t justify it or make it any less agonizing for its victims.

Occasionally in life we encounter situations and things that are so bewildering, so opposite of what they are supposed to be, so absurd and illogical that all we can do is laugh. No, I’m not referring to Ann Coulter’s “writings” or Bush’s latest judicial or commission appointments, but rather to my recent experience flying Air China. I’d been warned about Air China before, but I arrogantly rejected advice that I fly instead on Thai Air. (Actually, Thai Air was sold out so I didn’t have a choice.)

I think everyone should fly a local PRC carrier at least once, just to understand how different things are over here. Maybe then you would believe me.

Last week, as Chinese New Year began, I had no choice but to fly business class out of Beijing on Air China. Luckily I got a very good deal, but it was still costly; my one consolation was knowing that I could relax and enjoy superior service and comfort. How could I have been so hopelessly naive?

I am almost reluctant to post about this debacle, because words can’t really capture the full spectrum of horrors that I witnessed. And chances are no one will believe me, it’s too absurd. All I can say is that it is totally true, scout’s honor.

It started the instant I arrived at the airport. Anticipating heavy traffic to the airport and long lines, I arrived diligently early only to see that there was virtually no service, no one to help, no one to ask questions to at the Air China counters. Several other early arrivers appeared distraught and bewildered, and tried to get answers from the uniformed airport staff walking by, but no one knew, no one had any answers. (It brought back ominous recollections of my recent experience at a Chinese bank.) We formed two lines at the two designated counters for business class travellers, each marked with the red carpet intended to indicate superior service and preferential treatment for those who have paid extra money for their tickets. That’s what I used to think those red carpets meant. At Air China, they are strictly for show.

We ended up waiting there for nearly two hours, totally ignored, before the real madness began. Meanwhile, on either side of the exclusive business class lines, throngs were forming for the economy and tour group counters. Everyone was asking why there was no one to process our tickets, what we were supposed to do. Finally some Air China staff materialized and they began taking tickets — but only from the Economy and Tour Group lines. Business class was ignored. One evil-looking lady just sat on a stool behind the counter scowling and stamping a huge pile of documents. One of the business class passengers had the temerity to walk up to her and ask if there was anyone to help us. At this, the stamper shrieked back at the top of her lungs in a voice that would frighten the doves. I don’t know what she said, but her shrieks went on long and loud. I swear, it was like a parody of the old Soviet scenario of the peasants begging for bread while some bureaucrat, sitting in front of mountains of wheat, kept stamping papers and refusing to let the starving masses have any food. Meanwhile the Economy and Tour Group lines were moving along, slowly but at least going forward.

The two business class lines began to disintegrate as we all realized this was not going to be your everyday “red carpet” experience. People began to flee the red carpets to get onto the Economy line. One European man went running into the hall, frantically halting anyone in a uniform and screaming for help. I watched as everyone he asked basically told him to go to hell. I was the very first on my red-carpet line and I stood my ground, unwilling to start all over, after my two-hour-plus wait. Finally, a frazzled, exhausted and confused-looking woman came out and walked to one of the business class counters. With this, the mobs surged forward and it was absolutely every man for himself. There was no pretense of any politeness or order. Total anarchy as the elite passengers clamoured for this overwhelmed woman to help us get our boarding passes. Luckily I was up front and was able to force my ticket into her hands. There was no hello, no smile; her face showed only a why-are-you-doing-this-to-me look of horror. I thought back to my recent flight on Cathay Pacific, an exercise in elegance, and I wondered again why I ever left Hong Kong. As I walked away clutching my coveted boarding pass, I looked back at the anarchic scene and felt that I had just escaped a true nightmare.

There were thirty minutes left to boarding, and I made my way, trembling and exhausted, to the “business class lounge.” Another assault to the senses, the lounge was dingy, messy and joyless. The only English-language publication on the racks was a dog-earred Air Canada magazine listing the inflight films for December 2002. I just had to laugh.

On to the gate. There was no call for boarding the plane. Someone just materialized and opened the door and began to take people’s tickets. Again, I witnessed another mob scene that seems to typify the Air China experience. No line, just a swollen mass of helpless people waving their tickets. No call for senior citizens or families with small children, no call for first-class/business travellers, just a free-for-all. Again, I braced for battle and made my way toward the front.

The flight itself was less horrific than the airport insanity — but just a little. The plane’s interior was dirty and yellowed with age, the upholstery of the seats worn and frayed. After handing out the packages of mixed nuts, the attendant never came back to pick up the empty packets, which sat on the passengers’ armrests until after dinner. No one offered to refill our empty water glasses. The food was barely passable; the red wine was literally undrinkable.

I am fully aware that it is not fair to hold China up to the standards held by other more developed countries. I do not expect Air China to deliver what Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific deliver. That said, there is absolutely no excuse for treating passengers like cattle, whether they are business class or any other class. If they are going to have the audacity to offer a business class product at all and demand a lot of extra money for it, have they not the responsibility to give the passenger at least something back (aside from abuse) — if only a bit of respect or kindness?

As I said, words simply cannot evoke the frustration, anguish and nastiness of this experience. I hope I’ve managed to at least give you a hint of what it was like. I can deal with business class being sub-standard or inferior. But nasty? Vicious? Hateful and abusive? No, I don’t think there’s any excuse, and it takes its place as one of my most jarring and unhappy exeriences here to date.

Oh, and in case I failed to make myself clear: If any of you are considering an international flight on Air China, I strongly recommend you reconsider.

I just stumbled onto a most unusual news site. Check it out, and don’t miss the review of Bob Woodward’s latest bestseller, which had me laughing out loud.