What about Hong Kong?

You wonder why I'm writing about Hong Kong? Because I care. Why? Because I lived there, but more important, something extremely damaging to Hong Kong's autonomy and culture could happen soon and while the 'West' is focusing on Beijing, no one seems to realize what's happening behind the Southern curtains.

Eleven years ago Hong Kong was handed over to the Chinese, after 165 years of British colonisation. Both parties (Hong Kong itself had fairly nothing to say) agreed that a judicial system similar to the existing would rule the Special Administrative Region (SAR) and that the interests of Hong Kong itself had to be maintained.

The Basic Law (a local mini-constitution), an independent judiciary and a Hong Kong government were meant to be a safeguard. Interventions by the National People’s Congress could take place, but these situations were restricted. Therefore, when the Proposal with regard to Article 23 of the Basic Law was presented, it was received with suspicion. The provision as formulated emphasized the autonomy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by stating that Hong Kong ‘shall enact laws on its own’. The content, however, seemed to deal with definitions that were no longer appropriate, only served the national Chinese interest and could be in contradiction with the guaranteed fundamental rights. Research started within the region as well as internationally and after heated debates and one of the biggest Hong Kong demonstration ever, the HKSAR government decided to postpone the implementation.
Article 23, however, which penalizes sedition, treason, subversion, secession and theft of state secrets, still needs to be implemented. No one knows exactly when, but everyone knows that the Basic Law can only be officially valid when Article 23 is fully implemented.

And now, all of a sudden, that day seems to have gotten closer. Last week Macau, the other southern SAR, made a crucial decision: the former portuguese colony has decided to enact the security bill. Compared to the HKSAR, Macau has always dealt with more stringent criminal laws. Therefore their intentions to implement caused less consternation on Asian Las Vegas than it did five years ago on Hong Kong. Even though the SARs differ as day and night, the decision made by Macau Chief Executive will put pressure on Chief Executive Donald Tsang. The regional leader has a constitutional duty to legislate the controversial law before the end of his term in 2012.

So now were reminded once again, what Hong Kongs position is within the People's Republic of China. We, back in the West, had almost forgotten that this hypermodern and prosperous city in the middle of Asia is still being watched by the Biggest Brother in the World. And now that the Door to Restriction is opening again, I truly hope to see the same strong Hong Kong as in 2003 unite and stand up for its fundamental freedoms. Will the city manage to maintain its unique position or will it be swallowed by its ? I believe it's worth to keep an eye on....

Unexpected Bongos

Walking around in the Berliner Zoo can give you simple pleasures without much effort. This time is was J who received a non-expected grin for hours.

While I was looking at the even-toed (sometimes you wonder why you always remember certain useless facts instead of a name f.i.) giraffes, Jamie was interested in some other species. Intrigued by its foreigness and surprising appearance, my boy was doing his best not to stare. Even though this creature had obviously been taken out of its natural habitat, it seemed to have adapted extremely well to the new conditions. Its movements were slow, but calm. Not at all behaving in the way we were used to see it interact in its original enviroment. It was playful, but decisive.

Appearantly this wellknown dj found a way to live his new life as a father. A baby had replaced his turntables at this afterhour time. A weird sight, but he looked content.... and so did J!

So if you're ever in Berlin, even if you don't like caged animals, give the Zoo a visit.
might be there and seemed ..

In charge in Berlin

Day Two. 7.30 pm. Hungry. Need to pee. A little sleepy. New. Done. Still need to pee. Which other excuses can I come up with?
Ok, I didn't do it the German way. Got a bit overconfident. I don't blame myself. Will they?

Yesterday I started working at vbs.tv, the video/internetversion of Vice Magazine. After my big decision that I hadn't come to Berlin to work in an Italian restaurant, it felt as if luck was on my side. I sent out three coverletters and had four (I didn't get it as well) different jobinterviews within 3 days. Against all expectations (a person can get a bit insecure here in Berlin), I not only received compliments in abundance, they told me I could start straight away and regulate my own scedule. It really felt as if I was in charge.


But 'in charge' might not be the proper definition, as I have found out now. In the future, I should at least specify until where my powerzone reaches. This remains the most difficult level of the tricky integrating game I'm playing here Germany. So when my upper/upper/upper GERMAN boss (who had only met me an hour before) told me 'NO, I'm on the phone', I maybe shouldn't have said 'Well, this is for you, so I will talk to you'!

I wanted to add 'briefly', it was all for a good cause (his, believe me) and all the facts written above were happening. But the look in his and in my GERMAN colleagues' eyes said enough.
I'll need to bring extra cookies & Schnaps tomorrow or I'll have to pretend I'm someone else ... the rest of my career.
link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schnaps

The Tales of a Devilish Mountain

Although the artificial hill got its name from a lake nearby, its past is rather ambiguous and almost too coincidental. Not only is the Teufelsberg created out of World War Two rubble collected by the Allies. The trash was dumped on that specific location, because the former Nazi military-technical college (designed by Albert Speer) that occupied the space turned out to be impossible to destruct. The only solution, therefore, was covering it with bricks and other waste remaining from the war.



Devil's Mountain was given a recreational destination, but as soon as the Cold War started the American National Security Agency turned it into one of the world biggest spy stations. For more than 30 years it was used by several US and UK intelligence- and security-agencies.
Right after the German unification was proclaimed the prominent electronic masterpiece lost all its former importance and remained empty until an Berlin investor realized its potential. A try-out penthouse was created and plans for future use of the almost 10 acres of land were made. However, a law of building prohibitance was enforced and every renovation was to be ended.

Of course this incredible space didn't remain unnoticed to the rest of the world and the construction laws in bankrupt Berlin kept changing. So it found an interesting new investor: the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Their ultimate goal to teach the philosophy of transcendental meditation, however, lost all its credibility during the presentation of the project last year. The filmmaker's partner Raja Emmanuel, who's a Maharishi guru, constantly used the words 'unbesiegbares Deutschland' to explain his view of a new generation students. While this German 'invincibility' caused great consternation under the audience due to their reference to the country's past, Herr Lynch had no idea what was going. A translator was procured after a while , but I believe it was only after the meeting that Lynch realized the consequence of his friends words: no building on the Teufelsberg (stated by the Local Mayor Monika Thiemen)! Which means that the possibilities to reach a higher state of consciousness due to invincibility on the Teufelsberg have luckily been postponed.

This might give the director some time to get enlightened about a more useful cause for one of the few remaining Berlin treasures or at least to find a wiser partner. In the meantime it offers us, adventurers, some extra time to play hide and seek and fantasize about Lynchian times...

LINK Guru's Speech http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k357ErdUQyk

"Hug the person on your left"

Last thursday started out as just a regular thursday. No, I'm lying: I must admit I was kind of annoyed and hungry that I didn't have any yoghurt nor raisins when I got up. But those are just minor details. My major frustration was the fact that I had failed in getting tickets to see Sia that night.

For those of you, who don't know Sia: just stop reading. Go and feel ashamed! It's that simple.

While I was trying to accept this disappointing character feature of myself, I made plans for the night. Live on, forgive and eventually forget. My options were simple: I was going to see the performance by my friend Brina, that we had been working on for a few weeks. I would like to emphasize that I wouldn't have never missed this. I would just consider Sia as a really, really, super big + to my night afterwards. But as I said, forget and ... "sorry, what?!? Thijs, could you repeat that? Extra tickets for who?". It seemed like the cognitive modules in my brain had suddenly lost every notion of their original purpose.

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....and there I was. Floathing on cloudes. Smiling from big ear to big ear. Serenades of love in my head sung by nightingales and butterflies. Almost as light as a feather. I know you think I'm exaggerating. Maybe part of me believes you're right. This part, however, is of minor importance. After having waited for more than I felt was good for me, she finally got on stage and flabbergasted all the others who now were forced to join me in this feeling of euphoria. Just by singing 'hi'. After that this girl, at the top of her emotions, reached cords that made the small hairs on our skin shiver. Giving us refreshing tones to hop on and tunes that could even make the most damaged person feel in love for a second. The combination of whispering words and raw exhales made the symphonies sounds more authentic than ever. C'est sa ton qui fait la musique.
As if this wasn't enough she friendly asked the audience to hug. 'Please hug the person on your left' she said, while she was rubbing her own back. For a moment I could see the young Sia pretending to make out in her teenage bedroom. Her cuteness even disarmed Thijs, although he referred to it as 'niet goed in d'r hoofd', which literally means 'out of her mind'. But I won't be picky about words.

But I guess it was the sign language she used to express the meaning of "Soon We'll Be Found" that captured the last infadels.
link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcyQcNlGEVE
I am still not overstating, but I did forget to mention an important factor: her band. These musicians, every single one of them, are magicians, capable of making you feel ... happy. That was the word I have been looking for. They just gave us plain happiness.

So this has all turned out to be a tribute to Thijs. Without him I would have been having amazing fun somewhere else in Berlin without realizing what I had missed. However, he took me to the concert and i'm glad he made realize what I didn't miss.

Thanks.

My daily foreignfun..

"One Milchkaffee, bitte!"

"Gross oder small?"

The small joys of Berlin life

Small foldable bikes with small axis that force you to slow down.

A piece of DDR balcony falling on your head.

Being winked at by the last sunbeam of the day in a simpson scooters side mirror.

Noticing a fellow sidewalker in a hurry noticing you, synchronising both your paces and can't help it but smiling because of the unnecessary rush.

Dark cloudes and sheeps feet.

Discovering a traffic light that has been turned into a red heart, an orange star and a green teardrop.

Boogieing on a wednesday night.

When fall is at its peak, slide through the fallen leaves and pretend they're all roseleaves spread out for you by someone who loves you.

Passing with red lights.

Getting up early and enjoying the last shiverings of anothers night out.

Funny-looking, happy people.

Davis' Kind of Blue out of your neighbours window on a sunday morning.

Complaining about other music.

A falafelpita with extra hummus after a long night out...

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you in the weekend


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Berlin Bulb

Just a week after this year had begun, almost all happiness of the Christmas and NewYears atmosphere seemed to have disappeared. Berlin turned to be as dark as I feared she could be. I had just moved to Germany's Capital and had heard a lot about it. Loneliness sprinkled throughout the city. Unappealing abandoned contructionsites. Grey skies filled with crying clouds above me and their tears on the streets beneath. I felt weird and maybe a bit betrayed. I had left Hong 'canto-pop' Kong in order to be somewhere surrounded by alikes. People that couldn't get enough of the soundtrack of life. But was this really the city of endless tunes? A place where no-one ever stopped? The still running afterparties of Sylvester didn't appeal to my taste at that point. Was't the musical creativity suppose to keep this place pumping as blood through veins? If that was so, why couldn't I find it?

But then a small hint. Just two simply formulated sentences on the net: ‘Die Tanzguerilla trifft sich, um im Kaufhaus tanzen zu gehen. Bringt Walkman und MP3-Player mit’. Danceguerilla? The idea of dancing in a shoppingmall made my heart do a Charleston through my chest.

A silent disco amongst hundreds of necessary shoppers, turning a smile on most of their faces. Bodymovement. Excitement. Flirting. For some it's not just plain entertainment, it's a protest. Against capitalism. Against globalisation. Against boredom. Against dark days.

Berlin, known for its rebellion, has always encouraged this way of expression after the fall of the Wall. With dialy demonstrations, these meetings, however, seems to focus on the funfactor. No rules. Just dancing on spots where you always wanted to dance. Supermarkets, subway stations, cashmachinespaces, conferencenters, even the Reichstag received a welldeserved visit.

And then I found out that this was just the innocent beginning. What followed was the introduced to the world of Rave. Through friends, acquaintances and people I didn't know at all, I got informed about the most amazing gatherings. Old factories, parks and forests, bunkers, rooftops. Morning, night, midday. Dressed-up, naked, come as you like. Friday, Sunday, Tuesday. No boundaries. No end. Just dance until the police comes.... and even that is no guarantee.

I knew Berlin had it. Something growing under the ground, waiting to be revealed. But actually discovering and experiencing all these amazing features felt like a bonus, a durable lightbulb for the dark winterdays. So this time, with winter starting, I'm ready and anxious to see what Berlin is preparing to keep us warm.