A media activist, researcher and educator currently based in Hong Kong. My Twitter account is @oiwan and personal views are published on: patreon.com/oiwan
Latest posts by Oiwan Lam from April, 2007
China: Please, no more rural healthcare propaganda!
Chris O'Brien from Beijing Newspeak blogged about the editorial process of a Xinhua article about China rural healthcare system: it was immensely frustrating that the story had to go through four revisions before all of them (opinions) were included in the story.
China: Prison Break
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI has translated a BBS post, Musings on the Chinese version of Prison Break, which addressed the question: how would a Chinese Prison Break be adapted so that it would pass the TV censors?
China: Slogans with Chinese characteristics
Banyue from DANWEI blogged some outrageous Chinese slogans, such as: Popularize the first child, control the second child, exterminate the third child, Whoever does not follow family planning will have his household ruined and his family perish, and many others.
China: An Eye for an Eye
The dog abuse case in Nanjing has resulted in furious internet response and real life threat: “You burned that dog to death and therefore I want you ‘dead'!” ESWN translated a report by Wang Feng from Southern Metropolis Daily on the case.
Japan: Baby Crying Contest
James from Japan Probe posted some photos from the annual baby crying contest.
Hong Kong: Hollywood Star Chow Yun Fat Supports Queen's Pier Preservation
Citizen reporters at inmediahk.net put up an exclusive report, with youtube clip (zh), on how Chow Yun Fat visited the Queen's Pier at 5:30am this morning (April 28), to show his support for preserving the historical landmark, Queen's Pier, in Situ. An English version of the report can be found...
China: culture certification system
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI has translated an interview with Liu Changquan of the Ministry of Culture's Cultural and Artistic Talent Center from Southern Weekly about the newly proposed certification system for entry to cultural sectors.
Macau: Gambling Disneyland
Onemanbandwith has a post about Macau's recent development, 17% growth in GDP. As the writer said, “for someone to win at the tables, someone else must lose“.
China: Dog Abuse Triggered Internet Debate
Josie Liu from China in Transition reported on a recent internet debate (17000 comments) about animal right VS human right. The discussion was triggered off by an incident of burning dogs in Nanjing city.
Taiwan: Taiwan Refuses Olympic Torch
Michael Turton blogs about the refusal of Olympic Torch by Taiwan government, as local politicians regarded the route as “domestic”.
South Korea and Japan: Illegal Selling of Game Code
James from Japan Probe quoted from South Korean local news about a suspected case of stealing of Game Code, “Lineage III”, from Korea’s largest game maker NCsoft to a major Japanese Game Company.
Japan: Three Days Priest
Harvey from Japan Newbie explained the expression of mikka bouzu, three days priest, which is used to describe someone who is unable to stick with something they have started to do.
Japan: Cellphone-operated Remote Control Home System
Edo introduced the latest cellphone-operated remote control home system developed by NTT-Neomeit: To control devices, users access a web page via cellphone and select the desired operations. The commands are then sent via the web to a wireless router in the home, which relays signals to an infrared transmitter and...
Japan: Chinese-Japanese Rapper Nycca
James from Japan Probe introduced a trilingual Rapper Nycca. The post is linked to a youtube video of the singer's self intro and rap in three languages: Japanese, Cantonese and Putonghua.
Taiwan: Youtube Censors anti WTO Protest Video
Blasts found out (zh) that Youtube has categorized an anti-WTO protest documentary as not suitable for viewers under 18: “This video may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community. To view this video, please verify you are 18 or older by logging in...
Hong Kong: Queen's Pier Last Night
Plastichk has written a citizen report on the last night of Queen's Pier and criticised the government's refusal to preserve the pier in situ (zh). The Pier is a colonial symbol during the British rule in Hong Kong. There is a on-going citizen campaign to preserve the pier.
China: Seventeen Hates
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI has translated Liu Qi's article in Southern Weekly about seventeen practices that he hates most in China.
China: Olympic Politics and Protests at the Roof of the World
The Granite Studio brought into focus Beijing's plan to include the summit of Mt. Everest as a stop for the Olympic torch. Some Tibetan activists staged a protest at the roof of the world in response to such move.
China: IPR is not a Real issue
Andrew has written a good analysis of the Intellectual Property Rights negotiation between U.S and China. The conflict is not so real as IP theft hurts Beijing's state-run media machine and control over internet media: Washington is pushing Beijing into reluctantly doing something it probably wanted to do anyway.
China: Not to Buy Apartment Campaign Ended
Zou Tao, a Shenzhen citizen who has launched the “Not to Buy Apartment Campaign”, has sold his property in Shenzhen, returned to his homeland in Hunan and become a peasant. Although many were looking forward for a relaunch of the campaign, Zhang hua however commented that such campaign wouldn't help...
China: Spiderman in Beijing Street?
Whether pirated copies of Spiderman III DVD are sold in Beijing Street or just empty boxes? Reuters and Sony have different versions of the story. So Chinese pirates have actually beaten anyone else in selling empty boxes claiming to be Spidey III, thus doing a masterful job of pranking foreign...