SPRING 2015

RICE MAGAZINE

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Asia Night 2015: Reflections | Cantopop| Kazakhstan| My Education, My Language |Obama in India |Reunification | The Korean: An American | They Sang in Drapchi

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PresidentNora Asha Gurung

Editor in ChiefNivedita Kutty Vatsa

Vice President of Administrative and Financial Affairs Lucy He

Head of Publicity Julia Sichun Liu

Heads of DesignCyndi Chin & Christopher Cho

Executive Board Members

Rice Magazine is an outlet for students to explore unique issues concerning Asian cultures, perspectives, and experiences. We reserve the right to edit submissions and publish work as deemed appropriate. All views expressed are those of the authors.

cornellricemag@gmail.comwww.ricemagazine.tkwww.facebook.com/ricemagazine

Arwa AwanJenny FengZhi Jian LinAbrahim Shah

Associate EditorsJeanette SiRene TsukawakiTiffany WongJune Xia

Editorial Policy

Contact Information

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Kazakhstan: Wrestling With IndependenceJames O’Connor

The Korean: An AmericanAndy Kim

My Education, My LanguageBryan Tam

Obama in IndiaAbrahim Shah

Asian Night 2015: ReflectionsQi Liao, Xio Yin Ma, and Christopher Cho

They Sang in Drapchi

Andrew Card

Reunification of the Korean Peninsula Anna Cook

Cantopop: Ancient Melody, Modern VoiceVincent Lin

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KazakhstanBY JAMES O’CONNOR

Wrestling with Independence

KazakhstanBY JAMES O’CONNOR

Wrestling with Independence

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ATLANTIC, RUSSIA TRAVEL BLOG, WIKISPACES CLASSROOM, AND, IMAGEKID.COM,

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When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the poor, backward, Central Asian backwater Soviet

Socialist Republic of Kazakhstan was left in a very difficult position. Among all the newly independent post-imperial nation-states which emerged in the 20th Century, Kazakhstan was perhaps the most reluctant. The country officially declared its independence from the Soviet Union on December 16, 1991—4 days after the Russians. In a referendum nine months earlier, 95% of Kazakhs voted to retain the USSR—about 20% higher than the support for the Union in Russia. This seems puzzling to many in the West, but the Kazakhs had valid reasons to feel nervous about independence. There was no history of independence or self-rule in Kazakhstan and little interest in its fate in Western capitals. Unlike the European countries which left the Soviet Union or its bloc around the same time, the Kazakhs could not look forward to a bevy of eager Western investors anxious to flood their country with investments and aid packages. The general and oversimplified attitude of the Western nations towards the Central Asian “-stan” countries was one of apathy. The region was too remote to matter to European or American interests. It had natural resources aplenty, but they were unexplored and underexploited in 1991. More importantly, they were far from the great manufacturing and industrial centers of North America and Europe; no one in 1991 could see that China, just beginning to benefit from the market reforms of Deng Xiaoping, would explode

into the resource-hungry economic powerhouse denizens of the 21st century take for granted. Without strong ties to a strong Russia, where would Kazakhstan find the necessary investments to develop its natural resource sector? And if they did find the money, where would they find markets for what was extracted?

In addition to economic anxieties, the country’s elites recognized that they faced a daunting array of political challenges as well. To the Southeast, Afghanistan was caught up in a bloody civil war between a dozen different factions of Islamist militants armed to the teeth with high-tech weaponry. Iraq had just suffered its first American invasion and remained convulsed by the ethnic violence between Kurds and Iraqi Arabs. Many in Kazakhstan believed that similar problems could easily ruin them and their fears were not unreasonable- in 1992, Kazakhstan’s neighbor to the South, Tajikistan, was devastated by a civil war between the government and underrepresented minority groups supported by the Taliban and al-Qaeda. There was no reason to think that Kazakhstan with its extensive territory, diversity of population and majority Islamic population could not suffer a similar eruption of violence, or a unique one. The new nation’s elite, grounded in the traditions of their Soviet education—secularist, statist, and anti-Western—looked with deeply felt anxiety at what awaited them. Adding to their anxieties, Kazakhstan’s infant government was headed by a 51-year old former Communist bureaucrat with less than two years of presidential experience,

KAZAKHSTAN: WRESTLING WITH INDEPENDENCE

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a former steelworker and the son of a steppe nomad—Nursultan Nazarbayev.

As President Nazarbayev led his country down the road of independence, he enjoyed many advantages and lucky breaks which no one in 1991 anticipated, and for which he cannot take credit. China industrialized at an astonishing rate, creating a huge market for Kazakhstan’s abundant raw materials. The regime in Tehran mellowed and a Russian-led coalition suppressed the civil war in Tajikistan, preventing violence from spilling over into its neighbors. Unlike in Russia and Ukraine, where state monopolies were quickly transformed into oligarch monopolies, Kazakhstan’s nascent natural resource economy was not yet large or profitable enough to support powerful oligarchs capable of contesting power with the central government. When these industries expanded with the help of foreign investment, it was the state rather than a small clique of oligarchs which reaped the rewards. Accusations have surfaced about bribery during the bidding process for oil exploration rights between American companies—most notably, accusations by former 2004 presidential contender Zamanbek Nurkadilov, who accused Kazakh officials of accepting “millions of dollars in bribes.” If the allegations are true—as they very well might be, given that Mr. Nurkadilov was assassinated the next year, those “millions” pale in comparison to the awesome fortunes amassed by billionaire Ukrainian oligarchs like Viktor Yanukovych, Yulia Timoshenko, and Petro Poroshenko, the most recent presidents of the worst-

performing economy in the former Soviet Union. Though Kazakhstan is hardly immune to the problem, corruption remains a hindrance to the activities of the state rather than its primary function. Thus, when the 21st century began in a way which was highly favorable for Kazakhstan—Chinese growth exploded, commodity prices remained high, and the Americans launched a trillion dollar war in Afghanistan (which boosted regional spending and suppressed the Taliban, a major source of regional instability), the state reaped much of the benefits—tens of billions of dollars were judiciously set aside in a sovereign wealth fund and foreign currency reserves, rather than becoming the private fortunes of a political elite.

Though President Nazarbayev shouldn’t take credit for most of these developments in his nation’s favor, his government’s policies still merit commendation. Domestic economic policy has followed conventional technocratic lines including contracted lucrative deals with foreign energy companies, infrastructure development, subsidization of industrial diversification, and the aforementioned rainy-day fund. With large revenues stemming from the exploitation of natural resources, the state can afford generous largesse to its citizens while charging a miniscule 10% flat tax on personal income. Income inequality in Kazakhstan as measured by the CIA is on par with that of Switzerland and GDP per capita (PPP) measured $24,143 in 2014, the highest in the region.

It is in foreign policy, however, that President Nazarbayev has truly made

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his mark. Keenly understanding that his nation can reap the benefits of Russian, Chinese, and Western competition for economic influence, he has kept the bidding going throughout his regime. He was the first head of state to propose a new economic union of former Soviet states, a goal recently achieved in the Eurasian Economic Union, which presently contains Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia. A fluent Russian speaker and a product of the Soviet system, Nazarbayev has protected the rights of Kazakhstan’s ethnic Russians, who make up a quarter of the population, and has retained Russian as a legal administrative language, looking to avoid many of the same issues Ukraine faces presently. Kazakhstan supported the American war in Afghanistan and reaped the benefits of

the American interest kindled in Central Asian affairs, although close ties between the two nations remain elusive. President Nazarbayev likely recognizes that the Americans are but interlopers in Central Asian affairs, compared to his permanent neighbors. He has negotiated multiple energy supply contracts with the Chinese government, often with provisions ensuring cheap loans or reduced cost infrastructure construction, like rail lines and glittering new districts of skyscrapers in the steppe cities of Astana and Almaty. Kazakhstan was a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Agreement, a voluntary association of states with common security interests which includes Russia and China. President Nazarbayev has also taken a leading role in organizing regional powers to

KAZAKHSTAN: WRESTLING WITH INDEPENDENCE

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABOUTKAZAKHSTAN.COM

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coordinate their preparations for the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. President Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan is the Kremlin’s closest ally, Beijing’s dear friend, and Wall Street approved. Yet at its heart, the President’s policy has always been noncommittal—after two decades of sovereign independence, Kazakhstan has enjoyed the benefits of the single life and shows no signs of accepting marriage proposals anytime soon.

President Nazarbayev, now 74, looks forward to another 5-year term in office, while his nation looks forward to continued economic growth. The recently unveiled “Kazakhstan 2050” Plan envisions the world’s 9th largest country entering its top 30 economies by 2050. However, there are blips on the radar, more ominous than any that the young

nation has seen since the 1990s, and more ominous than the 2008 world economic crisis which left Kazakhstan almost entirely unscathed. Ignoring the façade of democracy, Kazakhstan is a one-party state which has never lacked Nursultan Nazarbayev’s unifying leadership. The nation is young but its leader is not—and democracies, even pseudo-democracies, do not include legally recognized succession plans. Older Kazakhs still respect their president who guided them through an economic miracle when they expected hard times and emergencies, but younger Kazakhs, who grew up in a world where standards are set in New York and Paris rather

than Moscow, are dismayed with the government’s authoritarianism. Anti-Russian nationalists resent the privileged status of Kazakhstan’s largest ethnic minority and fearing the intervention of the Kremlin, they might just unleash the policies which provoke it. As far as authoritarianism goes, benevolent, economic-minded authoritarianism is most preferable and in this, Mr. Nazarbayev emulates the policies and manners of modern Singapore’s late founding father, Lee Kuan Yew (who VP Joe Biden called “the wisest man in the Orient”), mentioning the man in recent speeches. But Mr. Nazarbayev has no clear successor to pass his authority to, and in a leadership contest which will likely be dominated by internal squabbling and the influence of Russian, Chinese, and Western money, things could get bitter; there is no guarantee that benevolence will be preserved. Almost certainly, unity will not.

James O’Connor is a sophomore majoring in Economics and History in the College of Arts and Sciences

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABOUTKAZAKHSTAN.COM

The Korean: An American

BY ANDY KIM

“I wonder if my father, given the chance, would have wished to go back to the time before he

made all that money, when he just had one store and we rented a tiny apartment in Queens. He worked hard and had worries but he had a joy then that he never seemed to regain once the

money started coming in.

He might turn on the radio and dance cheek to cheek with my mother. He worked on his car himself, a used green Impala with carburetor

trouble.

They had lots of Korean friends that they met in church and then even in the street, and when they talked in public there was a shared sense of

how lucky they were, to be in America but still have countrymen near.”

—Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA AND ONPOINT.WBUR.ORG

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When I first read those words, I thought, “not a chance,” or at least from where my own father

had come from – having been raised by his own father, my grandfather, back in South Korea. Of course, it was “not a chance,” tied to his deep sense of duty which travelled through his sinewy

limbs and oft-dyed black hair. Political regionalism in South Korea dictates that my father be some conservative, much to my mother’s consternation. She scolds him for talking politics, saying that he thinks like an old man. “It’s all very foolish,” she says, especially for people of “their generation:” those born in the 1960’s.

Author Chang-rae Lee shares in that generational heritage, although having lived a radically different life since moving to the United States at age three. In Native Speaker, Lee reproduces the “Korean America” which he knew best, a space between Flushing, NY and Palisades Park: movement from ethnic urban to beautiful, sprawling homogeny. This was

America to the Korean immigrants of the late 60’s and early 70’s, dissatisfied with their motherland’s $79 GDP per capita, limited access to higher education, and authoritarian regime.

Upon the removal of strict immigration quotas in 1965, many Koreans jumped at the opportunity to move to the United States. They wanted

THE KOREAN: AN AMERICAN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DREAMSTIMES, IWILLDREAM, BROWN UNIVERSITY, KOREAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, ASIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA, AND FINE ART AMERICA

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green lawns and value-by-the-square-foot like what they had seen on TV or heard from protestant missionaries. These desires linger to this day, despite conditions having drastically changed.

Through the 70’s and 80’s, South Korea’s economy boomed. Standards of living closed in with that of the U.S., and when coupled with democratization

in 1987, far fewer individuals found reason to move overseas. From 1980 to 2000, Korean immigration to the United States tapered substantially, and those who did immigrate did so for different reasons. Temporary immigration from South Korea increased due to economic globalization. Koreans, once interested in laying roots, were now students and

expats who planned on returning home after brief tenures overseas.

My parents were among these “temporary immigrants,” travelling to Kansas for my father’s degree. They admit that they had little intention of staying for more than two or three years, but in that time, the Asian Financial Crisis crashed through South Korea’s economy. In the

late 1990’s, this economic downturn motivated a slight increase in Korean immigration. However, more notable was the increase in status adjustment among Koreans already in the United States. Assets held in Korean accounts were reduced to fractions of their pre-crisis values. Many Koreans found themselves marooned in the United States.

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THE KOREAN: AN AMERICAN

Despite the unintended nature of our extended stay, my parents did display some sense of joy to be in America – although in my youth, I admit they were unlikely to show me otherwise. They labored over the New York Times in order to learn English. They smiled, adopting new names to suit. My father’s name, “Nam-woo,” means “tree” in Korean, but amongst his coworkers, he goes by “Nam,” much like the war many of them had fought in. We changed our names out of convenience, convenience having become some inextricable necessity. My mother goes by “Soon” now, although when we first moved to Kansas, she adopted the name “Pauline,” in Christian fashion, until her coworkers told her how old it made her sound. “No one under the age of 80,” she complained, before dropping it without a second thought.

Despite rejecting the name “Pauline” and my father’s conservative politics, my mother has accepted age with grace, becoming a spout of wisdom. She often harps anecdotes such as “money can’t make you happy” – not religiously, but personally. She draws from wells of experience: an upbringing certainly that of money, living in a two-story home, rather than an apartment or straw-roofed

hanok house. Yet her childhood was marked with suffering it seems, stories she wouldn’t tell me until I was out of high school and sufficiently old.

In that way, it’s interesting how Chang-rae Lee’s writings as a Korean American, particularly the passage quoted in the introduction, resonate with my parents as much as myself. Both my mother and father were raised amidst small business: my father, a greengrocer, and my mother, a restaurateur. But perhaps their connection to Lee’s works go even further than that.

Because they had spent their formative years in South Korea, it’s easy for me to forget that they too are Korean Americans. Regardless of how we ended up in the United States, on whatever wave, or however long ago, Korean Americans can share in some version of that foundational narrative: an immigrant generation and their infant children. Korean contents poured into an American mold – a mold, itself, ever changing.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WULFMAN65.DEVIANTART.COM

My Education, My Language

Andy Kim is a junior majoring in ILR in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations

My Education, My Language

BY BRYAN TAM

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FLICKR, AAPKASAFAR.COM, AND WWF-MALAYSIA

Many Malaysians have had a love-hate relationship with multilingualism for as long as I can remember. While many Malaysians including myself have always taken pride in our

multilingual abilities, we have not been very compromising over what our language of instruction should be. Most of us insist on the superiority of our first language (whatever it may be), and countless articles have been written to argue for instruction in a certain language. To the casual onlooker, it seems that this can be easily resolved with a multilingual language of instruction, but when politics and national pride come into play, the situation becomes much more complex.

Malaysia is made up of a wide range of ethnic groups, of which, the major three are the Malays, the Chinese, and the Indians. Malays are the largest ethnic group in Malaysia, with more than 60 percent of the population being ethnic Malay. The Chinese and the Indians are the second and the third largest ethnic groups at about 20 and 10 percent of the population respectively. Each ethnic group has a different mother tongue and its own subset of dialects. The Malays speak mostly Malay, the Chinese, Mandarin and the Indians, Tamil. There is also a small subset within each ethnic group that primarily speaks English, but this subset is somewhat restricted to the more educated upper class.

Because of the wide range of languages spoken in Malaysia, the school system is segmented into national-type schools and vernacular-type schools. The language of instruction in national-type schools is Malay, although many national-type schools in urban areas tend to use English. For vernacular-type schools, the language of instruction is either Mandarin or Tamil. There are also private schools in Malaysia that use English as the language of instruction. Even though all these schools have different languages of instruction, the government textbooks are written in Malay and students are required to respond in Malay on exams. There are some exceptions where government textbooks for vernacular schools are written in Mandarin or Tamil and students are required to respond in Mandarin or Tamil on exams, but these exceptions only apply at the primary (elementary) school level and not at the secondary school level.

The debate started in 2003 when the fourth prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, implemented a new education policy known as the PPSMI. PPSMI is a Malay acronym for Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik Dalam Bahasa Inggeris, or “The Teaching and Learning of Science

PHOTOS COURTESTY OF DREAMSTIME

and Mathematics in English.” Under this policy, all schools, whether national, vernacular, or private, were required to teach math and science in English. Government textbooks for these two subjects were translated into English and all students were required to respond in English on exams. Since English is the main language of communication for math and science in the international arena, Tun Dr Mahathir reasoned that Malaysians had to be able to use scientific terms in English if Malaysia was to advance and remain competitive in these fields. This policy was later reversed in 2009 by the deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who said that students who were not used to English could not adjust to with English as the main language of instruction, with the implementation of the reversal starting from 2012 onwards. This reversal was criticised by Mahathir, interestingly, was in the same political party as Muhyiddin.

There are two primary sides of the debate, the pro-PPSMI side and the anti-PPSMI side. The pro-PPSMI side argues that knowing the English jargon used in math and science is crucial for students to understand the vast collection of scientific literature produced by the international community and participate in scientific discussions with scientists across the globe. They also argue that even if scientific literature and jargon could be translated, it would delay the country’s progress in math and science. In addition, they believe that the government’s acknowledgement of the policy as a failure was premature as it had only been implemented for 6 years which was not enough time to determine whether the policy was effective.

On the other hand, the anti-PPSMI side of the debate argues that the extensive use of English as the language of instruction would erode the use of Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil, which use is crucial to ensuring that the cultural identity of each ethnic group is maintained. Since Malaysia’s national language is Malay, the anti-PPSMI side also contends that a decline in the use of Malay would erode the national identity and hence, the patriotism of Malaysians. In addition, they point out that the use of English is unnecessary as many advanced countries use their own national language to teach math and science (some examples cited: China, Japan, Germany, France). They also argue that the PPSMI policy was a failure as most students used their mother tongue to answer the exam questions when they were given a choice between English or their mother tongue.

Another question then arises. Would it not be better if both sides compromised on a bilingual solution? Or if the

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government gave parents the right to choose which language the school should use? Well, many are open to both ideas, but there are concerns that neither solution may be very practical. The pro-PPSMI side contends that a bilingual solution is only effective theoretically. A large fraction of teachers in Malaysia are more fluent in their mother tongue than in English. Thus, they argue that there is a high chance that teaching will not be conducted bilingually, but instead in the mother tongue of the teacher (although, as an astute observer might notice, will still be a concern even if the use of English is mandated again). They also state that giving parents a choice will sideline the rural parents who may opt for English, since most parents in rural areas are more likely to opt for the non-English option. On the other hand, the anti-PPSMI side argues that neither of the two solutions would solve the problem that English will sideline Malay, Mandarin, or Tamil.

To be practical, both sides would rather compromise than lose out entirely in this debate. So the question would be: Why does the government not implement either solution? My guess is that the government would gain more by appealing to the anti-PPSMI side. The pro-PPSMI side is mostly made up of the educated upper class and the more liberal younger generation. These groups are much more likely to vote for the opposition party regardless of which policy is chosen. The constitution of the anti-PPSMI side is more complex. Of the three major ethnic groups on the anti-PPSMI side, only the Malays generally support the government. The Chinese

and the Indians predominantly vote for the opposition. However, since the Malays form the largest fraction in this group, it can be said that the government is appealing to the Malays when it appeals to the anti-PPSMI side. Rather than lose the Malay anti-PPSMI vote and not gain the pro-PPSMI vote, the government is better off gaining the Malay anti-PPSMI vote completely.

Where, then, do I stand in all this? Having been brought up in an English-speaking environment and being more fluent in English than in my mother tongue, Mandarin, or in Malay, I am naturally on the pro-PPSMI side. But rather than supportingc a solution where only English is used, I instead support the bilingual solution. The fact is that teachers have always been using the language more comfortable to them. There would be no reason to use English when both the

MY LANGUAGE, MY EDUCATION

PHOTO COURTESY OF PELITA SCHOOl

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teacher and the students struggle with it (unless the state education supervisor is around). The bilingual solution does not change the status quo. Instead, it offers students the opportunity to learn in the language most comfortable to them, and if they have the determination, to translate whatever they have learned into English. This solution is a more flexible option for students.

To be honest, I have not always supported a bilingual solution. I thought that it was a step backwards from the PPSMI policy started by the government. It was only when I stepped out of the capital’s English-proficient society that my view began to change. Many of the people I met outside the capital were smart, but they were not raised in an environment conducive to learning English. Their English was poor and they struggled to string together simple

sentences. But when I talked to them about this issue, they were supportive of a bilingual solution. The reason was that they wanted to be able to learn in English but they were not able to. A bilingual solution would allow them to first learn the material and then translate whatever they have learned into English. These students are not rich students; their chance to learn the material in English would be through a bilingual government-sponsored textbook.

While the focus of this debate is Malaysia, the discussion could very well occur in other multilingual country as well. Even in English-speaking countries, an influx of non-English speaking immigrants can lead to a similar disagreement. In such a scenario, the debate in Malaysia may serve as a precedent for another country to learn from.

Bryan Tam is a sophomore majoring in Financial Engineering in the College of Engineering.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PELITA SCHOOl

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Obama in India:

Improved Relations between the US and India and its

Geopolitical Implications

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEWSEASTWEST

By Abrahim Shah

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Obama in India:

On the 26th of January 2015, President Barack Obama became the first US President ever to be chief guest at India’s

Republic Day celebrations. President Obama’s visit to India delineates the rapidly improving relations between two of the world’s largest democracies and how much these two nations value the other’s alliance. The shift in US foreign policy towards a favorable stance towards India (a change that has long been on the cards for both parties) holds ramifications not just for the two parties involved but also for countries all over the world- especially those in India’s immediate vicinity such as China and Pakistan.

Ever since its independence, India has refrained from associating itself with any particular bloc or group. This neutral policy allowed India to maintain relations

with the United States and the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. It was also one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) started in 1961 by a group of countries who did not pledge their allegiance to any one camp in the ideological struggle between East and West. However, with the election of Narendra Modi as Indian Prime Minister in 2014, the Indian government immediately adopted a more amicable outlook towards the US and this desire for cordial relations was reciprocated by the US with efforts for warmer relations culminating in President Obama’s visit to India on Republic Day. Considering the fact that Premier Modi was rejected a US visa in 2005 because of his alleged involvement in the Samjhota Express massacre, President Obama’s visit to the US shows a rapid shift in relations and

opinions in the US about Mr. Modi. This change depicts how valuable the US considers its relationship with India and how the US sees India as an ally and possible counterweight to rising Chinese power in the East.

Closer ties between the US and India, although bound to benefit the two parties, involve repercussions for other countries whose relations with the US and India will surely be affected by this development. One of the countries that will be influenced by this is Pakistan, India’s neighbor and once arch nemesis. Pakistan has long considered the US to be one of its most staunch allies, but has continually been vexed by the US desire to appease India. The dispute over Kashmir and the US granting a civil nuclear deal to India and not doing the same with Pakistan (although both countries are not signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty) are both seen by Pakistan as thorny issues that plague its relationship with the US. Mr. Obama, who has never visited Pakistan, went to India within a year of Mr. Modi’s election- a fact that highlights how the US values India’s friendship more than Pakistan’s despite Pakistan being the forefront ally to the US in the war on terror and facing the brunt of most of the Taliban attacks. Although it seems unlikely that Pakistan would ever break away from the US, America’s overt preference for India is naturally causing Pakistan to harbor ill feelings towards its dependence on the US. These feelings will surely come into play in Afghanistan where in the aftermath of the withdrawal of US and NATO forces, Pakistan and

India will vie for control and dominance.Additionally, The US shift towards

India can be seen in the backdrop of China’s rise and how the US has begun to fear China as a potential competitor for global h e g e m o n y . India and C h i n a h a v e always had a

tumultuous re l at i ons h ip and the two fought a brief war in 1962 that was completely dominated by China. Today, although the two nations are strong economic partners, their relationship remains shaky. With the US now viewing China as a rising hegemonic force in the East, India is viewed by the US as a country that can oppose China’s global ambitions. Although PM Modi asserted the need to remain close allies with China, his inclination towards the US suggests that

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC NEWS

A Formidable Partnership: President Barack Obama shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after arriving in India last January.

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he is ready to use the support of the US to make India a regional and global power that can oppose Chinese economic and

geopolitical interests. India has also always viewed China

as a proponent of Pakistan, which

as mentioned above, is

seen as I n d i a’s

traditional r i v a l

a l t h o u g h Pakistan now lags

far behind India in economic output and conventional

warfare capacity. With China and India’s hostility in mind, the US is willing to get involved in this struggle to ensure that China does not face a completely unopposed playing field and the US’s friendship with India is bound to strain relations between the US and China.

The effects of the conflict between China on the one hand and the US and India on the other are already

reverberating throughout the region. China is currently embroiled in territorial disputes with nations such as the Philippines and Japan, and the US has openly come out in support of these countries against the aspirations of China. With Prime Minister Modi being personally very close to Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister , it is only natural that India will get involved in the conflict as well and oppose China, especially if it has the US backing it. The US involvement is crucial to the relationship between India and China and how this dynamic is affecting regional politics is evident in the 2015 elections of Sri Lanka where former Prime Minister Rajapaksa, who was a staunch ally of China, was replaced by Mr. Sirisena who has firmly established himself in India’s camp.

President Obama’s visit to India, although a simple incident on paper, carries tremendous ramifications for regional and global politics. These effects, as highlighted in this article, will most profoundly be felt by Pakistan and China, although repercussions will reverberate throughout the world. As China’s economy burgeons and Chinese leaders look forward to their nation’s time ‘under the sun’, the US along with its ally India will play a crucial role in determining how this hegemonic struggle shapes the globe.

A Formidable Partnership: President Barack Obama shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after arriving in India last January.

Abrahim Shah is a sophomore majoring in Economics and History in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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Asia Night 2015: ReflectionsAsia Night was an

overwhelming exhilarating blur of color, lights, and sound. From the moment

I stepped into Duffield atrium to when I left around midnight, there were no faces without a smile.

The level of friendliness of everyone was extraordinary! No matter where I turned, there was always a friend or friendly

representative who was absolutely willing to yell over the Yamatai drumming and loud music to explain their clubs. I ate dumplings

from Amber, played the guzheng with Cornell Eastern Music Ensemble (CEME), took a picture with the clock tower at Asian Pacific Americans for Action (APAA), and painted Japanese cherry blossoms on lanterns with Mochi (formerly known as AAF). I cheered with the audience to E.Motion’s and Illumination’s dances, and countless other exciting performances. One of the biggest things I missed since coming to college is the Asian food that I can’t seem to find anywhere else, and

this celebration had all the classics – dumplings, candy, snacks – it was like I was home again.

It was refreshing to see so much Asian pride showcased in one big, fantastic event. Too often being Asian has been

reduced to a punch line or an aspect of identity that is ignored in the name of tolerance. For me,

although being Asian has been a very ubiquitous

BY QI LIAO

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Asia Night 2015: Reflectionspart of

my identity, I never thought much of it – the statement “I

am Asian” is as obvious and boring as “I am 18” or “I am a student”; all true, little facts that really

don’t say much about me. I never viewed my identity as something to be proud of, but rather something that just is.

However, here at Cornell and at Asia Night, I’ve gained a new perspective: my identity is something to be celebrated, not just

tolerated. And being Asian really says nothing about a person – there is no “right” way to be Asian. Asians come in all shapes and sizes, all personalities, all cultures and backgrounds, and the term “Asian” really does everyone a disservice by grouping such a diverse set of cultures into one generic term. I know that I was not the only one who experienced this exhilarating sense of freedom to finally take pride in something that we usually try to suppress to fit in. A sense of familiarity and pleasant discovery pervaded Duffield atrium that

night.I’m very thankful that Cornell has an event dedicated

to the celebration of Asian identity and culture that showcases all the wonderful opportunities on

campus, and although this was my first Asia Night, this will definitely not be my

last.

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As we cram to study for a math

prelim or pull that all-nighter to finish a sociology paper, we often have little time to

reflect on who we are. But tonight was the night I had the opportunity to do so. I wandered down the hall of Duffield

Atrium and explored each of the booths there. There was so much diversity in what each organization had to offer: food, dance, music, and

art. As I tasted light snacks and watched each stroke of the calligraphy pen, I was able to slowly reconnect with my home country. I remember the first time

I stepped onto American soil, I was faced with a huge culture shock. I was forced to make new friends, learn a new language, and adapt to the new environment.

As I soon realized, the education system was extremely flawed. Classes were only taught in English and history textbooks were written from an American point of view. Everywhere I turn, my friends and family are abandoning Asian traditions for Western ones. In short, assimilation essentially became the new norm. Living in America for such a long time has slowly chipped away at my Chinese traditions and values, but coming to this event has made me feel proud to celebrate my Asian culture. These traditions were passed down from our ancestors and have

gone through countless generations to evolve to what they are today. They were not meant to be forgotten by future generations. Instead, we have to

embrace our identities and fight social pressures to assimilate. I want to always remember my roots and how I got to where I am now. This is

something I will always carry with me wherever I go.

BY XIAO YIN MA

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Despite growing up in a

largely Asian American neighborhood, I seldom contemplated, let alone celebrated, my

heritage. In a city where Chinese Americans constitute a demographic majority, Asian culture was, well, mainstream—

and something I never had to think about. Things changed coming to Cornell. I was a minority again for the

first time since I had moved from Wisconsin a decade ago. Without fanfare, my sheltered bubble popped. I am grateful, however. Cornell has, with bold

vitality, introduced me to the rich fabric of its cultural diversity. My friends come from not only a patchwork of states, but indeed a collage of nations. What’s more,

the experience has made me conscious of my own identity as a Korean American.Asia Night, for me, was a perfect expression of cultural exploration. The

sprawling celebration encouraged enthusiasm for Asian heritage as well as deep camaraderie among those who participated. As a member of Rice Magazine, I helped organize our publication’s booth. For the occasion, we prepared—quite fittingly, I might add—Rice Krispie treats. If nostalgia had a flavor, I’m sure it would be the warm, savory medley of butter, marshmallows, and crisped rice. Manning

the ticket station, later, I had the chance to bond with my fellow First Year Initiatives mentees and meet quite a few new faces.

Among the most memorable highlights, however, was simply walking, taking in the extraordinary sights, sounds, and emotions

that Asia Night had to offer. I enjoyed performances from my own culture—embodied by Shimtah and HanChum,

among others—as well as those from countless others. Most importantly, however, I felt

at home.

BY CHRISTOPHER CHO

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By Andrew Card

TheySang

inDrapchi

Norchuk was a mother of three, living as a herdswoman in Ngaba County, Sichuan province. Any map will tell you that her county is in Western China, but Norchuk would have disagreed. Norchuk believed she was Tibetan, and that her land was Tibetan. On March 5, 2015, she proclaimed this to the world in the only way she could: she

started a fire, and let the flames consume her. She burned herself to death.Norchuk’s self-immolation can be fully understood only when put in context of

Tibet’s history. From its very beginning, Tibetan civilization was fiercely independent. In the 7th-9th centuries CE, Tibetan clans unified into an empire that rivaled China’s as an equal; they conquered many of China’s Silk Road cities and even stormed China’s capital. Tibet distinguished itself from China by creating an alphabet based on Indian scripts instead of Chinese characters, as well as choosing Indian Buddhism over Chinese Buddhism. A pillar from this era stands in Tibet’s capital, with a border treaty between Tibet and China inscribed on it

China’s current claim to Tibet relies on two historical periods. The first, during

29PHOTO COURTESY OF DECCAN CHRONICLE

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THEY SANG IN DRAPCHI

the 13th-14th centuries, saw the Mongolian Empire conquer both Tibet and China. The Mongolians who ruled East Asia classified Chinese and Tibetans as different races and administered their lands separately. To appease their new subjects, the Mongolians in East Asia took the Chinese dynastic name of “Yuan”. Based on the Chinese naming, many Chinese scholars argue that the Mongolian Empire was actually a Chinese Empire. In this creative reinterpretation of history, China has a claim to all of the Mongolian conquests in East Asia, including Tibet.

The stronger justification comes from the 18th - early 20th centuries, during China’s Qing Dynasty. The Qing stationed soldiers in Tibet, forced Tibet to accept Chinese advisors, and implemented political reform. However, even then, Tibetans continued to govern themselves, paid no taxes to China, and regarded China’s advisors as little more than observers Schaik. As the Qing Empire declined in the early 1900s, China attempted to colonize Tibet to prevent European intervention in the region. The Chinese army massacred rebellious monks, forced Tibetans to take Chinese names, and encouraged rapid Chinese migration to the region. However, the Qing Empire was already crumbling, and in 1913, Tibet declared independence and expelled the Chinese military.

Tibet then enjoyed several decades of independence, but China refused to recognize this independence. In fact, China’s Communist Party thought Westerners were to blame for Tibet’s refusal to rejoin the motherland. In 1950,

Chairman Mao ordered an invasion of Tibet with the ironic goal of “liberating” it from imperialists. Tibet surrendered in 1951, and the Communist Party began finishing the colonization that the Qing had started. During the Cultural Revolution, Communists destroyed most of Tibet’s monasteries. Today, the government is forcing hundreds of thousands of nomads to live in “socialist villages.”

To quell dissent, the government uses an Orwellian system of volunteer “red armband patrols” to raid Tibetan households suspected of disloyalty. China even encourages mixed marriages for the sake of ethnic unity. Nuns and monks are forced to undergo “patriotic education,” which includes chanting slogans such as: “We will resolutely oppose the scheming activities of the tiny number of Tibetan pro-independence elements! We will strengthen national solidarity and oppose small minority splittism!” Reflecting on these brainwashing sessions, one nun said, “Sometimes your head starts to spin and you don’t know what you really believe.”

Tibetans may be descendants of warriors, but most Tibetans have embraced non-violent methods of resistance. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s former king and current religious leader, frequently states that he will only support non-violent solutions for Tibet. The most frequent form of resistance is the weekly Lhakar, or White Wednesday, during which Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile dress exclusively in Tibetan clothes, eat Tibetan food, speak the Tibetan language, and refrain from purchasing

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAWN NEWS

Chinese goods. Lhakar uses culture as a weapon and shows the world that Tibet is still independent at heart.

Despite these peaceful protests, activists are still at great risk. Nothing is more dangerous in Tibet than being charged for separatism. Ngawang Sangdrol was just thirteen years old when she was detained for calling for independence. After being released nine months later, Sangdrol attended a second protest where she was arrested again. This time the authorities sent her to the notorious Drapchi Prison. During her stay, prison guards shocked Sangdrol’s tongue with electric cattle prods. They beat her with iron rods and rubber pipes and forced her to knit until her hands bled. Sangdrol was told to renounce her religious and political beliefs and when she refused they tortured her even more. They did these things to a mere teenager. Sangdrol was released in 2002, after a total of twelve years in prison, and

now lives in the United States. Sangdrol still insists that her protest was worth it because the fact that “an invader would come to our country and persecute our people,” makes her angrier than anything she had experienced in jail.

In the 1990s, 14 nuns in Drapchi Prison managed to get hold of a recording device, and with it they did the unthinkable. They recorded freedom songs from within their prison cells. The recordings were smuggled out and the nuns became the legendary “Drapchi 14.” After discovering what the nuns had done, the authorities extended their prison sentences severely. The guards reportedly punished one of the nuns by tying her with ropes, hanging her from a tree, and shocking her with an electric cattle prod.

It was in this unnecessarily violent context that Norchuk set herself on fire, and she was not the first Tibetan to do so. Since February 2009, 139 Tibetan

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self-immolations have been reported; the two most recent cases are from April 2015. One self-immolator, who was just 19-years old, had told a relative that “no one could go on living like this”. The government has responded not by listening to its people, but by arming its police with fire extinguishers.

The situation in Tibet is certainly bleak, but there exists a viable solution to the conflict. The Dalai Lama and Tibet’s government in exile have compromised by adopting a strategy called the “Middle Way Approach”. This approach seeks autonomy instead of independence. China would control Tibet’s international relations and defense, but a democratically elected Tibetan government would control Tibet’s internal affairs. China would also have to end its human rights violations in the region and stop encouraging migration to Tibet. It is worth noting that this compromise reflects the original peace agreement that Tibet signed when it surrendered to China in 1951, which guaranteed religious freedom, the authority of the Dalai Lama and his government, and only gradual reforms.

Negotiations need to begin now. The Dalai Lama is already 79-years old, and the only other possible negotiating partner is the exile government, which China is unlikely to recognize. Meanwhile, the six million Tibetans grow more desperate each year. Three days after Norchuk self-immolated, an 18-year old monk decided that he too could no longer wait. He walked into his town’s main street and held a picture of the Dalai Lama above his head. He was shouting for

freedom, equality, and liberation from his people’s “intolerable suffering”. The police beat him and imprisoned him. Like the Drapchi 14, he dared to be heard. Now, it is time for Beijing to listen.

Andrew Card is a junior majoring in Policy Analysis and Management in the College of Human Ecology. He is also the president of the Tibet Initiative at Cornell (TIC), a student organization which promotes awareness of Tibetan culture and of human rights issues.

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Korean

Reunificationof the

PeninsulaBY ANNA KOOK

35

North and South Korea share a long history of separation due to foreign influence. The Korean War erupted in 1950 as a result of American, Chinese, and Soviet intervention. Before then, Korea had been ruled by Japan since 1910 and throughout World War II as well. However, in August 1945, due to the Soviet Union declaring war on

Japan, the Japanese surrendered and Korea was subsequently occupied again by foreign powers – the United States to the South and the Soviet Union to the North of the 38th parallel. After three years of bloody conflict between the North Koreans, supported by China and the Soviet Union, and South Koreans, supported by the United States, the war finally came to an end on July 27, 1953 with the signing of an armistice. Since then, the peninsula has still been at war and the two Koreas are separated from each other by the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

When we hear about North Korea, the first thing that usually comes to mind is Kim Jong Un the despotic leader, especially after the comedy film The Interview was released last year, mocking the North Korean state and its leader. When North

BY ANNA KOOK

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Korea’s founding ruler Kim Il Sung died in 1994, many predicted that the regime would die with him. Not only did that not happen, but his son Kim Jong Il and now his grandson Kim Jong Un have successfully managed to help the regime flourish. Despite extreme poverty, deprivation of human rights, and change of leaders, North Korea is still functioning and a threat to its southern brother. Nevertheless, in spite of the contrary belief that it would be bizarre to reunify an economically flourishing democratic state with a destitute totalitarian regime, there are many credible reasons why Korea should be reunified.

Even though many tend to focus on the immediate economic and political costs of reunification, there are undeniable benefits that outweigh the costs. For instance, reunification would bring relative peace to East Asia as North Korea’s nuclear weapons, missiles, and army can be secured and demobilized. North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons poses a serious threat to global security as it continues to produce nuclear weapons under unlimited restrictions. Already, the North has harmed South Korean civilians and marines with their weapons. Even though North Korea has banned IAEA inspectors from entering the country, experts believe that North Korea has up to 40 kilograms of highly enriched uranium that is sufficient to build two more nuclear weapons. The most recent study conducted on February 26, 2015 predicted that North Korea currently has 10 to 16 nuclear weapons and will expand from 20 to 100 weapons over the next five years. Also, as emphasized by

PHOTO COURTESY OF EPICTIMES

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the UN ambassador to Korea during a Skype session with Cornell’s North Korea Focus team, “one of the most obvious and greatest advantages for reunification is the increase in population. This increase will make Korea even greater and more powerful than most countries including France. This is one of the arguments the Korean government uses to convince its people to push for reunification.” One of the greatest challenges that the South Korean state faces today is its aging and declining population. South Korea has a birthrate of 1.2 children per woman, which is among the lowest in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation, by 2050 South Korea will have one of the oldest populations in the developed world. On the other hand, North Korea has a birth rate of 2.0 children per woman and can add more than 17 million workers ranging from ages 15 to 64 to the total existing population of South Korea. As a result, South Korea will no longer have to rely on a Southeast Asian workforce and can resolve its aging population issue. Over time, a reunified Korea with a working class population of 75 million can emerge as a formidable industrial power in Asia to challenge Japan and stand by China.

From a humanitarian point of view, reunification can bring about great social benefits. Some of the greatest human rights violations continue to take place in North Korea today and they lack media attention due to the fact that foreign journalists are prohibited from entering North Korea. Just because we do not have the Times or BBC reminding us

with visual images of people getting tortured in North Korea, we must not forget these human rights violations. Under Kim Jong-Il’s rule and now Kim Jong-Un, there seems to have been no improvement in the country’s dire human rights record. More than 120,000 North Koreans are imprisoned in camps where many perish from forced labor, inadequate food, and abuse by guards. Arbitrary arrests and torture are pervasive problems along with a lack of religious freedom. Such government policies that ignore and exploit basic human rights have subjected the North Koreans to perennial famine. These violations are so severe that, as reported by TED talks and Shin Dong-hyuk’s book, Escape from Camp 14, many refugees have confessed that before escaping the prison camps in North Korea, they never understood the concept of “love” and “trust” even within friends and family. Such human rights violations committed in North Korea are as serious, if not more intense, as those in the Middle East that the media focuses on today. Every time we learn about past human rights violations such as those committed by the Khmer Rouge, we find ourselves praying that humanity will never be faced with such horrendous treatment. In the future, if the world ever finds out about the exact human torture in North Korea that we had let continue in oblivion, the economic and selfish reasons that we currently use to justify preventing reunification will seem humiliating. Allowing millions to experience the basic values of love and friendship cannot compare in value to economic prosperity. With reunification,

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government run slave-prison camps will be abolished and liberate 25 million people currently suppressed, abused, and completely stripped from their basic human rights. Before we move onto acquiring greater economic wealth, we should first prioritize and make sure that each and every one of us has access to basic human rights.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOURNAL -NEO

Despite how liberating reunification can be, most people are distracted by its economic costs. The politicians in South Korea are afraid that reunification would consume seven percent of South Korea’s entire GDP, which is more than how

much reunifying Germany cost that built up to 1.9 trillion dollars in twenty years. However, these politicians are forgetting that reunification would drastically reduce South Korea’s defense spending that is currently $30 billion per year. Not only this, but South Korea can eliminate an immense amount of spending by ending mandatory national conscription,

allowing young Korean men to enter the workforce earlier and consequently help create a more robust economic force.

In spite of these reasons to support reunification, a great challenge to reunification may lie in the generation

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gap and the opposition of young South Koreas to reunification. Based on the report by The Asian Institute for Policy Studies, South Koreans in their 20s are less receptive to the idea of unification than older generations. Despite the economic prosperity that reunification may bring in the long term, the younger generation does not feel that it would personally benefit them in any way and wishes to avoid encountering any economic burden that would be immediately be brought upon by reunification. This is a very dangerous yet expanding thought among South Koreans as people are increasingly considering themselves as a different race, blood, and nation from the neighboring North. Meanwhile, the number of North Korean refugees yearning to live in the South is increasing. According to refugee Park Yeon-mi, the North Korean youth is progressively becoming detached from its leader, getting more information about South Korea through media leakages, and thus, hoping for reunification and liberalization from the North.

Whether the North Korean state implodes or a war erupts once again on the peninsula, reunification is inevitable in the long run. If the North Korean state does not instigate a war that will lead to eventual reunification, the people within North Korea will one day unify to revolt against the regime. As millions of North Koreans are stripped of basic human rights and more are becoming aware of the rights and luxuries granted to the people in the South, there is no doubt that the North Koreans will seek access to greater rights. Once the regime loses its firm grasp on the people and their values,

North Korea will collapse and move towards reunification with South Korea. Whatever the method for reunification may be, we must hope that reunification occurs peacefully and diplomatically among the two brother states, and involves minimal foreign aggression. Korea has had a long and painful past, strained and controlled by foreign powers. It is about time that Korea determined its own future. Although reunification may initially seem detrimental and messy, we must not and cannot ignore the millions of people suffering in North Korea. Many, as as mentioned in Escape from Camp 14, are deprived of even the basic notions of love, family, and trust. Just because these human rights violations are not blatant or plastered all over social media, we cannot remain blind to these issues. Instead of making hilarious films on the leader, maybe there should be more popular films on the disastrous experiences North Koreans are suffering every day.

Anna Cook is a sophomore majoring in China and Asia Pacific Studies and Government in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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C A N T O P O P :ANCIENT MELODYMODERN VOICE

PHOTO COURTESY OF TIMEOUT HONG KONG

By Vincent Lin

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Cantonese popular music, also known as “Cantopop”, denotes a contemporary genre of popular music sung

in Cantonese, a Chinese dialect that originated in Guangzhou, China, since the 1970s. Mainly produced in Hong Kong, Cantopop attracts an international audience from regions such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Macau, and

Mainland China’s Guangdong Province.

Born and raised in Northern China, I grew up in a linguistic environment dominated by Mandarin and not Cantonese – a dialect exclusive to Southern China. Cantonese is spoken as a native dialect only in Guangdong, a small part of Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Although Cantonese is not used in the Chinese cities that I have lived

in, the music in this dialect is consumed nationwide with varying degrees of popularity, and happens to be somewhat popular in my hometown. I remember when my family would often take me to karaoke at the age of two or three. To the best of my ability as a toddler, I somehow learned by imitation to sing “Shang Hai Tan”(上海滩, The Bund), the theme song of a highly popular TVB drama of the same name in 1980. This is the very first Canto song that introduced me to the world of Cantopop. Along with the vague image of a shiny screen with rolling

subtitles in traditional Chinese in a dark karaoke lounge, the then-unintelligible lyrics and haunting melody of this classic Cantonese hit were imprinted in my memory.

As I grew up, I encountered a number of Cantonese songs, not only where I live, but also in other Chinese cities. Played on TV, in shops and supermarkets, and over the radio, Cantopop has spread its influence outside Cantonese-speaking areas as far as China’s northernmost province, Heilongjiang, and northwestern province, Gansu. Early sporadic exposure to Cantonese music allowed me to be aware of the attraction and significance of the genre on both emotional and rational levels.

Initially, Cantopop’s appeal resided in its psychological effect on me. To me, Canto songs have been mysterious, bizarre, and enchanting ever since “Shang Hai Tan”. I often ended up listening to Cantonese songs when I was traveling at night and watching the night view out of the window. My eyes would follow the fleeting but colorful neon lights on one side of the road when I was on a night bus or night train. I would also gaze at the countless, concentrated lights on the ground from an airplane. Along with the Cantonese melodies that played, such dazzling nocturnal sceneries tugged my heartstrings, releasing a flux of emotions deep in my heart. The music had a cathartic effect, unblocking the sentiments that would otherwise remain dormant.

Moreover, a perfect combination of my vision and hearing at the right moment could magically bring me to an

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unknown, singular, and extraterrestrial realm, as if I were being brought to an untapped corner of the universe. Because of this, I often associate Cantonese songs with certain images and fantasies that have outlandish and futuristic scenarios. Cantonese music could always unlock my internal paradise. Furthermore, the peculiar way that Cantonese is articulated is so distinct from Mandarin that it creates an atmosphere that sets me in contemplation. Although I could barely understand the lyrics just by listening, due to Cantonese’s unique texture, the voice itself had a soothing effect.

As I grew up, I realized that the texts of many Cantonese songs have great literary value. While Mandarin music has indeed witnessed a great number of high-quality lyrics, its Cantonese counterpart demonstrates a distinctive literary style and a creative way of manipulating words. As a native speaker, I can never resist the beautiful expressions of Chinese language in Cantopop. Some works even resemble ancient Chinese poetry – succinct and rich in meaning. For example, every line in “Shang Hai Tan” seems flawless to me. The song highly abstracts the story of the TVB drama in an emotional and philosophical way. Centered on the key word“浪”(wave, or water), the lyrics speak of all the happenings and emotions in life as waves in a river, indicating a grand outlook on life, such as the third line “是喜 是愁 浪裡分不清歡笑悲憂” (Whether happiness or sorrow, one cannot distinguish them in the relentless river of life), and the last line “仍願翻 百千浪 在我心中起伏夠”(I’d still rather let thousands of waves roll in my

heart). With only a few lines, the song clearly communicates a philosophy of life that has resonated with a wide audience, a feat largely responsible for its status as a landmark classic in Cantopop history. Moreover, departing from the hackneyed and saccharine description of love and breakup, Cantonese music provides unconventional insights into romance and explores deeper subjects related to social maladies. One peculiar trait of Cantopop is its focus on those who are usually neglected, and the portrayal of these nobodies’ psychologies and inner struggles. An example is “Fu Kua”(浮誇, Exaggerated) by Eason Chan. The lyrics portray the ambivalent and abnormal mindset of a person who goes to extremes to attract people’s attention and not be ignored. The lines “人潮內愈文靜愈變得不受理睬” (The gentler and quieter you are in the crowd, the more neglected you will be) and “世上還讚頌沉默嗎”(Does the world still praise silence?) indicate the clash between the protagonist’s values and those of the majority, and the questioning of the person’s position in the world. The first line of the chorus “你當我是浮誇吧誇張只因我很怕”says that the protagonist acts pretentious and exaggerates merely out of fear. The fear here can be interpreted as one of being consigned to oblivion, and being mediocre and commonplace. The song is actually a monologue for anyone who craves attention and fame, and resorts to sensational deeds or words at the risk of gaining

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notoriety. Caustic and cynical as the lyrics may sound, “Fu Kua” satirizes both devastating uniformity and the blind pursuit of individuality, and speaks up for the nobodies in the world who fantasize about becoming “somebodies.” It is this poignancy, sensitivity, and insight that help break the linguistic and geographical barriers of Cantopop and contribute to its nationwide recognition.

Cantopop plays a crucial role in preservation of the Cantonese language. Sweeping through Mainland China and Taiwan, Mandarin has been popularized as the official language of both territories ever since the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, an effort furthered by the People’s Republic of China that came after in 1949. The official popularization of Mandarin makes easier the communication between different regions in China that only spoke the local dialects and successfully unifies and solidifies the country. Nonetheless, the promotion of a common national language can translate into the endangerment of dialects and destruction of vernacular tongues. Over the past few decades, Cantonese has been gradually giving way to Mandarin in Guangdong Province where Cantonese originated. Ironically, British colonization of Hong Kong from 1898 to 1997 prevented

Mandarin progression from affecting the language components in Hong

Kong, and Cantonese today still remains one of the two official

languages of Hong Kong, the other being English.

While Mandarin is vital in a country

as big and diverse as China for cross-region communication and national solidarity, the native dialects should also be preserved for their historical and literary value. Many ancient Chinese tones are believed to survive in Southern Chinese dialects such as Cantonese and Hokkien, which are similar to the authentic Chinese phonetics and have a longer history than Mandarin. Additionally, some genres of traditional Chinese opera such as Cantonese Opera (粤剧) are performed in native dialects. Therefore, protection of these dialects is an important aspect of protecting the traditional Chinese linguistic and artistic heritages.

Moreover, I believe that each Chinese dialect has its own beauty and peculiarities that deserve attention and appreciation. For example, Cantonese is charming to me in its own right. There is something inherent in the language itself that fascinates me, even though I do not speak it. Cantopop spreads the Cantonese dialect from Hong Kong back to Mainland China, thus making a reverse language transmission possible. Cantopop ensures the vitality of an endangered dialect and carries a significant cultural responsibility, which I think is a great cause.