Yellow Peril: Bai bai
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__Is that the actual North and South Asian Angst cover kitty?__
Nope, the Lucky Cat belongs to us, always.
Well, obviously, but it was a pretty neat reference anyway. :)
Still gutted that there won't be any more, but again, all the best.
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merc,
...can't find the words...my cyber-crush...is it ending?
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White boy...going to miss your posts....good luck with everything....said more eloquently by others...etc etc....
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jesus... i hope russell forgives me for saying this...
but i reckon that the halycon days of public address were just after you and keith joined the team. lots of posting, lots of debate. the big issues were canvassed and blogs were still a teeny bit guerilla.
i think that's something everyone can look back on fondly.
hell, even kiwiblog was interesting back then!
all the best for that redacted world. we'll look forward to that tell-all corporate expose some time in future.
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As a long time lurker here, thanks for your fascinating contributions. I will miss them.
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:-( Don't let the Eurocrats redact you out of existence.
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As will I. Again, more than you can know.
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I have to say wah lauh eh, woe and bugger, and thanks, and extraordinary amounts of totally non-ironic "you go girl" etc.
Many, many were the times I stood on a bus in Singabore, hungover, confused, lonely and hot, reading Yellow Peril on the WAP and trying to click my head into the being-yourself-in-a-different culture thing... only to be floored by your killer prose and frankly stunning argumentation whatever the topic. I've been writing all my life but still felt like a dweeb with cro-magnon language skillz every time I pulled YP up. Still though - it kicked me in the arse each time, encouraged my debate thinking, and more often than not got me off the bus at the other end in a totally different frame of mind, and often with a new word as well.
Tze Ming, your style, wit and sheer strength are rare and to be admired. To meet you the one time at Russell's and be able to say thanks was a real treat.
May your guerilla belligerence and desire for real food be set free to roam at will, causing and sating tummy-rumbles aplenty.
Meantime, guest posts on girly things, Helvetian noodles and cats would be most welcome, I'd say.
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Best of good fortune at [redacted], I really appreciated getting a more mature, nuanced perspective on race issues in NZ. I'm only sorry there are still large pockets of the country that have yet to catch up.
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Sorry sorry sorry you're going, but you're still alive! Thank (redacted) for that! You'll pop up somewhere else where we can all love you again - you have to - not even (redacted) can keep a good thing down.
Lots of good wishes. -
You've been inspirational, Tze Ming. I hope we'll hear from you again. Never say never.
That's a great stoush going on on Expat Exposed. It's funny how some New Zealanders are in complete denial that racism exists here and that Christchurch is a shop window for it.
BTW - When's the novel going to be ready?
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Bugger - another one bites the dust.
And to add to the chorus of offers, you can always guest-blog at No Right Turn if you want to vent your spleen (and I can imagine that working in Geneva, you're going to want to).
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I gotta say this - wherever you were posting from in the world, you made this Mangere whiteboy homesick for Auckland's 'nesian, Asian mash up, even if I was just in Wellington.
I feel your pain, being in an expat in a public service paradise, which is even whiter than Christchurch. However, being in a school of Pacific and Asian History does salve things somewhat...
I certainly hope that you keep writing in other mediums and forums, you have a brilliant voice that deserves further expression.
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Will miss you on PA. Moving that general direction myself with the man in the house being posted across the road from the colosseum.
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Re that link of I/O's: that's my future sister-in-law's story, pretty much in a nutshell. Except she's been living in Chch for years, and I think that everyday racism is actually taking a toll on her mental health. It's pretty sad because she's acculturated enough that she doesn't get on when she visits Japan either - New Zealand has trained her to be too aggressive for a Japanese woman and to forget her mandatory happy face.
Dunno if Christchurch is really any worse than any other city though.
That link described the experiences of every member of my family who's come to visit me (in Auckland, from Vancouver) so far - except my Dad, who is lily-white. Though he was offended on his wife/daughter/niece's behalf and said that the attitudes and manners were like rural Canada in the 1930s and 1940s.
My cousin, who appears to be Chinese (she's half white and purebred Canadian) said that she thought Canada was just as racist under the surface, it was just that "it's kosher to be racist and out in New Zealand". I think this is a very insightful and accurate observation, but my Dad argued that the social requirement of not appearing to be a pig-ignorant bigot generally raised the tone of any society, and felt Canada has progressed in a way that will take NZ several more decades.
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All the best! Thanks for the asian putenesca recipe :)
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dyan: I agree with your Dad. And apart from "raising the tone", and making life more pleasant for people who would otherwise be on the sharp end, I think that if you curb open displays of racism, you end up with a younger generation who never learn what prejudice lurks in their elders, and who therefore will imbibe less themselves.
Re your cousin's point about it being more acceptable to be out as a racist - someone in the Expat Exposed thread said that they thought New Zealanders were diffident or inhibited about expressing public disapproval. I think that's very true too.
Having knocked Christchurch and to some extent all New Zealand, my only consolation is that Australia is even worse.
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I've never paid a whole lot of attention to PA System - in general I've always preferred to read the well constructed thoughts of people who have actual writing talent to the often-polarised collection of random utterances of any public discussion.
I consider you to write the former, in case that wasn't clear.
But I'm genuinely surprised to read that the "overall middle ground of this site" is counter to your point-of-view, to the point where it's no longer tolerable; that's not how I had imagined the average PA reader, or average reader of your posts in particular.
But, perhaps I'm also too far removed.
To echo what others have already said, I've always enjoyed your posts - every time the email comes your name is one of the ones I look for to see if I'll read that day.
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Hey Tze Ming, thanks for all the laughs! You've definitely earned a session in the champagne room! Looking forward to the book.
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But I'm genuinely surprised to read that the "overall middle ground of this site" is counter to your point-of-view, to the point where it's no longer tolerable; that's not how I had imagined the average PA reader, or average reader of your posts in particular.
I have to admit, I thought the same thing.
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The manneki neko (cat with raised paw) was a nice touch. Perhaps there's no irony in that they're usually find outside shops to bring good luck for business. I have one that a mama-san tossed after her snack bar hit the rocks. It's been with me for 8 years now.
Praise be with you from this white boy who doesn't wear his shoes on the tatami.
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I was puzzled by that assertion too, but hey, what do I know? I'm probably suffering from false consciousness anyway. :)
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Best of luck in [redacted] Tze Ming Mok. I will miss your writings.
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and from the other skinny-white-boy-stephen,
a big おつかれさま！
(otsukaresama!)as we say over here.
best of luck in all your current and future endeavours.
i just hope [redacted] sends you over here for a power-noodle symposium at a certain large building on Aoyama Dori. or something.p.s. the prices of things in Tokyo will seem like Ho Chi Minh compared with Geneva (ˆ_ˆ)/
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Tze Ming, all the best to you. Sad it is to see another woman departing - there aren't enough here, and sometimes discussion can be a little male-centric. What with all the brainy boys that hang around and can be bothered to converse about f***knows what. Not something that can be helped, really, but you will be missed by all the women here, I think. I can't imagine you in Geneva - I lived in Vevey, and I know how very stultifying the Canton of Vaud can be. Subversion is the key, I suspect. In which case, subvert till it hurts........we'll just miss your brand of it here.
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