possible Australian Summer Plan

Although it's only midterm here, I know that I need to think ahead for what to do with my Australian summer.

I want to spend some time in Hong Kong, at least a month. But I don't want to waste my summer doing nothing productive. I know that I need to take advantage of my only "student" summer to get some experience, internship, etc., to help me find my career in this field.

I can either go to Hong Kong or stay in Australia. I hope to be in Hong Kong for at least part of summer to see my family, pick up stuff and to see friends.

So right now I am looking at things I can do in Hong Kong and Australia. I wonder if RTHK take any intern. I am looking at HKU's website for its communication and journalism students. I am also seeing if I can work under a director like 張虹 Tammy Cheung who I am a fan of. If not, just other stuff that I can do.

Heung-yan Wong sits down with director Tammy Cheung to discuss her new documentary Election.

With the next Legislative Council Election coming up in September, the political situation in Hong Kong is once again in sharp focus. Accordingly, Visible Records Ltd. presents Election, a film which focuses on the LegCo election in 2004. After viewing several clips from this fascinating documentary, Heung-yan Wong sat down to talk with director Tammy Cheung, who discussed the political intentions behind the film.

Can you give us a brief summary of your documentary?
It’s about the Legislative Council Elections of 2004. We cover three areas, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon East and the New Territories East and focus mainly on five candidates.

Does your documentary have a specific message that you wish to impart to the audience?
No, I don’t make message films. We show what we see. Although we tried our best to do so, we were unable to show the whole picture as the event takes place on such a huge scale.

Is there a specific reason why you chose this time to release the movie, and not right after the 2004 elections?
Obviously, the next election is coming up. We didn’t have enough resources to finish it earlier as we were short staffed. The post- production work takes a lot of energy and time and we are doing the best we can.

Does your documentary focus on more controversial issues such as universal suffrage for Hong Kong?
Not really, I think the main issues we cover include Article 23, the date for universal suffrage, the Tiananmen Square massacre and some local issues such as anti-trust and minimum wage.

The preview clips feature one of the candidates, Leung Kwok-Hung. What do you think of more controversial politicians like him?
He’s not controversial; he’s actually quite gentle. His actions are far from radical but he gets a lot of media attention because he is outspoken. The protesting he does is very common and ordinary, something you would see in any democratic area, I haven’t seen him do anything outrageous yet.

Do you personally think Hong Kong is ready for a full Western style of democracy?
We were originally, but we’ve backtracked recently. According to an informal interview I carried out at CUHK, the public generally didn’t think we need universal suffrage. A few years ago everyone thought we needed a one man one vote system. The Beijing and Hong Kong government must be successful in making us believe otherwise. (Laughs)

How do you view the Chinese socialist style of government?
Chinese socialism is not socialism. It is a dictatorship.
So you believe it’s moved more towards a dictatorship.
I know it’s a dictatorship. It’s not socialism. If you look at history and what happened before and after 1949, you will see that it is not a matter of belief. We can see it from what they have done to the many people in China.

Things I am planning to write about:

• Hong Kong's Democracy Movement and China
• Reasoning Behind American Individualism

Election 2008

Beginning in the morning, I was checking the election result every once in a while. From the popular vote, the result was close, but a little after noon Obama basically won. There was a little joy inside of me. Wasn't sure why but probably because I just witnessed history (sort of) and America just breakthrough a color barrier. We have our first ever colored president. Why was there a bit of joy and warmth inside me when I found out Obama won? Maybe it was like waiting for a present to open for so long that I just got a little gitty when the wrapper finally came off.

The election is actually a lot closer than the electoral votes suggest. 52% vs 47% as of now, but earlier it was much closer, like something about 51% and 49% with only about a million and a half separating the two and then Obama's lead increased as the counting went on. Take a look North Carolina, Florida and Indiana, and you would see how close the election was. By no mean, McCain is also a popular guy. He got about as much vote as Clinton back in 1996 against Bob Dole percentage-wise.

I didn't vote mostly because I did not seek on how to get my absentee ballot and on the side, I knew my vote wouldn't matter much in the overwhelming Democratic California. I like McCain and wished he went for president last election, and I don't hate Obama. I find Obama to be a bit short on experience and accomplishment, but I think he's an intelligent guy. I don't agree with getting out of Iraq rightaway yet I know that we much change our foreign policy of the Bush's days. Actually, to tell the truth, I don't know much about Obama except of his upbringing. I don't know where he stands on a lot of issues. I know McCain's stand and that he is the most reformist of the Republicans. McCain is the closest thing to the GOP's answer to Obama's "Change" slogan. McCain could actually increase his chance of winning by being a bit less dignified but he chose to control himself. Even though McCain is not the ideal candidate for conservatives, McCain is their only choice. McCain could go a bit more liberal and radical on reforms on his platform. But heck, I am no political strategist, I am just an ordinary guy speculating.

I feel sorry for McCain, he's a good American, a dignified and well-respected senior senator who had been trying again and again to get on the GOP's ticket. He wasn't a sure ticket early in the GOP primaries. There were some other big names ahead of him, like ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. He had been looking to run for president for a decade and he got bad timing this time (his last time at 71). He came on to run after 2 terms of George W Bush. Someone he fought against twice for GOP candidates. They couldn't be bigger archrivals, yet because of being in the same party, McCain supported a lot of Bush's policy in the past 8 years. But most of us knew the McCain is the most un-Republican of all big name Republicans. There was concern about whether he could even get support from usual GOP voters in this election.

For me, the most memorable McCain moment in this election race was when McCain asked people "Don't do that" when people at his rally booed at the name of Obama. At a town meeting rally, McCain corrected an elderly lady who said she heard that Obama is a Muslim, not an American, a terrorist...

McCain gently corrected her, "No, no, he's an American..." He upheld the truth and defended his rival. I think that's class. He showed dignity and the true spirit of America.

"After an intensely negative campaign, McCain went to lengths to take the high road in his concession speech and acknowledged the historic nature of Obama's barrier-breaking accomplishment."

"Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans," McCain said. "No association has ever meant more to me than that."

"His success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance," McCain said, adding that he "deeply admired" Obama for inspiring the hopes of people "who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence" in electing a president.

"This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight," McCain said, adding that the U.S. had moved "a world away" from its racist past by electing the nation's first black president.

He allowed that disappointment was natural but said that starting Wednesday "we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again."

Afterthought

At the beginning of the GOP and Democratic Primaries, I must say that I didn't believe that we would have a Black president so soon. I remember when there was talk about General Colin Powell possibly running for president and that he might the first Black president (African-American to be politically correct) but it's happening now. We will have Barack Hussein Obama II as our next president. A president who was born in Hawaii, mix raced, grew up in Indonesia, reared by his white grandparents, has a Muslim name, isn't white, a University of Chicago law lecturer and he will be our president. Woah. This history in the making. I believe his world view will be different from all other presidents. Does his background symbolizes America? It totally does if you refer to American media and if you live in places like Hawaii, California, New York and other places where faces of every race is represented.

I hope he does well. I wish him well. I hope that he will make the best decision for American and according to the Word of God. May God give him wisdom and all he needs to lead this nation, the United States of America, in time of financial crisis and in this turbulent world we live in.

After looking at the overall election, including the Senate and House election, I am concern about Democrats dominant in both houses of Congress. I don't think it's ever a good sight to see one party controlling both the Executive and Legislative branches of the government. I like a balance, that's actually more important to me than who is president. Clinton had a Republican Congress, that turned up pretty good.