Date
Sunday, 30 January, 2011
Content
I recently met with a budding, young journalist - Carmen Kong - who was interested in talking to me about Visible Chinese and about British Chinese identity in general. She also hails from my ancestral home town of Tai Po in Hong Kong, so she had me at hello. The result is the following article for Euromight (a website that focuses on ethnic minority), reproduced here with kind permission from Carmen. Update: Carmen also posted the article on her own website here.
MARK WU: MAKING BRITISH CHINESE VISIBLE
By Carmen Kong
Meeting Mark Wu for the first time in central London inexplicably brings a sense of familiarity - busy traffic, chained-coffee shop and a very Chinese face screams "Hong Kong!" to me. We spend quite a long time reminiscing about the places and food, and chatting in a mixture of Cantonese and English.
Like me, the 34-year-old graphic and web designer has a vivid memory of Tai Po district, the suburban area in Hong Kong where I spent the first 17 years of my life. But Wu grew up in a completely different environment, as a son of British immigrants from Hong Kong. Wu's parents moved to the UK before he was born and opened their own takeaway food shop in North London. Like many Chinese immigrants, they worked countless hours every day, seven days a week, to provide a good education and decent living for their three children. Wu, who runs his own interactive design and consulting company, still recalls the days (and weekends) working behind the counter taking orders. And like many Chinese immigrants, they were silent. They caused no trouble and made no comments on society or politics. It was as if they were invisible.
MARK WU: MAKING BRITISH CHINESE VISIBLE
By Carmen Kong
Meeting Mark Wu for the first time in central London inexplicably brings a sense of familiarity - busy traffic, chained-coffee shop and a very Chinese face screams "Hong Kong!" to me. We spend quite a long time reminiscing about the places and food, and chatting in a mixture of Cantonese and English.
Like me, the 34-year-old graphic and web designer has a vivid memory of Tai Po district, the suburban area in Hong Kong where I spent the first 17 years of my life. But Wu grew up in a completely different environment, as a son of British immigrants from Hong Kong. Wu's parents moved to the UK before he was born and opened their own takeaway food shop in North London. Like many Chinese immigrants, they worked countless hours every day, seven days a week, to provide a good education and decent living for their three children. Wu, who runs his own interactive design and consulting company, still recalls the days (and weekends) working behind the counter taking orders. And like many Chinese immigrants, they were silent. They caused no trouble and made no comments on society or politics. It was as if they were invisible.
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Categories
East Asian Culture. Press.
Date
Tuesday, 28 December, 2010
Content
Just before Christmas, I finished the new version of the Chinatown Arts Space (CAS) website. It's actually the first major project I've completed since returning back to the UK in May from my travels in East Asia.
It's by far the most ambitious Expression Engine project that I've developed and quite rewarding because of it. I've been able to really explore and work through a number of challenges in making some areas of the site work, namely the membership profile side and the ability for dynamic content such as the news items, to be loaded up to the front end, edited and saved back to the database.
It's by far the most ambitious Expression Engine project that I've developed and quite rewarding because of it. I've been able to really explore and work through a number of challenges in making some areas of the site work, namely the membership profile side and the ability for dynamic content such as the news items, to be loaded up to the front end, edited and saved back to the database.
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Categories
Made By Mark.
Date
Monday, 27 December, 2010
Content
Over the last couple of days, when I've actually torn myself away from the screen, I pondered the change of the celebration of Christmas for non-religious folk. Every year, Christmas has often become the time to catch up with family and friends. Yet also every year, I've watched the number of physical Christmas cards arriving on my doorstep dwindle down to a single figure this year.
I'm ready to accept that I'm just unpopular, but the switch of communications from analogue to digital in all forms of community celebrations has been pretty tangible over the years. Whilst I yearn for the personal touch the analogue approach allows, I'm also enthused about the freedom that digital communications allows.
I'm ready to accept that I'm just unpopular, but the switch of communications from analogue to digital in all forms of community celebrations has been pretty tangible over the years. Whilst I yearn for the personal touch the analogue approach allows, I'm also enthused about the freedom that digital communications allows.
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Categories
Observations.
Date
Friday, 26 November, 2010
Content
Whilst I'm open to both sides of the story regards the recent demonstrations over tuition fees, I'm sure I'm part of the majority who are slowly turning our thoughts against our barely elected coalition government and in particular, the actions our UK police force are reportedly taking.
I've just read about the kettling in of student demonstrators a couple of days ago, some of whom are just school age and frankly, I'm disgusted that this strategy was used at all. The police knew what they were doing. Is the point to turn people off in the future? Because the only thing it will do is shift the attention from the streets to elsewhere. Perhaps that's why the police are seeking the power to shut down websites in the UK's domain.
Sure, the UK's suffixes aren't the only domains accessible in the UK, but even if one step at a time leads to policing of the whole world wide web, they'll always be a way for those governed to "govern".
I've just read about the kettling in of student demonstrators a couple of days ago, some of whom are just school age and frankly, I'm disgusted that this strategy was used at all. The police knew what they were doing. Is the point to turn people off in the future? Because the only thing it will do is shift the attention from the streets to elsewhere. Perhaps that's why the police are seeking the power to shut down websites in the UK's domain.
Sure, the UK's suffixes aren't the only domains accessible in the UK, but even if one step at a time leads to policing of the whole world wide web, they'll always be a way for those governed to "govern".
Categories
News & Views. Living in London.
Date
Saturday, 09 October, 2010
Content
Although social media commentary has saturated our technology news feeds, the BBC's Tim Weber wrote an excellent article analysing the various efforts of companies who adopt this strategy.
As a consumer, it is with some satisfaction that I read about the power and the influence that consumers "who tweet" now have over companies that could once ignore their unhappy customers, previously isolated from the world and in no danger of causing PR damage with their complaints.
The shift in power and the reported mismatch of timely reconciliation in the fast moving world of social media brings most misery to corporates who lack the agility clearly absent from their old world cultures. As individuals, we sometimes read with glee, how mammoths are brought to their knees, buckling under their slowly crumbling reputations that are subsequently picked on by that little blue bird. All power to the people - we're only asked to be treated right.
As a consumer, it is with some satisfaction that I read about the power and the influence that consumers "who tweet" now have over companies that could once ignore their unhappy customers, previously isolated from the world and in no danger of causing PR damage with their complaints.
The shift in power and the reported mismatch of timely reconciliation in the fast moving world of social media brings most misery to corporates who lack the agility clearly absent from their old world cultures. As individuals, we sometimes read with glee, how mammoths are brought to their knees, buckling under their slowly crumbling reputations that are subsequently picked on by that little blue bird. All power to the people - we're only asked to be treated right.
