Morningside Magazine No04

FEATURING Raising Living Libraries: Morningside College and the Village Children’s Library Project in Shaoguan, Guangdong This Earthly World —A Hong Kong Director Re-Envisions Macbeth Steadily Pushing Forward: Political Activist Prof. Fan Yun On Finding Possibility In Defeat Robert Fisk: Inquiry & Possibility

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CONTENTS

02 IN T ROD U C T I ON 03 M C V I E W

Raising Living Libraries

09 FEAT U R E

This Earthly World

21 M C SPAC E

Fan Yun

23 M C MEE T S

Disruption

31 M C N E WS Robert Fisk

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MC VIEW

R aising Living Libraries Morningside College and the Village Children’s Library Project in Shaoguan, Guangdong

In June 2015, during the first collaboration with Morningside College at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a Village Children’s Library was built at Qinghutang Village. After the activity ended, the students were inspired and proposed to build another Village Children’s Library. Over the course of nearly a year, in June 2016, with the help of a new group of Morningside students, the fourth Village Children’s Library was established at Old Zhoutian Village.

Last year during the construction of the Qinghutang village library, students stated that “a service learning experience such as this is really meaningful. We will pen a letter to the next cohort and encourage them to come build another Village Children’s Library next year.” Even though the resolution was there, it was still unsettling.

Experience told us that in the several years of doing charity activities in Renhua Village, many of the locals do not acknowledge the significance of the project, neither was the government fully supportive. As far as most were concerned, the Village Children’s Library was a charity activity initiated by an individual and corporate sponsorship was not available. So why would anyone take such a burdensome weight upon her own shoulders? The development of next Village Children’s Library was simply out of sight.

Perhaps the old saying is right: Opportunities come to those who are prepared. The Mayor of Zhoutian approached me, “This charity activity

of yours is very meaningful, and is very helpful to village children. Would you be able to find a village here in Zhoutian to build a Village Children’s Library?” Immediately, the old home of Zhang Jiuling sprang to mind.

Establishing the library at Renhua Village had exposed the reality of rural life. This was no more obvious than in the remote, uncultured Niubi Village, where for generations villagers had been shadowed by ignorance. Advocacy of reading in a village with such limited cultural awareness is a slow and daunting task; and changing rural life by one’s self is no small feat. I hoped to find a village with a relatively higher level of cultural development; then I would be more relieved as the whole process could be less stringent. After all, I was only one person, and the financial and emotional stress was a lot for one person to bear.

At the end of 2015, retired Deputy Mayor Yang of Shaoguan Municipality visited Niubi Village to tour the Village Children’s Library. After enquiring about the situation of the Libraries over the past few years, the old man pinpointed the issue: “The reasons you are having difficulty working in this village are: first, you have not found a good intermediary. A good intermediary will be able to facilitate communication between you and the villagers. Such a person knows how city folk think, the actual circumstances of the villages, and is skilled at coordinating relationships.

If you find an intermediary who plays a counterproductive role, not only will he not be able to

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" Advocacy of reading in a village with such limited cultural awareness is a slow and daunting task…"

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coordinate relationships, but he could also make the relationship between urban and rural residents confrontational. Secondly, you have not made use of village cadres. If you have the support of the village cadres, they might take care of some of the tougher issues and solve them locally.” With years of experience behind him, Deputy Mayor Yang had hit the nail on the head.

After establishing a Village Children’s Library in Niubi Village, I too learned a lot of practical knowledge. When faced with a myriad of difficulties, despite feeling aggrieved, I learned to step back for a moment and look for the roots of the problems.

I realized that the attitude of village cadres and residents towards reading determined whether the library would take root and prosper.

The second Village Children’s Library had been built in 2014 in Gebu Village. At the time, I had a candid discussion with the founder of the Gebu

Village Children’s Library, Chen Xiaowang, regarding the mission of the library. The goal of this volunteer project had to be to help the village children learn to read, rather than the pursuit of personal interests.

Luckily, Xiaowang very much agreed the purpose of the library was to illustrate to villagers the value of reading, and to guide them in learning through reading. The Gebu village cadres expended great effort to ensure the success of the library, tackling a major obstacle to the project by arranging for all the requisite facilities for the library.

In 2015, the third Village Children’s Library was established in Qinghutang. In this case, the approach was once again to first call together the project founders, village cadres, and the managers of Gebu Village to exchange ideas. The following was proposed: Even though the Village Children’s Library is not a registered organization, it is nonetheless an intangible community wherein personal interest is forbidden, and everyone is to uphold a team spirit and a sense of collective responsibility. The development and improvement of each library must be a team effort. Only if we are united in building up a charitable brand for the Village Children’s Library will society put its trust in us, thereby enabling the Village Children’s Library to truly prosper. At the same time, it was also proposed that in establishing the library, development should start from our own families by having children of our relatives work as librarians and encourage other young members of our extended family to participate in activities held by the library. We had to lead by example to promote reading and learning among village students. If our own children were not participating, how could we get the nod from the villagers? And how would they come to endorse the library? Each founder and village cadre pledged to promote the library, and we received huge support from the entire village.

After the construction of the Qinghutang library was completed, the villagers donated several thousand yuan, adding blackboards, desks and chairs to the library.

I can now look back at the ups and downs of establishing these libraries with a feeling of extreme gratitude for the support of the village project founders and the village cadres. It was only with their understanding and partnership that the Village Children’s Library could evolve, from the most adverse conditions in Niubi Village to the better Village Children’s Libraries elsewhere.

Zhangwu Village in Old Zhoutian is the home town of the famous Tang Dynasty chancellor Zhang Jiuling, who was known for his virtuousness and grace. After Zhang Jiuling, Tang Xuanzong, the seventh emperor of the Tang Dynasty, would always ask of the individuals recommended by the prime minister, “How do they compare to Jiuling?” Zhang Jiuling was also a scholar and poet. His poems, written in five-character lines, elegant, and of simple and straight-forward language, were full of life’s

yearnings, and contributed to the elimination of the indulgent poetic style seen in the early Tang Dynasty that had been left over from the Six Dynasties period.

His works, including “Songs Gathered at Qujiang”, earned him the title of “The Top Man in Lingnan”.

Wang Wei and Du Fu both praised his poetic works.

In Old Zhoutian, those surnamed Zhang all take pride in being Zhang Jiuling’s descendants. The Zhangs have had their share of talented officials and businessmen. Building a Village Children’s Library in the hometown of Zhang Jiuling, would surely receive the support of the descendants of Zhang.

Their backing, buttressed by the support of the town government, ensured the best possible conditions for this fourth Village Children’s Library.

After arriving in Old Zhoutian village, the Zhoutian mayor took us on a tour of the dozen natural villages there. It was ultimately decided that the library would be built in the vacated former village healthcare station. The speed of the process proved that all matters relating to the library could go smoothly with the backing of the village government.

The village healthcare station was of a considerable size, with a total of three rooms. Best of all, it also included a back courtyard. Although it was overgrown, one could imagine that after tidying it up, planting some flowers and setting out a few tables, it would be a pleasant place for enjoying a cup of tea leisurely while reading.

At the end of May, the lead teacher arrived in Renhua County to accompany other teachers to Old Zhoutian to confirm the project details. Because the activities were always held while the village children were in school, in order to select librarians, it was necessary to make a trip to the town’s central school. The mayor contacted the principal and faculty at the school for a meeting. At the time, the principal was with the children at a competition in the town centre. I was worried about taking up the principal’s rest time, and wasn’t sure he would be willing to chat. At noon, the principal arrived in Old Zhoutian, and when I apologized for having interrupted his weekend rest, he too apologized: “I’m sorry for having made you wait so long. Of course I should be here. You have spent much time and effort in helping our children learn to read. We cannot thank you enough. As the descendants of Zhang Jiuling, we have no excuse not to study. As long as the goal is education, we will offer our full support!”

This man who moments ago had appeared quite average suddenly grew in stature before me. I must admit that I tear up easily and his words had moved me so that I had to step out of the room and into the courtyard to compose myself. There is no question that education (or the lack thereof) often determines the distance between people. In Niubi Village, I had no support; all my preaching fell on deaf ears. In the more well educated Old Zhoutian, however, the second I said that we would build a library for the

children, an outpouring of village support flowed my way. Only by personally experiencing all of this did I come to understand the true meaning of the saying “Ill-intentioned words bite to the bone, while a kind word can melt ice like a spring wind”.

As to the question of whether the supplies required for the teachers to carry out the reading activities could be purchased nearby, the village secretary answered: “You need not worry about these things. You have come to build a library for the children. How could we then have you spend money on supplies? The village council will handle this.”

The Morningside College student service learning project commenced in June. Students first paid a visit to Niubi Village to learn about the background of the Village Children’s Library. During the discussion, upon hearing the youthful ideas of these caring university students, I reminded them about the differences between the city and the countryside, and especially the divergence at the ideological level. We could not approach rural issues with an urban mindset, but must learn to understand the backwardness of rural regions, avoid criticizing, and be more tolerant. A service learning project was not about giving out alms; if we missed this point, the significance of the activities would be lost.

Building a library for rural children is easy; building a library that actually interested them required the wit and knowledge of university students.

The Morningside students were astounded at how simple and crude the Niubi Village Children’s Library was. They had no idea that in

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Upon bidding farewell to the Morningside students, I offered a heartfelt bow in gratitude, thanking them for their selfless acts and caring hearts for the education of village children. I was even more thankful for their support of the Village Children’s Library Programme itself, and for doing the heavy lifting in order to make the project a success.

The university students commented that the project had been full of substance and meaning.

They have written a letter to the next class of students, explaining in detail the contents of the activity. At the end of the letter they wrote: Be sure to come back and build the next Village Children’s Library!

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the economically developed province of Guangdong there could be such destitute villages. During an introduction of the study environment of the village children, the Morningside students were asked to pretend to be primary school children. I asked “Children, do you like writing essays?” The students replied in unison, “No!” As the Morningsiders read through a lengthy 25-page essay written by one young student, and saw the beautiful handwriting of the other children, each of them was deeply moved. They had all taken the path from primary to secondary school, and then to university, and were well aware of how difficult studying can be. Rural children, despite the harsh conditions, were able to achieve such accomplishments. They now understood my dedication to these children.

The students toured the Niubi Village and Qinghutang Village Children’s Libraries. Based on the building conditions of the former healthcare station of Old Zhoutian, they formulated a makeover plan. It took them barely a day to complete plans for the refurbishment.

The students divided themselves into smaller groups, with some overseeing decoration and beautification of the environment, some managing book numbering, and others in charge of book store purchases. The makeover was executed according to plan.

In the village, foreigners attract extra attention.

Young children not yet of school age stared curiously at the dark-skinned giant. Old men who had not gone to work in the fields that day glanced doubtfully at the wall of bright red blossoms and green willows.

Both old and young seemed suspicious.

As we started stacking the books on their respective racks, the students discussed the need to go to the central school to recruit librarians.

Upon hearing that librarians were to be chosen, the children’s faces lit up and their eyes turned to the vibrant collection of books. The once-spectators all waved their small hands as they called out, “I want to be the librarian!”

The service learning project was coming to a close. The Morningside students gathered the four village librarians at a local inn on a weekend and held a reading discussion before the farewell party.

To start with, each of the new librarians of Old Zhoutian Village was presented with a librarian card. Interestingly, at ceremonies similar to this, the girls usually take the lead. Each of the Niubi Village librarians then spoke about her favorite book, and followed up with three short performances.

The Morningside students were captivated by the incredible performances by the young librarians of Niubi Village. They had seen for themselves what the term “making extraordinary progress” could mean.

The young adults mingled with the school children and joyfully posed for photos.

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FEATURE

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"Tang Shu-wing’s staging of Macbeth takes [the] source material and gives it a novel twist, wrapping it in the guise of ancient China. "

2016 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, and as with all centurial marks, offers a prime occasion for commemoration.

In the United Kingdom, a yearlong extravaganza of exhibitions and performances, known as Shakespeare400, is being held to celebrate the great bard. One of these performances, and perhaps the most curious, is Tang Shu-wing’s staging of Macbeth, a retelling set in the milieu of traditional China and performed in Cantonese. Originally performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in London in August 2015, it was brought to Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March 2016, luckily coinciding with a week-long visit by Princeton students to Morningside College. They were treated to the performance along with five Morningsiders paired with them for their stay, and accompanied by Morningside Fellow Benny Lim, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at CUHK. For those uninitiated to Shakespeare, the best way to describe the Tragedy of Macbeth is as a spectacle. Although its script is grounded by deft storytelling and a number of memorable quotes, its most iconic moments involve performative aspects, particularly its emotional monologues and stage direction and production that emphasize its supernatural and psychological overtones.

Ironically, these qualities that are the most central to its identity are also the most open to interpretation, and Tang Shu-wing and his troupe of actors and production specialists have seized the opportunity to impart their own vision. As with most good theatre, the experience transcends the details of the story, and with Macbeth, Shakespeare

has created the perfect vehicle for experiencemaking. The genius of Shakespeare is his ability to craft stories that create the context for such an experience, relatable through the centuries, and around the world.

In Macbeth, the context and mood is set immediately, and all future developments flow from the initial scene. The play begins with Macbeth and his comrade Banquo, generals for the King of Scotland, returning home from battle. In the dead of night and amidst a storm they are come upon by three witches, who prophesize that one day Macbeth will be king. For the rest of the play Macbeth is to brood upon these words as he and his wife’s ambition drive them to commit increasingly crueler acts of violence to secure and later protect the promise of his kingship. Such an obsession develops into madness, and then finally, as the title suggests, tragedy.

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air.” This is one of the first, and perhaps most portentous lines of Macbeth, and an apt portrayal of the world of medieval Scotland that the audience is to confront. Civil war and invasion ravage the countryside breeding an atmosphere of moral ambiguity, which is pondered over by characters, including Macbeth, throughout the length of the play. Lady MacDuff, the wife of a rival of Macbeth, laments before being murdered, “I am in this earthly world; where to do harm is often laudable, to do good sometime accounted dangerous folly.” It is significant that she mentions “this earthly world” as such tumult and moral uncertainty is also reflected in nature, with gloomy, ominous conditions: fog, haze, and the dark of night,

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throne. The chain of events chronicled by the play may have developed differently if Macbeth took a more principled stance at the outset, but this was preempted by his thirst for power. Consequently, it is an open question if it was fate or human agency that triggered the drama of the play. This ambiguity leads us to ponder: are humans the masters of their actions or is there an influence that cannot be accounted for, and do these questions have any bearing on how life should be lived? These perennial questions are Macbeth’s tragic crux, and what Shakespeare cannot resist in reminding us in many of his works, his view of the tragic quality of the human condition.

The director Tang Shu-wing’s staging of Macbeth takes this source material and gives it a novel twist, wrapping it in the guise of ancient China. Not only is the play performed entirely in Cantonese, but its characters are also costumed in traditional Chinese attire. The most prominent example of this is the King of Scotland, who wears a long regal robe of silk, and who is flanked by a retinue of attendants with parasols and red lanterns. Despite the change, the attire remains suitable to the somber theme and Scottish setting. Costume design is in hues of green and black, rather than the vibrant and multicolored patterns traditionally associated with Chinese opera.

Tang also utilizes elements of Japanese theatre, such as kuroko, black-clad stage-hands traditionally employed in kabuki and acknowledged as invisible to the audience. A kuroko is put to particularly good use in one of Macbeth’s hallucinations, in which a dagger dances about him in mid-air. These are all prominent visual elements of the performance, yet the production remains very faithful to the mythos and passion crafted by Shakespeare, particularly the psychological tension experienced by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Despite these visual touches, psychological tension is the element most emphasized by Tang Shu-wing and his troupe of actors, and it is conveyed in ways beyond the dialogue. Notably, a curtain used as a backdrop provides the solitary piece of set design. Consequently, the play’s mystique is presented to the audience through a number of less tangible elements such as live instrumentation, a creative use of lighting, and most importantly, very physical performances from the actors. In one especially memorable scene Lady Macbeth crawls upon Macbeth’s back whispering incitements, as he wavers to kill the king. As he becomes persuaded, Macbeth rises with his wife awkwardly astride his back, both laughing maniacally. Small details like this convincingly express the couple’s developing

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hanging over all of the play’s key events. One could muse that Shakespeare meant the entire play to take place during the so-called “witching hour”, the period after midnight when medieval Europeans believed the powers of darkness were at their most powerful and invasive. Shakespeare tapped into this contemporary fear of the occult: witches, demons, and ill omens, all present in Macbeth, for dramatic effect.

These elements provide the context for the central drama of Macbeth’s slow descent into insanity, and they also represent a significant dynamic in the play. The thin line between the natural and supernatural traces a similar divide between reality and fantasy, and Macbeth’s madness is his hapless teetering between the two worlds.

In many key moments, particularly right before and after he makes a fateful decision, Macbeth is set upon by hallucinations and visions of ghosts and demons. Consequently, he is never quite certain about the reality around him, and this becomes his undoing. In such a state, not only is his military strategy compromised, but also his moral reckoning. As with his first hallucination, in which he famously clutches at a non-existent dagger before ironically committing the very real murder of the King of Scotland, he remarks “Now o'er the one halfworld, Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse.” Even moments before his defining act he appears to be caught in a fantasy, unable to pierce the literal and figurative fog that swirls around all elements of the play.

Shakespeare invites the audience to have similar doubts about the reality of the play through the presence of the supernatural, which complicates our understanding of Macbeth and his wife. When Macbeth is visited by a ghost of a friend he murdered, we cannot be certain if the ghost is real or an illusion, especially as the witches, another supernatural element, are real and active characters in the drama. Shakespeare seems to be intentionally vague on whether Macbeth’s many encounters with the supernatural are real or figments of his imagination.

We can fault the couple’s ambition and naiveté as the cause of their downfall; however, if there were otherworldly forces at play, then perhaps the tragedy was beyond human control. Inversely, if we limit the influence of the supernatural then Macbeth is solely accountable for his ruin. He was only prophesized to become king by witches, an inherently untrustworthy source. His turmoil begins when he and his wife turn prophecy into reality by murdering the king and assuming his

madness, enhancing their impassioned soliloquies for which the play is famous. Princeton student Lauren Richardson noted that even despite the language barrier, “the characters’ emotions were still able to come across clearly and powerfully.”

Additional elements such as a live drum, which clanged along with the rhythm of the plot, made the performance a very visceral experience.

Although much has been made about the incorporation of Chinese culture, the most radical change to the play is that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth appear throughout in modern dress, in direct contrast to the traditional attire of the rest of the cast. There is no acknowledgement of this difference, but it seems strangely befitting as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience a reality separate from the rest of the world. Along with their maddening hallucinations and visions, their modern attire becomes simply another element of their surreal experience. An explanation of this change is made in an additional scene attached to the end of the play, where they awake in the modern world, suggesting that all the prior events were simply a dream (or perhaps a nightmare). This is another layer on the nearly supernatural disconnection from society that the couple suffers throughout the play.

Although the rest of the cast are distraught about the grim reality of the drama, they operate on the common motivations of family, country, and survival.

Conversely, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s actions are propelled by omens and superstition. When they

do experience their visions, others are often in the room, and are perplexed about things they cannot see that seem to haunt the couple. That Macbeth and his wife are actually a modern couple caught in a dark fantasy is a natural development, as the reality they experience already sets them a world apart from their peers.

Such a twist signals that this staging is not just a regional adaptation, but also a post-modern reinterpretation. In this way Tang Shu-wing has miraculously directed Shakespeare into a discussion of contemporary society. Professor Benny Lim notes that the modern /Chinese motif of the play reflects the cultural identity of the two protagonists.

As the play is simply part of their dreamscape, it is only natural that the characters appear in Chinese attire and modern dress. Framed by this perspective, perhaps the temptation and danger of social advancement by all means experienced by the couple are relevant to our modern experience.

By signaling that the moral and philosophical questions posed by Shakespeare are actually problems confronted by people like us, it allows for an appreciation of the story in more personal and intimate ways. Amazingly, this progression seems quite intuitive. As a testament to his longevity and broad appeal Shakespeare seems at home in both medieval Scotland and contemporary Hong Kong.

Photo credit: Hong Kong Arts Festival

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FEATURE

One sunny day in April, Fan Yun joined a group of Morningside students for a lunchtime chat in College. As she greeted each of us with a handshake, her warmth and bright smile made it hard to believe that she had just arrived a day earlier from the United States. “Hong Kong independence” was the hot topic of the moment, and Fan wanted to hear the details as soon as she sat down. Her concern for and curiosity about society were already apparent.

Fan, an Associate Professor in National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Department of Sociology, founded Taiwan’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2015 and became its first convener. Early in 2016, the SDP joined with the Green Party to participate in the legislative election as the “Green Social Democratic Party”. Although Fan received over fifty thousand votes, she was defeated. The Green Social Democratic Party failed to gain a single seat in the legislature.

Back in the early 1990s, Fan Yun, then the President of NTU’s Student Union, led a large student movement known as the “Wild Lily” protest movement that called on Taiwan’s government to implement democratic reforms. Decades later, in 2014, yet another student movement, the Sunflower Movement, grew in opposition to the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement that had been signed by mainland China and Taiwan. In two decades, Fan had gone from being a student to a teacher, but her belief in student movements had not wavered. When the students occupied the legislative Yuan, Fan was there to support them.

The Hong Kong students among us found we had much in common with Fan Yun, as we chatted about the 2014 Umbrella Movement. She believes that the purpose of social movements is to awaken citizens and the goal is to promote their participation. Using the Sunflower Movement as an example, she explained that while these student movements are planned by youth, once other members of society see what is happening, they cannot help but recognize, “If young people care this much about society, then the rest of us should too”. She expressed her opinions on various social issues in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and assessed the strategy behind social movements. So involved in the discussion was she that the lunch that had been prepared for her went untouched. By the end of our hour-long conversation, she had not yet taken a bite.

During our discussion of popular support for social movements, a Hong Kong student noted that only about half of Hong Kong people supported the Umbrella Movement. Fan Yun remarked, “That is already a great amount of support.” I thought of the glass philosophy: pessimists look at half a glass of water and think it is half empty, whereas optimists see it as half full. Fan Yun’s response suggests that she is an optimist.

At present, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) occupy 70

percent of the seats in the Legislative Yuan. Other emerging parties are widely regarded by the outside world as a third force. Forging a new way forward in the shadow of two large traditional parties is not easy. Fan Yun’s Green Social Democratic Party received 2.5 percent of the votes in the legislative election. Although they did not gain a seat, the 300,000 votes they did receive was a form of recognition. “The entire population of Iceland is 300,000”, she quipped.

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pursued a major in sociology. She pointed out that if she had been concerned about her career, majoring in science would have guaranteed her a good job and made her parents happier. But instead she opted to follow her interest.

Once at university, she discovered that the campus lacked a certain intellectual atmosphere.

Students were preoccupied with having fun, organizing parties and barbecues. She felt that university students should pursue greater ideals; she therefore joined the university’s “Mainland Research Society” and, with other members, began to research China’s history and policies. From that point onward, her presence could be felt in many places as she became increasingly involved in the community, first joining the student union, and later organizing student movements.

In 1990, Fan led the Wild Lily Movement, during which students boycotted classes for several days, gathering instead in the square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Attendance peaked at more than five thousand. Fan and other student leaders finally won an audience with then President Lee Teng-hui. After the movement had subsided, Lee convened a National Affairs Conference and began the process of implementing the students’ demands.

Last year, Fan Yun returned to politics to found the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The SDP’s main goals include raising salaries, increasing taxes on the wealthy, and building a more equitable society.

By bringing her ideas to a formal party, she hopes to put them into practice via the political process.

Fan Yun’s experiences with student movements, social movements, and election campaigns easily qualify her to advise us on our plans and actions.

Yet throughout her time at Morningside, she mainly encouraged us to “try” – try different strategies, test the limits. During the Umbrella Movement, demonstrators employed different methods to occupy the streets – some erected tents and slept on the streets, others set up study rooms. She found these approaches intriguing.

In her mind, the success of a movement is measured by whether or not it can bring about change. It is difficult for social movements to reach success on the first try. She acknowledged that she did not think about success or failure when organizing the student movement: “We believed we were doing the right thing, so we did it.” Fan believes that the objective of a social movement is to gather popular support, and to change the way people think. This may also be an explanation for Fan Yun’s decision not to join a traditional party, but instead to create a third force. “If your goal is power, join a major party. If, on the other hand, you want to change the world, you’ll need to approach it from a different angle. The more difficult something is, the more likely you are to fail, but when you succeed, you bring about even greater change.”

Fan Yun has been teaching at NTU for ten years

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On the afternoon of April 7, Fan Yun gave a public lecture titled “New Opportunities and New Challenges: Taiwan Social Movements since 2008”. During the lecture, she described the social environment and political situation in Taiwan. She believes there are three factors that led to Taiwan’s recent social movement. The first factor is the desire amongst Taiwanese to defend democracy.

The second is the current cross-strait relations.

The Chinese government’s strategy in dealing with Taiwan has been to “force politics with trade”. The KMT has moved away from a centrist position to one that leans towards China. The third is the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. Salaries remain low while housing prices have continued to rise, encouraging some young people to fear that they will be forced to move elsewhere to make a living.

Fan also recognizes the impact social movements can have. In this year’s election, the KMT experienced its greatest defeat since 1949. At the same time, a new political force has appeared in Taiwan; when compared to the last legislative elections, votes in favor of the third force increased from 1.7 percent to 13 percent. It has also seen a substantial increase in the youth vote.

The audience listened intently as Fan spoke.

On the topic of identity issues, she pointed out that the majority of youth in present-day Taiwan identify themselves as Taiwanese. “I apologize to the Chinese in the audience. Hope I haven’t hurt your feelings,” she added with a smile. Her humor and candor motivated a section of the audience to roar with laughter and applause.

When she began to speak of Taiwan independence, I was reminded of our lunchtime conversation. Shortly after the Hong Kong National Party was formed, it began to advocate for Hong Kong independence. I noted that the most direct way by which a political party might change society is to participate in elections, join the legislature, and use its votes to monitor the government. The Hong Kong National Party, however, is not recognized by the government due to its advocacy of independence, which is in contravention of the “one China” principle of the basic law. Fan Yun immediately shot back, “The DPP wasn’t recognized back then either!”

Indeed, we may be unable to predict the future, but history can be instructive. Hong Kong may learn something from the Taiwan situation. Fan drew an analogy – imagine you are trapped in a cage; you won’t know the strength of the bars until you push against them.

Fan Yun’s commitment to society can be traced to her secondary school years. At the time, she was studying at one of Taipei’s top schools; her math and science grades were excellent, so she chose the science stream. But a year before she was to enter university, she discovered that her interest in society was even greater than her interest in science.

Because she enjoyed interacting with people, she

and during that time has received the University’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Her commitment to social change is also reflected in her attitude toward her students. When she grades papers, she is less concerned with right and wrong; instead she is more interested in the difficulty of a student’s chosen topic, and how much effort has been invested in the work. She encourages students to take on tough questions. Although the answers may not come easily and students may encounter even greater challenges during the research process, when they reach an answer, they own that accomplishment.

Lately, Fan has been concentrating on politics and social change, but this has not tempered her love for teaching. When asked to choose between being a politician and a teacher, she had difficulty responding. A politician is motivated by her environment; she must be mature and able to keep her promises. A teacher inspires young people to pursue their interests and effect change. Fan is straddling both worlds. When asked how she is managing her time, “I’m still adjusting,” was her reply.

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Disruption The Morningside College Photography Competition is held annually in April. All CUHK undergraduates are eligible to submit photos for consideration. The categories for 2016 were Current, Disruption, Refuge. The winning photos in the DISRUPTION category are included here.

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FIRST PRIZE / STUDENTS' CHOICE

LE E Sai Man New Asia College, Natural Sciences

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SECOND PRIZE

Tang Tsz H im Morningside College, Journalism and Communication

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Inquiry & Possibility Award-winning Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk discusses the journalist’s duty

This modern age makes it challenging to disconnect.

Especially in a dynamic city like Hong Kong, even the simple act of walking down the street may involve dodging more than a few passers-by and ignoring a barrage of ads while checking in with our phones.

Time and thought tends to pour into addressing concerns that demand our immediate attention, which may leave us with scant time to think about much else.

Given this mentality, Robert Fisk seems a bit anachronistic. He is preoccupied with history — where most of us see the HSBC lion statues, if we notice them at all, Fisk sees statues shot at by the Japanese in World War II. He is always thinking about this moment as well as many moments that are not immediate. He notes that he was inspired to become a reporter after watching Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film Foreign Correspondent. In the 21st century, with oft-repeated poetic pronouncements like war “represents the total failure of the human spirit,” it feels as if he has succeeded in becoming a journalist of the 20th. Fisk does something in his reporting that is well worth heeding, however: he always considers the significance of what he witnesses.

For those of you unfamiliar with Fisk, he is the Middle East Correspondent for The Independent.

He has written about the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, the Persian Gulf War, amongst other conflicts, and has published two “histories,” as he calls them, though they often describe his own experience of conflict: Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War (1990) and The Great War for Civilisation— the Conquest of the Middle East (2005). He has interviewed Osama Bin Laden three times and was nearly beaten to death in Afghanistan. As Fred Inglis, an Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sheffield, writes in People’s Witness: The Journalist in Modern Politics, “if he has nine lives, he has risked them all too regularly.” His experiences surely make him worthy of a Hitchcock film, and his knowledge certainly makes him an authority on the Middle East.

Despite this, what strikes me most is less what he says, but how he says it. Last March, Fisk visited Morningside as a Distinguished Visitor. He gave a

dinner talk entitled “Don't Believe What You Read in the Papers: The 'Islamic State', Syria and the Middle East” and a public lecture entitled “Reporting the Middle East: the Arab Awakening and Life After the 'Islamic State' ”. He also took the time to sit down with me and a few journalism students — Emily Chung, Bay Lin, and Nannerl Yau — to chat about his work. Even before meeting Fisk in person, the students too noticed that there was something unusual about Fisk. He never shies away from explaining, in very bold and often verbose language, precisely what he thinks is going on, and what his opinion is on the matter. As Nannerl noted, “Fisk’s anger towards Western policies on the Middle East is apparent throughout the articles that we have read.

Instinctively, we deem bias inherent in the media as negative, or we even perceive it as a deviance from the code of professional conduct.” Questioning Fisk’s apparent lack of concern for objectivity is a common reaction to his writing. After taking note that Fisk’s “chapter on Israel is titled ‘The Last Colonial War,’ surely a misnomer no matter how offended he is by Israel and its policies,” New York Times reviewer of The Great War for Civilisation Ethan Bronner comments that “Fisk seems to have decided that even striving for objectivity is silly…his many legitimate points are sometimes warped by his perspective…” Fisk’s “un-objective” style surprises and dismays many.

Why are we hung up on this notion of objectivity in the first place? “Objectivity,” according to Mitchell Stephens, a historian of journalism, “is a term journalists began using in the twentieth century to express their commitment not only to impartiality but to reflecting the world as it is, without bias or distortion of any sort.” The idea first found its grounding in the United States during the secondhalf of the 1800’s and flourished due to multiple factors: American Realism, a genre of art that comprises detailed depictions of material reality, became popular; the advent of telegrams enabled reporters, especially during the US Civil War, to rapidly pass along just the basic facts; and with the rise of large press houses, there was a loss of faith in the capacity of the press to be free from corporate

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“Our job is to be neutral and unbiased on the side of those who suffer, not on the side of the people who are occupying other people’s lands.” merely a forensic device, the aim of which is to make the perversion of history seem respectable…” Orwell maintains that good reporting goes hand in hand with pointing out wrongdoing, speaking candidly about one’s own personal feelings, and, in doing so, remaining honest about the emotional and historical context of the report.

During the interview, Fisk placed himself firmly in the Orwellian tradition. One of his most acute critiques was against what he calls the “50/50 rule,” which is “half one side, half the other” of the story.

Fisk explained: The Middle East is not 50/50. It’s a bloody tragedy in which one group of people is occupying another group of people. If you were in World War II, it would be the Jews of Europe you’d be writing about, who were suffering the evil of Nazi Germany. Our job is to be neutral and unbiased on the side of those who suffer,

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not on the side of the people who are occupying other people’s lands. We can quote them, but they don’t have a 50/50 right as equals because they’re not equals, they are the superior force. And I decide in my story who is the occupied people. Oh, people say journalists shouldn’t become emotionally involved. Rubbish!

Screw the scruples of journalism, I have feelings. Why shouldn’t I feel angry in my newspaper? Why should it be that you’re a human being until you start writing, and then you become a machine? If you’re liberating a Nazi extermination camp you would talk to the Jewish survivors and write about the Jewish victims. You would not ask the SS officers for excuses. There are moral questions, and if you don’t take them into account you just become a cypher, you’re a machine. You’re a computer. You’re a laptop. The laptop is writing for you.

There are numerous parallels here between Orwell’s conception of journalism and Fisk’s. Fisk, like Orwell, demands that he be able to name those who have wrongly taken advantage of their power. He demands to be honest about his feelings. However, he does something above and beyond what Orwell describes in “The Prevention of Literature,” in that Fisk does not ground his rights in a free press or a free society—but in being human. For Fisk it seems

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or government interests. An objective report with “just the facts” became popular due to aesthetic trends, historical events, and, a somewhat naive belief that this style could prevent a financiallymotivated or politically-interested slant. It gained validation as the “right” style of journalism from multiple institutions, as evidenced by Bronner’s New York Times article. However, none of this leads to the conclusion that objective journalism is the sole tradition of value.

George Orwell’s article“The Prevention of Literature”presents another journalistic tradition.

Published in 1946, the year following World War II’s conclusion, Orwell expresses his disappointment with writers he encountered at a meeting of the PEN Club. Orwell writes, “There was not a single one who could point out that freedom of the press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose.” He writes that self-censorship is just as threatening as the censorship caused by “monopoly and bureaucracy,” and goes on to explain that “Freedom of the intellect means the freedom to report what one has seen, heard, and felt, and not to be obliged to fabricate imaginary, facts and feelings. The familiar tirades against 'escapism' and 'individualism', 'romanticism' and so forth, are

irrelevant what others expect him to be because he is essentially not a journalist, but a human being, which gives him the right to express sorrow and anger given the atrocity he witnesses. He invokes a conception of humanity that maintains each individual’s worth, and thus requires us to care when any government dismisses the significance of human life and its loss. Those who respect work that takes moral considerations and emotions into account will value Fisk’s reportage, and may even find a reminder of what matters.

Fisk’s approach may be further justified by its utility, which has something to do with the pitfall Orwell sought to avoid: of making “the perversion of history seem respectable.” In Fisk’s words, “The purpose of being a foreign correspondent is to be the nerve ending of your newspaper that’s far far away from where you are.” Reporters, in Fisk’s sense, succeed when they relay to their readers the enormously painful scenes that are playing out across the Middle East. The effect of this may be quite significant. Fisk further elaborates upon this theme in The Great War for Civilisation: “When we journalists fail to get across the reality of events to our readers, we have not only failed in our job; we have also become party to the bloody events that we are supposed to be reporting.” What does get recorded and passed along to the general population impacts the meaning attributed to an event as we grasp the larger narrative of history.

An inconclusive, evasive report can have very real implications for what happens after the event, for how populations feel, and in turn, respond to governments supporting or withdrawing from very real wars.

After interviewing Fisk, Emily noted that “Fisk reminds me that journalists are more than machines merely responsible for reporting facts.

Reporters need to think and write critically with the suffering in mind.” It appears that the students learned something of immediate use to their studies: journalists need not necessarily abide by contemporary expectations. It is possible to prioritize one’s humanity above one’s job title. Though our vocation may complicate our moral duties, it

should not supplant our capacity to empathize with human suffering, or to recognize the impact of our decisions. Fisk’s unorthodox style and written content prompt us to consider the meaning of our actions, a step that requires taking a moment to see past the immediate.

Within this conversation there is one more lesson, one that is relevant to scientific and creative endeavours. It is a lesson on inquiry itself. Many of our activities are heavily influenced by the expectations of those around us. One aims to write an objective report because that is common practice, and forgets that there are many other ways of writing a report. We may not even recognize dilemmas in our own lives because we fail to recognize alternative choices. It need not be so. Should we take the time and thought necessary to comprehend a stranger’s perspective, to understand why Robert Fisk does not write objectively for instance, we may find the freedom to behave in a different, and perhaps even a more ethical manner. The process of inquiry begins with confronting someone or something anew in order to discover possibilities. This is disruptive behaviour and may confound a passer-by or two, but

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it is the first step to greater understanding and new ways of being.

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Author Yan Lianke Visits for Writers Series

Winner of the Lu Xun Literary Prize and the Franz Kafka Prize and author of many novels, including Dreams of Ding Village, The Four Books, and Lenin’s Kisses, Yan Lianke spoke about the progress of Chinese literature since the end of the Cultural Revolution and his tireless pursuit of writing powerful fiction about contemporary China. While some of his recent novels have not been published within mainland China, Yan Lianke has been able to maintain a reputation at home, in Hong Kong, and internationally as one of China’s strongest literary voices. Morningside Fellow and Sin Wai Kai Professor of Chinese Culture Leo Ou-Fan Lee, who was present to lead the discussion, praised Mr. Yan for being China’s most honest and relentless novelist saying, “If one writer at all is comparable to Kafka it would be Yan Lianke… (his works have) a Kafkaesque landscape that is authentically Chinese.” Having to conclude the event though it seemed the lively conversation could have carried on, five lucky students won signed copies of Yan Lianke’s books.

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Michael Sandel Drops By For Conversation With Students

Founded by Morningside Senior Tutor Professor David Parker and directed by College Fellow Professor Simon Haines, the Research Centre for Human Values invited Professor Michael Sandel of Harvard University to

deliver a lecture entitled ‘What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets’, based on his New York Times bestselling book of the same name, at CUHK. As a part of his visit to the University, Sandel stopped by Morningside to chat with students. Though a professor of political philosophy in the US, Sandel easily found common ground with students during a conversation about how market-oriented values impact education.

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A Toast to the 10th Anniversary

Morningside celebrated its 10th anniversary at Asia Society Hong Kong Center in May. After Sir James Mirrlees and Dr Gerald Chan, the Chairman of the Committee of Overseers, gave opening remarks, College guests, Overseers, Fellows, Members, staff and alumni dined together. The atmosphere warmed as toasts were given and Ernest So, a globetrotting pianist, and the Philadelphia Orchestra String Quartet performed a few classical pieces.

The evening, which also honoured Sir James’ 80th birthday, gave all pause to

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appreciate the great aims of a liberal arts education, and the many individuals who have made Morningside possible.

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A Plastic Ocean

The first formal hall of 2016 2017 was held in September. For this special occasion, Morningside College welcomed Craig Leeson, a passionate journalist, director, and environmental activist. Leeson was introduced by Daniel Auerbach, a Morningside College overseer, and an executive producer for Leeson’s upcoming documentary, A Plastic Ocean. This documentary explores and exposes the ways in which global plastic production and disposal have begun to infiltrate our ocean system. After discussing the path which led him to this activism, Leeson spoke movingly about the devastating effects this plastic waste can have on the ocean’s biodiversity and about the serious consequences to our food chain systems. Leeson accompanied his talk with incredible pictures and underwater video footage of the animals his team encountered while filming the documentary. Leeson emphasized the

importance of each individual. Better care for our oceans and planet begins with each of us taking responsibility, and making small changes every day. While Leeson presented sobering facts about the direction our oceans are headed, he ended his talk highlighting the change that is possible, leaving the students moved and inspired.

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Taking Another Look At Our Competition's Best Photographs

Morningside College kicked off Writers Series 2016/17 with a visit from local cartoonist Larry Feign. His talk, “Cartoons, Creativity, and Censorship” described his unexpected path to becoming an internationally known political satirist around the time of Hong Kong’s handover. Mr. Feign said as an expat who considered Hong Kong his home in the 1990s, he had a unique look into two separate worlds: the transient expat community and a largely immigrant Chinese community. His daily comic, “The World of Lily Wong”, sought to portray everyday life in Hong Kong in a meaningful way that exposed the misconceptions and prejudices he observed in both communities.

Mr. Feign explained how his comics became increasingly political. As political concerns began to dominate everyday life, they similarly began to dominate his comics. He argued that at times when political discussion is highly suppressed, satire serves to test the boundaries of what can be said, protest abuses of power in creative ways, and speak the truth. To conclude the talk, he opened up about how he admired the rising number of young political voices in Hong Kong. According to him, a new and irresistible civic energy has emerged, something unimaginable at the time he began his career.

For more news about current events around college, please visit our website: www.morningside.cuhk.edu.hk

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An exhibition displaying awardwinning photographs from each of the Morningside Photography Competitions was unveiled in September. The exhibition is part of the college’s yearlong commemoration of the 10th Anniversary. Students, Fellows, and college guests gathered at the ceremony in the Student Common Room; before the exhibition was revealed. Master Sir James Mirrlees remarked that what unites all the great photographs is that, “Each one tells a story”. Come visit the exhibit to appreciate the photographs and grasp these stories yourself!

The World of Hong Kong

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