GLOBALISTS SPRING 2020
ISSUE No.03
the smart revolution
A dive into how emerging technology like artificial intelligence and 5G will impact our jobs, lives and the state of society in the 2020s. 1
where your story is celebrated.
G
sending love to those affected by COVID-19.
FOREWORD
D
ear Friends, As we write this letter in the midst of quarantine, we have no way of knowing when and where you will discover these next pages or what the world will look like. Thinking back to our last in-person meeting before spring break with Insomnia cookies, Domino pizzas, some tight hugs and soft goodbyes, we never would have predicted the way the world unraveled. Nevertheless, some things remained the same. Swept by uncertainty, we bonded over Zoom sessions and #StayAtHome takeovers. As one member worked deep into the night, the other woke up to a new day on the other end of the world. There were moments of doubt, days of anxiety and weeks that blurred our reference of time. We tested our adaptability, forming a new relationship with the screens that were once only a distraction. Typing away on shared documents, the team at Globalists found ways to maintain some sense of normalcy to present you this print issue. We were able to do this because of technology, but as Auz points out in “Dubious Data,” we often overlook that at the center of technology is people, and how we choose to make use of these tools fundamentally reflect our principles and values as a society. So, find a quiet sunny spot at home and follow Izzy as she discusses the impact of smart technology on cities like Syracuse and Krishna as he explores “A brave new world of 5G.” Zero dissects how countries have responded differently to the pandemic in “COVID-19: Not a blame game,” and Sasha addresses the biggest problem facing our planet right now in her poem, “This Time.” When you’re back in ’Cuse, be sure to revisit Gabby’s guide on optimizing your learning space and check out Habiba’s after reading Madeline and Louis’ joint feature. Ethan makes the compelling argument that the movie “Chungking Express” is an attempt to portray postcolonial Hong Kong’s wrestle with its collective identity. Marijke (Mar-eye-kah) writes about Italian Egyptian musician Mahmood, whose song she stumbled across in the studio. And from afar in Sydney, Gabe reflects on the way colonial history can be rewritten for the indigenous people of Australia. We hope that these stories will help us stay connected, beyond the stable WiFi 4 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
and community cheers, so that we can build a unified sense of belonging, no matter the state of our world. While we all strived to find meaning in this transition, some things stayed the same: Those hearty chuckles to jokes that only we know and that warm fuzzy feeling when we saw each other’s faces. Only now the screen may freeze, and the voice can crackle, but we thought, we could get used to this. We dedicate this issue to the health care workers, courageous leaders, community volunteers and relentless Globalists who continue to see the world beyond borders. Keep it global,
JANE LEE President
JIAMAN “MAGGIE” PENG Editor-in-Chief
and of course, here are our amazing department heads who made this issue happen... KAIZHAO “ZERO” LIN Managing Editor
AMY NAKAMURA Co-Design Director
SUJEAN GAHNG Co-Design Director
SONIA WEE Communications Director
5
contributors stories Yunqian “Gabby” Li Austin “Auz” Coldon Krishna Pamidi Marijke Pieters-Kwiers Madeline Goore Louis Platt Gabe Stern
editors Claire Howard Ethan Chu Izzy Bartling Alesandra “Sasha” Temerte
illustration Austin “Auz” Coldon Amanda Lennes Xizhe Zhang Natalia Deng Yuan Brian Chau
photography Saniya More Anjuman Alam Marijke Pieters-Kwiers
pr/social Daphne Zhu Melanie Izurieta Lori Lu Mansi Tanna
6 GLOBALISTS SUGLOBALISTS.COM // SPRING 2020
social media
@suglobalists
@globalists
subscribe to our newsletter!
7
PERSPECTIVES the smart revolution: the good, bad and ugly | 24
gimme some space, will ya! | 14
COVID-19: not a blame game | 20
COVER dubious data | 24 Technologies are extensions of ourselves. As artificial intelligence quickly becomes an integral piece of our daily lives, these cuttingedge innovations are learning to absorb our human biases.
8 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
ON OUR SPEAKERS popstar, self-defined | 35
POETRY // this time // | 36
ON OUR PLATES
table of contents
the brave new world of 5G | 32
habiba boru: paving a bright path to success | 38
ON OUR SCREENS a prelude to hong kong’s identity crisis | 42
POSTCARDS one land, two stories | 45
9
the future of cities: the good, bad and ugly BY IZZY BARTLING
Cities around the globe struggle to keep up with policy making as the future increasingly points to smart technology
I
sat down across from Professor Austin Zwick with several questions in mind, one being how he pictures cities will look like in the future. Zwick, who teaches a class called “Smart Cities” at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, told me they would be “much like they are today.” His answer surprised me. Almost 10 SUGLOBALISTS.COM
instinctively, I pictured flying cars, robot maids and holograms. As if reading my mind, Zwick said, “I think you wanted me to paint some idealistic vision of what cities look like, like in ‘The Jetsons.’” I laughed, nodding my head ever so slightly. “(Technological change) will happen both very quickly as new innovations happen, but also quite
gradually,” Zwick said. “A lot of technology change that will happen will be helping on the back end of city governance, which will not be noticeable to a lot of residents.” The term “smart cities” was first coined by the leading U.S. computer manufacturer IBM as a way to sell technology to municipal governments as a new stream of revenue, Zwick said. The term caught on and was picked up by other tech companies trying to get into the market as well, such as Nokia and Cisco. It is now used around the globe to characterize ways in which cities are using smart technology and data analysis to optimize city functions and create economic opportunity to improve quality of life for citizens. Cities like Boston and Baltimore have installed smart trash cans where sensors are placed inside the cans to take pictures of the contents; in Boston, there are 543 BigBelly trash receptacles that are solar-powered and collect information that can be accessed from any computer or smartphone to determine which cans need to be emptied. In Amsterdam, “internet of things” sensors work to provide realtime information about traffic flow and energy efficiency. “Jobs are by far the number one priority of local governments,” said Zwick, who worked as a planner at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, where he created regulations for emerging technologies, specifically selfdriving cars. “If a factory closes in your community, people are going to wonder how they are going to put food on the table, and they see smart cities as the next big thing,” he said. Governments are playing catch-up with the changing tides of technology, and the city of Syracuse is no exception.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY SUJEAN GAHNG
In January 2019, Mayor Ben Walsh announced his plans to prepare Syracuse for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is characterized as a technological revolution unveiling unlimited possibilities in the realms of artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, internet of things devices and more, according to the World Economic Forum. “We’re in a period of history where our economy is going to change significantly through the use of data technology and automation, and we need to think really critically about how we as a city can prepare ourselves for that,” said Sam Edelstein, chief data officer of Syracuse. Through Walsh’s Syracuse Surge strategy, more than $200 million of public and private investment will be spent on initiatives that will catalyze technological and economic growth in Syracuse. One of those initiatives is a collaboration between the city of Syracuse, Microsoft and SU’s very own School of Information Studies. PERSPECTIVE 11
The city has gathered large amounts of data about day-to-day urban life from computers embedded throughout Syracuse. This information is vital to each city department — like the Department of Public Works, the Fire Department and the Police Department — and needs to be analyzed, but the city doesn’t have the staff to do the work. “It is great to collect a lot of data, but it’s only as good as what information you’re getting from it and how you are then changing the processes or policies that you have,” Edelstein said. That’s where the iSchool comes in. The iConsult Collaborative is an organization at SU directed by Arthur Thomas, the associate dean for academic affairs at the iSchool, and readily composed of student project managers and volunteers. The team is already working with city data to build dashboards detailing where parking tickets have been issued, where fire incidents have occurred and when the city gets the most service requests for things like potholes and sewer backups, Edelstein said. Once this real-time data is organized and made accessible, executives and top-level staff within the city’s departments can use it to develop longterm goals and decide where they need to focus their efforts and how they can be more proactive. However, with the good comes the bad and the ugly; smart city technologies may also pose security implications, increase inequality and issue false red flags. Jennifer Joe, a staff writer for the Chicago Policy Review, pointed to the Streetbump app used by the city of Boston to collect real-time information about road conditions as 12 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
an example of the problems that arise from smart city initiatives. The app is a smart solution to help the city of Boston make pothole repairs and improve roads, but when looked at closely, it helps a specific group of people. The elderly and people in lower income groups are less likely to have smartphones, so the data collected from this app leaves out these demographics, leading to an unequal distribution of funds. Zwick identified that issues of inequality also come to a forefront in cities like New York City and San Francisco, where tech companies are creating high tech jobs, and more people with these jobs can afford to pay more. This, in turn, raises the housing cost, which makes it incredibly difficult for anyone who does not work in the tech industry or any other industry that pays just as much as they do — like law, medicine and finance — to afford housing. “The working class is being priced out of their own communities,” Zwick said. He then posed a very important question: How do you help drive the economy forward while making sure you don’t leave people behind? Technology will surely play a significant role in paving the way to our future, and change will happen very quickly, very gradually and somewhat very invisibly. “In the short run, one streetlight looks like another streetlight. An autonomous car looks very much like a regular car,” Zwick said. However, as governments experiment with these innovations to create jobs of the future, nothing has ever been more clear: Policies that are put into place in order to drive forward cities’ long-term goals must ensure fairness, data collection accuracy and equal representation, regardless of socioeconomic class. G
ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMANDA LENNES
PERSPECTIVE 13
GIMME SOME
ILLUSTRATION BY XIZHE ZHANG
SPACE, WILL YA! BY YUNQIAN “GABBY” LI
14 SUGLOBALISTS.COM
Learn how you can control your surrounding elements to create a better workspace
A
nother Sunday in Syracuse, you head to Bird Library to try to do some homework. You pull open the heavy doors and are greeted by a busy scene of students working away. There are a variety of study spaces available, but which will you choose? The chatter on the ground floor is pleasing to some and distracting to others. Similar experiences apply to many other buildings on campus, where the space makes our indoor experiences less than satisfactory. In our years at Syracuse, we adapt to become scavengers, finding places where we might study better, live better and eat better. While the library provides us a handful of different environments to work in, it is helpful to understand what elements cater best to our needs and preferences in order for us to work efficiently. We, as humans, are heavily affected by our surrounding elements. After all, Americans spend, on average, about 90% of their time inside. If we can’t change where we have to be, what can we do to improve our indoor experiences? Applying the pleasure, arousal and dominance hypothesis to environmental psychology, researchers hypothesize that people are most satisfied in a space when all three emotional responses — “pleasure (positive feelings), arousal (excitement or challenge), dominance (control over their environment)” — are met. Below are a couple of things to keep in mind, they just might help you take better control over your environment and improve your productivity and experiences.
The Lighting Okay, let’s go back into Bird. You walk in and are greeted by artificial overhead lights. These ceiling lights placed on a rigid grid create the illusion of a never-ending space, making the space seem less lively. It would perhaps make sense for the higher floors to have such a design to reflect the limitless knowledge and resources that the library holds, but for the ground floor of the building where innovation and collaboration happen, better design can help stimulate our creativity. Here are two simple things to look for when you are in need of optimal lighting conditions, wherever you are.
Direct Lighting vs. Indirect Lighting There are different types of lighting that exist in any environment, but all lighting sources fall into two big umbrellas: direct or indirect. If you can see the actual light bulb, then it is a type of direct lighting. If there is a layer of material that the light bulb hides behind, or if you just
PERSPECTIVE 15
Access to Natural Light
We as humans are subconsciously drawn to things, such as organic shapes and patterns, that remind us of nature. This is true for indoor lighting as well. Not only can access to natural lighting improve the lighting conditions of where you are seated, it is also proven to improve your subjective well-being. Lighting may influence your cognitive performance and problem solving ability by interfering with physiological factors such as our circadian rhythms; it can also impact our mood and interpersonal relationships. If you are struggling to fall asleep after being in bright spaces all day, try spending some time in more dimmed lighting environments before bed time.
can’t easily see the light source, it is indirect lighting. The lights on the grid in Bird are indirect lighting fixtures and do not cast a strong beam like a desk lamp, but their placement and shape can make the lighting disorienting. Depending on what you are using the space for, you will have different lighting needs. If you are working on your computer, be mindful of how lighting situations can affect the glare on your screen. If you are reading or writing, try to find somewhere that is well-lit with multiple light sources. Research has shown that poor lighting conditions will result in eye strain, fatigue and aching, which can lower your productivity. In general, direct lighting is good for doing any type of work on paper, and indirect lighting is good for just hanging out. 16 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
Distraction We all want a healthy amount of distraction in our daily routines, whether it’d be some time on social media or chatting with a friend. But when we want to be in focus mode, it’s best to notice what the distracting factors in our environment are to attain a peace of mind. You might have experienced this kind of unwanted distraction at Bird, where people talk loudly on the ground floor, or in the dining hall at Ernie Davis Hall, where the background music or the TVs are often too loud. Below are some things to look for when you need to focus.
Good Noise vs. Bad Noise
We all know that noise is not always bad, but we are not always conscious of choosing a seat at the library based on the noisiness. If you prefer to work amid people chattering, you can find a seat in a public space that gives you some distance between your seat and the noisy chatter, such as the individual desks on the ground floor of Bird.
Pages CafĂŠ is a good option, but the smell of pickles and tuna salads can also be a distracting factor. If you prefer to work in a quiet space with minimal noise, the Plastics Pioneers Reading Room on the sixth floor of Bird is a good choice. The room also features nice windows for greater access to natural lighting.
Although as individuals we’ll always have different preferences, we can and should seek to find what works best for us and make proactive decisions to be in environments that improve our well-being. G
Visual Distraction
People walking around you can be distracting, but colors or patterns that are too overwhelming can also cause us to lose our focus. A good amount of visual focus points actually helps stimulate your brain instead of distracting it, especially when you are trying to do a creative task. So depending on the task at hand, choose your space mindfully. With windows as well as different colors and patterns, the ground floor of Bird Library offers the most visual interests. The study rooms with access to a window are also great for a creative session. In the current trend of pursuing more conscious lifestyles, taking into consideration how your environment affects you can be a huge game-changer in the way you experience your own home, our campus and beyond.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY SUJEAN GAHNG PERSPECTIVE 17
Syracuse University
LIBRAR The Academic Hub for Student Success, Innovation and Community •
Services are FREE to use with your SU ID*
•
Millions of print and electronic resources, including databases, digital collections, journals, magazines, newspapers, new books, exhibitions, maps and government information, rare materials, and video and music
•
Rare books, manuscripts, artwork, and audiovisual materials in the Special Collections Research Center, which includes the University Archives and the Belfer Audio Archive
•
Subject librarians providing personalized research help and curated Research Guides in over 265 topics
•
In-person, email, phone, and 24-hour chat help for all students, staff, and faculty
•
Over 150 public computer workstations and support for printing, scanning, copying, large format plotter printers, and wireless internet
•
Loaner technology equipment including laptops, cameras, chargers, and more
•
Variety of spaces for collaborative or quiet work, including individual, small group, and team study rooms available for check-out
•
Home of the Blackstone Launchpad powered by Techstars, an entrepreneurial incubator; the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Engagement (SOURCE); the Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS) for academic and tutoring support; and Syracuse Abroad @ Bird
•
Alternate formats, accessibility services, and assistive technology
library.syr.edu
RIES
AD
COVID-19:
not a blame game Countries should employ multiplex methods to tackle the pandemic together
BY KAIZHAO “ZERO” LIN ILLUSTRATIONS BY SUJEAN GAHNG
N
o one had ever imagined that China would impose a city lockdown two days before Lunar New Year. What ensued marks the start to an ominous decade as the coronavirus spread at an exponential rate to corners of the world. The World Health Organization issued its fifth ever global health emergency in January and named the disease COVID-19. Unstoppable and without an effective treatment for its symptoms, the virus crossed China’s borders and spread rapidly to the rest of the world. By the end of April, the number of reported cases confirmed by Johns Hopkins University was approaching three million and reported deaths were close to 200,000 worldwide. This unexpected rapid spread has led to fear and concerns met with different national reactions, including social distancing, similar lockdowns and blaming people of Chinese descent fueled by racism and xenophobia.
20 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
CHINA — A delayed reaction but an urgent remediation On Dec. 27, 2019, eight doctors in Wuhan, Hubei Province, first spread the news of several pneumonia cases with unclear causes on WeChat, a Chinese social media platform. The municipal government did not expect the coronavirus to be highly infectious and issued these doctors a warning, characterizing them as muckrakers instigating public fear. After the outbreak started, the Wuhan government was largely criticized for their inaction and irresponsibility. In order to remedy the already disastrous consequences, the Chinese government ordered a lockdown of Wuhan on Jan. 23, which was also the first time in modern Chinese history that a city of more than 10 million people halted all social activities and connections. With drastic measures such as closing stores and shutting down
transportation, Wuhan citizens had to stay at their homes with only essential businesses in operation. “We bought a lot of goods and supplies before Chinese New Year. Since then, we have only ordered food online once,” said Peng Shengzhu, a senior Wuhan citizen who has stayed at home for almost two months. The city has never seemed emptier. Dr. Zhong Nanshan, an epidemiologist and pulmonologist who discovered the SARS coronavirus in 2003, went to Wuhan on Jan. 19 to manage the outbreak. More than 20,000 doctors and medical professionals followed his step and went to Wuhan and other cities in Hubei to provide medical support. The central government had also ordered the constructions of two brandnew hospitals (Vulcan Mountain and Thunder Mountain Hospitals) and 16 Square Cabin Hospitals (assembled, movable camps) to start receiving patients in Wuhan in early February. Because of the shortage of medical supplies like masks and hazmat suits,
many nearby countries provided considerable support, including South Korea and Japan, which detected COVID-19 and saw outbreaks in late February.
SOUTH KOREA — Wounded by a heresy, mended through prompt testing
According to Foreign Policy, a month after the South Korean Foreign Ministry provided China with $5-million worth of supplies, South Korea itself had become the country with the most number of infections besides China. While the country and its citizens acted with caution, Shincheonji Church of Jesus continued to hold a large assembly in Daegu, a city near Seoul. A 61-year-old congregant was infected and spread the virus, resulting in 63.5% of all confirmed cases in the country before March 7 related to the Shincheonji, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fortunately, the Korean government controlled the coronavirus outbreak
PERSPECTIVE 21
fairly efficiently under a few measures, in particular the drive-thru test. In just 10 minutes, the medical members at the drive-thru virus test center in Goyang are able to finish the infection test for the driver or a passenger. This method, by limiting drivers’ range of motion and reducing face-to-face interaction with potentially infected people, prevents the spread of the virus. “If the first patient is a confirmed case, the second patient might become infected even if they test negative because they stayed in close proximity with the first patient for a certain time,” Dr. Seo Wan-seok, vice director of Yeungnam University Medical Center, told Reuters. “However, if each of them stays in their cars, then there’s no chance of infection.” Other social distancing measures adopted by the Korean government have proved to drastically contain the outbreak.
EUROPE — Climbing death rate, sealed borders and transgressive acts
Italy established a national ban on all public events, including shortening the business hours of restaurants and closing schools, theaters and nightclubs, according to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. 53
As reported by NBC News, Spain announced a state of emergency with a partial lockdown: more than 1,000 troops secured the mandate and fined citizens who broke the lockdown rule. France also banned all public activities in cinemas, restaurants and bars and urged citizens to minimize unnecessary activities. However, during the time of social distancing and quarantining, Chinese people in Europe experienced an increasing number of hate speech and brutal attacks. Courrier picard, a French newspaper, published a print headline reading “Yellow Alert” on Jan. 25, with another article named “New Yellow Peril” — an act of bigotry that angered those of Chinese descent. Even more disappointingly, a 23-year-old Singaporean student with Chinese ethnicity studying in London was physically attacked by other students after growing xenophobia against people of East Asian appearance in Europe.
AMERICA — Who knows what will happen… On Jan. 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Washington State Department of Health announced the first case of COVID-19 in Washington state. By
47 41
number of deaths per 100,000 people from the countries with the highest number of cases
37
20
source: New York Times, May 2
8
4
7 <1
3
<1 . l . y n e i a y S in y ia U. Spa Ital U.K an anc rke ss Ira raz hin m u r C B r F Tu R Ge 22 SUGLOBALISTS.COM
Mar. 26, the U.S. surpassed numbers of infections in China and Italy, leading the world with the most confirmed coronavirus cases. President Donald Trump's overconfidence in saying “We have it totally under control” in January with no preparation, no honest warning to the people and lacking the necessary medical supplies to fight the virus ultimately led to a full-blown national outbreak. According to the CDC, although the elderly have higher risks of being severely ill and thus need treatment, 38% of people hospitalized were actually from 20 to 54, and half admitted to intensive care units were adults under 65. These findings indicate that no one is 100% safe at this point. Fortunately, many state-level officials reacted more promptly and effectively than Trump. For example, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York state signed several orders that partially shut down New York, especially the city, by limiting all non-essential gatherings, outdoor recreation and the use of public transportation. Universities and schools have also transitioned to online learning. “This is an extraordinary time in our history, and we need to see (the) government & people perform at their best,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter. Unfortunately, the outbreak in the U.S. has also fueled rampant acts of racism and xenophobia. The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article under the headline “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.” Other mainstream media also widely use Asian faces as the main visual for coronavirus-related news and stories. While claiming to protect Asian Americans, Trump tweeted and publicly addressed COVID-19 as “Chinese virus.” As a result, many Chinese Americans now face a double threat in the U.S. — The virus may infect them,
and the community both verbally and physically discriminate against them.
A collective stride forward
“The coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, but this does not mean that the origin of the virus is in Wuhan,” said Zhong, the Chinese pulmonologist who serves as the chief of the COVID-19 expert team. “It is irresponsible to make this judgment (on Wuhan) before a clarification.” To fight against the coronavirus, neither hate nor racism is the solution. All these derogatory sayings and actions toward Chinese people are detrimental: Racism is a wound that may never heal even after curing this pandemic. People should not penalize anyone for the outbreak at this point but work together to overcome this crisis. The image we hope to see is that when somewhere or someone is in trouble, everyone elsewhere is supporting. G
PERSPECTIVE 23
DUBIO DATA 24 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
OUS How artificial intelligence learns to emulate human bias STORY BY AUSTIN “AUZ” COLDON ILLUSTRATED BY SUJEAN GAHNG
E
ver stumble across an online advertisement for something you just mentioned in a conversation? Despite the creepy intuition that tech companies are eavesdropping on us, the reality is even more unsettling. With the use of AI, corporations can assemble fragments of your online presence from millions of data points to predict how you'll act, think and feel. AI-powered software is getting to know us — our fears, desires and even biases — sometimes better than we know ourselves. AI’s unmatched acuity for interpreting veritable seas of data makes it a double-edged sword. Data fuels AI, but the data also comes from the world around us and consequently allows biases and stereotypes to carry over from human nature into our machines, reinforcing existing social dynamics and inequalities. When all is said and done, the question of how we should treat our data isn’t a technical issue — it is a human rights dilemma.
COVER 25
Computing Cognition: An Imitation Game
The father of computation, Alan Turing designed an electromechanical device to crack Germany’s infamous enigma code during World War II. Aptly nicknamed “the Bombe,” Turing's machine saved countless lives running its elementary “brute force” decryption algorithm. The mechanism initially designed to break fascist lines of communication now occupy nearly half of all households worldwide. The laptops and smartphones we take for granted are literal supercomputers compared to their analog ancestors; and today, we are witnessing a technological leap of even greater magnitude. Computers have given rise to artificially intelligent neural networks — computational models inspired by the connectome of the human mind, capable of out-performing their biological counterparts. By mirroring the function of our brains, machine learning programs are gradually outpacing humanity in a range of specialized pursuits. The 2,500-year-old strategy game “Go” has more possible board configurations than there are atoms in the universe; yet in 2015, AlphaGo — an AI developed by DeepMind — beat 18-time world champion Lee Sedol four-to-one, baffling over 200 million spectators. Newer programs have since greatly surpassed the abilities of AlphaGo, leaving human players further in the dust. AI is revolutionary because it enables us to outsource the analytical capabilities of human cognition. Rather than telling an algorithm exactly how to operate, engineers feed data into deep learning systems that train themselves to make sophisticated inferences. For example, researchers can compile and analyze thousands of cancer patient’s X-rays using AI. The software 26 SUGLOBALISTS.COM
identifies patterns, offers its own probabilistic diagnosis and subsequently checks its answer against the patients’ actual diagnoses to self improve. After training deep learning AI using backpropagation algorithms, the software can then take in new data, like the X-rays of undiagnosed patients, to identify possible tumors more accurately and efficiently than a human doctor. Machine-learning systems learn how to interpret data on their own, and their models become more accurate as researchers provide larger sets of training data. Such potent diagnostic tools are taking the guesswork out of modern medicine. Professionals will soon have the dexterity to identify early-stage illnesses sooner and administer life-saving procedures with fewer complications.
So, What’s The Catch?
But as they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sublimating its binary nature, data has grown from
strings of ones and zeros into an invaluable global resource, garnering swarms of commercial interests. Financial algorithms, for example,
artificial intelligence the application of rapid data processing, machine learning, predictive analysis and automation to simulate intelligent behavior and problem solving capabilities with machines and software
have been shown to sometimes associate risk potential with strange peripheral habits. Their proposed interest rates vary based on seemingly ridiculous metrics such as how regularly a customer charges their phone, and even measures consumers’ selfconfidence by analyzing how long it takes them to complete an application. Similarly, Apple’s financial practices recently came under fire when tech entrepreneur David Heinemeier Hansson said that Apple Card’s algorithm only offered his wife 5% the credit limit they offered him, despite their shared assets and her higher credit score. As mathematician Cathy O'Neil argues in her book “Weapons of Math Destruction”: “models are opinions embedded in mathematics.” Statistical analysis may seem objective when it's all numbers, but it's important to realize that each data point represents something very real and often subjective. Beyond the dangers of implicit bias COVER 27
algorithm a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations
in AI, we often overlook the cloakand-dagger intentions of big data corporations. Using the information you surrender unknowingly, companies make assumptions that extend to the very core of your personality. Unfortunately, most large companies lack transparency in how they collect, maintain and employ consumer information. Enormous data sets are often declared “proprietary” and protected as high-level trade secrets. Considering that health insurers, broadband providers and even DNA ancestry testing companies also buy and sell consumer data, the intimate aspects of our personal lives may not remain truly private for long. Even knowing what information companies collect on you, you likely don’t know how your information is being used. As Charlie Warzel of The New York Times puts it, “Your face is still scanned in public, your online information is still leveraged against you … your privacy is still invaded, only now you’re left to wonder if the insights were accurate.” While it's true that one can construct a seemingly objective dataset, inequalities are built into our world “no matter what kind of data we collect about it”, said Jamie Winders, director for the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute (ASPI) and professor of geography at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. 28 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
The data we use to train AI “come from the world around us, and that world around us is biased in all sorts of ways,” Winders said. Consequently, biases and inequalities get “baked into” software implicitly. This is exemplified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2019 lawsuit against Facebook, who argued that by showing ads to specific demographics based on “relevance,” Facebook is likely reinforcing discrimination and social inequalities: if most home buyers in an area are white, for instance, Facebook might only show ads to white users. “There are biases built into how I understand the world that I can’t articulate, but they fundamentally shape how I behave,” Winders reminds us. “Are we comfortable with that same level (of transparency) in AI? Or do we want full explainability?” Computers are automating increasingly complex tasks to such an extent that data scientist and entrepreneur Kai-Fu Lee believes 50% of jobs in the United States will become “somewhat or extremely threatened by AI” within 15 years. Molly Kinder, a senior fellow at New America, argues that most of these layoffs won't happen to blue-collar workers as many often assume. Despite strong associations of lost jobs with images of men on a factory floor, her team’s data shows that women disproportionately hold the jobs most vulnerable to automation. These marginalized occupations often involve routine acts of information processing, many of which can be easily replaced by software.
The Politics of Privacy
In many cases, these technologies can foster distrust and threaten individual liberty. AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, in his PBS Frontline Interview,
explains concisely that “AIs are tools, and they will serve the people who control those tools.” He cautions us that “if those people’s values go against the values of democracy, then democracy is in danger.” A recent study conducted by The National Institute of Standards and Technology discovered that Asian and African American people were up to 100 times more likely to be falsely identified by facial recognition AI than white subjects, with Black women being the most falsely identified group. Such inconsistencies have appropriately left many worried about the adoption of facial recognition by law enforcement, creating deep fissures that extend to the core of democracy. Take the boiling tensions between low-income neighborhoods and law enforcement in the U.S. — It is not difficult to imagine how easily such a delicate balance can be thrown off, especially by such controversial attempts at reducing street crime as the NYPD’s infamous Stop-andFrisk initiative and the LAPD’s controversial (and recently repealed) Chronic Offender Program. The use of AI by law enforcement will only exacerbate due process violations against common citizens. The practice of law enforcement agencies using citizens’ data to
surveillance capitalism the unilateral claiming of private human experience as free raw material for translation into behavioral data.
A HISTORY OF
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 1950
Alan Turing created the Turing Test to ask the question, “Can machines think?”
1956 John McCarthy coined “artificial intelligence” at Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence organized with Marvin Minsky, Nathan Rochester and Claude Shannon.
1965 Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA, a natural language program that could engage in English dialogue on any topic
1970 Japanese robotics professor Masahiro Mori coined “uncanny valley” to describe people’s strange emotional response to robots that appear too human
1997 IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to beat a reigning world chess champion, Garry Kasparov.
2014 A chatbot called Eugene Gootsman is allegedly the first program to pass the Turing test.
2016 DeepMind’s AlphaGo system defeats world champion Lee Sedol 4-to-1 in Go, the ancient Chinese game that’s considered a grand challenge for AI
leading companies responsible for providing AI surveillance technology to countries
number of countries
50
investigate potential misconduct is not our future but our present. Investigators regularly petition for geofence warrants, allowing them to cast virtual dragnets over crime scenes. This gives them indiscriminate access to the GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular connections of anyone strolling through the area. One story from NBC gave a voice to Zachary McCoy, a Florida resident whose January afternoon took an unsettling turn after receiving an ominous email from Google. They alerted him that unless he went to court within a week to oppose their action, Google would be relinquishing his data to authorities. As to why he had been singled out, McCoy hadn’t a clue. McCoy’s attorney Caleb Kenyon discovered that the geofence warrant was granted to local police while investigating a burglary. McCoy’s workout app RunKeeper had been recording his frequent bike rides. On the day of the robbery, McCoy’s usual route had led him right through the crime scene. Apparently, it has never been easier for one to find themselves in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Data and Democracy
11
Thankfully, experts across numerous fields, like Winders and the ASPI, have banded together to assemble a policy
6
EI AW ) U H INA (CH
IBM ) . (U.S
30 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
CO CIS .) (U.S
9
ZTE A) IN (CH
placing ads on websites based on individuals’ demographics, buying history or digital behaviors like social media follows framework that’s able to govern the ethical development of autonomous systems. Winders has begun paving the way towards the responsible implementation of AI alongside other independent organizations. “We need technologists who understand history, who understand economics, who are in conversations with philosophers," said Marina Gorbis, the executive director of the Institute for the Future in an interview with CNN. "Our technologists are no longer just developing apps. They're developing
14
political and economic systems." Efforts like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation are making solid progress towards shielding individuals from data surveillance by giving control back to consumers. Its Right to be Forgotten provision would allow citizens to formally opt out of personal data collection and demand that a company erase their personal data. These regulations mandate “freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous” user consent before data may be collected. Policies like these will mostly be the guiding light for countries in similar positions as the U.S. However, until proper legislation is implemented, the future of our privacy will depend on conversations about how we should treat our data properly. Unfortunately, discussions about our collective data norms just haven't yet caught up to the technology yet. It will be up to us, the digital natives, social activists and future lawmakers, to not only discover the exciting new developments AI has to offer, but to make sure that our global future embraces the fundamentally human values we all share. G
15 9
C NE N) PA (JA
ION S I V A) HIKCHIN (
IR NT ) A L . PA (U.S COVER 31
source: carnegie endowment for international peace
targeted advertising
5G
THE BRAVE
NEW WORLD OF
Imagining a future without lag
H
BY KRISHNA PAMIDI
ave you ever wanted FaceTime calls to be clear or waited for ages to download a movie? Today’s internet networks, although far better than what they were a decade ago, are still way behind our imaginations and our demands. 5G is going to bridge the gap between our reality and our posterity. The “G” in 5G stands for generation of wireless technology. Until now, most of these generations have improved data transmission speeds and allowed more types of files to be transferred. 1G allowed people to text, 2G shared blurry photos at pitifully slow speed, 3G marked the beginning of a smartphone revolution and 4G extended this by multiplying 3G speeds by 500 times. But 5G will not only reduce latency, meaning less delay in data transfers, it will also allow more devices to be connected to one network. In a 5G-equipped society, cars can drive themselves and brake, change lanes and communicate with other cars on the road to reduce traffic jams, but it gets a lot more exciting than
32 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
self-driving cars. If you’ve seen HBO’s “Westworld,” then you can understand what is at stake here. Barring the violence and gore, 5G can make the fancy self-driving bikes and clever robot assistants. It can create a reality itself in the form of augmented reality.
Bigger and Faster
Since 5G is a network designed around transferring big data at higher speeds, most phones today are not 5G capable, meaning they will not be able to take advantage of future 5G networks. For the telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, the name of the game is balancing speed and range. For major metropolitan cities that have implemented limited 5G networks — sometimes allowing over three gigabytes of data to be transferred per second — people experience faster internet speed. The existing infrastructure cannot meet 5G speeds, and companies like Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei will be instrumental in building 5G compatible antennas and fiber optics to support the network.
ILLUSTRATION BY XIZHE ZHANG
A New Reality
There are innumerable ways 5G can be used to improve our lives. When cars and street lights are equipped with sensors that can communicate in 5G network, safe and wide adoption of autonomous driving is a step closer to reality. With more data processed at a much faster rate, autonomous vehicles can make the road a safer place by reacting much more quickly to impending dangers and traffic jams, taking measures such as choosing alternative routes, changing lanes and braking to avoid collisions, according to Forbes. 5G can also improve AR capabilities: Tourists can translate signs and boards scripted in a foreign language with smart glasses and phones and hear translations of real-time conversations. Shoppers can try out outfits and accessories by using smart mirrors in virtual dressing rooms or see renderings
of furniture in their home. And doctors can use this technology to treat patients online, diagnose them from home and use AR to simulate surgery for training. Perhaps something cooler is the fact that 5G can also make remote surgeries a reality. Known as telesurgeries, these procedures enable doctors to use special consoles to control remote surgical equipment. 5G networks will reduce the lag times between machines to mere two milliseconds, allowing surgeons to operate from 1,900 km away as if they were right next to the patient. In the long run, this can tremendously benefit areas with limited access to medical expertise and reduce the costs of surgeries. For manufacturers and supply chain operators, 5G can dramatically increase productivity. Qualcomm, the semiconductor company, equipped one of its warehouses with 5G network PERSPECTIVE 33
and sensors in machines on the production lines that demonstrated more precise positioning, resulting in faster production. These machines would excel at quality control, provide end to end logistics tracking and better manage inventory levels and predict demands, according to Tech Wire Asia. 5G would also improve connectivity in production line robotics, reducing operating costs and making manufacturing jobs much safer.
5G IS GOING TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN OUR REALITY AND OUR POSTERITY. In the small South Korean village of Daeseong-dong, 5G is already changing lives. The village is primarily a farming village and is situated in a demilitarized zone between South and North Korea. According to ABC News, anyone leaving or entering this village has to be accompanied by soldiers. Adding to this, the mayor noted that it took about an hour to open the waterway to the irrigation reservoir 1.2 miles away from his house. However, with 5G being deployed in the village, he can simply open the waterway with his mobile phone. Without needing to leave his home, he can now spend more time with his family.
Thorns and Pricks
It’s not all sunshine and futuristic tech though. As with most technology 34 SUGLOBALISTS.COM
that involves the internet and data, there are privacy concerns that often go unnoticed — 5G is no different. In fact, privacy is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to 5G. Massive amounts of data that are being transferred can pose a significant security threat. Galina Datskovsky, the CEO of Vaporstream, a secure messaging company, notes that “5G implies faster speeds for good guys and for bad guys.” These “bad guys” could have access to more data and siphon information at faster speeds. With an increasing number of devices that can be connected to a network, a “bad guy” can have access to more sources of data. To combat this, Congress has proposed a set of federal regulations that would curb this behavior but failed to implement these privacy rules, according to The Wall Street Journal. California has gone a step further and allowed each user to prohibit sale of their information. However, this level of security and individual option hasn’t been federally mandated yet and are now up to state and local governments to decide.
To Infinity and Beyond
5G is undeniably important, not only because it can download a movie in 14 seconds but also because it can change lives. It can allow you to have an open heart surgery from a doctor far away, beat traffic and connect with the world. It is already helping some 200 people in a small pocket of the world save time and energy. However, this world, much like “Westworld,” has its own set of creeping concerns that we must be aware of. With more data and faster internet speeds accompanied by effective privacy standards, 5G will bring us a brave new world. G
POP STAR, SELF DEFINED BY MARIJKE PIETERS-KWIERS ILLUSTRATION BY NATALIA DENG YUAN Italian Egyptian artist Mahmood is captivating audiences with his new genre of music ‘Moroccan Pop’
T
he first time I heard the Italian Egyptian artist’s honey-like voice, it was resounding over the speakers of the print-making studio. As people bustled around the studio making prints and washing ink-stained fingertips, I pulled out my phone to Shazam the song. That’s when “‘Soldi’ by Mahmood” popped up on my screen. I then listened to his song on repeat the following week, unaware of what the Italian lyrics really mean. Eventually, I began to dive deeper into the musical works of 27-year-old Alessandro Mahmoud. In 2018, he released his first EP, “Gioventú bruciata,” which means the wasted youth. “Soldi,” the Italian word for money, was the fifth track on the EP and is what skyrocketed Mahmood to fame. Awarded in the 69th Sanremo Music Festival, one of the most popular Italian song contests, Mahmood participated in the Eurovision Song Contest to represent Italy. The Eurovision Song Contest is held annually, and all participating artists represent their European country. Mahmood performed “Soldi” at the 2019 contest and placed second, but this was just the beginning of his stardom. In March 2019, he released his full “Gioventú bruciata” album, which hit No. 1 in the Italian Albums Chart. This
song continued to flourish, reaching over 145 million views on YouTube. Complemented with a riveting beat and haunting vocal, the song captivated audiences around the world. The lyrics tell Mahmood’s painful story of growing up: His mother from Sardinia and father from Egypt met each other in Milan. They divorced when he was five years old, and Mahmood grew up without a father figure. This experience has also become the muse of his musical career. “My song is a personal outburst to make people understand that, after having been children, one becomes something more: a critical sense is born towards parents, life, and the way of seeing things,” Mahmood said in an interview with Eurofestival News. “‘Soldi’ tells a story.” Growing up with Italian Arabic influences also shaped Mahmood’s music. The unique melodies with beautiful fusion from American and Spanish pop have often been hard for audiences to classify, which allows him to come up with his own term “Moroccan Pop.” By creating a unique genre of music that reflects his identity, Mahmood has become an international sensation with his ability to unite audiences of different backgrounds and nationalities. G ON OUR SPEAKERS 35
// this time // WRITTEN BY ALESANDRA “SASHA” TEMERTE ILLUSTRATION BY AMANDA LENNES The first time you watch the world crack beneath your feet, you will not feel responsible. Somewhere, a fire inhales and swallows the rainforest whole. Somewhere, the ravaging heat devours a city and its dreams. Somewhere, we feast upon the land, building skyscrapers of maybes and wastelands of ambition until the world consumes us back. The first time, you will hurl empty prayers at the newsreel, clicking your tongue and shredding those who caused this, wrapping your eyes with rose petal chains until you can’t see your face reflected on the screen. The next time you watch the world crack beneath your feet, you find shards of steel lodged within your skin. You ask where they came from as if you don’t already know. Here, the lost jungle fills your lungs with smoke. The water seeps past your quaking palms, but you ignore the bucket beside you. Here, the sea is dark with styrofoam greed, rising and rising and drowning earth’s children in its path.
36 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
Here, the rivers choke with waste, grasslands starved with fury, and tundras that fall into a shivered sleep. The next time, your home is falling with them. The last time you watch the world crack beneath your feet, you are already long gone. The light is fading from your granddaughter’s eyes. She is only chasing starlight— the stars, which are sinking into war-torn quicksand, fleeing from battleships and construction machines and the moon, which fears that it is next. She is frightened and forlorn and blind with wonder of what once was and no longer could be. The last time, you whisper I’m sorry. But this time, it’s already too late.
37
PHOTO BY SANIYA MORE
HABIBA BORU:
PAVING A BRIGHT PATH TO SUCCESS BY MADELINE GOORE
Ethiopian refugee Habiba Boru is achieving her goals as a student, mother and restaurant owner
H
abibaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ethiopian Kitchen serves up a range of fantastically authentic Ethiopian cuisine, that is an indisputable fact. Every expertly seasoned order of Atakilt Wot (a cabbage stew with potato, carrots, onions and just a touch of garlic) or Beef Tibs (diced beef cubes sautĂŠed with onions, tomatoes and peppers) come with love, family, community,
38 SUGLOBALISTS.COM
history and a side of a spongy fermented bread known as injera. On Oct. 19, 2018, Habiba Boru opened the doors of her Salina Street establishment to the Syracuse community. While this may have been her first time owning and operating a restaurant of her own, she has had decades of experience under her belt. In 1992, at just 4 years old, Boru was
forced to flee her country Ethiopia due to war and became one of the first refugees in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp where she would spend the next 10 years. Boru explained that children are forced to grow up at astonishing speeds in a refugee camp. Kids of only 8 or 9 years old are given a myriad of responsibilities, which for Boru consisted of taking care of the young and old, as well as helping her mother cook.
While living in Kakuma, Habiba’s mother cooked to support their family. Out of a small hut constructed from mud and sticks known as Habiba’s Hotel, she sold traditional Ethiopian dishes to keep a roof over her family’s head. “My mom literally cooked the exact same thing that I’m cooking ... maybe a little bit better than mine,” Boru admitted. When reflecting on the difficult times she has faced in the past, there are few hints of negativity in Boru’s voice. Rather, there is a sense of appreciation for her mother — whom she refers to as both her hero and best friend — for food and for the new life she has created for herself and her family, far from the tents of Kakuma. “Food is love, and without love there is nothing,” Boru said. “Food always brings people together, brings strangers together. It’s like a sense of existence, honestly.” Food has brought Boru into the folds of the Syracuse community, a community that gives her just as much as she gives them, she said. Boru is not only a business owner
and a mother of five; she is also a student at Syracuse University studying international relations and a teacher at local refugee centers, conducting classes for those who have just arrived in this country. It is wildly apparent that her passion for food runs as deep as her passions for education and world peace. “Education is the key of life; without education you are nothing,” Boru said. “When I was about 7 or 8, we did not have light — sometimes we are very ungrateful for the things we have. When we lived in the camp, I would have my book on my lap trying to read. I wanted to learn, I wanted to go to school, but we didn’t have lights. When the lights would go out, my father had a flashlight that he would turn on and off and he would say, ‘If you have education, you are the light.’” Boru is taking this semester off to focus on her restaurant, but there is no question that she’ll be returning to SU to earn her degree, likely setting curves as she goes. Boru also dreams of working for the United Nations one day. “Oh, my God, if I can bring peace to the world, that’s what I want to do. Seriously,” she said. She added that if given the opportunity, she wants to advocate on behalf of those struggling to be heard in the world. She wants to go where people don’t normally go and listen to the voices of the people there. With the yearning for world peace, Boru desires to make the world a better place and leave it better than she found it. In fact, that is something she is doing day by day, meal by meal. Boru is a person whom you will meet for the first time and walk away feeling like you’ve known her for 10, maybe even 15 years — a fact she herself has acknowledged. “Not to talk highly of myself, but Habiba is a sweetheart,” she said. G CULTURE 39
E
BY LOUIS PLATT
very batch of Chef Habiba Boru’s injera — the crepe-like, starchy staple of Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisines — begins thousands of miles from Syracuse in the highlands of the Horn of Africa. When served, the injera rests beneath the wots or tibs — two classic vegetable and meat dishes — similar to rice beneath butter chicken or pasta beneath marinara sauce. Ethiopians and Eritreans customarily eat with their right hand, so a palmsized piece of injera is torn from the plate and scooped through the stew. Pita and hummus are close relatives, but there is a unique quality to injera that makes it irresistible. It starts with the grain: teff. Teff is a grass that is indigenous to Ethiopia and Eritrea’s highland environment. The grass is reminiscent of wheat, but it is greener and the teff seeds are tinier. The seeds are harvested and shipped to Washington D.C., home to the largest population of Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants in the U.S. Every few weeks, Boru makes the six-hour drive to D.C.’s Little Ethiopia to buy the ingredients her grandmother and mother used to cook with. They owned a family restaurant during their time in a refugee camp in Kenya. Without the teff and spices, Boru could not come close to replicating the flavors that make her nostalgic about meals she shared with her entire family in Kenya. Injera is more than a vehicle to carry wots and tibs from the plate to your mouth. The starch is fermented to give it a tangy sourness that complements and subdue the berbere spice — a North African spice mix containing hot chile. Injera adds flavor to the dish, just as much as it is a utensil. At Habiba’s Ethiopian Kitchen, the beef is cut into strips and seared in ber-
40 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
bere and sautéed peppers and onions. With its spicy kick, the dish opens up your sinuses and silences the table as hands move religiously from the shared plate to their mouths. Beef tibs with injera is a happy and complex marriage of flavors and textures. Try Boru’s home recipe and see for yourself. G
how to make:
beef tibs Ingredients:
5 tablespoons of Niter Kibbeh (clarified Ethiopian butter) or plain unsalted butter 2 medium onions, chopped medium (about 2 cups) 3 knobs of ginger, minced, about 2 tablespoons 6 medium garlic cloves, minced, about 2 tablespoons 2 tablespoons berbere 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 1 pound beef sirloin, cut into 1-inch cubes, trimmed of excess fat and connective tissue 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 teaspoon lemon juice, to taste
Step by Step:
1. Saute chopped onions, minced ginger, and minced garlic in the Niter Kibbeh until onions are soft. 2. Add berbere until the ingredients are fragrant. 3. Add beef and cook for 15 minutes. 4. Season with fresh lemon juice after the dish is cooked. 5. Serve with injera, rice or pita bread.
PHOTO BY ANJUMAN ALAM
A foodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey from Yabelo, Ethiopia to Syracuse, NY
ON OUR PLATES 37 41
A PRELUDE TO HONG KONG’S IDENTITY CRISIS Wong Kar-wai’s ‘Chungking Express’ and Hong Kong’s transition from colonialism WRITTEN BY ETHAN CHU ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN CHAU
A
cloud of dread and uncertainty looms above Wong Kar-wai’s third feature, “Chungking Express,” an exuberant whirlwind of love and longing bursting with seductive exoticism, set amid Hong Kong in a perpetual state of flux and apprehension about its identity and future. Released in 1994, a mere three years before the British government would concede the island colony back to the Chinese, the film uneasily sits between Britain’s colonial past and the encroaching influence of mainland China. The narrative structure of the film is separated into two diverging halves with an abundance of shared thematic overlap, parallels and motifs. The first half follows Cop 223 as he obsesses over a breakup with a woman named May and falls in love with a mysterious nameless woman in a blonde wig who, unbeknownst to him, is a drug dealer. The second half follows Cop 663, who is similarly dealing with a breakup with a flight attendant and falls in love with the beautiful ethereal server Faye at the late-night snack bar he frequents. The symmetry of the two juxtaposing stories underplays personal identity to highlight the uncertain collective identity of Hong Kong as it transitions from colonialism to post-colonialism. Wong Kar-wai’s Hong Kong is a vibrant urban jungle engulfed by towering skyscrapers and a bustling multicultural cosmopolitan city teeming with crime and dreams. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle coalesces a blend of slow motion, pixelation, shifting shutter speeds and indistinct images of loneliness and yearning into an utterly-enveloping, ferocious sensory experience. The physical density of the city is expressed visually in the crowded
spaces of Chungking Mansions, a building in Hong Kong, and Lan Kwai Fong, a neighborhood on the island. While the sheer number of bodies may seem to indicate hyper-interactivity, it is quite the opposite; people navigate within proximity but are isolated in their routines. The seclusion and lack of social interaction reflect a loss of collective identity. Characters in the film are hopelessly lost, feeling abandoned by the greater outside world. The outward refusal of emotional attachment and connection is deeply rooted in the port mentality among Hong Kong citizens. Many see the city as a transient place, not one where they settle down. It is difficult for people to assimilate into society and align themselves with a permanent identity because the future of Hong Kong is already predetermined. The crisis around the city's identity is also depicted in the film’s use of music, most notably in its repetition of the song “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas and The Papas. Played a total of eight times, the song is not only indicative of invading western cultural influences but also heavily informs Faye’s idealism. When Cop 663 first meets her, she is comfortably bobbing her head left and right and dancing about. The song is blasting so loud that Cop 663 has to lean in to speak his order into her ear. For the quirky and enigmatic Faye, who embraces an untroubled attitude to life, the song liberates her from the loneliness of the city. Opening with the lyrics, “all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey,” the song expresses little hope, but Faye’s compulsive affinity for the song may suggest hope for her future and, by extension, Hong Kong’s future. Other songs repeated throughout the film, like the Cantonese cover version of The ON OUR SCREENS 43
THE OUTWARD REFUSAL OF EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT AND CONNECTION IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE PORT MENTALITY AMONG HONG KONG CITIZENS. Cranberries’ “Dreams (夢中人)” by Faye Wong, build a dreamy, trance-like atmosphere, displacing its audience in a cyclical feeling of love and loss. The film embraces an impressionistic approach with its formless storytelling, evoking certain feelings rather than furthering plot points. Scenes in the film transpire like fragmented vignettes — messy, ephemeral and akin to fleeting memories. Wong is unconditioned by chronological storytelling, treating time in an elusive and slippery way. Time moves forward and backward without notice, and audiences are left with uncertainty of how scenes correlate with one another. However, the film as a whole communicates something deeply personal and holds an evocative quality of fantasy. Uncompromising in its vision and commentary, Wong’s “Chungking Express” is a thoroughly beautiful and captivating introspection of loneliness and melancholy, set amid a city unable to find solace in its identity or history. Through its striking and experimental aesthetics, repetition of music, despondent loveless characters and narrative symmetry and allegory, this film endeavors to find hope in a city facing impending change. G 44 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
ILLUSTRATION BY SUJEAN GAHNG
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA:
ONE LAND TWO STORIES How a national park tells selective history about British conquest of indigenous land BY GABE STERN
S
ome faulty navigation skills and a 90-minute train ride in the wrong direction landed me at Sydney’s Kamay Botany Bay National Park in mid-January, confused as to where my class was supposed to meet for a field trip. I was supposed to be on the other side of the bay, at La Perouse, which I could spot across miles of water from a path that overlooked the beach. The class started in five minutes and it would take me about an hour to get there, but something at the end of the road caught my attention. There was a park, a concrete path and a pointed monument overlooking the water. Before it stood a message commemorating an event that took place nearly 150 years ago. “Captain Cook Landed Here, 28th April, A.D. 1770,” the statue read. “This Monument Was Erected A.D. 1870.” Captain Cook was the first European to land in Australia. He mirrors what Christopher Columbus is to America: He arrived centuries ago and began the British occupation on land occupied by indigenous people. Extracts from Cook’s journal were cemented in plaques
COURTESY OF GABE STERN lining the path along with statues commemorating fallen British colonizers. We had learned about this spot in class and even studied it to a degree. Weeks earlier, my professor displayed two nearly identical paintings on the screen, depicting a dozen men standing along the path upon which I was standing on. One man holds a British flag, while the others hold muskets. Two other ships are docked at the shore as they survey the surrounding land. POSTCARD 45
The difference between the pictures? One includes indigenous people standing in the back — the other doesn’t. One tells the story of a triumphant voyage of the Europeans, and the other tells that same story with the effects it had on the original inhabitants of the place. It represents a tug of war found in the way history is told, which is typically shown in two different narratives. One is known as the white blindfold version, which describes the settlements as peaceful while portraying indigenous people as nomads. Another newer version known as the black armband depicts the settlements as invasions and portrays indigenous culture as complex based on natural land and dreamings (indigenious stories of creation).
Both narratives are told at the national park where different monument styles commemorate different details of the past. Older concrete memorials portray the conquest of Captain Cook and his crew — the brave explorers who 46 GLOBALISTS // SPRING 2020
ventured to a new land and conquered it. Newer signs closer to the enclosed pathway tell a more complicated story, one based on who was on that land to begin with and the significance it had centuries prior. It represents a shift toward a more well-rounded picture of what happened that year when Europeans arrived on lands that people had already inhabited. “Captain Cook’s landing place” was etched near a 150-year-old monument. Meters away, “Welcome to indigenous Land” marked a sign before a conserved area of hiking trails. Is there any tangible change made from this shift? What’s the value of a statue commemorating lost indigenousness considering the problems they face today — an ongoing education gap and a model of health coverage that has left behind many rural indigenious communities? I’m in no position to give a weighted answer to these questions. In my elementary years, I was taught to attribute Christopher Columbus to the discovery of America. If white blindfold and black armband are the terms used to describe American history, then I’m a product of the former. But narratives have always been of interest to me, and the tension between these two perspectives is, in and of itself, its own narrative of how history is selective and how two perspectives tell different truths based on what is remembered. The result is a national park that tells two different stories — the beginning
PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY SUJEAN GAHNG of a new country versus the end to the home of indigenous culture. And while this is where the struggle started, it is quite literally everywhere in Australia. Visible from the statue is the skyline and the hustle and bustle of downtown Sydney where a week after I first visited the spot, a firework show over the Sydney Opera House commemorated Australia Day. On that day in 1788, the first fleet of British ships arrived at Port Jackson in New South Wales and raised the flag of Great Britain. Many have now renamed it as Invasion Day or Survival Day. Across the country, protests pressured politicians to change the date of Australia Day as the landing at Port Jackson is largely seen as the beginning of British oppression on indigenous communities. Protests have gained momentum in recent years, yet at Sydney Harbor, the crowd watching the fireworks was still shoulder to shoulder.
But this place — this random place I shouldn’t have even ended up at — literally marks where the stripping of indigenous culture from history began, a history that historians are trying to put back together from the pieces that were left behind. A few meters away from the original landing spot sits another memorial, a bit newer. Etched into it are pictures of indigenous people fishing on the land as well as other pictures of Europeans celebrating on it. It’s a monument meant to “remember the past and imagine the future.” It acknowledges the national park for what it is: a meeting point of two cultures, one that conquered and another that was invaded. “These monuments, plaques and plantings have transformed the character of the landscape,” it reads. “But in remembering some histories, they have acted to silence others.” G POSTCARD 47
your student fee
