Year: 2012

Really, Jeremy Lin is American

Published by

This article was originally seen on the Taiwanese website of the magazine Business Weekly, written by Joey Chung. I thought it was a good take on Taiwanese society, our politicians and media, so I translated the article into English and decided to share it here. Last week, my editors at Business Weekly invited me to write a piece about Jeremy Lin. Their reasoning was that he went to Harvard and so did I, and technically we were both attending the school at the same time. As such I should have some unique viewpoints to share. I really don’t. Personally, I really dislike this attitude of the Taiwanese media: whenever someone or something becomes trendy or a hot topic, everyone needs to have an opinion on it. No matter where you happen to go, everyone wants to talk about the topic, every radio and television station has to discuss it. Do I have anything unique to say about Linsanity? No. Honestly, I wasn’t in a rush to write this piece. I am just like anyone else, I …

Kenting Travelogue

Published by

Kenting – a summer paradise for beach-goers and sun-lovers at the southern tip of Taiwan. It has been almost ten years since I last set my eyes on its bustling main street, its numerous inns and shops, and its small beaches. The sun just feels different there, different from the sun in Taipei. More radiant, it shines down from a blue sky flanked by towering white clouds that floats like cotton candy instead of the dark, foreboding rain clouds that seem hang over Taipei perpetually. Perhaps that is just my imagination, fueled by a desire to get out of the trappings that I have come to associate with Taipei. What makes a place attractive is not what characterizes it. It is just how much we prepared ourselves to find the place attractive (kind of works with people too…hahaha). For me, someone who loves being outdoors in the sun, Kenting is vastly more attractive than Taipei. For others, those who show up on a trip to the beach with brand-name bags, make-up, and high heels, the …

MC HotDog Sings…About Society

Published by

MC HotDog is back with a new single called “離開”, which translates to “Depart” or “Leave”. In a departure from his last collaboration with A-yue about Taiwanese chicks, one night stands, and bras, this song is about the spread of social media and online connectivity and how it has affected our interactions with each other and ourselves. Many of us become trapped in our online identities and become disengaged from reality. A particularly poignant verse in the song goes, “在 Real world 我用真名說假的話 Another world 我用假名說真的話 有點疑惑　我也開始變得有點掙扎 在我的兩個世界裡　分不清真假” which points out how we seem to live different lives in reality and in the virtual world. Translated, it says, “In the real world I speak falsely while using my real name, another world I speak the truth using an alias, it is a little confusing, I am starting to struggle a little in both my world, it difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not”. This brings me to my point – what is media really doing to us? Are we using it for our own advantages or …

Curious Prometheus

Published by

This is my first, ever blog site. Finally, after all these years, I decided to open my mind up to the wild world of the World Wide Web. To start off, I will be writing about the new movie, Prometheus. Warning: there will be some spoilers, so don’t read it if knowing will ruin your enjoyment of the movie. Prometheus, what a movie: incredible mythology, motifs, and imagery. However subtle, it has numerous philosophical views and references to other media cultures such as religious symbolism and self-sacrifice and human conceit. I would like to introduce another thread of thought. The movie is about the human inclination to be irresistibly drawn to the unknown – that unfettered curiosity that consumes all of us, at one point or another. Humans seem to instinctively thirst for knowledge. Prometheus is a movie about the dangers of unbridled curiosity and the power of knowledge, much like the story of its namesake. When the first scene opens, you are immediately  drawn to the clear references of Prometheus, the Greek god, self-sacrifice …