Deeply Embarrassed

Yep, here it is. The entire protest against Mandarin taking over and squeezing out the regional languages. Well, actually, there were more people. Two more. One was me and the other one an organiser. So, four whitey, three Chinese. And of course one policeman per protester, to deal with the inevitable violence and car-burning.

Well, there we have it. In Guangzhou a few weeks ago, thousands and thousands of people turned to show their support for Cantonese and anger at how the Mandarin behemoth is chewing its way through the cultural landscape.  In Hong Kong: Seven people. So where were they, all the young people who wrote to me after the Guangzhou demonstration, almost in tears it seemed, thanking me for “saving” their language? I’m embarrassed. And this came the day after the SCMP in a one-page article wrote in glowing terms about how young Guangzhou people look to Hong Kong for cultural inspiration. Pah!