Next Year’s July 1st

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So, last Friday, July 1st, I went to Victoria Park to check out the action and also make a podcast: Happy Jellyfish’s Outcast at 1st of July Extravaganza 2011

Oh, it was great. The carnival-like atmosphere, the attacks on Donald Tsang, the singing, the laughter, the tears!

The great thing about Hong Kong’s annual celebration protest day, is that you can protest against anything. So I had an idea. Throughout my years as a Cantonese learner and teacher, the one thing that never changes for me and everyone else who has ever attempted this language is this: Hong Kong people invariably answer us in English when we speak to them in Cantonese.

That is a fact of life. And amazingly, they do it because they think it’s polite!
So why don’t we, next July 1st, rock up at Victoria Park with some posters saying “We Have The Right To Be Answered In Cantonese!”
“Give Us Face” and
“Stop The Language Discrimination of Whitey!”

Something like that. Just to have our case heard. We can dress up as milk tea … er, maybe not. But bang drums, hit gongs and shout slogans in Cantonese. If you’ve never been to one of these demos, you have no idea how fun they are, and how benevolent!

Can you imagine the media brouhaha? We’d get so much free press, everybody would go out of their way to answer us in Cantonese afterwards.

Combine exercise with fun, integration with locals and an easier future – what could be better? Sign up, sign up. I’ll remind you again closer to the date …