In the early 1990s, Taiwanese journalist Bo Yang wrote The Ugly Chinaman, a collection of his impressions on China and Chinese culture, where he had worked for some time. It sparked a lively debate, with many criticising him for his 'betrayal' of mainland China - that is, telling it like he saw it.
There is, however, a lot of good in hearing what other people think of one's own country. Montesquieu, the 18th century French writer and philosopher, reflected on the dysfunctionalities, injustices and potential remedies of French society in a famous book in which a Persian envoy reports back to his Sultan.
I lived in Chongqing, South-West of China, from 2007 to 2010. And I found that since Bo Yang's book had come out, things hadn't improved. In fact, as China bit deeper and deeper into the capitalist apple, I found that most that is famed and sacred in the 'Middle Kingdom' had gone down the drain, sadly.
The article written by a Chinese student in Singapore, published here some time ago, was interesting in that it seemed to draw a favourable picture of China against that of Singapore. I am sure not all his criticisms were unfounded, but quite a number seemed hard to swallow. Is it possible that he didn't know China enough?
Given the Chinese origin of many Singaporeans, and the growing influence of China in the region and in the island-state, I thought The Real Singapore website a good place to mention the book I have written on what China and Chinese culture have become. My intention is to foster debate and an exchange of ideas, including with mainland Chinese if at all possible.
The book is entitled P.R.C - Pretty Real China and can be found on the internet or via its Facebook page. It is organised around 8 themes from manners to corruption, logic to sex or appearances and architecture.
Below is an extract from the book:
THE redaction of P.R.C – Pretty Real China was – excuse the cliché – both sweet and sour. Sweet in that writing it proved profoundly cathartic: three years of frustration had built up and needed to come out. Its sour taste comes from what it says. Although liberating from a therapeutic point of view, from a ‘humanistic’ perspective it pains me as I do not enjoy one bit what P.R.C – Pretty Real China conveys about China. But I was caught in a strange lose-lose situation: opting not to write would have meant keeping all the negativity in, while writing it made me kick the vipers’ nest.
Before moving to Chongqing I really, truly thought I would enjoy it. I pictured myself learning characters, delving deeper into Chinese philosophy and art; I foresaw my wife and I inviting our Chinese friends to visit our respective countries. I knew the road would be bumpy, as it always is when changing countries, yet had no doubt my previous experience of expatriation would prevail in the end and I would leave China a sad man, with droves of local friends left behind and amazing memories. It was not to be, and I am still shocked by it.
A Han man I met in a lift after a Chinese show in Chongqing made a lasting impression on me. He was wearing a felt hat and a dark blue rolled-neck jumper. The small lift was full of people and I got in late. When he saw I was annoyed at everybody sticking by the doors, thus forcing me to bulldoze my way through, he said this: ‘I’m not like them. I live in America.’ To this day, I am still unsure as to what to make of his remark, yet it remains to be asked what kind of motherland elicits one of its children to differentiate himself from his fellow countrymen. If even an ethnically Chinese person claims to have so little in common with today’s China, is it really surprising that a white Frenchman should feel at odds there too?
The book is also available on iTunes.
Denis Lejeune