Monday, April 21

Boycott Olympic...杯葛奥运?


I glad to know the torch run in Kuala Lumpur has done in peacefully. However, boycotting Olympic still a hot issue in the western countries since like the rough of CNN, torch run disrupted in Paris, protests in London and China boycott France's product and so on. The whole world seem shaken by the Beijing's game, people seem like shocked by the breaking news on torch chain; But do we really agree to boycott this boycott that? 

Okay, let we see what actually the boycott mean? BOYCOTT actually it was a name of Captain Charles Boycott in Britain, 1880's. If you read in wikipedia then you will know what the 'bad' thing he had done on that time and caused he so famous until people use his name as abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some other organization as an expression of protest. That is why the concept of 'Boycott' was came from western culture, in oriental we can call it 'Not given face'. So, western people boycott an event is way for them to express their disagree in one thing, however, it not that easy for eastern people to understand the really meaning of Boycott in the west. Nevertheless, even China government has done a lot of 'wrong' things  on human right,  but since the conceptual of boycott won't be easy understand by the China culture, so it won't help anything. Some more it will causing a lot more others diplomatic problem between China and the world, in the end it will cause the problem more and more complicated. Don't boycott Olympic, it is nothing help to change China; but don't forget the 'bad' things that they have done, we want it to be solved in one day peacefully.

杯葛一词是出现于西方世界,是英国两百年前一位上校的名字Charles Boycott,由于他那时候干了很多坏事,所以慢慢地被身边所有人‘杯葛’,邮差不送信给他,没有人要帮他工作,没有人愿意跟他做生意,因此BOYCOTT就成了今天所谓的抵制了。对西方人来说,杯葛是他们对一件事情不满的表态,这种是比‘对抗’来的更和平更温和,是西方人一直认同的表态方式。杯葛只是对某件事情不理不睬,不交易,不关心等等,是没有‘破坏’的恶意,而是做回自己应本有的平常的生活。不理不睬过回自己平常的生活是个人的自由;如果他们是杯葛奥运的话,那么他们就不当有奥运的存在,不看它的节目,不理它的新闻,过着‘本来无一物’的日常生活,这是‘杯葛’的意思。可是在东方的思维来说‘杯葛’就是‘不给脸’,是一种莫大的侮辱,就如我请客,可是你不来不赏面,就是与我过不去,可是重罪呀!可是西方人的思维却是去不去宴会是我的个人自由,请客的人也不会觉得你不出席不礼貌,与他过不去,很平常呀。(所以我常常被老外放飞机)这样子东西方的误会就因此而产生了。我首先不说应不应该杯葛奥运,但要去先了解杯葛在东西方的思维上不同,这样才能够客观的去了解明白‘杯葛的意义’和‘不杯葛的理由’。

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of course China understands, then why would they boycott Japanese, French, etc. goods? "Do unto others as you would want done to you". Basic philosophy, really. They've been talking about boycotts for many many years, especially towards Japan. How is there no notion of boycott in China?

In today's news, Zimbabwe's neighbours are preventing China from selling arms to Zimbabwe and refuse to load the Chinese ship: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7360438.stm I pity these African countries, since they are on the verge of getting boycotted by China.

Anonymous said...

I think you got my translation of boycott wrong. Even in the west, if you refuse to attend some large ceremony, to which you are invited, it is still impolite to not attend. The effect of boycott is almost the same both in the East and West. The idea is simply to not embrace. The Chinese may interpret a boycott as "不赏面", and that is THE point. But China may take it more seriously than others in this particular situation because it's their mega show. Nothing (not even Nature) can ruin it. But from others' perspective, boycotting is simply to not embrace, to persue how we would live in the counterfactualworld, in which there was no Beijing Olympics in the first place. Just because Beijing is to be so forceful, it doesn't mean we should cave in. It's like terroists demanding this and that, it doesn't mean we must meet their demands.