Suspension of Indian Railway

Indian Railways, the oldest railway in Asia, is suspended due to coronavirus outbreak. As we study about Indian Nationalism this week, the importance of railway contributed much in establishing Indian Nationalism. From the textbook, it is possible to see that railways laid foundation for Indian Nationalism. In the outbreak, the suspension of Indian trains are not merely about suspending transportation. As Indian Railways also owned a lot of hospitals in India, this company also needs to prepare to combat the coronavirus. They converted many of their trains as mobile hospitals in order to contain as many patients as possible. This is India's way as an attempt to solve the bed shortages. The huge railway system in India will quickly mobilize the beds to the places when it is needed.
Article: India has closed its railways for the first time in 167 years - CNN Asia

The Vanishment of a Chinese Critic

Recently, the whereabouts of Chinese critic Ren Zhiqiang grabbed much attention among the Chinese. Mr. Ren, unlike other missing individuals, is rich and influential in Chinese politics. He is a real-estate developer and is also the son of a former Vice Minister of Commerce in the Chinese government. Mr. Ren retains a certain amount of influence through his friends. Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan is his friend since high school. Vice Premier Liu He, who is the major negotiator in the China-United States trade war, was hired by Mr. Ren in the past when Liu was a graduate student. Mr. Ren's connections in Chinese politics made him immune from abnormal persecutions and survive after delivering several critical views about the Chinese Communist Party. He is vanished after delivered an extremely critical commentary about President Xi Jinping in COVID-19 outbreak. Mr. Ren's vanishment signified that China will not allow any opposition views in the future.

Article: A Loyal Chinese Critic Vanishes, in a Blow to Reform - The New York Times

Never let your guard down until it was totally eliminated

When China appeared to be ease quarantine to reactivate their production, Hong Kong citizens seem to believe that the virus is going to be over by letting their guard down. This is misleading and dangerous. During the spread of coronavirus in January and February, many people left China and Hong Kong to escape the infection of this virus. These people are returning. They believed that the virus is going to be over and many local citizens believe in it. The result is the new cases in Hong Kong by those people who returned from foreign areas. The worst case is that those people did not follow government orders by self-quarantining themselves. The citizens captured their appearance around the city and blaming them for the increased cases in the last few days. What can I say?

Article: Hong Kong appeared to have the coronavirus under control, then it lets its guard down - CNN Asia

Coronavirus in Daegu, South Korea

I tried not to mention about coronavirus in my blog posts, but its outbreak to countries outside China is becoming an extremely important issue. In a New York Times article this week, their bureau chief in South Korea collected information about the outbreak in Daegu, a city located in Southeast of South Korea. The reporter compared Daegu with Wuhan in China in a few aspects:
- President Moon Jae-in visited Daegu to understand about the crisis, while President Xi Jinping stayed behind the scenes most of the time and silenced the sources of what is really happening in Wuhan.
- Koreans can still get out of their homes. Daegu government sent cleaners to keep the hygiene in open areas very often to assure while China decides to contain the people by strictly locking the people in their homes.
Coronavirus is not an issue occurring in China now, it is spreading outside Chinese borders. Last night, I heard to the Mayor London Breed of San Francisco started to alert the citizens of the potential outbreak in San Francisco. I don't know when this outbreak ends, but it is a challenge to the civil societies. It is just like how the reporter discussed about this coronavirus outbreak, it is "testing civil liberties." People should calm down and be prepared of the coronavirus. Moreover, the Chinese government should put more energy in containing the virus more than containing the people.
Article: In Coronavirus Crisis, Korean City Tries Openness, a Contrast to China - The New York Times 

Reviving Elements of Cultural Revolution in China

What is going on in China makes me question whether we are living in the 21st century. It is unbelievable that elements of Cultural Revolution return again in China. In some cities of China, people are now being punished by government officials simply because they didn't wear masks outdoors. They were tied up and toured on the streets in order to warn others about the consequences of not wearing a mask outside their homes. The government officials are just like how the students of Red Guards in Cultural Revolution did to Mao Zedong's political rivals. Look at the videos in the twitter posts the author of this article has collected, it is crazy. As I said in previous posts, the byproducts of the coronavirus are even more devastating than the virus itself.
Article: Shocking Videos Show Chinese Authorities Humiliating People For Not Wearing Masks - Vice

Preserving Old Culture in the Digital Age

While reading CNN today, I found an interesting article about preserving old handmade signs into a font we use in Microsoft Word. I learn calligraphy myself, thus articles about typography, which is related to calligraphy, grabbed my attention when I was browsing CNN Asia. When looking at Hong Kong and Macao, the most significant impression on the streets are the handmade storefront signs: which represents a distinctive cultural identity compared to Mainland China and Taiwan. These signs gave me a deep impression of Hong Kong in my childhood when I was walking on the street with my grandmother. I felt really happy that someone attempts to preserve these handwritten storefront calligraphy. Also, it is grateful that Mr. Lam Weng, who wrote storefront signs for over thirty years, is willing to contribute in creating storefront fonts. I hope I can use this font in Microsoft Word as soon as possible!
Article: Preserving Macao's handmade signs in the Digital Age - CNN Style

Coronavirus: The Food Prices Skyrocketed

The Coronavirus caused a huge panic in East Asia. I felt this when I was chatting with my mother about her experience in Hong Kong. She said, "Normally the vegetable prices are around $12 to $16 HKD ($1.54 to $2.05 USD) per pound, now it increases to around $30 HKD (around $3.85 USD) per pound." If food prices skyrocketed in Hong Kong, how about China? When I read the article in Wall Street Journal, the article stated that in one of the supermarkets in Shanghai, the price of lettuce has once rose eight times more than usual prices, and the price of cabbage also rose five times more than usual. This store in Shanghai was then fined two million yuan ($286,000 USD) by the government for gouging food prices. Even though the food prices skyrocketed, it still can't stop the Chinese from buying expensive food. From this incident, I can see the panic among the Chinese when the government is unable to contain the coronavirus. The panic among the Chinese is a tough challenge to the government when coronavirus is still spreading across the country.
Article: Chinese Supermarkets Fined, Warned Against Price Gouging Amid Outbreak - The Wall Street Journal