‘In Broad Daylight’ director wants to be the voice of the voiceless

December 16, 2023

The movie director of In Broad Daylight vows to be the voice of the voiceless with his latest production.

By James Cheang

Movie director Lawrence Kan Kwan-chun vows to be the voice of the voiceless with his latest production In Broad Daylight.

“We movie producers, like journalists, may not have the power to change the world. But we can at least arouse public awareness with our works so that more and more people are aware of social issues featured in the film,” Kan says.

Based on true events, the movie is about an investigative journalist who reveals the dark side of a residential care home for the elderly and the mentally disabled.

Speaking at a sharing session hosted by Varsity, the director says that the reason why he and two script writers produced the film is their care for social justice.

“In Broad Daylight”’s director Kan Kwan-chun Lawrence (middle) and the two scriptwriters Li Cheuk-fung (left), Tong Chui-ping (right) had a sharing session hosted by Varsity, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, on November 30, 2023

Kan thanks the journalists who exposed the abuses in care homes on the residents from 2014 to 2016.

“We only made a movie. Journalists did all the hard work: conducting investigation of abuses in care homes and made great effort to report the truth. We want to remind the public of what happened in Hong Kong, and that is still happening everyday,” the 36-year-old says.

In May 2015, local newspaper Ming Pao Daily ran a front page story disclosing that residents of Tai Po Cambridge Nursing Home were left naked or half-dressed on a roof for up to half an hour before they were taken to shower by care workers.

The Social Welfare Department refused to renew the care home’s licence on May 29, 2015.

In August 2016, another care home, Home of Treasure was found to have tied up some of their residents for a long period.

Snack food, siu mai (a traditional Chinese dumpling deemed poorly nutrient), with rice and vegetables were also said to be the residents’ regular meals.

Also in 2016, the Bridge of Rehabilitation care home was reported to have six cases of unreported deaths in eight months, including the death of a 14-year-old child with autism spectrum disorder, and the deceased was suspected to suffer from abuse.

Separately, the former director of the care home was charged with assaulting a woman with moderate intellectual disability in 2014.

But the Department of Justice withdrew the prosecution because the alleged victim was unsuitable for testimony due to her mental illness after an evaluation by doctors.

“I owe my thanks to the journalists and all the people working on the frontline such as social workers and district councillors. They are the source of my courage when making this movie,” Kan says.

Kan shares that he wants to have more footage about journalists conducting investigations. “But journalists just keep making phone calls and typing on computers when they work most of the time. So there is not much to shoot,” he says.

Kan says that he dramatised the true events a bit in his movie to keep the audience’s attention.

*A promotional banner of “In Broad Daylight”*

“There is a scene about journalists running to a spot to take photos of a group of elderly in wheelchairs naked and being showered in an open area. But in fact, the journalists knew where and when to go for photo-taking and they did not run,” he explains.

“I think the most difficult part of making this film is that I need to think about how to turn those real stories into a movie. Just like journalists have to think about what information should be put in a news story,” he says.

He stresses that he does not want to appeal to sensation and sufferings of the victims as the selling point of the movie.

“Since my decisions on what to be shown and how to portray the story would affect the public perception of those events, I want to provide the viewers with a better understanding of what actually happened and the feelings of characters as humans,” he adds.

Graduated from the Vancouver Film School in 2009, Kan returned to Hong Kong and made his first film “When C goes with G7” in 2013 and a television drama “In Geek We Trust”, Both talk about the life of information technology employees in 2022.

“I just want to give a pat on the shoulders of those who work in IT industry and journalism and tell them I understand their feelings and comfort them with my work,” he says.

The movie production team began to write the script for In Broad Daylight five years ago.

“During these years, many things happened and there were many changes. We also put all the emotions and feelings in the film,” the director says.

“I was once asked whether it was too late to make the film. My answer was, ‘It is never too late to do so as social issues explored in the film still remain unsolved,’ ” he recalls.

Kan reveals the movie production team had difficulties in finding financial support as investors thought the movie had little commercial value.

“Luckily, Louis Koo Tin-lok and his company One Cool Film Production Limited is willing to support the movie financially,” he adds.

The film has been on screen since November 2, 2023 in Hong Kong. According to the movie production team, the ticket sales of ”In Broad Daylight“ have already exceeded HK $20 million (USD $2,561,706) so far.

“I am so happy to see that the film has been well-received with lots of positive feedback,” Kan says.

The team has conducted a range of sharing sessions at cinemas to thank the audience for their support.

*The movie production team conducted a sharing session to thank the audience for their support at the K11 Art House (Cinema), Tsim Sha Tsui, on November 29, 2023.*

The movie was nominated for a total of five awards at the 60th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, including the best leading actress, the best supporting actor, the best supporting actress, the best art direction, and the best makeup and costume design.

Sub-edited by Leopold Chen

Feathered Friends: Don’t Let Them Fly Away

December 14, 2023

Parrots eventually returned home after being lost.

By Hannah Tang

Bao Bao, a one-year-old male Myiopsitta monachus, also known as monk parrot, went missing for two days after flying away from home in October. The mother of its owner, Kelly Chen, had accidentally let it out from a cage when the windows were open.

Chen, who has been taking care of the parrot for almost a year, often lets it stay out of its cage to play around at home as parrots need time to roam freely at home for better mental health.

“I pay extra attention whenever I let Bao Bao roam around at home. I always make sure all windows and doors are closed,” Chen says.

“Most parrots do not know how to return home safely so it is important to prevent them from flying out and getting lost,” she adds.

Chen rushed out to look for Bao Bao when it went missing. She also sought help from the Hong Kong Parrot Rescue (HKPR) on the same day to look for Bao Bao as she worried it could not survive on its own. Posters were published in HKPR’s Facebook to make a public appeal.

“Fortunately, a neighbour who also owns monk parrots reached out and asked me to pick up Bao Bao when he saw our poster two days later. It had accidentally flown into his home and he took good care of it in those days,” she says.

Once Chen took Bao Bao home, she installed window nets in her flat to prevent the same accident from happening.

“HKPR will first help owners by sharing posters on their page once they receive the call. Posts are also made on the group’s Facebook page to spread the information about missing parrots. This makes the searching process more efficient,” Chen says.

“Bao Bao is my first parrot. I cannot describe how much I love him and how devastating it was when I lost him. If owners do not act after a parrot is lost, they are irresponsible and simply do not love parrots,” she says.

Like Bao Bao, Sai Lo, a one-and-a-half-year-old male Aratinga solstitialis, commonly known as sun parrot, lost its way home recently.

*Sai Lo and Mui Chu stand on Kelly Tang’s shoulder. (Photo Courtesy of Kelly Tang)*

Sai Lo accidentally slipped out from a crack of its cage and flew up to a tree near its home in the rural area of Tsuen Wan in October.

Its owner, Kelly Tang, immediately went into the woods to search for it, while a friend of hers referred her case to the HKPR.

“I successfully brought Sai Lo home the next morning by shaking his favourite food and playing recordings of other parrots’ calls from my phone when looking for him in the woods. I felt so relieved when Sai Lo came home,” Tang recalls.

After Sai Lo’s return, Tang spent more time talking to it in hopes of building a stronger bond.

“Sai Lo kept looking for a way out to explore the outside world after its first escape. This has made me think if I should just let it roam free and train it to go back home for food only when he needs it,” Tang says.

“Even though I have mixed feelings seeing it in the cage, I know that if it is lost, it may not survive,” she continues.

Tang adds that parrots fly well but they may not be able to recognize the way back home even if they are trained. They may also get sick with infectious diseases or food poisoning when they are out.

“I have two parrots, Sai Lo and Mui Chu, which is a female parrot of the same breed. They are so precious to me. They recognize me and soothe me. As an owner, I must try my best to protect them,” Tang says.

Sharon Kwok Pong, the chief and founder of HKPR, says more people have become pet parrot owners since 2020 when the city was hit by the pandemic.

*Sharon Kwok Pong is the chief and founder of the Hong Kong Parrot Rescue. (Photo Courtesy of Sharon Kwok Pong)*

“Being intelligent, approachable and playful, parrots are popular among pet owners and many consider them as ideal companions,” says Pong.

“But many pet owners do not know how to take good care of parrots and many of them have gone missing. We hope our platform can provide support to the lost birds and advice to owners who currently own or are planning to own parrots,” she continues.

The group now has over 13,000 followers on Facebook, sharing knowledge of raising parrots and rescue stories.

As Pong’s father is one of the founders of Ocean Park where many parrots over the years are raised and trained, she grew up surrounded by animals and now owns over a dozen parrots.

*Six-year-old Sharon Kwok Pong with her parrot, Big Boy. (Photo Courtesy of Sharon Kwok Pong)*

She also has taken part in the rescue and preservation work of animals, especially endangered species, making up one-third of the parrot breeds.

“There are over 800 falcons that prey on lost parrots who get lost on Hong Kong Island alone, not to mention many natural enemies in the wild that threaten human-bred birds. I started the rescue group as there were too many in need and I felt an urgency to get this done,” she says.

“Parrots often outlive humans. Many are suffering from the consequences of irresponsible ownership and under-regulated trades. I wish no parrots needed to be rescued from the wild anymore,” Pong says.

She urges pet owners to think twice before owning pets and to use all possible preventive measures to prevent losing their beloved parrots. “Parrots are so brilliant and affectionate, proper care and companionship for the birds are vital to ensure both their physical and mental health,” she adds.

Edited by Eve Qiao

Sub-edited by Amelie Yeung

Chinese Tourists Reluctant to Visit Thailand despite Visa-Free Policy

December 13, 2023

The number of Chinese tourists remains low despite visa-free policy.

By Nutcha Hunsanimitkul

Restaurant owner Thanaporn Tadatonggul is struggling to achieve his business goal despite the relaxation of visa policies for Chinese visitors.

The Thai fusion restaurant, located near the popular tourist spot Wat Phra Kaew Temple in Bangkok, mainly serves travellers from China and Hong Kong. However, it has not benefited significantly from the policy change that encourages Chinese people to visit Thailand.

“Even on the Chinese National Day, we still didn’t see many Chinese visitors,” Tadatonggu says.

Launched on September 25, the visa-free policy allows Chinese visitors to enter Thailand without a visa application and stay up to 30 days. Aiming to boost the number of tourists to over 28 million, the policy will last until February 29 next year.

“The number of tourists has dropped by 30 to 40 per cent after the shooting incident in Siam Paragon. We can still feel the impact on our business now,” he adds.

On October 3, eight days after the visa policy change, a shooting rampage occurred in a busy shopping mall in Bangkok, resulting in the deaths of two tourists, including one Chinese visitor.

A 14-year-old boy was arrested, while another Myanmar national was reported dead from the incident.

To regain the confidence of Chinese visitors, Tadatonggul plans to invite Chinese influencers to visit his cafe and create a one-day vlog in Bangkok to be posted on popular Chinese social media platforms Xiao Hong Shu and Dian Ping.

“My restaurant will be featured in the video. I hope viewers will be inspired to visit,” says Tadatonggul, who started to run the restaurant after COVID-19 and hopes for a revival of the kingdom’s tourism.

*Thai Durian fusion restaurant Durian Papa is still having a hard time finding Chinese customers. (Photo Courtesy of Thanaporn Tadatonggul)*

He believes that the coming Lunar New Year holiday will be a golden time for the tourism industry in Thailand to recover incurred losses during the pandemic.

“I have prepared many special dishes and products for the New Year holiday. An all-you-can-eat promotion will also be launched to attract more customers,” he says.

Lika Prattapon, a resort manager on Lanta Island, is also struggling with her business despite the introduction of the visa-free policy for Chinese tourists.

“I don’t see any difference as we still have a limited number of Chinese travellers. We used to receive many group tours before the COVID-19 pandemic, ” she says.

Prattapon shares that only 25 percent of travellers have come back to the island compared to the pre-pandemic period.

“We have an in-house restaurant that used to serve many Chinese diners and make more than ฿100,000 bahts (US $2,778) per day. But it has gone down to less than ฿10,000 bahts (US $278) now. To cut costs, we had to revise our menu and remove dishes that require longer preparation time,” the manager says.

*Resorts in Lanta island. (Photo Courtesy of Lika Prattapon)*

With fewer than 30 visitors per day, the resort manager hopes more Chinese tourists will visit Thailand during the Lunar New Year holiday.

“I have been more active on social media and reached out to our old customers, inviting them to return for the holiday,” she says.

Thailand earned over US$52 billion from tourism in 2019, contributing to 20% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), compared to just US$1.6 billion in 2020, according to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Tourism ministry figures also show that over 39 million visitors arrived in Thailand in 2019, with China, Malaysia, and Laos being the top three sources of travellers, but only a total of 30 million visited the kingdom in 2020.

Panita*, who works for Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, believes the tourism industry will take longer to recover. The officer observes an increase in domestic flights in China and a drop in outbound travel from the country.

“The Chinese are less eager to travel overseas after the pandemic, making it difficult for Thailand’s tourism industry to recover,” the officer, who provides air traffic control and aeronautical communication services for airline operations, says.

“The shooting incident in Bangkok does not affect overall flights as it was not an assassination attempt. But unrest across the world does make people think twice about travelling overseas,” she adds.

To attract more overseas passengers, the state company has introduced more red-eye flights, allowing visitors to take late-night trips and come to Thailand at a cheaper price.

“Flight lines were usually empty at night. We want to make the best use of available resources to engage more travellers,” Panita says.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisi assured Chinese tourists that the kingdom was safe for visitors when meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 19 at the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

According to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China and Thailand signed a memorandum of cooperation in cross-country transportation development, as well as culture and tourist exchange during the conference.

*Name changed at request of the interviewee

Edited by Kossy Chen
Sub-edited by Amelie Yeung

University O’Camps Went Wrong

December 9, 2023

Sexual assault cases were reported during university orientation camps and two men were arrested in 2023.

By Lilac Ye

On September 6, 2023, a year four student of the Education University of Hong Kong was arrested and charged with two charges of indecent assault and a third allegation of voyeurism when taking part in orientation camps.

The 28-year-old man went to six orientation camps, including a joint orientation camp hosted by the Hong Kong Red Cross. The offences are alleged to have happened over his participation in three out of six orientation activities between July and August.

According to media reports, he was reported to be an office assistant and was taking a top-up degree at the Education University of Hong Kong.

On the night of August 30, Tang Ho-yin, a second-year student at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), was arrested over the alleged sex assaults at the Po Leung Kuk Jockey Club Tai Tong Holiday Camp in Yuen Long.

According to a charge sheet available for press inspection, it was alleged that Tang, the 20-year-old man, assaulted an 18-year-old woman in an activity room on August 20. It was also alleged that he groped her again in a dormitory living room the following day.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu condemned such acts as “intolerable” and pointed out that society had expectations of university students and they should observe proper conduct.

“If there is any behaviour that is illegal or that infringes on the rights of others, schools must cooperate with law enforcement to ensure that we can deal with such conduct,” Lee said before his weekly Executive Council meeting in September 2023.

The city leader said he hoped all educational organizations, especially universities, would improve student conduct on top of providing a good learning environment.

Lawmakers also questioned the effectiveness of universities’ measures to address sexual assault allegations at camps, highlighting that similar incidents had occurred before in the meeting on October 6, 2023.

Orientation camps, also known as O’Camps, are popular among university students in Hong Kong. Senior students organize activities to welcome freshmen every year, starting from the middle of August to the start of September according to different types of O’Camp.

The well-known two O’Camps were separately held by academic departments and colleges at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

Despite a series of sexual assault cases were reported during orientation camps, Sky Xu Zhuohang, who studies at the CUHK, still encourages freshmen to join orientation camp, as he had a good experience when attending one hosted by Hong Kong students in 2018.

“I got my English name from a senior I met during orientation camp because he says ‘I think Sky matches your personality, can I call you Sky,’” the Social Science major student recalls.

Xu thinks mainland students tend to stress on rules when running orientation camps such as “Don’t get drunk”, “Don’t start a romantic relationship during Ocamps”, and “Don’t ask others’ grades or reveal your grades”, which are not common in orientation camps organized by Hong Kong students.

“We also have training for senior students who are responsible for taking care of freshmen in a small group and dealing with emergencies,” he says.

The Social Science student says College Orientation Organising Committees (COOC) supervised orientation camps before 2019. Senior students now are in charge, as the Student Union was folded after 2019.

“We used to follow orientation activity guidelines issued by the MUA(Mainland Undergraduate Association) under the Student Union to organize orientation events, but things have changed in recent years because of many reasons including the pandemic,” Xu adds.

Angel Yu, one of the head organizers of the O’Camp event for S.H.Ho College in CUHK in 2023, also believes that the existence of O’Camp is still necessary.

“O’Camp provides freshmen with an opportunity to make friends and become familiar with university courses. Senior students will guide them in course selection and share their experiences of university life,” the year two student says.

But Yu also mentions that people may have different experiences based on their own personalities and the friendliness of the senior students.

“Different universities also have different rules and different ways of organizing O’Camp,” Yu adds.

Responding to a series of arrests made over alleged sexual harassment at orientation camps, universities in Hong Kong introduced new measures aimed at enhancing “moral education”.

According to a document submitted to the Legislative Council Panel on Education about the management of student-led activities in universities and moral education, universities have tightened arrangements on O’Camps.

Several universities in Hong Kong, including Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, Lingnan University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), City University of Hong Kong, and Shue Yan University, require approval for student-run orientation camps.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology says student organizations must submit activity plans in advance, attend briefing sessions, and complete online training on preventing sexual harassment.

Some universities introduce more regulations on senior students who organize events, requiring them to attend pre-orientation workshops and conduct evaluation meetings. The University of Hong Kong and HKUST specifically arrange training sessions on university guidelines for student leaders, while four other universities have similar requirements.

All leaders of student organizations at Hong Kong Baptist University are required to declare and sign the Student Leaders’ Charter, which highlights the responsibilities of student leaders.

The Education University of Hong Kong introduced several new measures, including assigning supervisor, leader and observer to monitor and report on the progress of activities, and mandatory submission of event reports and attendance lists.

Sub-edited by Eve Qiao

Trading Cards for Pocket Money

December 8, 2023

Chinese teenagers speculate NBA trading cards with parents’ bank accounts for profits.

By Sean Pan

Alex Lee Kaizhe has invested more than RMB ¥40,000 (US$5,622) since April 2023 running his NBA trading card business on an online trading platform and he receives the payments with his parent’s bank account.

“I mainly use the e-commerce platform Xianyu and do a live stream on Tiktok to promote my business. I also trade cards and sometimes sell lucky grab bags to my Tiktok’s followers,” the high school student says.

Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok, while lucky grab bags mean packages containing different cards sold at a fixed price and customers do not know what exactly are in the packages when placing the orders.

“For every lucky grab bag I sell, I make a profit of RMB ¥150 (US$21) on average,” Lee says.

Only people over 18 can stream on Douyin, according to the platform’s community rules. Identification documents are needed as supporting documents in the process of verifying the age of the users.

Meanwhile, Xianyu, the second-hand item trading platform owned by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, only allows users over 16 to trade or sell things.

An image of the Xianyu login page for mobile users. (Screenshot via Xianyu)

“I am aware of all the restrictions for online trading and selling cards. So, I registered all the accounts with my mom’s identifications and briefly told her what I am doing. My mom approved it,” the 15-year-old says.

NBA trading cards, featuring one or more players of the United States’ National Basketball Association, are seeing a dramatic market expansion.

The gross sales increased by more than 300 per cent between 2010 and 2021, according to eBay’s State of Trading Cards Report, despite of the sluggish economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I started the business after earning RMB ¥110 (US$15) simply by selling a card at a card fair held in April. I bought the card at a lower cost on an e-commerce platform before the card fair,” Lee says.

“If I am not involved in the card trading business, it’s hard to buy the high-price card I want only using my pocket money,” Lee adds.

Like Lee, primary school pupil Jay Fang Suo, has been selling lucky grab bags on Douyin for a year. He has so far netted a profit of around RMB ¥4000 (US$562).

“I spend most of my pocket money, which is around RMB ¥1500 (US$210), to run my business,” Fang says.

Fang says he does live-stream on Douyin every weekend and has once sold more than 20 lucky grab bags, each pricing RMB ¥99 (US$14) in one night.

“It brings me a sense of achievement when making money by selling NBA trading cards. I really enjoy it,” he says.

Fang says that his father supports him by giving him the father’s identity card and allowing him to use the identity documents to register for Douyin and Xianyu accounts. However, Fang’s mother has no idea of what he is doing.

As the trading card culture catches up in China, firms and individuals are seeking business opportunities from it.

“The low entry barrier of online trading applications can provide an unexpected income for underage people and pose a potential threat,” says Ke Weiguo, founder of a trading card organisation.

Ke held more than five trading card events in China’s southern province of Guangdong this year to promote trading cards to the public and set up a platform for card players to communicate and have a more immersive experience.

A photo of a trading card event held in a shopping mall in Guangzhou in September organized by Pizm.

However, he thinks that teenagers should not conduct online trading.

“Teenagers should not do trading using online platforms since it is technically illegal and can cause problems for both sellers and buyers,” the planning strategist says.

Ke once bought a trading card at RMB¥140 from a 14-year-old on Xianyu, only to find that the card he received, which is deemed valueless, was different from what he ordered.

“I did not report him to his parents or the police. I simply warned him not to do it again and got my money back,” he says.

“I think teenagers should enjoy playing trading cards by purely exchanging cards with others and buying cards featuring players they like as a hobby, but not looking for profit, since teenagers do not have the time and resources like money for their trading card business in the long term,” he adds.

Mainland Chinese lawyer Chan Weijie comments that the policies supporting the safety of underage users online will continue to refine in China, but it is unlikely to stop teenagers from speculating trading cards.

“The government passed a new version of the Cyberspace Protection Regulations for Minors this year to meet the increasing complexity of the online environment,” he says.

“But I don’t think it is going to change the current landscape too much, because neither underage buying and selling on Xianyu nor live streaming on Douyin raises too much public awareness. Therefore, no policy will be directly implemented for these issues,” the lawyer says.

Sub-edited by Tessa Yau

Struggling Rice Farmers Amid Drought

November 25, 2023

Due to drought, Thailand rice farmers have experienced a severe decline in rice production.

By Nutcha Hunsanimitkul

Amphorn Yousuphap suffered a harvest loss due to a severe drought in 2023, which she says is the worst in eight years.

“My rice yield dropped by almost 50%. I used to get 1 tonne of rice per 1 Rai (1,600 square metres), but I only had 0.6 tons this year,” she says.

Yousuphap owns 30 Rai (48,000 square metres) of paddy fields in Nakhon Sawan, 237 kilometres from Bangkok, where most of the areas are lowlands. Agriculture takes up 34% of the city’s GPP (Gross Provincial Product).

*Yousuphap’s rice farm in Nakhon Sawa turned withered because a lack of rainfall. (Photo Courtesy of Amphorn Yousuphap)*

“This year was the worst in eight years. I had to give up growing anything on almost half of my farmland because there wasn’t enough water,” the 35-year-old woman says.

“Even though I tried to drill a well, it just didn’t make any difference,” she adds.

Another farmer, Lek Soongchareun, 60, is also affected by the severe drought.

“Over ฿42,000 baht (US $1,159) was lost. I have to plough down the withered rice and spend an additional ฿16,800 baht (US $464) to buy new grains for replanting,” he says.

Due to a lack of rain in early 2023, Soongchareun’s rice farm turned brown and wilted. He had to sow again in late July and waited for another crop to grow as he lost the first batch.

“I have to sell my rice even if it is not mature enough because I have to race against time,” Soongcharuen, who has been growing rice for 40 years, says.

Even though the government supplied water to farmers during the drought, it was insufficient to cover all households in Loburi, which is 151 kilometres from Bangkok, where farming is the primary source of people’s income.

“Some water had to be reserved for domestic use. It was way more challenging than last year,” he says.

In the first half of 2023, only 43.30 millimetres of rainfall were recorded which is 39% less than usual. More than 700 millimetres of annual rainfall were reported in the past two years, according to Thailand’s Office of the National Water Resources.

*A comparison of rainfall between 2022 and 2023. (Photo Courtesy of Thai Meteorological Department)*

The Thai Meteorological Department says that El Nino, a weather phenomenon that leads to droughts, caused a 3.2% drop in rice harvests this year.

More than 4.9 million households in Thailand were farming rice and produced over 26.7 tons of rice in 2022, according to the Office of Agricultural Economics. Rice exports also contribute around ฿138,000 million baht (US $3.87 million) to the country, accounting for more than 1% of the national income.

While Thai farmers struggle to cope with the drought and harvest losses, the price of Thai rice has soared after India stopped exporting rice.

“My earnings were roughly the same as last year. Despite the harvest dropping by half, I can sell the rice for ฿11,300 baht (US $312) per ton. The price of rice has almost doubled compared with last year,” Yhusuphraw says.

*Nakasit Oonjit and the New Theory Agriculture Assocaition’s member with Thai rice products. (Photo Courtesy of Nakasit Oonjit)*

In late July 2023, India imposed restrictions on grain exports to manage domestic prices and ensure food security, resulting in a global increase in rice prices. The price of white Thai rice also went up by almost 15% to reach US $645 per ton, the highest record in 10 years, according to the Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations.

Vietnamese rice prices also climbed by 21% after India’s ban, increasing from US $504 per ton to US $614.3 per ton in a single month, while the price of rice from Pakistan shot up by 12% to reach US $579.8 per ton.

Speaking in an interview with THANTALK, a Thai news TV programme, Associate Professor Somporn Isvilanonda of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Kasetsart University predicts that farmers will face another challenging year as the impact of El Nino is expected to be more significant.

“Although it rained more in Thailand this July and many dams have been refilled, it might not be enough to offset a further delay and severe reduction of rainfall during the next cultivation season,” Isvilanonda says.

“Thai rice productivity in 2024 might shrink to half of this year. Some of the harvested rice should be stored to compensate for the losses this year and stabilise the global rice price,” he says.

Srettha Thavisin took office and formed a new government in Thailand in late August. The administration is still working on its blueprint for handling drought issues and providing financial support for rice farmers.

“We were usually subsidised for harvest losses, but I am not sure about this government. They have not made any announcements yet,” Soongchareun says.

Sub-edited by Kossy Chen

Hidden History in the Textbook

November 18, 2023

Brutal aspects of the invasions of Korea and China have been omitted in Japan’s history education about World War II.

By Charlotte Wu in Nagasaki

Edward Vickers, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Education for Peace, Social Justice, and Global Citizenship, was shocked by residents’ ignorance when he tried to find a way to the Oka Masaharu Peace Memorial Nagasaki Museum.

Staff in the tourist information at Nagasaki station had no idea about the whereabouts of the private museum covering war crimes committed by the Japanese army during World War II. Eager to help, one of the staff members was stunned when Google Maps on her phone showed the site was merely five minutes’ walk from the station.

The museum is not listed in the Nagasaki official guidebook. But the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, a government-funded museum focusing on depicting Nagasaki’s suffering after the atomic bomb attack, is included.

“Private museums can tell whatever stories they want to tell. But as they are operating outside the public system with no government recognition, it is also challenging the mainstream story of the war. It is going to struggle to publicise itself and find itself marginalised within Japan,” says Vickers, an Asian Studies professor at Kyushu University.

Established in 1995, the Oka Masaharu Peace Memorial Nagasaki Museum exhibits war-time textbooks, photographs, and newspaper articles, mainly about the treatment about Chinese and Korean prisoners of war (POWs).

Upon entering the museum, visitors can find a simulated coal mine depicting the working conditions of the POWs, including maps showing places of origin of Chinese and Korean peasants who were forced to labour in Japan.

The second floor displays exhibits related to recruiting Chinese and Korean labourers, comfort women, and the Nanjing massacre.

“In creating the exhibition, we aimed to convey accurate facts about the Japanese invasion and understand the pain of those who were affected,” the museum’s website reads.

“The horrors of war and the atomic bomb will always be deeply engraved in our hearts, and we must never let them fade away. However, we must keep in mind that the cause of this tragic outcome was Japan’s brutal invasion of Asia,” it says.

*Photos of Japan invading China, massacring and piling corpses in pits*.

“This humbler museum offers a more nuanced version of history–its exhibits, news clippings and historical documentations cover Japanese armies’ brutality in Asia, especially forced labourers from China and Korea, and comfort women captured in Asia,” says Florence Ng, a visitor to the private museum.

Ng, a former reporter and now an interpreter, adds that the exhibits help her understand why the United States decided to drop an atomic bomb, despite knowing the impact of the bombing.

“The well-documented bad deeds performed by the Japanese imperial armies showed another side of history that is not told in mainstream Japan,” she says.

In response to the exclusion of the Oka Masaharu Peace Memorial Nagasaki Museum in the Nagasaki official guidebook, Discover Nagasaki, the official tourism association of the city replied there is a limit to the amount of information that can be published in the map.

“Popular places are prioritised to be listed, including those with the highest number of current visits and inquiries, and those with a high level of recognition as tourist destinations,” the association says in a written statement.

*Discover Nagasaki website only focus on museums related to the atomic bombing during World War II. (Screenshot via Discover Nagasaki)*

The country’s history education, however, is trying to hide war crimes committed by the Japanese army, which the private museum tries to reveal to people with its limited resources.

According to the high school textbook syllabus of Japanese History published by Yamakawa Shuppansha, a Japanese history and geography textbooks publisher, the learning points of the Second World War chapter include the Pacific War and the complete collapse of people’s lives. But Japanese war crimes are omitted.

Vickers states it is an undeniable fact that the Japanese civilians suffered in the war with over 80 percent of the buildings flattened.

“The problem is what is left out. It is not the whole story,” he says.

“What the government is doing is not telling outright lies, but they are emphasizing just one part of the war experience,” he adds. “In textbooks, atomic bombs with pictures of the destruction are usually given a double-page spread, with little information on the Southeast Asia invasion.”

According to Vickers, textbooks in Japan are published by private companies, while the government has a committee that vets the textbooks and decides which ones to put on an approved list to be used in education.

“It’s a devious way of covering up what was a massive atrocity committed by the Japanese army,” he says, adding that some local students have no knowledge about Japanese war crime incidents like the Nanjing Massacre.

Teaching politics of history education in Asian society, he observes students are shocked when he mentions how political history education is.

“Such a concept is new to my students. A lot of them had taken it [history education] for granted, thinking that the version of history they learn and portrayed in textbooks is the truth,” he says.

“The idea that history is always being twisted by people in particular agendas is what happens in their history education, and this is something shocking for them,” he adds.

The professor recalls an incident of how Japanese war crimes are being suppressed in society.

“There was a small conference about comfort women organized by the Korean YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) in Tokyo five to six years ago. Right-wing demonstrators picketed it and created a disturbance, trying to prevent the conference from proceeding,” he says.

In October 2023, the Oka Masaharu Museum was temporarily closed down due to alleged sexual violence committed by peace activist Oka Masaharu, whom the museum is named after.

Edited by Leopold Chen
Sub-edited by Tessa Yau

Date Virtual Boyfriend in Real Life

November 17, 2023

Mainland Chinese girls pay to date other girls dressed up like virtual boyfriends in mobile games.

By Cynthia Hu

University student Yu Xiao wants to meet up with her virtual boyfriend Even Lu Chen (陸沉), who is an online game character, so much that she has paid ¥300 (US $41.04) for a date with a female cosplayer dressing up like him.

“We call this activity the Cos Commission. It means finding cosplayers in real life to play the role of online game characters and having physical dates with them as lovers,” the 20-year-old student says.

“ The cosplayer is the soul carrier of my virtual lover, bringing my favourite online game character into life. Lu Chen really came to my world for one day when I hired a cosplayer to act like him,” Xiao says.

*Xiao Yu take photos while dating. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yu)*

“I like Lu Chen because he is gentle and powerful. In the game, he often encourages me by saying: ‘I believe my little girl will definitely achieve her goals.’ He gives me a lot of strength and makes me become more confident,” Xiao adds.

Xiao held hands, hugged and chatted with her “lover” when they went out for a date.

“We spent a day together like couples. We took a lot of photos together. I tried on a wedding dress and the cosplayer gave me a marriage proposal ceremony,” Xiao recalls.

*Xiao Yu and cosplayer dressing up like Lu Chen take a sweet wedding photo together*. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yu)

Xiao paid ¥300 (US $41.04) for a date which lasted for seven hours.

“I think it’s very worthwhile, and I think this price is much lower than the average price,” Xiao adds.

Xiao tends to find a female to cosplay Lu Chen.

“There is a significant difference in thinking between men and women. I would find it difficult to approach him if a man cosplayed Lu Chen. I don’t think men can understand what we want to get from Lu Chen and fully interpret his role,” she says.

Xiao’s dream lover, Lu Chen, 26, is one of the male characters featured in an online game “Light and Night” – an interactive role-playing mobile game which allows players to date five male characters. Lu plays the role of an heir of a prominent family and serves as the CEO of Wanzhen Company, running a fashion design business.

In the game, Lu has brown hair and often appears as a gentleman, wearing a stylish suit and glasses. Portrayed as a refined, mature and successful businessman, Lu is popular among young female game players in China.

The online game character “Light and Night Lu Chen” has 1.282 million followers on Weibo, which is one of the most popular social media platforms in China.

*Light and Night Lu Chen has 1.282 million followers. (Screenshot via Weibo)*

Fans of Lu Chen post their thoughts and feelings towards the character in a fans community. They also recreate and publish stories on Weibo, fantasising themselves flirting and dating with the online game character.

The hashtag related to Cos Commission has 200 million views on another Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, which has 1.08 billion downloads. Girls who have dated cosplayers role-playing their favourite game characters, discuss their experiences and share interesting stories. Similarly, cosplayers post their own photos and pricing for dating services.

During a search on XiaoHongshu, the reporter discovered that the dating service costs between RMB ¥20 (US $2.75) and RMB ¥150(US $13.75) per hour. Consumers cover all expenses during the appointment.

While Xiao spends money looking for cosplayers, some make money by dressing up as online game characters and having dates with girls.

With a tall built figure of 168 cm and weighing 48 kg, Yu Zhi, 20, from Shanxi Province, has been doing cosplay and offering dating services for more than four months.

“I use heightening insoles to make myself taller, say up to 175-178 cm. Apart from this, my body shape is similar to the characters I play. I spend half an hour doing makeup and dressing up before a date,” she says.

“I now charge RMB ¥300 (US $41.04) a day. Considering the time for makeup and transportation, I work approximately 10-12 hours for one date. I think this price is affordable for girls who want to date their dream lover by having me dressing up as their boyfriends. The pay is good for me too,” the undergraduate student, who did her first paid date in July 2023, says.

Yu usually checks her wig, clothing, and cosmetic contact lenses a day before ‘dating’ to make sure all props are in perfect condition.

“I cosplay different kinds of characters. They all have their unique clothing, different colors of eyes and hair, so I need to prepare,” Yu says.

“I usually spend more time on eye makeup to better fit the character,” Yu adds.

*Yu Zhi shares her cosplay photo in social media*. (Photo courtesy of Yu Zhi)

Yu only dates girls who live in her own city to save commuting time.

“Due to time concerns, I only consider dating requests from girls who live in my city, ”she says.

Yu believes that she can play a perfect role to satisfy her customers.

“I have had a boyfriend before, so I know better what the girls need and what to do as a ‘boyfriend’ in a romantic relationship. I know which details girls are more likely to be moved by, and how to provide emotional value to them, such as praising their clothing and hair,” she says.

“As a girl, I know how to respond to them to make them feel better. I will hug them for a long time at the beginning and end of the date,” she adds.

Professor Hui Chin-ming from the Psychology Department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong points out that people cannot buy a relationship.

“This relationship is unhealthy if people think they can buy it. While people fall in love with virtual lovers, it may mean they are lonely and lack friends. That is why they develop relationships with virtual lovers,” he says.

Hui points out that the Cos Commission may affect young people’s views on how they pick companions in the future.

“People have to be accountable for their partner and take responsibility in a relationship. If they form the concept of not being responsible for their partner’s needs, it will be difficult for them to establish relationships with others in the future.”

He also pointed out that staying single is a growing trend.

“With the increasing cost of living and the comfort they can get from social media, people become more self-centred and only care more about themselves, but not others. It reflects the trend of individualism,” he says.

“But for those who are single and unhappy, we need to take care of them and provide support to them. Virtual relationships may demotivate them from building a real relationship. So we should encourage them to reach out and meet more people in real life,” he adds.

Edited by Tessa Yau
Sub-edited by Christine Tang

The Truth. Far away, nearby.

November 17, 2023

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and the Oka Masaharu Memorial Nagasaki Peace Museum, which are just a five-minute walk away from each other, tell different stories of Japan during World War II.

By Lorraine Chiang in Nagasaki

At the heart of Nagasaki, a Japanese city hit by an atomic bomb in the last century, stand two museums showcasing the history of the Second World War with striking differences.

The government-funded Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum is a formidable white structure with carefully curated exhibits placed inside glass casings.

“History is often written by the victors. This is clearly illustrated by the different interpretations of the atrocities of the Second World War by the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and the Oka Masaharu Museum,” says Florence Ng, a visitor of the two museums.

Opened in 2003, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum hosts a memorial hall commemorating the victims of the atomic bombing that devastated the city and helped end the Second World War in 1945. But war crimes committed by the country are not mentioned.

*Part of the damaged church is displayed at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.*

“In the official museum, you can see debris from fallen churches and structures, as well as horrific photos and oral history recordings of the civilians injured by the atomic bombs,” Ng says.

“It evokes a sense of anger against the US and empathy towards the civilians in Japan, and it depicts Japan as the innocent victim,” Ng adds.

*A soldier’s bloodstained uniform showing the impact of the atomic bomb is displayed at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.*

A five-minute walk away from the museum is the Oka Masaharu Memorial Nagasaki Peace Museum. Small and private, it contains exhibits about the causes of the war and the war crimes committed by Japan during the Second World War.

Opening in 1995, the museum shows the meagre portions of food provided for soldiers recruited in China, testimonies from comfort women about their suffering, photos of bodies lying on a bombed bridge in the Nanjing Massacre, and more.

*Photos of comfort women and Japanese soldiers are displayed at Oka Masaharu.*

The private museum is also run at a much lower cost. Photos are hung on the walls with yellowing tapes. Only a few are displayed with captions, which are available only in Japanese. Printed sources, such as reports of comfort women, have been flipped through so many times that the pages are immensely wrinkled.

Edward Vickers,the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Education for Peace, Social Justice, and Global Citizenship, says the public museum is trying to highlight the suffering of Japanese civilians and the fact that Japan is the only country to have suffered an atomic bomb attack.

“Often, people in Korea or China see the history Japan presents as a pack of lies. But it is a fact that Japanese civilians suffered greatly, particularly in the last year or so of the war,” the Kyushu University professor says.

“Japanese cities were completely flattened and destroyed. The bombing that Japan experienced, in terms of its destructiveness, was even worse than Germany’s. Almost all major Japanese cities were levelled, killing hundreds of thousands of people,” Vickers notes.

The professor adds that although the version of history presented by the Japanese government is true, the problem lies in what is left unsaid.

“Most Japanese are not aware of the full horror of what the Japanese army did in China and Southeast Asia,” he says.

According to Vickers, the Japanese government stated the Japanese army was defending Asia from the “evil imperialist West” and that invaded countries were grateful for the Japanese aggression.

Acknowledging that the Japanese people could still learn the other side of history, Vickers argues that they would have to make an effort to do so, as it is not covered in schools, museums, or by mainstream media.

Meanwhile, Germany, as imperial Japan’s wartime ally, allows a much more open discussion about the war and the Nazi era than Japan with its war in East Asia, according to Vickers.

Accounting for the difference, Vickers found the strength of democracy to be a major factor.

“Denazification went a lot further in Germany than similar processes in Japan,” he says.

“In Japan, democratisation was much more limited. They had elections but the same party always wins. Media freedom is also constrained,” he adds.

Joost Schokkenbroek, former director of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and current museum studies professor at the University of Hong Kong, says the different narratives adopted by different museums could be caused by political reasons.

*Photo of Professor Joost Schokkenbroek (Photo courtesy of Professor Joost Schokkenbroek)*

Schokkenbroek finds it crucial to present a nuanced version of events, as museums are seen as the most trustworthy source in terms of knowledge and narratives.

“There is no proper way to interpret history,” the professor adds.

Citing Canada as an example, Schokkenbroek says the country’s museums only revealed in recent years a history of its indigenous population that were systematically oppressed. They were banned from speaking their own language or displaying their arts.

Giving the oppressed a voice and involving them in museum curation could be a way out to ensure that their viewpoints are seen.

Schokkenbroek finds that many people are not tempted to go to museums because their contents seem irrelevant to current issues.

“It is important for museums to not only focus on beautiful artefacts, exhibitions or letterings, but to keep up with the times by addressing the concerns of young people,” he says.

Edited by Leopold Chen
Sub-edited by Amelie Yeung

Human Friends, Not Gambling Tools

November 17, 2023

Trained as racers, greyhounds are living new lives after adoption.

By Hannah Tang

Ban Ban, a nine-year-old male greyhound that was once forced to run with hundreds of other greyhounds at Macau’s dog-racing track, now enjoys leisurely strolling in Hong Kong.

“Ban Ban loves to walk slowly instead of running and spends most of the time sleeping,” says Moona Yue, who rescued it following the forced closure of Yut Yuen Canidrome, a greyhound racing stadium, five years ago.

The once-legal dog-racing track in Asia closed in 2018 after a lengthy international campaign spotlighting its poor animal welfare practices.

The 50-year-old dog-racing track has left 532 greyhounds inside after its closure.

Out of them, 15 died of poor health conditions, while 517 were eventually rehomed by the Macau-based animal rights group, Anima.

One of the fortunate greyhounds to find a home was Ban Ban, who now lives in Hong Kong with Yue and her husband, Ethan Yau.

Yue recalled that Ban Ban used to shake whenever someone approached it in the beginning.

“Ban Ban was new to living with humans, but it has changed a lot throughout the years and is doing great now,” Yue adds.

*A photoshoot of Ban Ban. (Photo Courtesy of Ethan Yau)*

Being a pet groomer with eight years of experience, Yue knows what kind of care a frightened dog like Ban Ban needs.

After overcoming all the hurdles, Ban Ban can finally sleep soundly and walk at its own pace. “It now exposes its belly while sleeping as it feels safe,” she says.

“We have been walking Ban Ban to the park next to our estate at midnight since its arrival. Because it is quiet, Ban Ban could relax and take time to get familiar with the outside world,” Yue continues.

The couple have spent months building a bond with Ban Ban, not to mention the time it took to help it adjust to its new home years ago.

Like many other greyhounds, Ban Ban was diagnosed with health issues shortly after leaving the canidrome.

“We used to go to Macau three to four times a month when Ban Ban could not leave the place due to skin and liver issues,” Yau says.

They waited for more than three months for Ban Ban, during which it had to undergo numerous blood tests, vaccinations, and paperwork to comply with Hong Kong’s pet entry policy in 2018.

“It was not an easy journey, but we wanted to save at least one of the dogs,” Yau says.

Goodtime, an eight-year-old greyhound, was another dog saved from the canidrome.

*Rainie Chio celebrated Goodtime’s eighth birthday this year. (Photo Courtesy of Rainie Chio)*

It is living a new life away from the racing track after being brought home by Rainie Chio in November 2018.

Growing up in Macau, Chio has loved animals since she was young. She often helps take care of others’ pets and found that she loves greyhounds the most.

“I knew Goodtime was the one when I first saw him. It is friendly, gentle, and gets along so well with everybody,” she says.

*Rainie Chio adopted Goodtime at the Anima Macau five years ago. (Photo Courtesy of Rainie Chio)*

Chio shares that many pedestrians are scared of Goodtime during their daily walks together.

“The pedestrians think it would bite and attack humans,” Chio says, noting the prejudice against greyhounds.

“No doubt there are negative perceptions towards greyhounds as they are huge and were trained as racers and chasers,” Chio adds.

She thinks that dog racing has rewarded greyhounds with nothing but a fierce image.

“I am glad that dog racing competitions no longer exist in Macau,” Chio says, pointing out that dogs lived in an inhumane environment in the canidrome, suffering from insurmountable pain and distress due to illnesses, injuries, and doping that boosts their speed.

According to Zoe Tang, the president of the Board of Directors at Anima, many racing dogs were mistreated in racing kennels and were often kept in small and cramped cages.

“They often suffered serious injuries while racing, such as broken bones and torn muscles. After retiring from racing, they were ultimately euthanized,” Tang says.

“Greyhounds are born to be a friendly breed. Being affectionate and gentle, the adopted ones are loved by their new homes,” she says.

But Tang explains that it is impossible to find homes for all the dogs in the industry due to overbreeding, leaving healthy ones homeless or euthanised.

“All of them deserve a chance to live,” Tang continues.

The Macau racing track is long gone, but problems with greyhounds in the dog racing industry are far from resolved.

Grey2k USA Worldwide, a global greyhound protection and rescue group, states that dog racing still exists in seven countries: Australia, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

Edited by Amelie Yeung

Sub-edited by Kossy Chen