"I have no freedom"

Gordon Chang, the China skeptic famed for his apocalyptic pronouncements on the People's Republic, begins his latest essay, "China's Unstoppable Billion", with the following anecdote:

Lydia, my wife, and I have just landed in Singapore, having endured a flight from Hong Kong. In the seats near us there is a tour group from Shenzhen, very noisy and rowdy. Sitting in the row next to us is a boy of about 10. Apparently, it’s his first time on a plane. His mom and a sister are next to him, the dad a couple rows up.

As we disembark, Lydia asks the boy how long he’s staying in Singapore. He says a week. Lydia then mentions how lucky he is to spend so much time there and that he will get to see a lot. “Yeah, but I have to follow the tour group,” the youngster replies. “I have no freedom.”

Lydia turns to the mother and remarks, “He’s so young, and he is already talking about freedom.” The mother replies, “They all do.”

The rest of the essay is lengthy, but thought-provoking, and well worth your time. Read it here.

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By Kenneth Tan in Other on January 20, 2012 11:56 PM 0 Comments

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BBC_Redux

Gordon Chang is right...................China will collapse eventually, and the world will explode eventually too. LOL!!! I guess his prediction more than a decade ago fell flat and given China's trajectory since then and a clear defiance to his prediction, he has to see his vengeance through. Gordon once said his Chinese father married his caucasian mom because he wanted a green card. I once joined a Vegas tour too from LA, and i had no freedom either, just make sure you are playing the slot machines when the casino minders are doing the walkthrough. LMAO! I am surprised Forbes is even giving him bandwidth.

joel_bee

He's like the guy who foretold the end of the world last year, but at least that guy retired...

Xiaochen Su

something tells e that even if China becomes democratic, the 10-year-old boy would still have no freedom on his trip to Singapore...

LSD2012

Is this the same Gordon Chang who wrote the book "The Coming Collapse of China" in 2000. We certainly should listen to him lecturing us "China's Billion is Unstoppable". The key is, when I was once in a European tourist group, I had no freedom either.

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