China Local News
‘True Heroes’ : Netizens Pay Tribute to Firefighters Killed in Hong Kong Blaze
As Hong Kong celebrities and TV stations have joined hands to pay respect to the city’s frontline firefighters who battled the deadly blaze that broke out last Tuesday, the topic ‘salute to our firefighters’ became trending on Sina Weibo.
An ‘unimaginable’ fire broke out in a Hong Kong industrial facility at the Ngau Tau Kok area a week ago, burning for almost five days, more than 108 hours, claiming the lives of two firefighters and injuring 11 others.
Senior fireman Samuel Hui Chi-kit (37) died after being taken to hospital on Thursday. Senior station officer Thomas Cheung (30) died while battling the fire on Tuesday, SCMP reports.
It was Hong Kong’s longest-running fire in over 20 years. The South China Morning Post reported that an electrical leakage from the air conditioner was a potential cause of the fire.
As the city was stunned and saddened by the loss of the two firemen, a group of actors led by celebrity Hong Kong Eric Tsang (曾志伟) and nine Hong Kong TV and radio stations launched the “Salute to Our Firefighters” campaign on Sunday. Those taking part were asked to upload a picture of themselves on social media holding up a paper with the message of “salute to our firefighters” and a lighted torch.
“Usually if friends do something for us, we say thank you to them. But when they are sacrificing themselves for us, thank you is not enough. We really want to do something for [our firefighters], but it is not appropriate to go to the frontline to encourage them, or deliver food and water,” Tsang said.
In honor of the firemen, the 1993 song Sincere Hero (真心英雄) by Jonathan Lee (李宗盛) will be rewritten as True Hero (真的英雄), sung by hundreds of singers. Pictures shared by netizens on social media will be included in the music video. The song will make its debut at 7pm this Tuesday.
Within several hours after the campaign was launched, the topic became a hit on Sina Weibo under the hashtag of “Salute to Our Firefighters” (#向前線消防員致敬#). The campaign’s Weibo page has been reviewed by more than 30 million people.
Chinese netizens shared their gratitude for firefighters who put themselves in harm’s way to save others. One Weibo user wrote: “No matter where in the world they are, firefighters deserve our respect.”
Another netizen applauded the firemen in a more creative way. In his post, the male Weibo user named ‘It Will All be Okay‘ sketched a short story portraying the dream of thousands of firemen “to stay alive until retirement.”
“I am a fireman.”
“Many people think that we are heroes.”
“Even though the fireman suit doesn’t give us superpowers.”
“But we are not heroes. Sometimes, we have to give up.”
“In the face of danger, I will fear, too.”
“When such a fear comes, my brain always tells me to stop.”
“Do you know the honor of being a fireman?”
“It is neither receiving awards nor recognition;”
“Rather, it is to retire while alive.”
– By Yanling Xu
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©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
China Local News
Online Anger over Inappropriate Toast by Dutch Watch Brand Executive at Chinese Dinner Party
This is how NOT to do a toast in Dutch!
The Amsterdam-based watch & jewelry brand Rosefield has recently come under fire within the Chinese community in the Netherlands after a video went viral showing Rosefield’s CEO and its Head of Sourcing proposing an unusual toast at a Chinese dinner party.
The video, that was viewed over 173,000 times on Dutch site Dumpert.nl, shows a woman in a white blouse bringing out a toast, saying:
“In Dutch, we say ‘ganbei’ or ‘cheers’ in this way, and it would be nice if you all can say the same, we say: ‘dikke lul.‘”
The people at the table then proceed to toast saying “Dikke lul” – which, in fact, is not the Dutch word for ‘cheers’ but for ‘big dick,’ something that the Chinese people at the table are seemingly not aware of.
On WeChat, Chinese-language newspaper Asian News (华侨新天地) reported about the video and identified the Dutch woman and man at the table as the CPO and CEO of Rosefield Watches, a fast-growing luxury brand that is active in various countries.
Asian News describes the incident as a way of “ridiculing Chinese friends,” and writes it has triggered anger online.
Asian News (华侨新天地) is a Chinese language newspaper founded in 1992. It is mainly distributed in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Its WeChat account has some 120,200 followers, and the post on the ‘cheers’ video was among its most-well read on WeChat this week.
The blog post noted that ever since the ‘dikke lul’ video has gone viral in the Netherlands, it has become one of the first results showing up when searching for the vulgar expression ‘dikke lul’ on Google.
Although it is not clear where the video was filmed and how it ended up on short video site Dumpert, it is rumored in WeChat groups that it was recorded during the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair earlier this month, and that the Chinese guests are business relations of the Dutch brand (unconfirmed).
The comment section on the Dumpert site shows that although some Dutch commenters think the video is funny, there are many who find it “vulgar,” “rude,” and “distasteful.”
Although many (overseas) Chinese expressed anger in various WeChat groups – some expressing regret over a Rosefield watch they recently purchased – the Asia News blog does remind readers that we do not know the context of the video, and whether or not there was a certain pretext or common understanding to the joke.
Nevertheless, the blog states, this kind of behavior is not professional and if a company such as Rosefield wants to earn money in China, “it should also respect Chinese culture and people.”
Although there have been ample discussions about the controversial video on Wechat, there are no online discussions about this issue on Weibo at the time of writing.
Over the past year, many foreign brands became a focus for controversy in China.
In November of 2018, Italian fashion house D&G faced consumer outrage and backlash on Chinese social media for a video that was deemed ‘racist’ to China and for insulting remarks about Chinese people allegedly made by designer Stefano Gabbana.
Swiss investment bank UBS sparked controversy in June for a column which mentioned “Chinese pigs.”
Over this summer, various foreign companies apologized to China for listing ‘Hong Kong’ as a separate country or region on its websites and/or t-shirts.
Still curious about how to actually say ‘cheers’ in Dutch? It’s ‘proost’ and this is how you pronounce it correctly.
By Manya Koetse
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China Food & Drinks
This Is the BBQ Restaurant Jack Ma Visited in Zhengzhou
Jack Ma’s late-night snack means overnight success for this Zhengzhou skewer place.
Whatever Jack Ma does or says makes headlines in China. The superstar Alibaba founder has especially been a topic of discussion over the past week since his meeting with Tesla’s Elon Musk at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, where the two billionaires had a discussion about the risks and rewards of AI development.
But on social media platform Weibo, Chinese netizens have not just been discussing what Jack Ma has been saying over the past few days – what he has been eating has also become a topic that has attracted thousands of views and comments this week.
A BBQ skewer restaurant in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, gained overnight fame after a visit from the business magnate and his group. The Alibaba delegation visited Zhengzhou for a meeting concerning a strategic partnership between Alibaba and the local government.
Jack Ma visited the barbecue skewer restaurant around one o’clock in the morning, and was photographed and filmed by many people standing around.
Ma visited Dehua Pedestrian Street and Zhengdong New Area before arriving at the Zheng Xiwang restaurant. Ma was with a small group of people and spent a total of 700 yuan (around 100 US dollars).
Grilled skewers are popular all across China, but especially in the Zhengzhou region, which is also nicknamed the “holy land of skewers.”
Image via Dianping.com.
The Zheng Xiwang restaurant visited by Ma was founded in 1991 – although it was just a street stall at the time – and has been thriving ever since.
Besides skewers, Jack Ma allegedly ordered stir-fried Hunan prawns and spicy clams.
As Ma’s visit to Zhengzhou and the restaurant has gone viral, some social media users write that they have also visited the restaurant immediately after, sharing photos and their receipts as proof.
Weibo user Jia Chengjun (@贾成军) from Henan shared photos of people lining up to get a table at the popular restaurant.
According to various reports on Weibo, the restaurant’s owner initially offered Jack Ma the dinner for free, but the billionaire refused and paid anyway. His payment method will not come as a surprise; he paid with Alibaba’s online payment platform Alipay.
“Why would you offer him a free meal anyway?” some netizens wondered: “He surely has more money than you!”
Curious to try the same food as Ma? Zheng Xi Wang is located at the intersection of Fuyuan Street and Yingxie Street in Zhengzhou (福元路与英协路交叉口向西160米路北(银基王朝南门)).
By Manya Koetse
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Wilson
July 1, 2016 at 6:58 pm
Does anyone have the English lyrics to the re-wire song dedicated to the Hong Kong Firefighters (True Hero)?