July. 2022; trash

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not backwards in coming forwards about the things I believe in. I try not to be too opinionated about things that don’t really bother or concern me, but some things just get under my skin and when I’ve got a hold of them I’m like a dog with a bone. I’ve never wanted to be one of those people that just has an opinion on bloody everything, and does their best to force it into others ears. Those people who just have to butt into conversation and speak louder than everyone else, cutting people off with their “NOW LISTEN TO ME” rants that absolutely nobody cares to hear. And I truly cannot stand know-it-all types, those who start sentences with “what you should do is..” oh please, just shut up and bugger off. As Confucius said, confidence is quiet, stupidity is loud. But if someone starts me on some certain subjects, I just cannot-not add my two-cents. Doesn’t mean it’s right, it’s just an opinion, but some things I just have to blurt it out. And something happened this week that upset me, brought me joy and a sensation of certain pride, and also made me question a few bigger, and unfortunate, truths.

So on the afternoon of Tuesday the 12th, I was walking back from my new office space. It’s insanely hot outside, a baking 34-degrees that feels more like you’ve covered yourself in cooking oil and laying flat on the surface of the sun. I’m walking along, listening to my jolly music and lost in thought somewhat, and I find a dog. A dog tied to a fence. Clearly abandoned. Motionless, in the 34-degree sun. My heart absolutely drops, I’d found a dead dog. I tentatively walk over, lean down and touch it, it’s fur is boiling hot, but it’s eyes open. Halle-blooody-lujah, it’s not dead. But in this heat, it won’t be long. Dogs die easily in a few hours from heatstroke and/or dehydration. I had a bottle of water on me, so I let the dog drink that from my hand, and it perks right up. It stands, kind of. The heat had clearly taken it’s toll. I take a peek, and “it” is not an “it,” it’s a “she.” The nearest person around is a security guard box out the front of an industrial area, maybe 80 metres away, so I walk over and explain to him. I ask all the other security guys there, but nobody knows whose dog it is. So I Leave them my phone number and go back. Dog is still there, timid, but happy to see me. I walk in the other direction, maybe 60 metres, and ask there. Nope, nobody knows anything about it. I ask shop owners and security guys, nothing. So again I leave my phone number, and go back. She’d been tied up in a place that was still visible from the road, but tucked away between some bushes so that the arsehole person wouldn’t have been caught abandoning her there. So now my mind is made up, I’m taking her home and making sure she’s ok. I get a Hulala van, and bring her home. She’s nervous but happy. She’s pressed up to me constantly. She seems to get on ok with my dog, Chupacabra. And that’s that. So until I find her a suitable new family, I now have a new house guest for a while.

Now over the past 12 years this is the 5th dog I’ve rescued. My American bulldog, Omar, was the first, then my now dog Chupacabra. Then the pregnant little sweetheart I named Karma, who’d been kicked out of her home in Dafen and left in the road, unable to walk, because “She will have babies, we don’t want.” Charming. Then Jerry, the Labrador pup with the broken hip and legs found in the road. And now this one. I decided to not give her a name, I know that’s the fatal mistake. Soon as you name them, you grow ever closer attached to them, and then you keep them. And as much as I’d like to, I really cannot have another dog right now. But anyway, back to the point in hand. This dog is not particularly malnourished. Kinda skinny, but not so bad. Her teeth are perfect white, her eyes are beautiful and her coat is shiny. She’s in good condition, but she’s been mistreated. Every time I go to stroke her (which is pretty much any time she wants me to) she cowers under a raised hand. Walking her in the park I tried to throw a stick for her, and she was terrified of it. And when I was home and pulled the belt out of my jeans she absolutely recoiled in fear. She really must have really taken some harsh beatings. So my first question is why, why would a person decide to just abandon a beautiful dog and leave her to die? Dogs die in just a few hours in the heat, and if somebody hadn’t found her she would have been dead before sunset. But the bigger, and far more emotional question, is how? Just how could a person do this?

Many people have their weaknesses, and mine is animals. In my mind, hurting an animal is no better than hurting a baby child. They don’t understand what’s going on or why. Now I’m not going to generalize here, there are some fantastic pet owners in China. But pet ownership is still relatively new here, and let’s be honest, a lot of people treat animals like shit. To some people “training” a dog means hitting it until it does what you tell it to, like they think dogs speak and understand human language. And very unfortunately, with the zero animal welfare laws here, it’s hardly surprising that most people don’t understand much about animal care. But everyone, no matter how moronic or unintelligent, knows that animals have feelings and emotions, just as we do. They understand fear and pain, confusion, rejection, misery. If you want to hear some heartbreaking stories of suffering, check the internet for “animal suicides.” It’s disgusting how some zoos and wildlife parks treat animals. And if people know these emotions that animals feel, how can they treat them so badly? Recently a friend of mine found a kitten, probably just a few weeks old, dumped in the trash bin, to be crushed in the trash compactor. Thrown away, like a tiny piece of worthless rubbish. Nothing more than a empty drinks can or snack wrapper. How, just how is this humanly possible…

Now I don’t want to carry on about the terrible and vile treatment of animals, anyone with half a brain knows how people can be. But this aspect of human nature is not only completely unfathomable to me, but it doesn’t end with animals. I’m not sure what’s happening to the world, but over the past year the news has been absolutely rife with tragic stories of people savagely hurting others. School kids with knives, husbands beating wives, people are losing their minds. The father who attacked a child at school because he bullied his daughter. The grandmothers who push babies out in front of moving cars to try to extort some money out of the drivers. Is life really so utterly worthless? Is life so cheap? The list just goes on and on and on. This weeks Sunday Scribble is pretty much without answers, but damn, there’s a whole lot of questions.

We throw the word “unbelievable” around like we do “love” and “hate.” “Ooh I love avocado.” No, you do not. You like it a lot. Nor do you “hate” Monday mornings, you just dislike them because you’re not satisfied with your life. “The price of apartments is unbelievable.” No, they are not, it’s called economics and inflation. Go study. But, for a human being to cause intentional pain or harm to someone or something unable to defend itself, now that is unbelievable. I’ve talked about this to some people, and some may theorize that actually it’s always been this way, but now perhaps we are just hearing more about it now. The media is perhaps becoming more open and showing us a little more “real life” happenings, rather than just frosting over them with pink paint and rainbows. But, is that the case? Are there some people who were just brought up so badly that life has so little value? As I’ve said many times before, education does not mean intelligence, nor does it mean guaranteeing that somebody is a good person (there’s been plenty of stories this year about University professors, students, and even doctors doing some pretty disgusting stuff this year) but this is by no way a question of intelligence or education. This is purely morals. And how can anybody, however their state of mind may be messed up, decide to intentionally go hurt someone or something, for some sick and twisted “pleasure.”

It’s possibly a little hard to envisage for some people, but how we “see” different nations from other parts of the world depends mostly on stereotypes and media. Many people in Western countries believe movies like “Crazy Rich Asians” is close to the norm. Many people in Eastern countries believe that “Friends” or “Sex and the City” is also close to the norm. And when it comes to media, many folks opinions are based on the stories we hear. And as we know, good news doesn’t sell papers.

The news sensationalizes the deepest of tragedies and most vicious of all violence, and many people around the globe base their opinions on that. “America is dangerous. Everyone has guns.” “India is dirty, everyone gets food poisoning.” “North Korea is… well, we don’t know.” The thing about such stereotypes, is that they nearly all have at least a percentage of truth behind them. So add stereotypical pre-meditated opinions, to the world media and awful news reports, and bingo! That’s how this person feels about this place. But is it correct?..

Back in the UK, I had very little understanding of how countries under the communist system actually worked. Truth be told, I still understand very little of the big picture. But most of my pre-misconceptions have been proven incorrect. Many times in the past 12 years I’ve felt substantially more freedom here in China than I did living in Europe. And to many Europeans, a lot of countries in Africa and Asia are still “developing” countries. But in my previous mindset at least, I mostly associated “developing” with wealth, and that’s clearly not the case. Now I understand how “developing” is far more to do with societal issues, rather than economic ones.

As many people messaged me about, last weeks Sunday Scribble didn’t happen. Actually I wrote it, and then rewrote it, three times, but decided to not post it. It was my about my feelings towards some people’s vile and unforgivable reactions to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. I decided to not post it, as it really got me both upset and angry, and I felt I lost clarity in the article due to my emotions. But let me say this; The disgusting comments that some people felt necessary to leave about his death were not only were read and heard in China. Nope. They reached Japan, India, the US and Europe, to my own world-news reading. And by reading the news of the Shinzo Abe hate comments, how are peoples opinions of China being formed? This truly, truly, saddens me. We may be the second richest superpower in the world, but are we developing?

Atrocities happen around the world on a daily basis. Nowhere is perfect. The Ukraine is still having it’s schools and hospitals bombed from the invasion. All Ukrainian men between the ages of 18-60 are required to stay and fight, and possibly die, for their country. Such courage and bravery is truly an example to the rest of the world. Whatever the outcome of the invasion, the Ukraine and it’s citizens have garnered more love and respect from the worlds people than ever before. But here, there is almost zero news space given to it. But why? Oh that’s right, because it doesn’t affect us. We’re doing just fine thanks. Any news on the new iphone? Now that’s what we want to read about. We are blissful in our ignorance.

When I was in the Philippines I witnessed poverty like I’d never even imagined could exist any more. I saw naked children and families living on landfill sites, eating recooked food that had been salvaged from trash cans. And I also met the warmest, kindest, happiest people I’d ever encountered in my life. But in our ignorant opinions, are they “developed” enough to meet our approval? One late evening when I was out with my camera, I saw a homeless man fishing some discarded fast food out of a rubbish bin. He sat and started to eat, and a stray cat gingerly approached him. I watched on, as he took the food and carefully shared it with the cat, without hesitation or consideration of his own hunger or personal situation. He had some food, and he shared it. And yet, another person feels it’s perfectly reasonable to throw a tiny kitten away in the trash, or ties a dog to a fence to die from the heat, or laughs in joy at the death of an old man gunned down in the street.

Life is not worthless. Life, all life, should be respected.

*P.s; Upon publishing this again, February 2025, I still have this lovely little lady. Her name is Bowie and she will be with me until she crosses the rainbow bridge.