Lin Dai Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era 林 黛 50/60年 代 之 玉 女 明 星

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Lin Dai Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era
If Ran Ling Yu is said to be the most famous and well-liked Chinese actress of the 1930s, then Lin Dai is undisputedly the most famous and well liked Chinese actress of the 1950-60s.She acted in many hit films that i still regarded as Chinese cinema's precious gems even today. She is wearing a Chinese Dress (旗袍) in the photo, still popular back then. (PLEASE SEE MY POSTS IN APRIL ON THE CHINESE DRESS) However, like many Chinese actresses of that era, she committed suicide when she was merely 30 years old ending her then booming career. Some rumours say she merely wanted to scare her womanizing husband but had taken too much pills than intended. More pics and info of Lin Dai, Le Di and You Min can be found at: http://come.to/youmin(Youmin's site which has links to the other 2 sites and all English/Chinese)for those interested in learning more about them.

Le Di Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era 樂 蒂 ‘古 典 美 人 ’

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Le Di Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era
Le Di, known then as a "Classical Beauty" and became wildly popular after appearing in the mega hit film 'Liang Shan Bo Yu Zhu Ying Tai' in 1963. The film is a classical opera film based on the popular Chinese folktale of a woman who disguised herself as a man to enter into a school to study as women were not allowed to study 1000 yrs ago and how this other guy falls for her and the pair fall in love as she reveals herself to be a woman in reality but their parents forbid their love and arrange a marriage for her...the guy dies from love sickness and the weather becomes bad on her wedding day forcing her bridal carriage to pass through his grave whereby the grave opens up and she dives in dying as well...thus the lovers are reincarnated as a pair of butterflies...so nowadays, some ppl will say when they see a pair of butterflies that they maybe the lovers...Le Di like many other top Chinese actresses of that era committed suicide at a young age rumoured to be cos of relationship problems..

Yu MinPopular HK Actress 1950-60s era尤 敏

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Yu Min Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era 尤 敏 香 港 50/60年 代 的 知 名 女 星
She is a popular HK actress back in the 50s and 60s and was also the first HK actress to successfully enter the Japanese market appearing in films co-produced by Japanese film company Toie.
As i am a big fan of classic chinese films as well as Cheongsams/Qi Paos (Chinese Dress), i really like her and many other Chinese actresses of that era as the Chinese dress was still popular back then and actresses often wore it in daily life or in movies..please read my post under April Archives on the Chinese Dress..

Everlasting Regret (2005)

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Everlasting Regret 長 恨 歌 (2005)
Film by Renowned Director Stanley Kwan based on the well-known novel of WangAnYi tracing the life of a Shanghai girl from her glamourious days as 2nd runner-up in the Miss Shanghai Pageant and mistress of a nationalist army general in 1947 to a plain life under Communist China through the Cultural Revolution to 1981. It also deals with her relationships with the 4 men in her life. Her life is supposed to mirror the life of the city of Shanghai itself. The lead is by Cantopop singer Sammi Cheng who changes her image drastically for this film....have not watched it yet but would recommend it given its by one of my favourite directors, Stanley Kwan, who is renowned for capturing nostalgia and women's viewpoints....also THE MOST ACCURATE portrayal of the Chinese dress i've seen on film with regards to Shanghai ladies..most films make the Chinese dresses way too sexy for that era but this film has done research and being a Chinese Dress expert myself, the dress and hairstyle of Sammi in the film is accurate for 40s era..

Taiwan Pride Festival 2005 台 灣 同 志 遊 行 2005

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Taiwan Pride Festival 2005
Tomorrow will be the third Taiwan Pride Parade to be held in Taiwan. As a Taiwanese, i'm extremely proud that Taiwan has finally been able to hold its own parade in recent yrs indicating Taiwanese gays/lesbians increased political awareness and strength and also increased societal tolerance. Apparently, even legislators will attend the parade and the Taipei Mayor has attended in past yrs as well showing their support for the parade thus indicating that they are confident that Taipei residents are open enough such that politicians attending such parades do not feel that by attending, they are risking in any way their political viability...

Interesting note to those not familiar with Chinese or those from Mainland China and some other places, the word 同志 TongZhi is used to refer to Gays in Taiwan and Hong Kong although its original meaning meant comrade. In Mainland China, TongZhi continues to refer to comrade and most Mainland Chinese will only think of it that way. However, TongZhi as Gay has spread amongst the gay population in China as well so now the meaning Tongzhi as Gay is used in Taiwan, HK and amongst the gay population in China...further the word 同 is used often now in gay advertisements as it means sameness and again the meaning has been changed to refer to homosexuals as gays/lesbians like the same sex....learners of Chinese are still taught that Tongzhi means comrade and so may be confused when they see it used when referring to gays so this is just a little note for them...

Also another interesting note is that on the Taiwan Pride 2005 website, they are very thoughtful and have provided some sample excuses for people to use just in case they need to provide explanations because they were exposed by the media covering the parade and came on TV news...I will provide them with translations:

若是真的有人看到了你在媒體上出現，然後怎麼賴都賴不掉，其實還有許許多多的說詞：
全世界好多地方都有，那真的很好玩耶！平常要看還要去國外，這次在台灣，你沒去看真是太可惜了！ (There are so many Pride Parades all over the world, it was really fun! Normally you would have to go overseas to get this experience but this time it was in Taiwan, what a pity you didn't go!)
喔，我只是路過而已 (Oh,...I was just passing by.)
沒啦，我的高中同學是同性戀，他說他自己一個人去會害怕，叫我陪他去 (Oh, its nothing, my highschool friend is gay and he/she said that he/she was afraid to go alone and asked me to accompany so i did)
都已經什麼年代了還這麼保守，同性戀也沒什麼不好阿，去看看又不會被吃掉。 (Its already the 21st century, don't be so conservative,there is nothing wrong with being gay anyway, you won;t get eaten up just taking a look right?)
如此一來，就可以利用這些對答上的技巧，並顯現出自然的表情，別人自然就不會再懷疑了。
(Using these techniques and putting on a natural expression, people will naturally no longer suspect that you are gay)

I was laughing when i saw these excuses cos they are so hilarious and really useful too..i guess many gays and lesbians are afraid of participating precisely cos they are afraid their faces will be on TV and in Taiwan, almost everyone watches TV News (cos the News in Taiwan is extremely interesting)and so exposure to parents and relatives could be high....

Fashion70s Korean Drama Pics

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Fashion70s Korean Drama Pics
Lead Actor in K Drama Fashion 70s...please click pic for more photos.

Maggie Cheung HK Film Star Cannes Best Actress

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Maggie Cheung HK Film Star Cannes Best Actress
She is my FAVOURITE HK actress, being an elegant, refined, sexy and fantastic actress with superb acting skills....films she's appeared in incl. In the Mood for Love(00), Clean(04),etc

China Actor HuBIn Homoero 2005

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China Actor HuBIn Homoero 2005
This is a Photo of HuBIn, one of China's biggest actors and rumoured to be gay...one wonders why when he is willing to appear in photos like this!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2005!!

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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2005!!

Bishonen (1998) Cast:Daniel Wu,Stephen Fung,Shu Qi

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Bishonen (1998) Cast:Daniel Wu,Stephen Fung,Shu Qi
This is part of the continuing series on homosexuality in Asia...another introduction of an Asian movie on the topic of homosexuality....this film by Yon Fan tells the story of a closeted policeman(Daniel Wu) who seems to lead the ideal life and seems to be the perfect guy, he is handsome, filial towards his parents, believes in justice, kind hearted and a policeman with an extremely attractive best friend (Shu Qi)...however, he hides a secret...he is gay......on the other hand, a gay gigolo (Stephen Fung) leads a subhuman life earning a living through sleeping with clients, often men much older than he is and even being unable to refuse clients such as gay triad leaders who treat him like dirt....the two men meet coincidentally and become friends.....slowly, a love subtly blossoms between them although each is not brave enough to confess their feelings for the other...one day, they finally embrace each other and reveal their true feelings for each other but tragedy befalls......this is a good movie i feel and has cameos by 2 really famous old Chinese actors Jiang Zhen and Jiao Jiao, both of 1960s and 1970s era....

HK Gay man wins HC case on HK ban on under21gaysex

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HK Gay man wins High Court case repealing HK ban on under21 gay sex
This high profile case concerned a Hong Kong gay man who applied to the High Court requesting that the Hong Kong law banning sex between gay men under 21 be repealed on the grounds that it constituted discrimination against gay men and also infringed upon Human rights law and Basic law of HK that all citizens, incl gay men, were equal before the law. In HK, consenting sex between gay men is legal since 1991 but only for 21yrs and above whereas heterosexual sex (man and woman) and sex between lesbians is legal for under 21yrs old. Thus it meant that previously, only gay men were banned from having sex if they were under 21 whilst heterosexuals and lesbians could have sex even under 21. The HK High Court ruled in favour of the gay man who applied and repealed the old HK law on the grounds of discrimination especially given lesbians were not subjected to the same ban. Now, therefore, gay men in HK under 21 can also legally engage in consensual sexual intercourse. What surprised me and i'm sure many HK ppl must have been how 'normal' the gay man who sued looked. Asian society still has a stereotype that gay men look either (a)effeminate/sissy (b) thin and pale or some ppl would think if gay men did not come under the first 2 categories then they must come under either (c)fashionable looks conscious (d) wears tight clothing and works out often....but the gay man who won, as can be seen from the photo above, was in none of the categories most ppl would have of gay men and no one would probably even suspect he was gay if they knew him and he did not tell them. Further, he had a respectable occupation as a volunteer with the famous NGO Doctors without Borders Medical San Frontiers which operates in poor countries giving medical treatment to ppl.The gay community really needs public figures like him to provide a positive role model for gays and lesbians and more importantly to dispel myths about how gay men are like amongst society at large as putting a sissy like gay man as a public figure for gay rights will not attract much support from society given it reinforces negative perceptions about gay men but putting a very 'normal looking' good looking guy with a respectable occupation is bound to jolt people and gain more sympathy and understanding for gay men...

Foreign Diplomats visit Nanking Massacre Exhibit

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Foreign Diplomats visit Nanking Massacre Exhibit

S Diary One of the best Korean film in 2004

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S Diary One of the best Korean film in 2004
A Fantastic film about a girl who breaks up with a boyfriend and her boyfriend says that all men including her former bfs all are after one thing only in relationships.-SEX. Thus the girl begins to look through her diary to remember her past three relationships to see if this is true. She realises she was treated badly by her former boyfriends and thus starts her revenge plot to get bck at her past boyfriends. Extremely funny film esp the bits when she is taking her revenge on her exs and the plots she comes up with...also has emotional parts and the ending is superb as it does not end without a twist with her realising that often no one is fully responsible when relationships turn bad...so its not a man hating movie! Also the actress in this film is of course the now wildly popular actress of the huge Korean TV Drama hit 'My name is Samsoon' which attracted very high ratings this yr.

Someone Special

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Someone Special
One of my favourite films in 2004 which also won Lee Na Young a Korean award for Best Actress. Great cinematography and acting by both the lead actor and actress and defies conventional story-telling. A MUST-WATCH for Korean cinema in 2004. Also i did not really realise it then but recently i'm watching a Korean drama called 'Ireland' starring Lee Na Young and was overwhelmed by how pretty and refined she looked, she's easily one of the most beautiful actresses i've seen in my entire life, maybe even one of the most beautiful women i 've seen...she is really pretty with nice features and i know i would definitely turn my head if i passed her on the street...overall, this film is highly recommended!!

SomeoneSpecial One of the best Korean film in 2004

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SomeoneSpecial One of the best Korean film in 2004

SomeoneSpecial-2004

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SomeoneSpecial-2004

Table of Germany and Japan Post-War Actions

I have included a table clearly showing some of the reasons many Asians have for feeling that Japan has not done enough in atoning for wartime crimes as opposed to Germany which will hopely allow those who think Japan has done enough to ponder on whether they have been too quick to judge:

Germany:
1958 set up committee which hunts down and prosecutes Nazi criminals who escaped justice in Nuremberg. Operates and continues to hunt for Nazi criminals to this very day with assistance from American govt.
Japan:
Releases ALL warcriminals from Sugamo Prison in Tokyo by 1958 and has NEVER prosecuted any more Japanese warcriminals after Tokyo WarCrimes Trials.

Germany:
NO Nazi has ever held office in govt after WW2
Japan:
Many Japanese warcriminals involving those on the wartime cabinet continued to lead public office after WW2 with many continuing onto the postwar Japanese govt with even one Prime Minister in the 50s having been a high position govt official in the wartime govt.

Germany:
Has paid billlions in reparations to Holocaust and another Nazi victims and will continue to pay for the next few yrs as there are reparation laws passed by the German Parliament.
Japan:
Has paid ZERO dollars in official reparations since many Asian govt who bear fault as well had waived all legal rights to war reparations in exchange for Japanese economic aid.
Refuses to pay ALL individual victim claims with many suits by former slave labours and comfort women being turned down in Japanese courts.

Germany:
Officially apologised many times incl those passed by parliament and even has habit of always visiting Holocaust memorials in Israel whenever Germany ministers visit Israel.
Japan:
Has NEVER OFFICIALLY apologised for crimes during WW2 with exception of 1995 apology which was THE ONLY apology passed by the Japanese Diet and all other individual apologies by PM always insincere as inevitably followed by contradictory actions such as visits to shrine worshipping warcriminals or inflammatory statements denying any Japanese wrongdoing by cabinet ministers INCLUDING former Justice Minister who denied the Nanking Massacre and the current Education Minister who recently in June said there was no such term as comfort women (one can only guess what Japanese children are learning with Japan's highest official in charge of education saying irresponsible and callous things like that).

Germany:
Built many memorials to Nazi victims and Holocaust survivors incl the high profile new Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Berlin which was given high press coverage this year.
Japan:
In stark contrast, not a SINGLE memorial to Asian victims in whole of Japan built by Japanese govt and many devoted exclusively to Japanese victims such as Hiroshima or Okinawa civilian deaths. Has Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo devoted to 14 Class-A convicted warcriminals including the notorious Tojo and thousands other Japanese soldiers which would inevitably include the countless rapists and murderers that were some of the Japanese soldiers in WW2.

60th Anniversary of WW2

Today is the 60th Anni of WW2 and the issue of Japan and WW2 being one of my utmost interests, i would like to take this historic and significant day to talk more on this issue.
As already known from my earlier posts on this issue, i feel a great injustice continues to this day 60 yrs after that war as Japan continues to evade its moral responsibility in atoning for the damage it wrought on Asian countries 60yrs ago. It is disheartening to see that the West is not concerned at all on this issue and even think that Japan has atoned enough. An example can be seen from the April anti-Japanese demonstrations in China whereby Western media incl The Times and Newsweek completely passed over what is the crucial issue of Japanese schooltextbook whitewash, lack of official apology (this means passed by parliament in clear EXPLICIT terms) or compensation and visits to shrines worshipping warcriminals, etc The media just went on and on about how the demonstrations were purely political or purely due to 'anti-Japanese' education,etc which is complete nonsense. It is not relevant whether it were political or not cos the demonstrators had a valid point to make. Further it seems the world's media are right at home with Japan's right wing nationalist when they say the Chinese education is 'anti-Japanese'...i mean i would like to ask just which part is anti-Japanese? The fact that they incl content on the 200 000 Asian women forced in sexual slavery ? or that they incl content on Japanese human experiments on POWS? or the fact that they incl the Nanking Massacre where 300 000 Chinese were slaughtered in Nanking, the former Chinese capital city, when Japanese forces invaded and occupied it? I mean to call these 'anti-Japanese' is tantamount to calling teaching the Holocaust in American and Jewish schools to being 'anti-German' and calling shows portraying evil Nazis to 'promoting hatred for Germans' It seems that the West feels that talking about the Nazi Holocaust is worthwhile and correct whilst the same in Japan's case miraculously becomes 'anti-Japanese'.....
Further, i am strongly opposed to the West refusal to equate the Japanese atrocities/crimes to the Jewish Holocaust. This in my opinion boils down to racism. The fact is that the West does not really care if ppl of non-white race suffer as the Holocause involved Jews, who are still part of the white race even if there is a history of anti-Semitism the Jews are still more valued than the other non-white races. Thus suffering under the Japanese which involved primarily Asian races is not given much attention. This can be seen in school textbooks in Western Countries where WW2 basically means the Holocaust, Polish concentration camps, Russian Front, etc whilstthe Asian Theater is briefly touched on more often than not emphasing Japan's 'victim' status with the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings. Bookshelves on WW2 also line with tons on Nazi Germany and than if lucky 20% or less on the Asian theatre and then again on Japanese suffering in Hiroshima or just about battles where Westerners died like the fall of Singapore or Saipan or Phillipines (rarely goes into the Asian civilian suffering in these areas). History,i feel, is extremely eurocentric right down.
Another point which i feel reveals the racist aspect of historical studies and perception is how the West refuses to admit that the Japanese warcrimes, like many other atrocities/warcrimes around the war, are equal if not as worst as the Holocaust in terms of scale and brutality. Often westerners love to point out that the Holocaust was planned and involved 6 million victims whilst the Japanese crimes were 'not planned' and numbers of victims undetermined. I mean this is pure racism though i'm sure many do not realise they are being racist cos it is totoally irrelevant that the Japanese warcrimes were not planned since the Japanese killed more Asians (35 million or so Chinese plus prob 1 million Koreans and Taiwanese conscripts combined plus millions more South East Asians) without planning than the Nazis did with planning. Further many were planned and notorious such as the '3 all policy' in Manchuria which meant loot all burn all and kill all to create 'no-man zones' such that Chinese guerilla forces would not be able to hide behind civilian populations. Then there is the comfort women system whereby it was a planned policy to force Asian women into serving as sex slaves for the 2 million or more Japanese troops stationed in occupied territories. Aren't these planned? Then comes the eurocentric attitude of how accurate the figures on Chinese wardead are or how accurate are facts on warcrimes? I mean no one is allowed to dispute the Holocaust or 6mill Jews number but all of a sudden it is ok to question figures come up by Asians? Some even say they admit the Japanese warcrime facts but feel its exagerated, i mean if i were to say that the Holocaust figures of 6 million were exaggerated, i would be immediately labelled a 'neo-Nazi' whilst when Japanese textbooks, popular TV shows, magazines question the Asian 'Holocaust' it is said by the West to be an example of democracy and freedom of speech, if thats the cas i guess Germany should dismantle current 'undemocratic' laws prohibiting denial of the Holocaust.
I think its time the West start to emphatise with ppl of other races and not constantly think that only when an atrocity involves western victims is it worthy of attention. The fact is the Holocaust is NOT the ONLY and WORST tragedy in recent history (as German chancellors have said time and time again)it is but ONE of many human tragedies incl Rwanda Genocide, Congo Conflict, Bosnia Genocide, and not least the Japanese WW2 warcrimes which all deserve as much attention as the Holocaust is getting now.

Comfort Women across Asia rally for Japan apology Aug 2005

Posted by: hcpen1111

Comfort Women across Asia rally for Japan apology Aug 2005

Nanking Massacre Museum Commemoration Aug 2005

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Nanking Massacre Museum Commemoration Aug 2005