Someone has just told me that I should give up writing my blog's in Chinese because it's so bad and that I'm an insult to the Chinese literature. Being a British born Chinese and having spent all my life in England I find this rather difficult to take. I'm fond of my mother nation and to say I would insult it is an insult in itself.
Everyone has their own intellectual level. Just because one person's educational or family background is not as refined as someone else's does not mean their points of view or opinion is of any less value. To say that everyone must reach a certain level of literacy before they could be allowed to express themselves it's very elitist and dangerous.
How many people in China has a university degree? How many graduated from high school. Only a small percentage of the population. Does this mean that the vast majority of the people in china can't think and their views has no value. Or should their views and opinions be vetted so that only those of highest standards are allowed to express their views on forums or on their own web site? Should one give up on witting that love letter because one's not a novelist or a journalist?
Everyone should have a right to express themselves in their own way. Maybe in an communist country like China such a view is alien. Just because someone's blog doesn't get spread around the Internet like wild fire or get 100 comments saying how wonderful and articulate the article is, doesn't make his/her views any less important then someone else's. Both are important just that one is better at expressing themselves then the other.
When I was young I tried to learn as much Chinese as I could but never managed to finish primary school. Now much older I have very little time for more education. I use what little Chinese I know as well as I could. How is that insulting Chinese literature? A girl would lives on the same street as me is Chinese, can't write a word of it and don't speak it at all. If I'm insulting what is she?
To me someone who lives on the other side of the world who never had the opportunity to learn their mother tongue properly but still gives it a try is paying huge respect to his or her roots. Such activities should not be discouraged but supported in any and every way we can. Only by doing so can we raise the standard of Chinese in a foreign country.
No one should be made to feel ashamed of their Chinese whatever level it's at. If you can improve it then good, but don't be ashamed of using what you have. Not everyone can afford or have time to learn and improve their Chinese, and in all likelihood very few of us British-Chinese's will ever reach the same level of literacy as those born in China. So why compare.
The man next door has a brand new Mercedes, but I'm not going to spend the next 12 years of my life saving up my pennies and buying one, I'm going to go for that second had Polo. Same with my Chinese, I'm not going to wait until I'm a Nobel prize winning Chinese novelist before I write my blog, I'm going to do it now.
|
Viewpoints 
