Lt. Dan Choi vs Government

I must admit that the case of Lt. Dan Choi interested me from the very start. He was one of the many visible voices in the struggle to end the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (usually used the term DSDT now.), a law that was initiated and signed into law by President Clinton. The fact that many people asked it to be repealed is very curious as the reason of its existence was to end the prosecution of gays in the armed forces of America. The original idea was that commanders cannot ask the subordinates their sexual preferences, while on the other hand the military personnel cannot reveal of his sexual preference. It sounded like a perfect compromise until it was discovered that that "don't tel"l did not include investigations made by complaints made by informants or Independent snooping due to suspicions. In the end it did not protect the gays from harassment and discrimination. The fact that the armed forces that is made up of people who claim to believe in truth, honesty and honor is problematic when you wanted a fraction to live a lie of a life did not bode well with the ideals of the military at all.
     It is under this climate that Lt. Den Choi came out and began to enlist in a new movement to end discrimination in the military by scrapping DSDT. Under his and other ex-military personnel and government leaders. DSDT was repealed before the Tea Party came into Congress in early 2011. Lt. Den Choi played an important ceremonial role when the repeal DSDT legislation was signed into law. However controversy still followed him as his action in Nov. 15 2010 by chaining himself at the railing on the ledge facing the White House with his fellow ex-military personnel (including a priest) chanting slogans about their military dignity resulted in a court case at the Federal Court on 29th August 2011.
     I was interested in Lt. Dan Choi as like him I am a first generation Chinese American born in this country. Actually there are many of us famous Chinese Americans including Bruce Lee & Yo Yo Ma. My own case is a bit complex as I grew up partially in Hong Kong and understood Chinese language and ways. The situation with Lt. Choi is a bit different as they were brought up in the American values, but did not have the old culture to fall back on. It would explain the hurt in his voice when he told the press about how this sort of discrimination could happen in this great country. But it has always been there. Lt. Choi is actually a "double minority" through his race & sexual preference. The fact that he spoke out and rocked the apple cart is very unusual in Chinese American families. Most Chinese immigrants like Lt. Choi's parents suffered being as second class citizens and pinned their hopes on the next generation. The fact that Lt. Choi decided to put his own career & future into jeopardy for an ideal is viewed as either admirable or foolhardy. Yet it is always the trailblazers that help to create a better future for following generations. Discrimination of any sort should not be tolerated by any modern & civilized society.
    In the first day of the trial, the prosecution tried to persuade the judge to render a judgment even before the defense could even provide an arguement is pure desperation on their part. The presiding judge wisely told the prosecution twice that the court cannot do that under the constitution. The mere suggestion of such is really scary. They paraded 4 park police and 2 park officials to testify. The fact that the protesters were chained on the ledge rather than the sidewalk is a technical point that is open for arguement. The more serious question is that whose's danger are they threatening (mostly their own admitted the officers). Another point of interest is that one officer admit that this is the first time that he is called to testify in court for such an offense in his 22 years in service ! To the more reasonable Lt. Dan Choi should be fined with a ticket (he illegally parked himself on the fence which is not allowed). The prosecution to take this as far as this court is deemed most unnecessary. Although to be fair, the prosecution did offer a deal for Lt. Dan Choi to admit his guilt & dismiss his case. This however Lt. Choi wasn't ready to do. The secret lies in the way he was treated and his military batch & order being taken off unceremoniously. It is about police brutality. Ever since the Rodney King beating, the police is under fire for misconduct and unnecessarily rough on unarmed protesters.Those who cannot see why this is important do imagine this. If you are a woman protestor in the streets, is it ok for the police to rip your bra off and expose your bare breasts ? The ripping off of a soliders's rank and orders is a similar insult and that is where Lt. Dan Choi cannot accept a "guilty" verdict, when his dignity ( I think every soldier's dignity) was being trampled.
     In retrospect, Lt. Dan Choi is actually very Asian after all, as Chinese (also Korean & Japanese) history are filled with those who would not compromised as far as their belief, honor (or face) & dignity were being trampled. 

The End of Li

In the six books written by Confusious, the most important is Li or etiquette. I think etiquette is not a very good translation because the concept of Li also include respect and hospitality and rules in which people operate on a day-to-day basis. It is one of the basis that establish China as one of the most civilized country in the ancient times. Both Japan & Korea took in those concepts of Li and still exercise it even now. Modern China had lost it once the Communist Party decided to get rid of its old culture during the Cultural Revolution of the late 60's & 70's. Most certainly the old ways had its problems of class distinction and discrimination. Yet it was the glue that welded the Chinese culture and civilization for more than 3000 years. The Chinese was greatly respected for its Li (etiquette) and it became a model for others to emulate. Now that China through its financial reforms is able to retain the superpower status in Asia since the early 18th Century, we began to realize how much of that has been lost.
    The recent supposedly friendly basketball game between China & The US showcased the Chinese as people that are so intended to win that they forgot that as hosts, they have retain a bit of self-control as hospitality requires. Everybody knows that basketball is not a strong sport as ping-pong. So that shouldn't be any surprise that they lost. In fact most of the Chinese spectators were outraged & ashamed by the antics of the Chinese team. What started out as a friendly match turned into a fiasco. That brings out a question as China became more powerful and important in the world stage, will it behave themselves ? The fear of the rise of the yellow race is no new invention since the Mongolians swept up Asia during the times of Genghis Khan. Even though the ruling Chinese party paid lip service to Confusious by staging revivals in his own province of Lu, the lack of teaching of Li in schools have the possibility of turning the next generation of Chinese into hooligans. The Chinese Government's one child policy already created a generation of "little emperors" who are spoilt and lacked discipline. It is fortunate that the Chinese had not lost the reverence of education at least (unlike the Americans had begun doubting the need for higher education) and deeply understood that only through the gaining of knowledge that one can move ahead and become law abiding citizens. Also the newly rich quickly saw that defect and reintroduced the training of Li in their households. As a Chinese saying quotes "It takes three generation for a family to become a "noted" family", one can only hope that the idea of Li is not really dead and would in time be revived.

Thoughts from England riots to civilization in general

The image of the burning building in the cities of England made a deep impression upon me. Great Britain is very close to me since I grew up in Hong Kong under a colonial style education. We were taught to respect others and become law abiding citizens while contribute our best to the betterment of society. I had always held it above the more liberal style education in the United States. In fact the education system there is already failing as the drop out rate is staggering. Only 50 % of the high school students graduate and among those fewer mastered those skills that actually fulfill the requirements. In the times of continued recession, teachers are the first to go and school funding slashed. Education has suddenly became a luxury that many people can ill afford. In fact people now openly question the worth of a college degree as many fresh grads failed to locate jobs. In Britain the same drama is played out with government slashing education funding. In doing so, they failed to see that without a literate and educated population, people could become easily fanned by discontent. That in itself made the situation inevitable. One must remember we are only taught to be civilized by education that stress what is right and wrong. Without it, we are animals that do whatever we want like barbarians. The youths did not appeared ashamed or uncomfortable when they loot, rob and touched cars & buildings. I remember reading the riots in English history, and how they were fanned by ignorance and general discontentment towards the ruling class. That was 1011 AD and now is 2011. We have come a long way or have we ? Both the US & UK are now throwing away what they had achieved for decades because of short term financial difficulties ? In China & India, people strive to achieve to rose out of the ranks. They understood only by being educated could you become a prosperous, well balanced and intelligent human being who can think for himself. In this thread such a person could contribute to the society he lives in. It is a tragedy that both US & UK ignored this and this is the result. I think this is only the tip of the iceberg and more is to come to both countries if they continue to ignore the importance of education and the meaning of being civilized.