On remembrance of June 4th and Tiananmen...

There's always alot of talks, chatters, when June 4th comes around. That's, of course, due to what happened that night back in 1989 on Tiananmen Square.

I remember it quite well too. I was growing up in Hong Kong at the time. My dad had been following the news very closely for close to a month. Everyone did. The initial student protest for more open government and democracy, led eventually to the call of the downfall of Deng Xiaoping. When it started out, most everyone in Hong Kong supported the call for a more open government. Towards the end though, I don't think the students even know what they wanted or what to do. To the people in Hong Kong, Deng had not come across as a villain. Afterall, he was the one who pushed out The Gang Of Four, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution, opening up China with a new open door policy, unleashing decades long economic boom in China, and lifting the living standards of millions in China.

Of course, that does not justify Deng's sanctioning the military crush of the mass. But with student leaders like Chia Ling, who pushed drama and wished for climax, what should (and could) have been the logical outcome of students loitering at Tiananmen Square?

And I've always wondered, what did these students know or mean, when they said they wanted democracy? What is democracy to them anyways?

Towards the end, there was even news report of unruly students on the Square demanding free car ride and food when they flashed their student ID to the "average citizens." I remember thinking to myself, these students had no idea what they "change" they're calling for. In the end, they're calling for a change of leadership, but not systemic change. Without systemic change, anyone who goes to the top is going to get corrupted by power. Just look at these students, they are already demanding privileges from others, simply because of their status as students. They would have been no better than those who're heading the government now.

And so, on the night of June 4th, military rolled tanks in. There wasn't much news coming out, since it seemed everything was blacked out. There was much of the same news footage on the news, with reports of tanks, lots of people killed or hurt, and that's it.

And then, there's news of the students leaders, Chai Ling being one of the first. The first news of her was a mug shot-like picture, saying she was smuggled out of the country to America. But you know the most funny and ridiculous thing was about Chai Ling? The news had it that, she had to disguised herself after getting out of the country, so she got herself a double eyelid. Literally everyone laughed at how ridiculous and vain this woman was.

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Twenty years on, it's probably sufficient time to recalibrate the June 4th incident. Actions speak louder than words, particularly empty, fancy words. Forget about China or democracy or whatever, Chai Ling is living her American Dream, married a foreigner, and making serious bucks. That's quite a good deal for chanting empty slogans, getting others killed, and rising above their blood. She is probably one of the student leaders I despise most. She's just another cheap, fake "human activist", if you could call her that.

Wang Dan remains committed. He's one of those who inspires the most, and remains an intellect who commands the most respect.

Wuerkaixi becomes something of a show biz guy, DJ in Taiwan, and what-have-you.

My question has always remained. How much commitment these so-called student leaders have, towards a goal higher than their personal comfort, but for the greater good of their fellow countrymen?

I don't think those like Chai Ling and Wuerkaixi even have anything near what it takes to start what they had called for, for changes in a country they supposedly professed love for. They really were no different than the students in this current younger generations in China and in other places like India, whose preoccupation is to make big and fast bucks. Hard politics can be left to other lesser fortunate souls.

Pigs.