May 13, 2008
Chinese New Yorkers Donate to China Earthquake Relief
Photograph of a Chinese couple and child in a stadium-turned-shelter after the earthquake by Andy Wong/AP
With the death toll over 13,000 and still tens of thousands missing or buried under debris, plus aftershocks near the epicenter today, the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that devastated the Sichuan province of China has prompted New York City's Chinese community to react. Many groups have received donations and City Councilman John Liu said:
"As always in the past, anytime there has been a tragedy of this kind of proportion anywhere in the world, New Yorkers have always stepped up to the plate. And they've already flooded my offices with offers of help and assistance. We truly thank all of New York and all of America for their offers of assistance."Liu, who mentioned how the Myanmar cyclone was also heavily affecting the Asian community in NYC, recommended donations go to the American Red Cross International Response Fund.
Mayor Bloomberg also expressed his sympathies, "This terrible tragedy strikes close to home for many in our city, where some 450,000 people trace their origins to China. To them, and to the people of China, we express the hope that you can soon 'change your tears into strength' - Hua Bei Fen Wei Li Liang."
Soldiers have been using their hands to dig through the rubble and find victims. However, the Times of London reports that earthquake victims' distress is turning into anger, blaming contractors for shoddy construction; one said, "This is not a natural disaster - this is done by humans." And one woman told the Wall Street Journal, "We can only have one child. How can we live without them? We put all our hopes on our kids."
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Chinese New Yokers ?
a real tragedy. I wish there was a more direct way to help than through the Red Cross.
Man, 13,000 people died in a blink of an eye. God is the biggest terrorist of all.
Bad things come in threes: Myanmar, China, West Virginia.
What happens in China when your only child dies, does anyone know? Are you allowed to have another child? I wonder how many would even want to.
#5 - I think if you lose a child in China they take you to a secluded place and put you in chains and beat you. Yes, China has bad human rights.
But all the pandas are ok, so that's a little ray of sunshine.
Most Chinese New Yorkers are Hong Kong background with no strong links to China and those that can speak Chinese can't speak Mandarin.
Given this, it is admirable that they are still keen to help.
"Most Chinese New Yorkers are Hong Kong background with no strong links to China and those that can speak Chinese can't speak Mandarin."
NO. Most Chinese in NYC are from wither Guangdong or Fujian province in the south east of China. There are also a sizeable number of Taiwanese in NJ.
Either way, they're all Chinese.
@zrl201
Exactly. Though it is true as Yanni suggests that a sizeable portion of Chinese in New York speak Cantonese rather than Mandarin, the written language is the same (give or take the jian ti vs fan ti that I won't go into here). Furthermore, as an overseas Chinese myself although not in New York, I question that assertion that NY or HK Chinese do not feel a connection to the mainland and its people, even if they disagree with the current government.
That said, it is indeed admirable that they are keen to help, as it always is when people show compassion in times of crises.
#10
I'm going to call bullshit. They could care less about what happens in Burma, because their government keeps raping it for natural resources, and they see their loving government block every UN Security Council resolution on it.
They're keen to help because the people who are suffering are Chinese. Maybe now isn't the best time to bring up ethnic tensions, but that's how it always is.
If you're Chinese, you're in the in-circle. Good treatment, no fuckin' around. Not Chinese? Or worse, you're Asian and you can't speak Chinese? Well, you're gonna get dirty looks, get cursed at, and get horrible service unless you're overly nice to them to begin with.
Don't believe me? Come to the real Chinatowns in the outer boroughs.
#12 - I disagree with you fervently. The chinese do not treat other chinese well. If you are chinese and go into a chinese restaurant you will get the same treatment as everyone else. shitty! At best, you can hope for is a modicum of politeness. The reason chinese people treat foreigners so bad is because they don't know english and refuse to learn so they avoid trying to speak to foreigners as much as possible. The Chinese society aren't used to Western business practices of being "fake nice". That's why they have no mcdonald's smiles. It's probably cause they are so used to huge numbers that smiling at everyone everyday would be tiring. They aren't taught any of that hold the elevator and say "hi" to everyone in the morning bullshit. They just put their heads to the ground walk as fast as possible to point a to point b, get their groceries as fast as possible and go home as fast as possible. They are only polite to immediate family and that's it. And even that's a stretch.
Do not donate to anyone
other than Red Cross.
Chinatown is famous for taking your
donation and celebrate with your money.
And to babyhitler,
there is a big group of Chinese that can "fake nice". It is called tact.
If you don't do it, you were not taught how to survive.
You have a lot to learn.
I don't do it because I don't give it **ck.
@nivek
Now, why should the Chinese population in New York care about Burma, ANY MORE than any other community in NY cares about Burma? (please note the qualification)
I don't find it surprising, unlike how some other commenters have expressed they feel, that the Chinese community in NY is showing compassion to the Chinese in China. That was the point of my post.
I take it that you are calling bullshit on my statement that their actions are admirable? Tell me, how are their actions not admirable? Because they didn't donate to the Burmese as well? Since then does the absence of a good deed (note: this is not even a "bad" deed) cancel out another good deed?
Why aren't you calling out the Polish/Russian/Italian/WASP/Dominican communities in New York for not donating to the Burmese? Why single out a single community which happens to be in the spotlight because they are helping someone else?
As individuals or communities, we cannot help everyone in the world. It is natural that we pick our fights/good deeds, and leave the rest to someone else. The Chinese in NY have chosen to help the Chinese in China, and I find that admirable.
@babyhitler
Your name and your comments certainly go together.
I feel bad that children were crushed flat like pancakes, and their putrifying bodies are slowly being pulled out. It could take weeks.
It must be tough, especially for the parents who only have one child.
Maybe they should cut off exporting Chinese girls to upper west side jewish childless couples looking to adopt, and give those girls to the Chinese parents who lost a child instead.
Well said CandleBlue.
A lot of Chinese are donating money to the disaster in Burma. However, unlike what is happening in China, the aid to Burma will never reach the victims. Their government is barring the Red Cross from going in and helping their own people. At least the Chinese government is doing a heck of a job rescuing and helping the victims of the earthquake.
7.9 on the richter scale. This equals total devastation. They will be finding corpses into the fall.