Glutter

It hasn't changed. Not really. The places I remember is still there, the buildings are pretty much the same. Except it's gotten nicer and the scary part of town is gone. That is not a bad thing.

We spent an hour driving from downtown all the way to Venice Beach, through Hollywood Bld, by the Oscar theatre, Chinese Mann Theatre (where all the footprints and hand prints are), then onto Sunset, where I was happy to see Book Soup still there, along with the Roxy then down through westwood by UCLA then into Venice Beach, where I walked by my old apartment and ate at my local pizza place. After that we went to Hollywood and had a drink in a funny bar called "Formosa" that is from the 20s and has Chinese decorations. I never would have gone, but nearly all the bars in Hollywood is close because of Thanksgiving. How strange. I would figure it's a big blow out night.

Actually all the "Changes" isn't so drastic. It's not like Hong Kong where whole neighbourhood gets destroyed and replaced by souless malls. Everything is still there, mostly, just a lot of the non descript things is replaced.

I spent a lot of time adding streets back into my mind map. Filling up the forgotten parts.

LA is a lot smaller than I remember. Maybe because I am older now and seen more cities. Compared to London and New York is seems not as vast and daunting.

I am pretty much proud of myself as I stayed up until 1:19am. But off to bed.

Yan

I am here. Back in what feels like an old life except as an adult. Downtown looks the same except the quality is different. All the empty buildings are being rennovated, and the whole city is being remodeled into a viable place rather than a third world country. It's still a ghost town in many ways. As of everything around us, only this apartment (an old rennovated bank) is occupied. I don't know this part of town well. So I still have no idea much of this new LA. But it does feel different. Like it's a city on the verge of being created. From what it was which was abandonned to something viable.

I am sorta here but I am not. Maybe I will ask Phil to drive me around tonight. Sunset? Santa Monica? West Hollywood? Just to see the places I know so I know I am here.

I can't believe I am over 30 and I am here. It's such a strange feeling. Like somehow I never really left. Hong Kong seems so far away, like part of it never even happened. Except I am still the same person as I was a day ago. But more relaxed. The rules here make more sense to me than what I have been living. People talk, interact. The waiter sits down at your table as he describes you the menu. You wave to him good bye and you know the next time you come by he will remember you and you will speak. The guy at the telephone shop offered me his old batteries, as he doesn't use them anymore and because I can't buy the same make anymore. Gave me his number, told me to call to remind him. I don't really know how to explain it. It's just LA. Or it's just how LA is to me. Good. Kind. Friendly. I am always amazed.

On the other hand my step mother is in hospital. I didn't know it until I was nearly on the plane. I can't really understand what that means as of now. Serious but not critical. I don't really know what that means. I feel somewhat disorientated, but also very happy to be home. It's going to take a while for me to understand all the things that is going on. I should go talk to my friend Phil, as we need to go pick up a turkey for the thanksgiving dinner he's organizing for friends... we are looking forward to see all the old people in our lives. A ten year reunion.

yan..

It's been a bit of a secret but actually I misplaced my passport and only just found it today. My last conversation with my mother, she kept saying, "You have your credit card? You have your passport?" and I kept saying, "Yes, mom. I do." When in fact, it was "Well, I know it's in my apartment and I have no idea where it is actually."

It was good when I found it because I was about to cry. I really had looked everywhere I thought it might be, and had no idea where it was. Except I didn't lift up a painting I made a while back, as behind it was a box filled with all the important documents. So I have my passport, my credit card, my ticket information, and now all I need is my clothes and important things I feel I need to bring with me.

That means packing.

And for some reason, I feel a bit paralyzed in doing so. In fact I have been somewhat nervous about organizing this trip.

When i first decided to go, that's all I can think of. I was so happy I was on my way. I was also soooo happy to finally decide I was going to law school and the courses I was going to take. I was so utterly happy that I was grinning to myself as I walked down the street and would giggle as i talked to my friends.

I was a happy happy girl.

Then somewhere along the line, I started to really enjoy my life in Hong Kong, and with a blink of an eye happened on a new life. New friends, new people to date, new schedule, new life. It's the life I always wanted with the kind of people I really enjoy. It just the right group of people at the right time, and each new relationship that was added to the mobile phone, made my life just that little bit fuller.

I believe every girl needs a few things in life:

a) One good girlfriend who you can tell everything to, and gives good advice

b) A few good girlfriends you have dinner with whom you can discuss the state of relationships, feelings on exes, your love life. Plus the ability to talk about wardrobe choices, where to buy, compare beauty treatments, and then switch gear to careers and politics.

c) One good wing man who vet your dates, give you hugs, give his perspective on men, and occasionally get into rousing arguments about whether Bush is stupid or not, what the liberals are doing wrong, and know good restaurants and get you in good clubs.

d) One fabulous gay friend who owns a black American express card and likes the finer things in life, so you can live vicariously through his credit rating.

e) A party omisexual (gay) friend who has good parties, knows everyone who thinks you're "lovely" and invite you his dos that are always fun and full of interesting characters like airport architects who is really impressed by your democratic leanings and handbag designers who went to the school next to you.

f) a bunch of interesting guys you think are cool, you might be friends with a few maybes

g) a sarcastic and dry guy friend to keep you on your painted toes, who makes you laugh and will share conversations about making documentaries and im you amusing anecdotes throughout the day

h) Someone who goes hiking and camping

i) A solid and happy married couple friend who you can go to for career and life advice.

j) a surf, skate buddy.

k) a good yoga instructor

l) a great photographer who doesn't yell and will pay you well to assist.

i: All of whom is always ready to send an SMS into your phone or an email on Tuesday to discuss the plans for the weekend
ii: You can call up anytime to see what they are doing
iii: Can have brunch with on Sundays
iiii: Know and feel comfortable that if shit hits the fan, they will allow you to turn up on their couch and use up a box of tissues

All of which I never had in Hong Kong, and surely not at the same time, which one morning I woke up and realized I now have. Which obliterated all the reasons that was pushing me out of town, and why I wasn't always happy.

So now, I sorta have a happy balanced life. Including a nice schedule with yoga classes and gym. Plus a new career change that i am most excited by. I feel a bit torn in leaving. I am actually NOT leaving right now, I am only going away for two months, but I also know that life flashes by and within two months things would be different, and people get closer or not, and when I return it will all bit not as I remember again.

I also know this might be the best time to jet and leave as I am on a high and all is well.

But it feels sad, as I am leaving. Maybe not exactly this very second as I will come and go, but I don't think I really feel I live here anymore. I am coming back for a visit on my way somewhere else.

I was thinking about what it means to be a home. And I thought how although I must have spent much less time in Milan than I had in London. I always felt Milan wasn't a just a visit, it was the start of a new home. I looked around the place as i saw it in terms of my life, where I fitted in, what I would like to do next time. I saw myself existing in that place, making a life, building friends and relationships. I thought about where I was going to school, whether I liked the place, and if there was any decent Chinese food. I looked for a place to see if I could get a Chinese maid, a nanny, a woman to help me run a house one day. I looked around at neighbourhoods to see which one I would like, and thought about the future. I had keys that were mine, a place that was mine to fix, a mobile phone number that would be mine on and off. I saw it with a far more critical eye, in terms of who I was. I didn't always like it, but I could see a life.

London on the other hand, always had a feel of transit. I was on the way somewhere. This was a base. it was where I was spending the summer before I went home to my school friends. it was the place I was visiting. I always saw London as a place that belonged to my friends. I watched their lives, and saw how they lived. I felt my relationship with it in terms of an outsider, a foreigner, tried to understand it for the time being. I didn't need a favorite neighbourhood or a season ticket for the ballet. I didn't have to remember how people dressed in certain parts of town so when I returned I could get it right. I didn't have to work out how to get there or where it was or that if i needed something that's where I needed to return.

I think the difference between a place and a home is whether you want to get to know it in terms of yourself.

When you visit a computer store or a mall, or a supermarket if it's a place that you are only travelling through, you only need the item on the list and then you are gone. If you plan to stay, you meander, you remember, you track and tack. You place invisible post its in your brain for a shop or an item, or person or a place. You try to remember its name, or how to get there or when it is a good interval to return or avoid completely. When i was in Milan I used to walk around the supermarket all the time. I can't remember what reason I had for it at the time, but in retrospect I realized it was because I was planning. If there was one thing I needed to know was what was available and what I could cook. I couldn't read the menus, and when my boyfriend wasn't around, I was on my own. And if i needed or wanted something exactly as I wanted, I had to make it myself. I couldn't find the right place to order it, or explain what I wanted. The only way was that I was to cook.

It's a very well know fact I don't really like Italian food. I hate Italian pizzas. The only thing I would want to eat for myself was the sandwiches in Rome. Sandwiches you can't get in Milan. I don't really like ice cream too much either, and if there is one place on earth that feels they don't need foreign cuisine, not interested in fusion, that is Milan. And all really I eat is fusion food, Californian vegetarian mush and shanghainese. The occasional burger, mushroom and steak pie, a kebab, or roast duck. None of which one can get in Italy, not even in Milan. There was one okay tapas restaurant in the neighbourhood, and that was it. And oh my god, no soy milk, not anywhere.

Mainly, now I think back to my twice daily trips to the supermarket in Milan, it was because I realized I was screwed. If I stayed there it would mean a death of the palate. It would mean all the great food that was a hop, step and jump from where I lived in Hong Kong would dissipate. The famous Chinese writer Shen Tong once was asked if he wanted to leave China, and he replied, "No, what would I eat?" I laughed like everyone else, and thought, "Yes, I know the feeling. Outside my shit relationship, it was probably the biggest reason not to live in Europe." I wanted to stick my hand out just to agree.

But you know, even if I thought exactly the same thing in London, it never bothered me. I didn't stare at products on a shelf feeling worried. I just thought my friends were crazy to stay that long, and was shocked at what they put up with as food. Which is why I have always liked Australia. There is soy milk everywhere, unimaginably good fusion cuisine, and fantastic Chinese and Asian food. I felt misty eyed when i saw tofu pock in the mall in the chichi noodle shop in downtown Sydney, because I knew no matter what -I know I would not starve. Laksa amd Lee Kum Kee (imported by my uncle I might like to add) at every supermarket shelf, including in non asian areas. I knew I could live in Sydney. But that's because I was looking.

And sometimes you don't even have to look. It's just so obvious. Like New York. I always felt like I could be there, live there, because without trying I was just there. I knew New York really well just by the feel. I would just wander and find what I wanted. I would discover cool little places my friends hadn't heard of. I would call them to meet me somewhere that they already knew. I never got too lost in New York, not least my their sensible street naming system. You could never go the wrong way too long, as the street numbers would straight away let on. If you're going 100 to 101 you know you're going north, if it's 4th to 3rd that's down. You can always work out exactly how far you are, and near which part of Manhattan you are standing at.

And with Hong Kong island it's even simpler. I don't even have to think. I know the exact location of the fridge for Ben and Jerrie's ice cream at the cause way bay Wellcome. I know which small street it is for a short cut. I can probably walk blindfolded through certain parts of the city, and know which camera shop has the cheapest Fuji film. I can look out at the sun and know what time it is, and feel exactly the day when summer is over. I can tell if something bad is happening in the news, just by the look of people's faces. The woman at the corner store knows exactly what brand of cigarettes I am going to buy, and which magazine I am looking for. I can think of somewhere to go all the time if given a minute. If I need something, I never have to ask because I know exactly where it is I can find it.

It's not like that when you are not home. You have to ask, and you have to try and you have to really look and remember.

I am a little bit nervous about going back to LA. I had a look at the MTA line. I realized this is not the LA I knew before. As I had no idea there was a train system that broad and wide. And once the transport system is put in, then the movement of people and places change accordingly. I don't even know what the weather is like in November. I can't really remember it. What did I wear in previous thanksgiving? What does one pack if you're invited to a desert party on the weekend. Will it be cold? Will the sun keep me warm as I remember it? I wonder what they have knocked down in the last few years. I worry I will hate all the changes they have made to my campus. Is the bike path still there? Will I be able to see the seals and the butterflies? I heard there was four storey car park. Is my little shrine my then boyfriend and I helped decorate in the forest still there? No doubt it's gone.

The weather is different in California and everywhere else. Not just Fahrenheit and Celsius. It's different because of the humidity and the open sun, 24 c means different things in different countries. 24 is cold in HK, but really hot in London, and cool in New York. It's probably 5pm in LA on a summer day because it always gets chilly in a desert at night. When I look at the numbers on the weather channel, I have to make sure I take into account of all the factors. If it's somewhere I don't know. It's just a guess work. If it's somewhere I call home, I can picture it in my head, and can figure out what it feels like on my skin. If it's somewhere I visit, I probably don't really know the answer.

And somewhere you call home. You always have a lot of people who can ask and you might even bump into them on the streets. When it's somewhere you are just travelling to, you don't know a soul except the few people you are visiting. There will never be any chance encounters. One never wonders if someone is near or there. I can never just pop by to see someone. When it's a place you know well, that is easy. You know where your friends hang out, or where they work, you know where they live. There are memories to the place. "Oh, that's where I met so and so the other day." "It's what's his name's favorite restaurant." "Yeah, remember the time we walked pass there just after that happened." There is no history, no memories, no expectations. One can't compare and contrast, talk about the time before or what it used to be. There are no funny stories, interesting events, or life changing moments.

You have to start making them the moment one arrives.

But then again, you have to do that all the time, every day, all the while, otherwise what's the point of living?

I am now ready to go pack.

yanxxx

Operation California

Tonight I just spent two hours sending over 1000 plus emails to friends, family and some contacts. 525 addresses in Yahoo address book, and 629 in the gmail. I am not sure exactly how and why I know so many people. I mean, I know it's a give and take some people through the years have had a few different emails, a few that's doubled up in the two accounts and then some people I don't really know, but ended up on my contact list because we were invited to the same parties. But really, I sorta calculated and I am pretty sure it was just over 1000.

My high school was just about 1200 people. Considering it's not like I am in email contact with everyone I know. I see that now, if I put everyone I actually have some contact with in one big hall, that's a lot of people. Given that I travelled a lot and lived in a few separate places, that Hong Kong is about the most transient city in the world, plus all the strays of people I met up while backpacking, not to mention my amazingly huge family, where my mom is the youngest of nine and my dad is the oldest of six plus the extended extended. That's still a lot of people to have in my brain, and know them by name. And yes, it's true. I know pretty much most people I meet by name.

So, I am really off. Having said I was "leaving Hong Kong" for most of the eight years I have actually been based here, I really am leaving because I have never once sent an email that alerted others to the fact I am going.

I don't really know what to say, except I love this city. I still live on the same street my great grandmother lived, so my family has been pretty much in the same corner of this place for four generations. There is LA and then there is Santa Cruz, California, Hamilton and Christchurch New Zealand. There was Utila in Honduras, Xela in Guatemala, Luang Prabang in Laos, a moment in Milan Italy, a bit of time in New York. All those places I have lived for a bit in terms of I had an address and keys or a relationship, a job, a mobile phone number, or rent paid. That's a lot of places, but Hong Kong is still home. Well half of home, as there is a bit of my heart that is always with Venice Beach, or Hollywood, or West LA. Then there is London, and San Francisco, Sydney, and Auckland, and DC all the places I have stayed, where I can still turn up anytime, where the city map is still in my head, and will have friends and family chuck keys at me for an extended stay. And in 2007 I will bump Sydney into the list of "homes."

The world is really big but it's really small. Everything is only 24 hours plane ride away plus a few more hours on a train or bus away. That's why I don't even feel like I am really leaving. It's like a hop, step, jump away.

Last night I dragged my old friend to the water front, right next to the Star Ferry, (Which my government is knocking down, which makes me want to run away. I hate them so much!) and sat and watched the sunrise. It was my last Saturday in Hong Kong for a while, the last of the weekend I officially "live here."

it seemed right, that I go with the Star Ferry. It's been the symbol of home for so long. Ever since I was old enough to take public transport, my busses home left from there. I am always there, it's just homebase.

I wanted to say more. But I am so tired. I guess I will have more time to reflect once I am in California. I hope to hear from some of my 1000 people friends. I hope they get into contact.

Good night.

So I am off. I am on the way to LA for two months, just to look around. Establish old relationships, and see the new and improved LA. I have been stressing non stop about the car situation, until I was told that now there is a train direct from Downtown (where I am staying) to Hollywood. I am not sure how far I can go, or what it will look like, but it seems at least I will not be completely stuck there and have a bit of leeway.

I am nervous. But excited.

There is so much I want to write about in regards to my plans and of course all these thoughts on HK and politics, but time is short.

I think I am going to turn Glutter into a travel diary for a bit, and compare and contrast the ten year old memory of California to the one it is now.

Later...

Yan

SHAREHOLDERS ASK CISCO SYSTEMS TO ACCOUNT FOR ITS ACTIVITIES IN REPRESSIVE COUNTRIES

Reporters Without Borders today praised all the individual and institutional shareholders who chose to express their concern about Cisco Systems' ethical failings by voting at an annual shareholders meeting on 15 November in favour of a resolution that would have forced it to produce a report on its activities in repressive countries.

Twenty-nine percent voted in favour, which is unprecedented for a resolution of this kind. Fifty per cent plus one would have been needed for the resolution to have been adopted. The press freedom organisation urges US investors to present similar resolutions at the annual shareholders meetings of other Internet companies such as Yahoo!.

"Just three years ago, few investors in new technologies felt concerned about the ethics of these companies," Reporters Without Borders said. "But today we see more and more shareholders ready to do something to get companies such as Cisco Systems to respect free expression, whatever the country they are operating in."

"Now US legislators as well as the shareholders and clients of these companies are becoming worried about their ethical lapses," the organisation added. "It is time that Internet giants such as Cisco Systems and Yahoo! realise the scale of these concerns and overhaul their policies as regards social responsibility."

Entitled "Internet fragmentation report," the resolution was filed by the investment company Boston Common Asset Management (see the text of the resolution below). The Cisco Systems board of directors asked shareholders to vote against the resolution.

Boston Common filed a similar resolution last year that got 11 per cent of the votes. The investment company was inspired by the example of human rights activist Ann Lau, who - as an individual shareholder - submitted resolutions in 2002 and 2003 condemning Cisco Systems' lapses in China, each time getting less than 3 per cent of the vote.

Reporters Without Borders has for several years been urging investment funds to take action in support of online free expression. At the organisation's initiative, 30 investors signed a statement in 2005 about the moral responsibilities of Internet sector companies (see:
http://www.rsf.org/fonds-investissement.php3).

Cisco Systems helped build the Chinese Internet in 1998. It is accused of helping the authorities to programme its equipment to allow filtering and online surveillance. Research by journalist Ethan Gutman also revealed the company's involvement in the sale of very sophisticated communications equipment to the Chinese police.

For more information
- Yahoo! In China: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19545

- The text of Boston Common's resolution

Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, 84 State Street, Suite 1000, Boston, Massachusetts 02109, a beneficial owner of 108,266 shares of Cisco common stock, joined by other filers (whose names, addresses and shareholdings will be provided by Cisco promptly upon receipt by Cisco Investor Relations of any oral or written request), have notified us that they intend to present the following proposal at the meeting:

Internet fragmentation report

WHEREAS:

On February 15, 2006, Cisco Systems, Yahoo, Google and Microsoft testified before the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives about alleged complicity in human rights violations in China;

Mark Chandler, General Counsel of Cisco Systems, testified that:

"Some countries have chosen to restrict or limit access to information on the Internet based on political considerationsŠ. While many have commented on the activities of the Chinese government in this regard, the issue is, in fact, global. Some Middle Eastern countries block sites critical of their leadership."

"Efforts are underwayŠto balkanize the Internet. Policies which promote that-even inadvertently-will undermine rather than support the many projects which help users evade censorship and will exacerbate rather than solve the problems we are discussing today."

"The liberating power of the Internet depends on its existence as one global Internet. Š Any policies in this area should, we believe, proceed from the realization that its very global nature provides a unique tool for the dissemination of ideas and cultivation of freedoms. We should do nothing to disturb its promise."

Cisco sells its products, including Internet and surveillance technology, primarily through resellers, to government agencies and state-owned entities throughout the world. The U.S. State Department and others have documented how various governments, including several governments with which our Company does business, monitor, censor and jail Internet users, through manipulation of Internet technology.

Mr. Chandler testified that the key to the growth of the Internet "has been the standardization of one global network. This has been and remains the core of Cisco's mission."

In October 1998, Cisco announced it was selected as a key supplier for building China's nation-wide IP backbone. China's network has been called "the Great Firewall of China", and has become synonymous with the censored, closed network which, according to Mr. Chandler, threatens the realization of Cisco's core mission.

The US State Department has also documented concerted efforts to thwart the development of one global Internet in Saudi Arabia, where Cisco recently announced a five year investment of over $265 Million and has over 150 Cisco Partners.

Legislation was introduced in the House prohibiting, "business from cooperating with officials of Internet-restricting countries in effecting the political censorship of on-line content." The proposed legislation currently provides for both fines and jail time (The Global Online Freedom Act of 2006 (H.R. 4780)).

RESOLVED:

Shareholders request the Board to publish a report to shareholders within six months, at reasonable expense and omitting proprietary information, providing a summarized listing and assessment of concrete steps the company could reasonably take to reduce the likelihood that its business practices might enable or encourage the violation of human rights, including freedom of expression and privacy, or otherwise encourage or enable fragmentation of the Internet.

Supporting Statement:

The requested study should include a company-wide review of company policies, practices and indicators related to the impact of the company's activities on fundamental human rights and the development of a fragmented Internet.

The Internet was created for communications and enightenment for those around the globe. Not for the exploitation and abuse of those who cannot protect themselves. it is up the the politicians, legislators, Internet companies to parent these children who cannot help themselves. For it is the laws, infrastructure, and technology that allows it to happen. It is those who are in charge of those issues that need to help make it stop.

The organizer's aim is to have a million candles lit. That means they need a millions ones. Please take the time.

Yan

--
The innocent victims of Internet child abuse cannot speak for themselves.

But you can.

With your help, we can eradicate this evil trade.

We do not need your money.

We need you to light a candle of support <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com>.

We're aiming to light at least One Million Candles by December 31, 2006.

This petition will be used to encourage governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organisations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse.

They have the power to work together. You have the power to get them to take action.

Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com> or send an email of support to light@lightamillioncandles..com.

Together, we can destroy the commercial viability of Internet child abuse sites that are destroying the lives of innocent children.

Kindly forward this email to your friends, relatives and work colleagues so that they can light a candle too.

17,000 people vote against Internet enemies during 24-hour protest against online censorship

Internet users flocked to the Reporters Without Borders website to take part in a 24-hour protest against online censorship that has just ended, while symbolic demonstrations were held yesterday on the streets of Paris and New York. After receiving more than 100,000 visits in 24 hours, the protest webpage - http://www.rsf.org/24h - will remain open for a few more days so that Internet users can continue posting messages there.

"We wanted to demonstrate that bloggers and Internet users the world over feel concerned about the problem of online censorship," the press freedom organisation said. "The scale of the participation shows that people are not indifferent about the fate of Chinese, Egyptian or Cuban dissidents."

Reporters Without Borders added: "We have also once again seen that the way Yahoo! compromises its principles in China provokes a reaction of deeply-felt disapproval. It is high time this corporation took concrete steps to respect press freedom."

Massive online participation
- By 11 a.m. today, more than 17,000 people had voted on the Internet enemies map. Breakdown of the votes: Belarus (2,500), Burma (4,500), China (4,100), Cuba (1,000), Egypt (650), Iran (1,500), North Korea (200), Saudi Arabia (650), Syria (200), Tunisia (1300), Turkmenistan (250), Uzbekistan (150), Vietnam (250).
- 3,300 Internet users posted a message of support
- 340 messages audio messages were recorded online pour Jerry Yang, Yahoo!'s founder. These recordings will be handed in next week to Yahoo! France executives.
- 55 blogs were created on the Reporters Without Borders blog platform: www.rsfblog.org.

Reporters Without Borders urges Internet users to continue recording messages for Yahoo!'s founder on the http://www.rsf.org/24h webpage, which will remain open for a few more days. The most original messages will be posted prominently on our website.

Events on the streets of Paris and New York (see photos below)
- In New York, mobile billboards drove around the streets of the city displaying large posters of a map of the world highlighting the Internet black holes. "Ad bikes" also crisscrossed Manhattan and parked in various spots, including outside Yahoo!'s New York headquarters.

In Paris, Reporters Without Borders projected a gigantic world map of online censorship onto the city's monuments as night fell yesterday. The press and passers-by saw the map displayed on the facade of Saint-Lazare station, the Bastille Opera and the building that houses the French headquarters of Yahoo!. Reporters Without Borders activists requested a meeting with Yahoo! executives in order to hand in the audio messages that were recorded during the cyber-demo. A meeting has been set for next week.

A gigantic world map of Internet black holes projected on Parisian monuments

CLICK HERE FOR ACTION

Thirteen countries censor what should be a space for free expression. They are Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Throughout the world, more than 60 Internet users are currently in prison for posting news or information on the Internet.
Click here to combat online censorship now.

- In response to an appeal by Reporters Without Borders, more than 10,000 people have already participated in an online demonstration that was launched at 11 a.m. today on the organisation’s website with the aim of condemning the 13 Internet enemies and combatting online censorship.

- 200 people have already recorded a message for the founder of Yahoo!, deploring the fact that his company helps the Chinese authorities track down cyber-dissidents.

Internet users have until 11 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) to join this international campaign.

In New York, mobile billboards drove around the streets of the city displaying large posters of a map of the world highlighting the Internet’s black holes.

In Paris, Reporters Without Borders projected a gigantic world map of online censorship onto the city’s monuments. The press and passers-by saw the map projected onto the facade of Saint-Lazare station, onto the building that houses the French headquarters of Yahoo!, and onto the Bastille Opera. The aim was to encourage the public to get involved in the fight to defend the right to online free expression. Reporters Without Borders activists distributed leaflets explaining the 24-hour online protest against censorship.

. Reporters Without Borders today also launched a blog platform on its website. By creating your blog on rsfblog, you will help our organisation to support people who have been put in prison for expressing their views on the Internet.

. The Reporters Without Borders website is now also in Arabic, as well as French, English and Spanish. From today, all of the press releases produced by the organisation will be systematically translated into Arabic and posted on the website, so that it is accessible to a broader public.

Freedom of expression is not a luxury. It is everyone’s right!