Chinese letter in the Metro today

AlmightyCushion

Did any of ye read the letter sent in to the metro today by a couple of Chinese students studying English in a college here in Dublin. They were complaining that all the stories that the Metro prints about the Chinese are all novelty bits and not a serious representation of the country. Earlier on in the paper, they reported about a load of charities wanting the Olympics to be taken away from China because of their terrible human rights. Did any one else find this funny?

Steve_o

I wouldn't say funny per say, but i did chuckle when they mentioned that there were no serious arcticles about China in the Metro....in fairness there's hardly ever serious stuff about China in the Times let alone the Metro....the majority of the Metro's stuff is just easy "Train Reading".....also not too many people would be hugely interested in the general news in China....it is very far away!!!

jhegarty

A suspicious person would think they held the letter for the same day as that story....

AlmightyCushion

jhegarty wrote:

A suspicious person would think they held the letter for the same day as that story....

Wouldn't surprise me.

SingingCherry

jhegarty wrote:

A suspicious person would think they held the letter for the same day as that story....

LOL, I SMART person would say that.

Sad Professor

The Metro isn't a serious representation of Ireland nevermind China. We should be complaining.

red_ice

its free and has sudoku - stop moaning about representation, it looks good under my arm as i walk to work, makes me look like im important!

rivers

well i'd say anyone with even a little interest in world affairs would have interest in goings on in china considering it is on its way to being one of the most powerful countries in the world...

if they didnt like that story in the metro they certainly won't like it if this ends up in there 'Olympic firm admits child labour' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6747449.stm

Unpossible

red_ice wrote:

it looks good under my arm as i walk to work, makes me look like im important!

so its like your clip on tie and briefcase full of shredded newspaper?

AlmightyCushion

Unpossible wrote:

so its like your clip on tie and briefcase full of shredded newspaper?

Actually his briefcase is full of p0rn and knives. You don't want to see what he gets up to on his lunch break.

Unpossible

Actually his briefcase is full of p0rn and knives. You don't want to see what he gets up to on his lunch break.

o.k..... I just had an image of lional hutz in my head when he mentioned the newspaper, nothing quite as dark as knifes

Ishmael

Yep, saw the letter, in fairness, the metro is fairly crap anyway but why would we report on anything other than novelty news from there anyway. This being Ireland, Chinese news (for the most part anyway) isn't going to be that relevant to the majority of the readers. I somehow doubt chinese newspapers report on any Irish news unless it was something out of the ordinary or somehow relevant to Chinese people.

And as for painting an inaccurate picture of their culture, i mean c'mon - how many people in other countries think Ireland is full of a bunch of drunken leprechauns?

On a Side note: The discussion of women putting make up on on the dart in the morning will hopefully get a bit more interesting.

AlmightyCushion

Ishmael wrote:

On a Side note: The discussion of women putting make up on on the dart in the morning will hopefully get a bit more interesting.

Funnily enough, a woman was actually applying make up opposite me on the dart this morning. It didn't make me nearly vomit all over the place like that guy who sent in the letter. A bit of an overstatement me thinks.

Cormic

I only read Metro occasionaly when I go into Dublin for work. I do remember some priceless letters about pregnant women on the dart. Some people were saying why should they give up their seats for a woman who got herself knocked up. I hope the letter was sent as a joke.

Steve_o

Cormic wrote:

I only read Metro occasionaly when I go into Dublin for work. I do remember some priceless letters about pregnant women on the dart. Some people were saying why should they give up their seats for a woman who got herself knocked up. I hope the letter was sent as a joke.

I do remember that one alright, and oddly enough it wasn't a joke....poor ol' Metro is strugglin for stories!!!!

:|

I remember that one two. Anyone else remember the "ice cold water" saga last year? It got very technical!

Karoma

Moved from AH with redirect.
Feel free to bounce it back if the tone's too low.

Capt'n Midnight

red_ice wrote:

its free and has sudoku - stop moaning about representation, it looks good under my arm as i walk to work, makes me look like im important!

not to mention the TV page.

johnnyskeleton

AlmightyCushion wrote:

Did any of ye read the letter sent in to the metro today by a couple of Chinese students studying English in a college here in Dublin. They were complaining that all the stories that the Metro prints about the Chinese are all novelty bits and not a serious representation of the country. Earlier on in the paper, they reported about a load of charities wanting the Olympics to be taken away from China because of their terrible human rights. Did any one else find this funny?

The impression I got (bear in mind the metro fits into a very hazy part of my day) was that they wanted more news about home and they wanted to highlight the fact that there are a lot of Chinese people (and Poles, Czechs etc) in Ireland and that they want to read something that would be a bit more of interest to them.

I don't think they were saying that the Irish media don't have a serious view of China.

Dublin's Finest

Steve_o wrote:

I wouldn't say funny per say, but i did chuckle when they mentioned that there were no serious arcticles about China in the Metro....in fairness there's hardly ever serious stuff about China in the Times let alone the Metro....the majority of the Metro's stuff is just easy "Train Reading".....also not too many people would be hugely interested in the general news in China....it is very far away!!!

I disagree, I'd say a lot of people are interested in China. It could hardly be described as a dull place. It's the world's fastest growing economy, it's home to a third of the planet's population and is under communist rule. And Clifford Coonan did a number of 'serious' reports on China for the Irish Times just a few months ago.

Metro is hardly the place to be expecting rigorous coverage though.

Originally Posted by red_ice
it looks good under my arm as i walk to work, makes me look like im important!

You need the FT for that: part of the power suit, power tie, power walk brigade

smcelhinney

In fairness, I've LIVED in China, and they dont do much more than novelty news in their OWN newspapers (mingled in with communist propoganda). What with everything so strictly regulated, its very rare that you get a completely honest and unbiased opinion about anything in Chinese culture or life.

I didnt read the letter, but I think its quite naive..

JoeSchmoe

i imagine something like this happened, students come into class with Metro, moan to the teacher about there being another picture from China of a bear in a tutu or a duck wearing a hat or something like that. Teacher says ok, let's all write a letter to the newspaper, students enthusiastically set to work, teacher relaxes with a copy of herald AM, 20/30 minutes later teacher helps out with spelling, grammar, vocabulary, they put together a letter and send it off.

All in All a great class, students do something they actually care about, teacher does feck all, winner!

Unpossible

smcelhinney wrote:

In fairness, I've LIVED in China, and they dont do much more than novelty news in their OWN newspapers (mingled in with communist propoganda).

true, my better half used to be shocked at the BBC stories/documentaries about Mao or the cultural revolution. I cant comment about CCTV's chinese version of the news, but their english version was terrible, I could never take CCTV9 seriously when I was over there.