China craves the Western look

Priyanka Jain

PEOPLE LIVING IN Western society are already familiar with the Hollywood image being portrayed in the media. The way an actress’ curves hug her dress that makes her beautiful, or skin lightening cream that makes a person with darker skin complexion more attractive, are prime examples of how being beautiful is determined solely on how “western” one can look.

In China, there are no exceptions to this statement. From the age of 18, girls growing up in China become extremely conscious of their image in society. American television has a strong influence on the young generation in China, and they idolize celebrities, based on their appearance.

The two most popular cosmetic procedures performed in China are eyelid reconstruction and nasal bridge surgery. Eyelid reconstruction is widening the eye, to make it look bigger. Nasal bridge surgery is reshaping the nose, making it look more symmetrical to the face. The most common age for these surgeries begins in the early 20s. This is the ideal age, due to job prospects, and being the marriageable age. People in China believe that by having surgeries such as eyelid reconstruction and nasal bridge surgery, this will further their career, and make them more accepted into society when looking for a long-term partner.

“Big eyes and a straight bridge are signs of beauty,” said cosmetic surgeon Dr. Yang Yunxia.

“Ladies don’t like their face to be big and fat, so they want to change their face into a more beautiful shape,” said Yunxia.

Western advertisements also have a huge impact on the Chinese, as they are constantly surrounded by beautiful people on television, and in magazines. They idolize the models posing
for various billboards, such as H&M and Zara, which have been blown up all over Shanghai.
The Chinese see these foreign advertisements as success, fame, and beauty. Consequently, they go to extreme lengths to look like these “picture perfect” people they have bounded themselves with.

The idea of the stereotypical tall, fair, Caucasian person being the most beautiful has also had an effect on China’s marketing industry. Workers at various stores selling Barbie dolls in Shangai have acknowledged the fact that the typical blonde hair, blue-eyed Barbie is always the most in demand, while the Asian Barbie just “sits on the shelves.”

General manager Dann Murphy, of Mattel Inc. (makers of Barbie) located in Shangai, said “We don’t offer a lot of Asian Barbies because they never sell well.”

“Customers like to buy the authentic Barbie that they think is beautiful, and Barbie is known to have blond hair and blue eyes,” Murphy said.

It is unfortunate that Western influences are rapidly spreading around the world, to the point where it is becoming dangerous. People of other nationalities are too caught up in imitating the Western image, and habits that they fail to embrace their own icon and unique features. In places like China, cosmetic surgery is beginning at a fairly young age. These false procedures are unhealthy for both the body and the mind; Cosmetic surgery will eventually become an uncontrollable addiction for people, and could potentially ruin their identity. They will be far too obsessed by the time they want out.

Nate Phelps hates his father

Graham Slaughter

ON JULY 15, the Phelps family will hop into a squadron of minivans and drive 94 kilometres east from their home of Topeka, Kansas to Kansas City. They aren’t driving to a family reunion, a wedding, or a funeral. They’re going to an Adam Lambert concert.

But don’t get them wrong; the Phelps aren’t fans. Rather, they’re protesting the gay artist’s show on the basis that “he will be teaching people to sin” and that audience members ”will fall straight into hell.” An outline of the family’s trip can be read on their website.

Run through their exclusive Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), the Phelps have made international headlines for their “God Hates Fags” campaign. The WBC is known for protesting the funerals of American soldiers, shouting that God killed them for defending a society that accepts homosexuality.

They wave signs that read “Soldiers Die, God Laughs” and “Thank God for 9/11.” Since 1991, they’ve had nearly 44,000 protests across the United States, Canada, and once in Iraq.

They call these demonstrations “Love Crusades.”

Nate Phelps, 51, won’t be joining his family at the concert. In fact, Phelps hasn’t seen them 33 years.

On June 18, Phelps spoke to an audience of 200 at the University of Toronto about growing up in what a BBC documentary dubbed “the most hated family in America.” The speech was an official Pride 2010 event and was organized by the atheist organization the Centre for Inquiry Ontario. Phelps’ talk drew in atheists, theology experts, and members of Toronto’s GLBT community for an hour of insight into the WBC.

Phelps began by chronologically listing off the books of the Bible. At the age of seven, Phelps could recite all 66 books in 19 seconds flat.

“If one of us took too long my father would stop in the middle of his preaching, cast a gimlet eye on the offender and demand that, ‘Somebody smack that kid!’”

Along with his mother and 12 siblings, Phelps suffered from crippling degrees of physical and psychological abuse from his father, pastor Fred Phelps.

Pastor Phelps reads the Bible as a literal text, following each lesson word-for-word. This interpretation legitimized not only the WBC’s treatment of gays, but also the pain that was inflicted upon the Phelps children. Due to this interpretation, rules of the house came straight out of the Old Testament and restricted children from celebrating Christmas, having friends, dating, or girls from cutting their hair.

Phelps discussed moments of his childhood where his father would violently beat him with a mattock, a weapon that he described as “an axe handle on steroids.”

“He would administer a few painful blows, scream at the child for 20 minutes, and then go at it again to split open our wounds. He claimed that this punishment was done out of love for his children; yet as he beat us, he’d scream his hatred at us also.”

The church, started in 1955, doesn’t intend on expanding its parish beyond the Phelps family. In fact, the WBC’s website recently linked to another website called godhatestheworld.com. Pastor Phelps preaches that
only his followers will go to heaven and that the rest of the world is condemned.

“My father has no intention of conversion. You’re either chosen or you’re not.”

That message still rings true today. The current generation of the WBC has made online video parodies of songs such as Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” (“You pissed off God, you’ll see what he’s got”) and Michael Jackson’s “Bad” (“Because you’re bad, you’re bad … and God is mad, He’s mad.”)

When Phelps was the same age as today’s WBC youth, his father lost his job as a lawyer due to his volcanic temper. Pastor Phelps’ solution was to enlist his children to sell candy at bars across Kansas.

“Friday and Saturday night would find us ten to 12 year-old-children working our way through dark taverns, selling candy while strippers performed a few feet away. More than once, the violence that is inevitable in such places resulted in direct injury to one of us.”

Despite the violence, their father had them work at strip clubs for seven years.

“This raised some serious questions about the hypocrisy of my father’s message.”

Throughout his adolescence, Phelps secretly questioned the consistency of his father’s doctrine. If the Bible taught his sisters to dress modestly, why were they working in strip bars? If the Bible taught that they should love their neighbours unconditionally, what made it okay to condemn the world to eternal suffering?

At 18, Phelps finally decided that he needed to escape his father’s tyranny.

At midnight on his 18 birthday, Phelps snuck out the front door, tossed his belongings into the trunk of a green Rambler Classic that he secretly bought for $300, and drove to California to work in a printing company with his brother Mark.

Today, Phelps lives in Calgary, Alberta with his fiancé, Angela. Phelps’ story has made him infamous in the atheist community; he now rejects Christianity on the basis that the Bible can be moulded to legitimize intolerance and abuse.

“Any system that is sustained by hatred, any ideology that would debase people based on who they love is morally wrong – and I reject it.”

Nate Phelps’ life story is long, detailed and covered in deep psychological scars (he suffers from depression to this day.) Even though Phelps admits its emotional toll, sharing his story is extremely important to him.
A week before coming to Toronto, Phelps received an email from a 17-year-old gay teenager that had become obsessed with the WBC’s message. The teenager was reaching out to Phelps for advice on how to cope with the concept that he would eventually suffer for eternity because of whom he loves.

“Sometimes, I doubt that my story makes a difference. But when I got his email, those doubts disappeared. This does make a difference.

Ready for a wake-up call

Michael Chu

HOT DOGS FOR $5.25 (excluding the napkins, but after adding on fees for the bun, and condiments); paying sidewalk tolls for a toonie (we need to pay fees to access the sidewalk system?); and the cell-phone “stories” of everyday people like Big Mark and Benita (who do not like or cannot afford to allocate a large chunk of their disposable income on frills – like personal communications).

These are some of the tales used by the recent entries into the (at least for now) local cell-phone market – Wind Mobile, Mobilicity and Public Mobile – to introduce a new-found sensibility to the Canadian mobile communications market.
Canadians have long-suffered by paying exorbitant fees for cell-phone usage – and it shows, as, according to a 2008 TNS Canadian study, only 60 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 16 and 60 use mobile communications – far below the 80 per cent global average.
Many other factors have contributed to the current state of the mobile communications market in Canada: some of the tightest mobile network ownership legislations in the world and a consolidation of fragmented players in the late 90s to early 2000s.
A combination of media giants Telus and Rogers gobbling
up smaller players – Clearnet and Fido respectively – was supposed to mean streamlined operations and ultimately passing on these savings to consumers.
We all know how that all turned out.
When the Canadian Radio-television Commission opened up the bidding for wireless spectrum in 2008, the big Three (Telus, Rogers and Bell) all decried the federal government’s decision to open up free air frequency to new entrants was not fair and that, as then Telus executive vice-president of Corporate Affairs, Janet Yale said, “We thought this was a government
that believed in market forces….and at the end of the day we believe this is not in the best interest of consumers or telecom industry overall.”
When companies holding an oligopoly - ever so present in the Canadian telecom industry - believe adding system access fees and significant amounts on add-ons is necessary to enhance the user-experience, all the while, customers wait unacceptable times for assistance and spotty network coverage, there is no question that consumers were probably the lowest
of priorities in the Canadian telecom industry hierarchy.
In actuality, Canadians used to enjoy very competitive rates pre-industry consolidation without all those pesky extra fees – like the despised system access fee. Whatever momentum
the industry had gained in significant user penetration was killed when the heavyweights realized they were in a position
to maximize profit – their offerings were significantly inelastic in demand.
With the entry of the first of the three new entrants into the Canadian telecom market, Wind Mobile – borrowing
a brand already well-known in Greece, they succinctly marketed themselves as the anti-establishment: reflecting the diversity of Canada in their marketing campaigns using clever humour in the place of social networks limited to five friends and cute animals.
The competitive plans (for the most part) feature combinations of unlimited calling, unlimited text, add-ons usually having additional costs, and long-distance calling to an eclectic mix of countries, all with little to no contract commitments and no system access fees.

However, there are some drawbacks in signing on with the new entrants: phones usually cost the full retail amount, let alone limited selection (i.e. no iPhones), networks are still limited to certain major Canadian urban centres, and shopping for cell phones has become that much more complicated because of many differences amongst the new entries.

Another factor to consider is that many Canadians are already locked into long-term contracts, and users are being enticed to renew contracts with simplified – and more importantly – cheaper plans, making it imperative to sign up new, rather than converted customers, to be successful.

And each new service provider has various strengths and weaknesses to consider.

Wind Mobile - the first to make a splash – offers the widest variety of phones out of the new entrants, emphasizing affordable smartphone alternatives. While phones must be purchases outright, their generous plans allow great freedom for budget conscious individuals looking to own a Blackberry – with minimal restrictions and very little worry of going over any talk and data usage limits.

Mobilicity offers similar plans to Wind Mobile and targets heavy long-distance phone card users with its unlimited calling to the largest amount of countries offered amongst the new entries. Their plans are a little more complicated to sort through than Wind Mobile, and their phones are sold at full-retail value.

Public Mobile – which doesn’t offer smartphones – seem to be targeting immigrants with their simple and basic plans, very competitive long-distance rates, and offering the least amount of phones. Individuals dependent on landlines might find Public Mobile as a decent replacement due to its competitive costs, and no-frills options.

In a reactionary move, Rogers is planning to announce yet another flanker brand to its portfolio, to compete in the no-frills cell phone segment, chat.r. Reports suggest that its strength will be pay-as-you-go but offering similar plans to the ones already offered by the new entrants.

Canadians finally have more accessible options and finally the big players are responding. The big three – Telus, Rogers and Bell – spent billions upgrading their networks, beef up their customer service, and cut down on redundancies.

Nonetheless, the new entrants have gained significant momentum by giving customers back all of the features the big players had snatched away years ago. The damage has been done, and it will be interesting to finally see the progress the industry should have already experienced years ago.

The three new entrants into the mobile communications segment have their work cut out for them, and a long way to go, but in the end, competition is a good thing for Canadian consumers.

Through the eyes of a Holocaust survivor

Micahael Chu

AS TEARS FALL from the heavy gray skies in Majdanek concentration camp in eastern Poland, participants in the March of Remembrance and Hope huddle around Pinchas Gutter as he shares his story.

“Here lies my mother, my father, my sister,” says Gutter, referring to the mound of ashes, the Majdanek mausoleum.

While delivering a prayer for his family and all those others in the mass grave, there is not a single dry eye underneath the giant disk-like structure protecting the group from the elements.

Having an opportunity to meet a Holocaust survivor, it is difficult to know exactly how you should feel or present yourself to them.

But in meeting Pinchas Gutter, you will immediately feel inspired, appreciate his humbleness and crave his knowledge and wisdom.

His stories of defying death, heartbreaking loss and unimaginable hardship easily tug at one’s emotions, but his compassion and pride is remarkable, to say the least.

Gutter, born in Lodz, Poland lived a comfortable life, with his father- a winemaker - mother and twin sister. When Hitler and the Nazi regime initiated their twisted plot to eradicate, the family fled to Warsaw hoping to find safety from the approaching Nazis.

When any decision seemed better than to stay put, this would eventually lead the Gutter family to the suffocating confines of the Warsaw Ghetto. Gutter, even at the tender age of five, knew the dire circumstances at hand and did his best to numb himself from the inhumanity – by playing in the streets and sneaking sweets from the newsstand his mother had owned in the rapidly deteriorating streets of the Warsaw Ghetto.

They lived in the Warsaw Ghetto for three years, making ends meet – until the unrest of the Warsaw Uprisings.

Hiding in a bunker, the SS found them and threatened to gas the bunker, should they decide not to surrender. With nowhere else to go, the Gutter family would be deported to Madjanek, a concentration camp in Lublin.

Once arriving there, during the selection process – where those individuals suited for labour were separated from those that would be sent to the gas chambers – Gutter was separated from his family, the last time he would ever see them.

While most other children were immediately sent to the gas chambers – too young to be useful workers, Gutter nonetheless was chosen.

Gutter would continue to confront death, once, when hiding in a bunker as guards were rounding up inhabitants of the concentration camp for yet another round of selection – only to be spared for reasons unknown by a guard - and once again, also surviving the treacherous death march from Buchenwald – an intense labour camp – to Theresienstad, in Czechoslovakia, hundreds of miles away.

Gutter would remain there until liberation finally came in the form of the Soviet Army.

After the liberation, Gutter went to Great Britain, and settled in South Africa hoping to start a new life, but discovered something he had witnessed and experienced before – oppression.

“I hated the regime and what was going on there,” says Gutter.

“I came [on a visit] to Canada by chance,” adds Gutter, as he smiles. “When I came here I felt like I was breathing freedom.”

In 1985, Gutter would finally wind up permanently in Canada and has lived here ever since.

To this day he continues to share his story so that people - especially those not of Jewish origin - continue to fight human rights travesties.

“I feel it is important to tell my story to young students,” says Gutter. “I want to try and spread the word of what can happen at any country, anywhere.”

Gutter’s decision to share his story was a difficult and painful one, but can be attributed to a series of documentaries made for Global Television.

“I was convinced it was important [to share my experiences],” says Gutter. “But I couldn’t face it.”
Only after showing these tapes to his children, was he comfortable enough to speak about his heartbreaking past – resulting in taking his family back to Poland, documented in a feature for the BBC, The Void.

This led Gutter to continue sharing his story – at schools, human rights events and the yearly March of Remembrance And Hope, taking post-secondary students to Germany and Poland for a first-hand experience of the Holocaust.

What many survivors would consider difficult – going back to the places where they experienced their worst nightmares – is not easy for Gutter either, but the warmth and support he receives from each participant drives him to continue on his journey.

“By being able to share my burden with the students, I am able to parcel it out,” says Gutter. “It makes it easier for me because they know exactly what happened.”

Gutter’s fascinating drive to push himself to his physical and mental limits to share his painful story – in the hopes of building a level or respect and tolerance amongst the vast differences present in today’s society, has made a difference with each individual he has met.

“His courage, his compassion and his desire to share his unimaginable experience with all people – not just Jews – is, in and of itself, a gift,” says Alexandra Hunnings, a participant in this year’s March of Remembrance and Hope, and graduating master’s of journalism student at Ryerson.

“His tangible strength, intelligence and his relentless hope is beyond inspirational,” adds Hunnings. “Pinchas teaches us that humanity is a choice, not a given.”

Freedom of expression denied in radio shut down

Kim Gottfried Piché

ZACATE GRANDE IS a region located in the gulf of Fonseca, nestled between the Pacific ocean and the beautiful southern mountain range of Honduras. In the heart of the settlement, surrounded by homes made of corn stalks and sugar cane, a small brick building stands where seventeen young men and women are running a “radios communitarias” as a part of a initiative called the Movement for the Recovery and Reclamation of Land in Zacate Grande (Movimento de Recuperacion y Titulacion de tierras de Zacate Grande).

Emitting a signal in a radius of 25 km to about 10 villages (800 families) in the region, La Voz of Zacate Grande 97.1 FM grew out of a community response to the need to publicize an increasingly tense situation in which a multi-millionaire agro-industrial tycoon is trying to evict the Hondurans who have legal right to live, fish and farm on the land.

On June 3, 2010, La Voz of Zacate Grande FM was stormed by 300 police and shut down in an act of political censorship and in violation of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights which specifically states that communities cannot be restricted in their freedom of expression, whether that be radio, television or print media.

To make matters worse, the land tycoon, known as Miguel Facussé Barjum is publicly using “environmental preservation” as an excuse to evict these inhabitants with an agenda to attain recognition as a great “green” entrepreneur and leader of private initiative.

In a recent visit to Honduras, six Canadian Catholic Campus ministers met with the community of Zacate Grande to hear their story. We were hosted by the Canadian Catholic organization for Development and Peace and CARITAS, a Catholic initiative that works alongside of communities and assist the marginalized and oppressed in 198 countries and territories to help them form movements and organize citizens.

We learned that the peninsula, upon which we sat, had at one time been an island. The Honduran people had lived there for over eighty years. A wealthy group of foreigners known as Coyolito Club began coveting the island as early as 1972 started a movement to confront the villagers and obtain the land as their own. Although they were forbidden to own land as foreigners under the actual constitutional law (article 101) and although the Hondurans who had lived on the land for over 12 years had rights to the land, it didn’t seem to matter to this group Facussé, the powerful leader of Coyolito used his influence in judicial politics to remove article 101 and he was therefore able to purchase 3,000 hectares of their land.

In addition, Facussé managed to shut out families from money or international aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 in hopes that they would leave.

The community turned to the Catholic organization CARITAS in 1999 for legal advice and assistance. With the help of the diocese, they formed the Development and Solidarity Council (CODESOL) whose purpose was to present a united front against pressure applied by Coyolito Club. Pressure tactics to try eradicate the villagers have included befriending the youth and offering “treats” to their parents to sell land, armed police presence at night, gunshots to local leaders and attempts to criminalize members of the community.

The people of Zacate Grande have refused to leave.

As the leader of the community told their story, the youth maintained a curious silence. When asked how all of this had affected them, there came no reply. Some of the youth offered a fearful glance at us, their eyes moving from us quickly to a more distant view of the horizon.

“They are not shy,” said the community leader “they do not speak because they have been arrested, while others have had guns pointed at them and threatened. If they are caught hunting a deer or picking corn on the land, Miguel has private security who will inform the police. Miguel hunts for pleasure, but our young people hunt for food to eat.”

Soon one young man came forward and spoke, telling us about the morning he awoke and heard from friends that their fathers had been arrested on the way to school.

“We are not afraid, but this has obviously affected us. We as young people feel powerless. We need this land. We live in small houses with 10 persons in a family. What will we do if we don’t have enough land? We have nothing to defend ourselves. We as young people need to be conscious of what is happening. Maybe we don’t have money but we have our knowledge. The radio station is our way of raising consciousness
about what is happening to us and to others. It is our only tool of resistance against Miguel.”

With hammocks strung up, a news flash board and a sound proof recording room (the coolest room in the place), it was clear that the young people took great pride in their work at the radio station. Painted in black on the outer façade of the building were their heroes; native Lempira who fought against the Spanish, Visitation Padilla who fought for civil and political rights of women and Morazàn who fought to unite all of Central America.

The young people had received training as journalists and radio broadcasters at productions centers associated with the National Board of World Association of Community Radio Broadcasting (AMARC). Their efforts to construct a culture of citizenship have inspired the whole community, including the children who hope to some day work at the station.

As of June 4, the station is covered with yellow “crime scene” tape and five community leaders have been arrested, accused of “occupying” Facussé’s land and “tax fraud” for the radio station. As one respected journalist reports, “this is clear evidence of how powerful people want to silence the voices of communities facing an agrarian conflict.” It has been suggested that this is a part of a larger system of repressive measures that authorities are adopting against opposition and freedom of press since the coup d’etat last June 28, 2009

For more information or for updates on the situation, you can contact Ryerson Catholic Chaplaincy Centre (Kim Gottfried Piché) at chapkim@interlog.com. Please come and join us at Casa de Café: Honduras on Tuesday July 17th for an evening of Honduran coffee, slides and stories of the work of Hondurans
for justice.

Kim Gottfried Piché is staff at Ryerson’s Catholic Chaplaincy Centre

The Beautiful Game?

Salmaan Abdul Hamid Khan

NEXT TO THE Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup trumps all other international sporting events, earning it the title of “The Greatest Sporting Event in the World.” Drawing the attention of millions across the globe-from the Favelas of Brasil to the bustling streets of Tokyo-this monstrosity of an event lasts about a month, and sets 32 teams, from 32 different countries against each other. The winners of course, earn the title of ‘world cup champions’ for the next four years.

This year, to the surprise of many, the games have found themselves in South Africa, Africa’s “glimmer of hope.” The story goes that current FIFA president, Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, promised the African continent the World Cup back in 1998 while he was campaigning to become head ‘impresario’ of the powerhouse football association. In exchange for African votes, which would put him over the top, Blatter promised to bring the games to Africa. Side stepping Nigeria and Morocco, Africa’s fastest growing economy and “bread basket” as some have titled it, stood as the favourite, and soon, South Africa would enter into a frenzy of anticipated construction projects.

In order to accommodate the famed games, South Africa has sunk an estimated $6 billion USD into infrastructure development, mostly in the form of massive stadiums, or “white elephants” as critics have termed them. Today these white elephants, such as the $300,000,000 Soccer City stadium, or the $287,000,000 stadium at Port Elizabeth, are but 2 of the 10 in total that stand alongside the 45 per cent of South Africans-20 million citizens-who live off less than $2 a day. With an unemployment rate of 40 per cent and a foreign debt that stretches into the dozens of billions, South Africa is one of the smallest and shakiest economies to have ever organized the World Cup. The logic behind creating these ‘White elephants’ themselves raises much controversy as locals are perplexed as to what to do with these massive stadiums -such as the 65,000-seater giant in Cape Town- once the World Cup is over with. To quote Trevor Phillips, former director of the South African Premier League, “what the hell are we going to do with a 70,000-seater football stadium in Durban once the World Cup is over? Durban has two football teams which attract crowds of only a few thousand.”

Furthermore, the areas surrounding these massive stadiums have been swept clean of the poverty and misery that surrounded them as thousands of shack dwellers have either been relocated to poorly constructed government camps or forcefully evicted by government thugs. To quote a FIFA report on this matter, “A billion television viewers don’t want to see shacks and poverty on this scale.”

Local residences haven’t been the only victims of this “clean up” policy carried out by FIFA and the South African government, as street kids are continually whisked away, and much like Canada’s own “star-light tour” tactics, dropped in remote locations, far away from the eyes of the curious tourists and football fans.
However, many would argue that these dubious investments and spending sprees are good for the country in the long run. Unfortunately, these hopes and dreams are as tangible as the belief that Chile could have one-upped Brasil, with its infamous brand of samba soccer, and made its way into the quarter finals. As Alex Duval Smith, of the Guardian UK stated, “the biggest event on Earth will do little for the planet’s poorest people.”

Besides the fact that the jobs created during the “construction bubble,” throughout the pre-games preparations, are now useless, the first real blow to average working South Africans was felt following the bylaws enforced by FIFA, that stated that informal traders- a crucial part of any African economy- were to be banned from coming anywhere close to the 10 stadiums where matches would be played. In essence these laws aim to protect FIFA’s major sponsors, such as Coca Cola, from any rival soft drink sales. Already, there exist 400 cases for “ambush marketing” against small South African businesses and individuals. The South African police force itself has already jumbled together a special task-force unit charged with clearing hawkers and small businesses from stadium areas.

Aside from crushing small businesses and gross spending sprees on white elephants, the South African government, under the tutelage of the giant FIFA, has effectively militarized its cities and towns, much like our very own Toronto during the G20 summit. During these World Cup days, “air sweeps by fighter jets, joint border patrols, police escorts for cruise ships, and teams of police and security guards roam the lands.” The aim, argued by the South African government, is to prevent “domestic extremism.” And no folks, it’s not those dastardly Muslims this time; but strike workers, union organizers, and non-violent protestors who are the “domestic extremists” and targets of police aggression. Not since the times of Apartheid in South Africa has such demonization and paranoia run afoot. Already, police units have violently put down peaceful marches led by: South African fishermen, who were being kicked off the beaches to make way for the incoming visitors; marches led by security guards themselves, who after the Germany-Australia game, decided to protest against their $2.25 an hour wages, and were met with tear gas, batons, and stun-grenades; and a march led by students who were protesting the demolition of a school complex to make way for the Neusprot Venue had been met with typical police “hospitality.” In fact, as the games go on, in towns such as Johannesburg and Durban, legislation has been passed effectively making it illegal for anyone to protest or to go on strike. In respect of the games, the basic civil liberties of working class South Africans have been taken away.

What the future holds for South Africa can be disputed to some extent, but one thing for sure is that it will hardly profit from this circus that is the World Cup games. A study carried out by the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa found that in 2005, one-in-three South Africans believed they would personally benefit from the World Cup; today, the number has fallen to one in 100. Furthermore, it is expected that much like the praised “Bird’s Nest” stadium designed for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in China, South Africa’s white elephants are destined to a life of emptiness and dust collection. The nation of South Africa will continue down a path of poverty and class exploitation; of neo-liberal policies and structural adjustment programs; of violence and of corruption.

But hey, at least they proved they can host the World Cup, right?

Earlier booze hours for Toronto’s football fans

Diana Duong

ONTARIO MAY BE six hours behind South Africa, but Ontario football fans are now able to raise their glasses one hour earlier. Bars and restaurants are allowed to serve alcohol at 10 a.m. –one hour earlier than usual- during the World Cup tournament, from June 11 to July 11.

“Johannesburg is six hours ahead of Toronto, the time difference will have World Cup games airing at 7:30 and 10 a.m., and 1:30 p.m.,” said the Toronto mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone, who initially proposed the idea of extending the booze serving hours. “Residents will be patronizing local cafes and restaurants earlier than normal during this specific time period.”

Over 17,000 bars and restaurants across Ontario will be able to serve alcohol at 10 a.m. rather than the routine 11 a.m. This is to coincide with the kickoff that broadcasts at 10 a.m. in Ontario because of the six-hour time difference with South Africa. The change in booze serving hours is temporary; it will last only during the World Cup tournament period, ending on July 11. City councillor Pantalone put forward the proposition earlier this month and Toronto city council successfully passed the motion.

Pantalone is the city councillor for Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina, the western region of downtown Toronto.
Pantalone is one of six major candidates running in the Toronto mayoral election to replace the incumbent
David Miller this October. He joked, “I’m not even mayor, and I’m already leading [the] province.”
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has the power to extend drinking hours for events of “municipal, provincial, national or international significance.” In the past, the AGCO has extended the 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. booze serving hours for live, not televised events. The events also typically occurred within the province, mainly Toronto Fashion Week and Toronto Pride Week. The province has noticed the importance of the world’s game and therefore, extends this special exemption.

As bartenders turn on the taps earlier, patrons will be motivated to enjoy their drinks at their local pub rather than drink at home. Because of the flexibility in service, fans of sporting events, mainly football, will have their needs met. An increase in patron attendance will be a boost to the restaurant industry. In today’s weak economy, this could be “a nice little shot in the arm,” according to Pantalone.

The Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant located on Yonge Street entertains a large number of clients, including many tourists, on a daily basis, according to Shaun Waterman. The 30-year-old bartender has personally seen the effects of drinking hours change on the restaurant industry. “The highlight for us was at the England-USA game,” said Waterman. “We were at full capacity by mid-afternoon.

This entire place was packed during that match. We were as busy as we are on St. Patrick’s Day.”
Waterman looks around the restaurant, “It’s delightful to the industry, to be able to serve alcohol and give fans what they want, especially during sporting events.” The colour commentator lets out a long yell of excitement, “GOOOAL!”

Waterman’s attention briefly snaps to the large television screen and continues, “It’s time to kick back and have a little fun. The beautiful game brings us all together, we only get to cheer like this once every four years.”

The true cry of the vuvuzella

Gursevak Kasbia

LOST IN THE euphoria of World Cup fever the world has once again lost sight of the true plight of many South Africans. As of 2004 over 55 per cent of South Africans are considered to be living in poverty. South Africa paid FIFA, soccer’s governing body, billions of dollars to host the games in an attempt to win corporate and global trade partners. It was only a few short years ago that the South African government as well as advocacy groups were fighting for life saving drugs from giant drug companies complaining that costs were too high for treating a country with a pandemic on its hands. Yet, the South African government somehow found the money to be able to not only pay FIFA but also build new stadiums known as “white” elephants by the country’s archbishop Desmond Tutu.

To date, sub-Saharan Africa has some of the highest rates of HIV-AIDS in the world, with great controversy created by drug companies who did not want to subsidize the cost of anti-retroviral drugs to infected South Africans without some form of compensation. Knowing that South Africa was one of the poorest African nations, it is of great shock that the South African Government “invested” over 800 billion rand ($108 billion USD), in luscious stadiums. In a small attempt to create economic growth, South Africans were offered temporary jobs such as driving tourists to games and concession stands selling souvenirs for the month long event. Short term economic gains for a country, which still has some who deny the impact of HIV-AIDS. To date only 28 per cent of those infected with HIV-AIDS are treated with anti-retroviral drugs, and it is estimated that over 5.7 million people are currently infected with HIV-AIDS.

Poverty has been identified by the Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion as a major determinant of health, and in a country where 55 per cent of people are considered to be in this state, spending billions of rand does not seem to be a quick fix to this problem. It is estimated that South Africa has unemployment of over 40 per cent in some areas, and further to this, conditions for living are still of the developing world, with communities of shack dwellers, who do not have access to potable water and sewage, a formula that from a public health perspective spells grave trouble. The idea of spending billions of rand on building soccer stadiums with very little use after the world cup other than perhaps to build recreational soccer leagues and teams, along with part-time short term job positions in the thousands was highlighted initially by protests from workers who claimed they had not been paid fair wages by organizers. They were quickly whisked away by police and security forces, and further the South African Police force claimed it could take care of security at venues on its own. With over twenty thousand fans at some venues this may prove to be quite difficult.
Countries rely on sporting events to serve as an economic benefit, yet when all costs are calculated the true losers tend to be nations that host these events. For example Greece hosted the summer Olympics in 2004 where overspending may have contributed to much of the Greek deficit and subsequently its collapse. Closer to Canadians is the Montreal Olympics which still has the city of Montreal paying the bill, and the eyesore of the Olympic “O” Stadium. Still, the lure of millions from corporate sponsorships, and joining the international community of trade keeps many nations using its citizens as collateral in mortgaging
their future in the hunt for major sporting events.
For more information:
South African Regional Poverty Network
Abahlali baseMjondolo: The Durban Shack Dwellers Movement
Democracy Watch: Upside Down World Cup

The history behind the pretty white dress

Priyanka Jain

As the warm summer weather approaches, it is now time to enjoy the outdoors. When one thinks of summer, reunions with friends, vacations, and all sorts of spontaneous ventures come to mind. Now that the weather permits, summer is also well known for that special occasion in a couple’s life: the wedding.

The sun is out, flowers are blooming, and the bride elegantly walks in her spotless white, figure-hugging wedding gown. This beautiful dress, that has sparked reaction by all those who have laid eyes on the bride, has its own story to tell.

Although it seems customary in the Western culture that the bride is to wear a traditional white dress, this trend dates back to the early 1800s.

During the 1800s, white was typically the colour of mourning; women wore white to signify the loss of a close relative or loved one. It wasn’t until 1840, when Queen Victoria chose to wear a white satin dress with lace trims on her wedding day that white became the new trend for wedding dresses. Victoria’s dress set the standards for upper-class woman who could afford to imitate the Queen’s dress style. For those who were not as wealthy, those women wore more affordable colours on their wedding day.

By the 1890s however, the prosperous economy during the Industrial Revolution made it possible for more women to live their dream of having the perfect white dress for their wedding day. They idolized Queen Victoria for her courage and ability to pull off the glamorous white dress. Department stores came into existence, and white fabric was sold much more cheaply. White wedding dresses had now become a universal trend, as opposed to one solely for the upper-class.

With the booming trend of white dresses, fashion in the 1800s became much more glamorous.

However, this came to a halt at the beginning of World War I, when women no longer dressed extravagantly; instead, their look was much simpler, and used less material. Coco Chanel was the first to introduce the short white wedding dress in the 1920s, and wore one with a long train. This also solidified white being the accepted colour for wedding dresses.

When the Great Depression hit, brides made do with a dress they already owned. For women who already married in a white dress, it was common for them to dye the dress, and re-wear it.

After the war however, the economy stabilized again, and the expensive taste in fashion made a comeback. Queen Victoria-inspired dresses were back in demand, and the idea of an extravagant wedding was practiced by many.

The expensive, glamorous wedding still continues to this day, where brides have a wide variety of dresses to choose from. Not only is there the standard white, but there are also similar colours, such as ivory and champagne. The bride can also choose the length of her train, and how heavy she wants it to be—not to mention the detail, or lack of detail, the bride wants on her dress. The list goes on, and brides today can customize their wedding dress from head to toe.

The white wedding dress is such a tradition, that many choose not to question the colour. Although the white wedding dress has had its ups and downs since the nineteenth century, this recognized colour is here to stay, and will continue to be a hit all around the world.

Experiencing Jane and Finch through Young Women’s Eyes

Kaitlin Fowlie

Outreach through Jane’s Walk has enabled hundreds of communities to open up to people external to them. For the community surrounding Jane Street and Finch Avenue, Jane’s Walk has allowed for them to fight back against the dubious stereotypes that abound.

Jane’s Walks are part of a series of free neighbourhood walking tours as part of an effort to reintroduce city dwellers to the various unique necks of their city from the perspectives of neighbourhood inhabitants. Starting off in Toronto in 2007, these walks quickly grew from local roots to an international phenomena, now available across the U.S., Europe, India, and Africa.

Jane Jacobs, who inspired the concept, was a writer and activist primarily interested in urban planning. She believed that the most effective way to get to know and make a change in one’s environment was not by manipulating models or drawing concepts from Utopian cities, but getting out and walking around the actual landscape.

In Toronto, Jane’s Walk has experienced great success at showcasing the city’s diverse beauty. The Jane and Finch walk, called “Jane and Finch from Young Women’s Eyes,” shed light on an unassuming neighbourhood that thrives with history, pulsates with youth culture, and efforts to achieve unity in the neighbourhood and support of the city at large.

The Jane and Finch chapter of Jane’s Walk is guided by seven members of WORC IT (Women of Race Climbing It Together), a community-based organization that serves surrounding areas by mentoring youth, women, and racialized people. The girls and women responsible for the success of the group range from high school to university age, and all share some personal speculations on the sites of the neighbourhood that was once home to celebrities Jully Black and Glenn Lewis.

Jane and Finch saw a rapid increase in population from 1961–1971, the period to which it attributes much of the hasty infrastructure responsible for early community problems. Residents poured in from all around the world, causing the population to spring from 1,300 to 33,000. During this time, low-income families were housed in brand new high rise apartments, only to become isolated from other residential areas. As the area continued to develop, conflicts between income and racial groups occurred. Driftwood Avenue is an example of the harsh income divide between the affluent Italian population on one side of the street and the Driftwood Community Centre on the other. One inhabitant of the community centre was forced to wait two years for their sink to get fixed. This disparity in the standard of living sets the street worlds apart. Unsurprisingly, the two sides have virtually no interaction.

It wasn’t until 1973 that proper attention was paid to the area by community workers and the local government. Community pride became a main concern, and various service organizations such as women’s shelters, legal clinics and health centres, were established. Today, the area has maintained the initiatives that initially improved the neighbourhood, and as the participants of Jane’s Walk plod through the rain, Mayor David Miller shows his support and belief in the community. Along the walk, he frequently stops to shake hands with people waiting for the bus or on a coffee run, saying to the group, “in a city this big, people come up to the mayor and say what’s up. That is something about Toronto I think is great. It really says something about this city.” Miller has to leave early to chat with some students who want to set up a skate park at Lawrence Heights. Citizens can rest assured that the Mayor truly believes in the pursuits of the people of Toronto, and it shows.

In a recent effort to reshape public discourse, a new nickname was imposed on the Jane and Finch area—University Heights. The walking guides assure the group that likely 90 per cent of the inhabitants aren’t aware of this, and those who are, are less than thrilled about it. However, if there is anything Jane’s Walk has taught me about the neighbourhood, it is that no one can take away the soul of the Jane and Finch crowd. Its un-restrainable multicultural flavour will shine through its imposed epithets as well as any reputation, and that will be what saves it.

This is what so many love about Toronto—our neighbourhoods are self made. With a little faith and facilitation from outreach-oriented figures like the mayor and participation from the community at large, Jane and Finch can thrive. The neighbourhood has a lot going for it—thanks to its passionate inhabitants who are eager to show off, and cultivate, the beauty that exists in the unassuming vicinity.

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