Thanks for the great explanation Deryck. Even though I'm familiar with HK and Wikimania, I came out much more enlightened about this than before on the choice of the tagline and the capturing of the Wikimedia internal dynamics.
Also, you did a great job in one sentence to describe "Chinese" as a more complex and nuanced label. Kudos. -Andrew Lih Associate professor of journalism USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism Email: [email protected] WEB: http://www.andrewlih.com BOOK: The Wikipedia Revolution: http:/www.wikipediarevolution.com PROJECT: Wiki Makes Video http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Wiki_Makes_Video On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 2:47 PM, Deryck Chan <[email protected]> wrote: > Last week, it emerged to the surprise of Wikimania 2013's organizing > committee in Hong Kong that the tagline of this year's Wikimania, "Of one > mind in pursuit of our dream, all discord set aside" has caused some > concern. Those so concerned viewed it as mockery of the FDC process which > apparently left WMHK with no funding to continue running itself after > Wikimania. > > Many of you who attended Wikimania 2012 will remember that the tagline was > announced at the closing ceremony of Wikimania 2012. Tom Morris even joked > on Twitter that "that's the new ArbCom motto".[1] We couldn't foresee the > future - we simply know that Wikimedia is full of imperfect people like us > so conflicts are abundant. However, given the concern expressed, and the > fact that the tagline will appear on the Wikimania 2013 T-shirts, I thought > I should explain the tagline fully. > > The quoted song, Under the Lion Rock, is a soap opera theme tune from the > 1980s. This song is often hailed as the unofficial national anthem of Hong > Kong. (Lion Rock is an iconic natural rock atop the hilly ridge which > divides Kowloon and the New Territories, so "under the Lion Rock" is a > metonym for all of Hong Kong.) For attendees from Hong Kong, these lyrics > show that this Wikimania embraces Hong Kong fully, and Wikimedians from > Hong Kong are just like everyone else. > > For those who have been involved with Wikimedia for a long time, it is > obvious that there is discord all over the place. Wikimania is often seen > as the "cream" of Wikimedia, the "bright side" of everything. By picking > these lines for our slogan, we want to make the point (which hasn't ever > been as prominent in any past Wikimania) that we don't shy away from > conflicts. The "conflict" theme runs right through the proposed agenda in > our bid; it was even suggested that we invite a banned editor from Hong > Kong as keynote speaker. (That fell through. He never felt compelled enough > to show up in person.) The lyrics affirm that it is our shared Wikimedia > vision which brings us together, in a way that urges us to live with our > differences. > > The outside world often thinks of Wikipedians as a homogenous bunch, > slaving away behind computers like robots. We want to say that we actually > disagree on lots of things, in ways that similar disputes would roll out in > real life. Hong Kong editors tend to be a bit proud of ourselves and quite > sceptic towards the current Chinese regime, such that we would go to any > length to fight against patriotic mainland Chinese editors and > panda-licking American editors. Although we would quickly switch sides and > stand with Chinese patriots when it comes to the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute, > and the adamant insistence that "China"!="PRC" and "Taiwan"!="ROC". And > we're (surprisingly to most foreigners) rather Falun Gong sceptic too. > > If people (Wikipediocracy?) insist on thinking that the theme decided a > year ago is a dig at the recent FDC furore, then they can put the same into > the mouth of any slogan we come up with. What we want to show with these > lyrics is that we are connected to all of Hong Kong at heart, and we don't > want to shy away from the differences between us in Wikimedia. > > Full quotation of the chorus of "Under the Lion Rock", as translated by > the Hong Kong Government Budget 2002/03:[2] > *Of one mind in pursuit of our dream > All discord set aside > With one heart on the same bright quest > Fearless and valiant inside > > Hand in hand to the ends of the earth > Rough terrain no respite > Side by side we overcome ills > As the Hong Kong story we write.* > > [1] http://eventifier.co/event/wikimania2012/deryckchan > [2] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2002/eframe2.htm > > With Wiki-Love, > Deryck > Global Engagement Coordinator, Wikimania 2013 > _______________________________________________ > Wikimania-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > >
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