T-Salon

From part of a message that John Kennedy sent out today that I thought is very well stated and most importantly, it resonates:

"You're getting this because you're known to translate things you see
online from Chinese into English. We each do this for our own reasons,
some for money, some out of inspiration, and most of the time,
admiration for certain writers who otherwise wouldn't be given a
chance to contribute to discourse taking place in English.

As a group of translators, we're fortunate in that we're in a sense
privy to a entire side of China that many around us aren't, that being
the parts of larger online conversations which to a large extent
represent roughly two generations' opinions, ideas that resonate
strongly within China. Dynamic China, modern China, sophisticated
China, nuanced China."

I really enjoy doing translations - the absolute focus it calls for when chewing the meaning behind each words is what I like best out of the process.

Needless to say, it is really "the admiration for certain writers", and more crucially their unique perspectives, "who otherwise wouldn't be given a chance to contribute to discourse taking place in English" that was the driver behind my translations.

Labels: translations

A couple of people I know have been writing and talking about earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts by ordinary people and local non-profit groups that are taking place at the forefront of the earthquake epic center in Sichuan - the actions they are taking and the challenges they faced.

This is among the many news that I read, translated into English as follows, from Hengge, Blogbus CEO, who had been planning to make donations to fund the construction of primary schools in Sichuan province prior to the earthquake. He has the latest news from volunteers and friends in the media sector who are at the front-line.

"Since the earthquake on May 12th, we did not make direct any donations to official organizations such as Red Cross and etc. But made in-kind donations through social channels, and wired money directly to local volunteers that are on-site to procure materials for the relief effort. Up until now, work in the disaster zone has progressed gradually from relief to post-disaster construction. As such, Sichuan
has become the top consideration for funding of primary school construction.

News from the volunteers and friends in the media sector: people who support relief efforts had already left the scene. Medical services, children and residents have been resettled. Currently children are getting ready to go back to school. Disaster zone has been sealed off due to weather and other reasons. As for making donations to rebuild schools, there are still a lot of uncertainties: there are some sayings that one cannot donate as they see fit. The government might centralize construction standards, etc. Presently the cost of funding primary school construction has increased tremendously compared to the past. It remains unknown whether there would be limitations on the "quality of capital"; and centralized coordination as well as
management. At any rate, better go there to understand the situation before making any decisions."

Labels: China, Civil Society, CSR, earthquake, non-profit, reconstruction, relief, sichuan, translations

On the eve of the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, Ding Zilin and more than 20 other members of the Tiananmen Mothers have released an abridged transcript of a roundtable discussion on the commemoration of their love ones who died in the massacre, their request to the government and the groups' future plans.

There are many touching stories and words throughout the transcript. I have translated one small paragraph into English as follow:

"In the times that have past, the Tiananmen Mothers group had experienced all kinds of difficulties and hardships. But that had also broadened our horizons. [We] learned a lot of things about both inside and outside the country, as well as in the entire world. We all have gradually formed our own views on issues that pertained to China's future directions. In particular, eighteen years of difficult fights have made us gradually understood many principles. We know how to seek justice for those who died and how to strive for the rights that we have."

Transcript of the discussion (in Chinese) is here. If you could, read the entire discussion.

See also:
Ding Zilin's Letter to Hong Kong Compatriots in 2006
Statement by Ding Zilin in 2005

Labels: China, history, June4th, political speech, translations