<$BlogRSDUrl$>

"Pay close attention to that man behind the curtain!"

Sunday, December 17, 2006

3-in-1 example of Chinese propaganda in Taiwan

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
- comedian Groucho Marx

Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.
- director Alfred Hitchcock

Declare independence from this
Earlier tonight, after having dinner in the food court at Carrefour, I got up to take a picture of the nearest TV. I did this with the sole purpose of illustrating how the citizens of Taiwan have a hard time escaping the influence of the pro-China media. Wouldn't you know, this was the very first thing I saw:



Maddog the Clairvoyent?
Let's play "psychic word association," shall we? If I said "panda," I bet you'd say... China! Was I right?

The next thing I noticed was the logo at the upper right corner of the screen. Wouldn't you know, it's that goddamned bane of Taiwan, CTiTV, where the "C" stands for China. Here, we see channel 36, their so-called variety (綜合) channel "enlightening" the viewers about such "varied" things as China, Chinese, and Chineseness.

Thirdly, I noticed the text at the upper left of the screen reading "經典中國" ("Classics of China"). Are you with me so far? My "third eye" tells me you are.

All your eyes are belong to us
This is the kind of propaganda that is broadcast on televisions in public places all around Taiwan, and many people are fed up with it. Follow these links to find out who some of them are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

What else can you do?
Did you ever wish you could say to those idiot boxes, "Begone!"? There is a way. A device called TV-B-Gone is available for online purchase and seems like a way to bring peace of mind to many a public place. It's a type of "universal remote control" which can turn off most television sets within 17 seconds via a single click.

If you should ever find yourself at the hospital visiting the doctor because of high blood pressure, and you're sitting in the waiting room with the TV blasting lies and hatred at you, you might be able to help yourself before you even see the doctor. Tense and nervous, and you can't relax? Kill the TV signal! Qu'est-ce que c'est? Turn that sucker off, and go do some reading!

I wish I'd had one of those devices earlier tonight.
Tech specs: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!
Posted at 2:30 AM by: [Permalink]
eXTReMe Tracker
This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?