Communism = Democracy??

Hey, don't look so incredulous... That was exactly what the Bejing students on the exchange program said.

Ok, Ok, we didn't exactly hear that directly from them. Our teacher who was there with them in our secondary 3 class told us about it. She had asked them what is communism to them, and this was the answer she got: Communism IS democracy.

Many would view communism and capitalist democracy as 2 totally different matters. However, to them, both seems to be the same. It goes to show how the level of exposure they have. Not to forget, they are only secondary 2 students. Thus it also shows how much Marxist and Maoist ideas are drilled into them.

From what we heard, the students were willing to talk about communism and China, but when sensitive topics like the Tiannaman Square incident, they stopped short, refusing to say anything. Even the teacher, who lived through that era refused to talk about it.

Well, we cannot say much about all this. History as seen from their point of view and the western as well as our point of view will never be the same. We aren't living in China and may never be able to or even get a chance to understand them.

The day was not all about communism, the sec 3s manage to get the Bejing student's views on Japan and also the outrage at Japan's Prime Minister's vist to the War Shrine.

But it seems that the chance of us getting to meet them will be slim. The departments decided that they are not suited for these interactions as there are huge communication differences, making interaction difficult.

Anyway, there are more pressing matters for sec 4 students tomorrow. It seems that our Chinese 'O' Level results as well as the other Mother Tongue languages will be coming back tomorrow. Looks like many would not be able to sleep tonight....

Anyway, good luck to all who will be receiving their results tomorrow!!