Will #MeToo Take Off in China?

A handful of women in China who have spoken out about their experiences

The #metoo movement may be gaining momentum in North America with women speaking out about experiences of being sexually harassed by men, but in China it's barely on the radar.

However, journalist Huang Xueqin wants to do something about that.

She was working for a state-owned news agency when her boss tried to force himself on her in a hotel room. She quit and last year went public with the story, making her one of the first in China to speak out about her unwanted encounter.

Huang is now conducting an online survey of women journalists on the mainland to find out the extent of sexual harassment in the country. Of the more than 250 women polled, 80 percent reported being sexually harassed.

Huang Xueqin is trying to document cases in the media field

Most of the victims suffered in silence, 3.3 percent resigned and less than 1 percent filed a complaint with the police.

"I know I've opened a floodgate," Huang said. "Journalists are supposed to be more resourceful and skilful advocates than others. If they don't know how to speak out for themselves, what about the rest of the women in this country?"

She has set up a social media platform called Anti Sexual Harassment, to show women how to protect themselves, gather evidence and confront perpetrators.

I really hope she is able to help other women in the future. I immediately thought of my friend in Beijing who committed suicide three years ago because she was sexually harassed by her boss, also in state media.

If only she knew this movement existed now and that women are now trying to say Stop!

Cultural attitudes need to change around sexual harassment

She would probably be pleased to know that Huang was trying to get more information from other journalists and probably would have participated in the survey.

It will be interesting to find out how many cases Huang is able to collect so that we know the extent of the situation. I'm sure the number is very high.

But attitudes need to change -- there is still a lot of blaming the victim, claiming they were asking for it because of their clothes or attitude, or the woman is too embarrassed to come forward, or there are no laws to convict perpetrators so victims suffer in silence.

The central government needs to know this is happening not just to female journalists, but to women in all kinds of work. And the authorities need to take these cases seriously.

This horrific treatment of women is unacceptable in any society and the more these incidents are reported, the strong their voices will be.

Claude Monet's Impressionism

Monet was fascinated by reflections found in his pond at Giverny

This morning I headed to the Vancouver Art Gallery to check out Claude Monet: Secret Garden that just kicked off late last month and is on until October 1.

Another painting of the waterlilies

Luckily I had a free ticket and got to literally walk in -- there was a pretty long line at the entrance to buy admission tickets.

This exhibition features 38 paintings from the Musee Marmottan Monet in Paris. The museum has the biggest collection of Monet's works in the world, as well as other Impressionist painters like Edgar Degas, Camille Pissaro, Paul Gaugin and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

The museum is currently undergoing renovation, which is why Monet's works are touring around -- with Vancouver as the only North American city stop.

In the show, the paintings focus on his impressionist style and in particular when he lived in Giverny, France, where he lived from 1883 until his death in 1926. We see his enthusiasm for painting in situ as much as possible, to capture the moment, and how he would paint the same subject over and over, studying how the light affects it at different times of the day and seasons.

He once said that he never used the colour black because nature didn't use it, and instead used other colour combinations to paint shadows.

My picture of the pond in 2015, with the bridge at the back

You also see the progression of his work, from the beginning of his impressionist style that becomes more abstract as he gets older, mostly because his eyesight was deteriorating and the frustration of not being able to see the colours as well almost put him off painting.

However, Monet could not not paint -- as a result his colours become more bold and farther from reality, moving away from pastel colours to more burgundies, browns, oranges, and ochre.

This progression was illustrated in his series of paintings of the Japanese bridge at Giverny. In reality the bridge is a pistachio green, with a canopy of wisteria hanging overhead, as well as some weeping willows.

However, in his later years, the colours change and become a more autumnal palette, the brushstrokes aren't very definitive in terms of identifiable shapes, but still strong and determined.

This painting of the bridge was done in 1918-19...

He and his two sons moved to Giverny, a country home he rented with his patron's widow, Alice Hoschede and her six children. They later married. When they moved to Giverny, he set about designing the gardens, and showed his green thumb expertise and enthusiasm.

There he planted many different kinds of flowers and made a pond where he could set up his Japanese-style bridge. It was the reflections in the water that fascinated the artist, inspiring him to paint his most well-known works, the waterlilies.

"These landscapes of water and reflections have become an obsession. It's quite beyond my powers at my age, and yet I want to succeed in expressing what I feel," Monet remarked in 1908.

At the end of the show, there is a small room, where American photographer Stephen Shore took pictures of Giverny, giving visitors a better idea of what the gardens looked like in reality.

... while this one was done 1918 to 1924 that is more abstract

I had the privilege of being at Giverny just over two years ago, and I loved every moment being there, knowing that Monet had wandered the same grounds and we saw the same flowers he planted in the late 19th century.

It is interesting to speculate what kinds of paintings Monet would have produced if his eyesight wasn't so bad -- what would he have done?

After his death in 1926, he did not have a will, but all his possessions were inherited by his younger son Michel. When he died in 1966, he bequeathed what he had to Musee Marmottan Monet.

We are very lucky to see this show and be up close to Monet, who taught us to see things in another way.

Claude Monet: Secret Garden

Until October 1, 2017

Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street

Vancouver

www.vanartgallery.bc.ca

Worry about the Next Generation

Who's going to take over Dalian Wanda if Wang Jianlin's son won't?

Economists must find it interesting to watch how businesses develop in China, as private companies only began running again three decades ago.

As we have seen, some family-owned businesses have flourished spectacularly, the best example of which is Dalian Wanda run by Wang Jianlin, who recently purchased World Triathlon Corporation, which runs Ironman Triathlon Races for $650 million.

However, Wang's son, Sicong, has already said he does not want to take over the cinema and property conglomerate.

Wang Sicong's dog has two Apple watches. Does yours?

Maybe he's too busy playing with his dog, whom he recently purchased two Apple watches for each front paw.

However Wang Sicong is not alone in refusing to join the family firm. A study has found that only one in five of the mainland's second generation is keen to take over, which may spell trouble in the next decade.

The majority of second generation rich or fuerdai (富二代) would like to start their own business, while the rest would rather take traditional career paths.

The research was conducted by Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, and led by its associate dean, Professor Jin Li. The school is also launching a program in conjunction with the University of Oxford and Harvard Business School, aimed at executives of family businesses in China.

"Chinese family businesses are at a historic turning point," says Eric Thun, an associate professor in Chinese business studies at Oxford. "At the same time as confronting the challenges in the domestic market that are common to all Chinese firms, many are making leadership transitions from the first to second generation."

The study covered two years, based on interviews with more than 500 family-owned Chinese firms. Only 20.5 percent of those surveyed expressed an interest in following in their parents' footsteps, while nearly 70 percent wanted to start their own business; the rest wanted a traditional job like a doctor or lawyer.

Wang Sicong has set up his own gaming company

This latest finding spells trouble for China's economy because family-run businesses play a major role, with more than 85 percent of the country's private companies are family-owned. By July last year 747 of these firms were listed on the mainland stock exchange.

It's also an interesting contrast to family-run businesses in Europe and North America that have gone through several generations; but if not many second generation kids in China don't want to take over the family business, what's going to happen?

As expected, the profiles of the fuerdai reveal more than half of them have studied abroad, two-thirds of which majored in business management -- knowledge that would serve them well in guiding the family firm forward.

However, the study found many appeared to lack self confidence in dealing with businessmen from their parents' generation as well as senior staff within their family firm's management.

Another important issue is the kids feel too much pressure in living up to their parents' legacies, which could threaten business stability, the report said. This is the opposite thinking of the parents, who are focused on the best interests of the family and have high expectations for their child -- only child in most cases.

About two in every five entrepreneurs hoped their children would take over the business, while 55 percent said they would allow professionals to manage the company, but still have the family has main shareholders.

It sounds like there is no real nurturing of children to grow into the family business. In many multi-generational family businesses, young children are always encouraged to help out on the weekends or summer holidays, not just to have an extra pair of hands, but to see how they like the work.

And with many studying business management, but instead wanting to do something else may indicate the parents were trying to plan their children's career path without the kid having much say in what they wanted to study in university.

But the intimidation the fuerdai feel in taking over the business is palpable -- Chinese parents always seem to have very high expectations, sometimes to the point of being unrealistic. Wang Sicong has had a habit of shooting his mouth off, making outrageous comments that must leave his father red in the face with embarrassment.

So in this case maybe it's a good thing Sicong has decided not to take the reins of the family business...