Fact of the Day: Public Security Trumps Defense

The 11th National People's Congress is underway in Beijing and there is a lot of intrigue about body language, who meets who, what is said and how it should all be interpreted.

On Sunday it was all about what to make of Vice President Xi Jinping shaking the hands of those who support Hong Kong Chief Executive candidate Leung Chun-ying before pressing the flesh with those in Henry Tang Ying-yen's camp.

And then all eyes were on Chongqing Party boss Bo Xilai and how he would be treated by senior officials; no definitive conclusion can be made yet.

Yesterday Premier Wen Jiabao gave his annual work report. The main point was that the government has set this year's economic growth target to 7.5 percent, the first drop in eight years. However, many are interpreting this as a good sign, so that China can focus more on sustainable development and also decrease output with the economic instability in Europe and the United States.

Another announcement he made was that central and local government spending on domestic security was set at 701.8 billion RMB ($111.4 billion), compared with 629.3 billion RMB in 2011 when it grew by 13.8 percent.

The interesting part about this whopping figure is that it is much larger than the defense budget which is at 670.3 billion RMB ($106.4 billion).

Wen said the government must "effectively defuse various types of conflicts, risks and dangers; prevent isolated problems from growing into major ones, and promote social harmony and stability."

He was hinting of the problems in restive areas like Tibet and Xinjiang, but also hundreds of thousands of riots that erupt in the country.

When a government spends more money on "public security" than on national defense, this clearly illustrates how scared the Chinese government is of its own people.

Is Lei Feng Still Relevant?

An iconic image of Lei Feng when he was in the PLA

The Communist Party of China is reviving Lei Feng as a model citizen for the Chinese to emulate.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of "Learning from Lei Feng Day" where people can stop and remember the selfless young man who served his country.

After he died on March 5, 1962, the Chinese government promoted him as a patriotic individual was born into a poor peasant family in Changsha, Hunan province. When he was seven years old Lei Feng became an orphan and was cared for by the government. Three years later he was enrolled at a primary school.

Apparently he came to school early everyday to clean the classroom to prepare for lessons and after six years of education he became a farmer. According to the story he also contributed to many work units.

When he became 20 he joined the People's Liberation Army. He was only 1.6 metres tall, just shy of the minimum height limit, but nevertheless had good work performance and was stationed in Fushun, Liaoning province. He was also made a party member.

In the army he was said to wash his comrades' clothes and given them free haircuts, as well as given away money and possessions to people in need. And when he traveled by train, he would give his seat to elderly people and help stewards clean up.

Sound too good to be true?

Today many young people in particular question whether Lei Feng is still relevant in today's world.

One Chinese state media outlet stated: "The post-1970s generation learned from Lei Feng, the post-1980s generation revolted against Lei Feng, and the post-1990s generation has forgotten about Lei Feng."

However the Propaganda Department has been quietly bringing back Lei Feng in the last few months that culminated into The Complete Works of Lei Feng that was published in a massive 200,000 Chinese character-long anthology on February 23.

So as the government keeps trying to push Lei Feng as an altruistic example of a good person, the public find it hard to swallow seeing as the state is hardy a selfless body, with its officials perceived as corrupt and selfish.

The more Beijing cultivates an image of him, the more unbelievable it becomes.

Perhaps the most tragic part of this story is that Lei Feng died at the tender age of 22 when a telegraph pole fell on him thanks to a reversing truck he was directing.

So while he was selfless, Lei Feng wasn't that bright.

Peddling Tradition

The poster for the latest commercial by Cartier

Cartier unveils its latest advertising campaign in the form of a three and a half minute commercial today that was shown in movie theatres and TV channels today.

Called L'Odyssee de Cartier, it's a lavish production, that was filmed on location in Prague, Paris, Italy and Spain.

The main character of course is the jewellery house's icon, the panther.

Using the sleek, fast animal originated from artistic director Jeanne Toussaint, whose nickname was "La panthere".

In the ad the panther breaks out from its bejewelled shell and travels the world while recounting Cartier's 165-year history.

The panther and the dragon face to face in China

What's interesting is that one of the animal's first destinations is China, where it comes face-to-face with a computer-generated gold dragon. The Chinese-style mythical animal then flies over the Chinese landscape and morphs into the Great Wall.

While the scene is an obvious homage to China, but also a hope to expand its markets there, Cartier also tries to prove its legitimacy, saying the brand already began creating dragon designs in the 1920s when Louis Cartier designed the Bestiaire line.

Another scene includes a fantastical one featuring the "tutti fruitti" collection, where the jewellery pieces feature the blue, green and red stones. The panther wanders through a Mughal-inspired room where crocodiles are covered in gemstones as well as flamingos.

There is also the introduction of the Tank watch and how it was commissioned by Albert Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aviator pioneer. He wanted to make it easier to look at his wristwatch so Cartier put the watch on leather straps to fasten around his wrist.

The commercial is so loaded with historical context that it's a pity it gets lost when viewing it without any previous explanation.

Nevertheless, it's a fitting encapsulation of what Cartier has achieved in the past.

So what has it done today?

In any event here's the commercial:

Desperate to be Thin

A women models a pair of skinny shorts -- but is she for real?

Many Hong Kong young women are obsessed about their figures.

They perceive that thin is pretty and will go to great lengths to become stick-thin.

Some will skip meals, others eat only salads or even resort to "diet pills" and gimmicks that claim to help people lose weight.

One of them entails adding a kind of powder to water and drinking it a few times a day to make one go to the bathroom more often. The product claims it has bacteria in there to clean out one's system so that the bloated feeling will disappear and thus be reflected in the waistline.

This desire to be thin has resulted in nearly 40 percent of young women 20 to 29 years old in the city to be underweight. This proportion has doubled in the past 15 years and the consequences can lead to them being more at risk of osteoporosis, according to a study by a Queen Mary Hospital doctor.

Dr Annie Kung Wai-chee used the World Health Organization's classification of body mass index (BMI) calculated by dividing a patient's weight by their height squared. An index of 18.5 to 22.9 is normal. However one in four Hong Kong young women had a BMI lower than 18.5.

And this could lead to a higher change of developing osteoporosis as the women's bone tissue decreased as well as bone density over time.

"When a female is in puberty and she tries to control her body weight by eating less, she can't get enough calcium and vitamins to sustain bone growth," Kung said.

Other possible contributors include low body weight, smoking and too little calcium in the diet. Osteoporosis can also lead to height loss and stooped body posture.

Kung described a 19-year-old whose weight was 36.3kg and her BMI was 14. When the young woman slipped on a wet floor, she broke her leg.

At the time the teenager ate twice a day and only dry food. After four years of treatment she now weighs 41kg but is still underweight.

Part of this obsession particularly in Hong Kong is due to the materialistic culture and constantly being exposed to images of thin models on advertising billboards, in magazines and television. They also don't seem to realize that many of the images of women they see are photo-shopped to the point where they don't look natural anymore.

There is very little knowledge about proper diets as well as the importance of exercising in Hong Kong. Many still believe lifting even the lightest dumbbells will result in large manly muscles which is physiologically impossible.

This kind of basic health information is so critical and yet parents, schools and senior officials seem more concerned about top grades than physical and psychological well being.