Our Relationship with Water

Colorado River Delta #2 shows water from the ocean trying to reach the river

Just came back from the Asia Society where I watched a screening of Watermark by Toronto photographer Edward Burtynsky and Jennifer Baichwal. The duo had collaborated on Manufactured Landscapes where Burtynsky was the subject taking photographs of China and exploring where all our goods had come from.

The documentary received raved reviews, and thrust Burtynsky's name out into the global limelight. I'd never heard of him myself until that I watched that film and am glad it introduced me to his images that are terrifying and beautiful at the same time.

Xiaolangdi Dam #1, spewing out water from the Yellow River

His large-scale photographs show the immense scale of things, but also minute detail because his pictures are so sharp. For me his keen interest in what is happening in China and his amazing access to construction projects from dams to shipyards are fascinating, giving us viewers an insight into places we have never been to or never will go to.

In 2006 Burtynsky was working on a project on oil, how we extract it, what we use it for, how it impacts our environment. Then he happened to be in Australia when the droughts were happening and the photographers he was with at the time were photojournalists covering the impact of the droughts on farmers.

He explained that once water disappeared from their land or access to water was gone, that was the end of their livelihood on the land. The land couldn't be sold either and some farmers committed suicide. Seeing these things happen made Burtynsky think about water and our relationship to it.

Then two years later National Geographic contacted him, asking if he was interested in photographing on the subject of water in California. He did a year of research and then 10 months on and off of taking pictures there.

He showed the images of Baichwal and they thought they could be the basis of their next film.

Xiluodu Dam #1 that is six times larger than the Hoover

It starts with the mighty Yellow River in China, roaring as it comes down, the water coming out in clumps looking like the outstretched forelegs of a lion. And then this image is immediately contrasted with a parched barren riverbed in Mexico.

Watermark examines our relationship with water, as Burtynsky says, how we use it, abuse it, how we relate to it spiritually or for entertainment. They did a lot of research to figure out the best way to tell vignettes about water, but also avoiding cliched images and trying to find those that viewers would have little or no opportunity to see.

Thus we visit the construction of the Xiluodu, the biggest arched dam in the world that is six times larger than the Hoover. We also go to Greenland and talk to scientists about why they study the ice thousands of metres deep. And we see the horrific environmental effects of tanneries in Bangladesh, and 30 million people descending on the Ganges River in the hopes that their sins will be washed away.

Pivot Irrigation #11, in High Plains, Texas Panhandle

We also visit an abalone farm off the coast of Fujian province, and the pristine watersheds in British Columbia and learn about the lives of the people there, and how bizarre area in California, where everyone has a waterfront property.

To get the scale, the filmmakers used helicopters, cessnas, and more importantly remote helicopters, basically drones to photograph and film many sequences and the effects add not only to the poetic nature of the film, but also make us realize how small we are.

Burtynsky explains that 70 percent of the world's water is used for agriculture and 70 percent of that is used to grow the food for the animals we eat. Other statistics he had was that Canada has 32 percent of the world's fresh water, while China only has 8 percent. The mainland used to have 50,000 rivers, but now only 25,000, and many of them you can't even dip your hand in them, they're so contaminated.

Rice Terraces #2 in Western Yunnan province

He and Baichwal hope Watermark will get people to think about water the next time they drink some, turn on the tap, have a shower, jump into a swimming pool. We have to be careful with this precious resource.

I plan to see his exhibition at Sundaram Tagore Gallery soon, and have a chance to see Burtynsky's arresting images up close.

Edward Burtynsky: Water
Until June 21, 2014
Sundaram Tagore Gallery

57-59 Hollywood Road
Central

sundaramtagore.com

Rain, Rain Go Away

The heavy rain last night led to flooding in some streets in Hong Kong

Last night Hong Kong had a fantastic display of lightning and thunder from around 10pm to 11.40pm, with the rainstorm warnings going from amber to red and then black.

There are pictures around the Causeway Bay area where streets were flooded over ankle deep and the Cross Harbour Tunnel was flooded and slow going.

The Observatory recorded 2,313 lightning strikes across the city...

A friend of mine told me her friend tried to get a cab from North Point to Homantin and the taxi driver told her it would cost HK$500. Talk about extortion...

Those caught in the flooded streets ruined their footwear...

And then today there was lots of thunder and lightning again. As a friend chatted with me online, she saw a massive bright flash at her desk in Quarry Bay and then seconds later a huge boom that caused the building she was in to shake from the reverberations.

This evening we had our second amber rainstorm warning and luckily I was inside in a restaurant, watching the clouds fog over the city and then dump lots of rain before it cleared up again somewhat, but still raining.

Unfortunately this weekend's pretty much a washout... perhaps it is time to invest in a pair of wellies...

Attempting to Stem the Flow

UnionPay is China's popular form of bank payment that has spread to casinos

Perhaps it was going to happen sooner or later, but after the reports of Macau's casinos taking in even more money than before, Beijing is cracking down on funds being illegally transferred to the former Portuguese enclave.

China's state-backed bank payment card UnionPay has announced a series of measures to "combat overseas money laundering, capital flight and other illegal bank card use" in Macau.

At the heart of the issue are the illegal hand-held payment devices that are used in and around the casinos for gamblers to access money back home. Analysts say the amount could be more than 40 billion yuan last year.

Casinos have made lots of money from UnionPay payments

Mobile UnionPay payment devices have illegally entered Macau and used for unauthorized dealings that look like domestic transactions, thereby circumventing currency controls.

By using these devices the users can also evade tax on the mainland, which is why authorization is needed.

While Macau police have orchestrated a few raids in recent months, seizing payment devices and cash, it has hardly made a dent into the amount of money flowing into the casino city.

"the growth in payment cards is huge, because of China's corruption crackdown. Mainland gamblers in Macau don't want to reveal how much they gamble, so they use cards," said one analyst. This could mean gambling revenue figures are under-reported.

The official amount is $45 billion last year, but the analyst thinks a further $90 billion was unreported.

Interestingly, if pawnbrokers are not part of this UnionPay device circuit, then they are losing out, as some 200 billion yuan in transactions are conducted through UnionPay cards in the pawnshop industry, about 20 percent of them through these mobile devices.

Traditionally gamblers who were in the red would pawn off their valuables, but now they just had to swipe their card and input a PIN number.

What happens in the next few months will be interesting to watch -- will the torrent of yuan barreling into Macau halt to a trickle? Or will gamblers and their Macau enablers find some other way to carry the billions of yuan over to play on the tables?

Exposing Vulnerability

Pictures from Weibo of the aftermath of the knife attack in Guangzhou

The knife attack at Guangzhou Railway Station yesterday that wounded at least six people is the third assault in two months in China.

It calls into question the amount of money spent on domestic security, which is believed to be much more than 209 billion yuan, far exceeding the military budget.

If so much money is being spent on security, why are these attacks happening?

For example in Guandong, police have been patrolling with guns since 1994, and since May 1 there have been more than 4,000 gun-toting police officers and 10,000 auxilary police officers patrolling Guangzhou streets.

There are also SWAT teams and plainclothes police patrolling popular destinations, and 397,000 security cameras installed in the busy southern Chinese city since May1.

One of the six injured being carried away

It is a good illustration of how China has the hardware but not the software.

Even with all the equipment and manpower, the country isn't secure because it has poor intelligence gathering and local government capabilities to deal with these kinds of crises.

The just released 2013 China National Security Studies annual report features articles by scholars from various institutions who warn of "grave" challenges.

"Terror attacks in China have become more active than in previous years in both the number and seriousness of the attacks. The anti-terrorism condition facing China is grave," the report said.

So far this year there was an apparent suicide bomb and knife attack in Urumqi that left two assailants and a bystander dead a week ago, and a knife attack in Kunming train station in March that killed 29 and injured dozens. And now the incident in Guangzhou.

The report claims the main issue is Uyghur separatists from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement are to blame, expanding its attack targets from Xinjiang to other areas.

But are all these violent incidents really attributed to Uyghurs?

The Chinese government is not being transparent about this and all state media must carry Xinhua stories on any sensitive incidents so we may not be entirely sure of their conclusions.

But in any case, the lack of intelligence proves that having hardware is not enough to stop impending attacks. You need to know what is going on on the ground.

The more the government represses people like the Uyghurs, the more isolated they become, and the more secretive they are. As not many Chinese know the Uyghur language and culture, how can they even begin to understand this ethnic minority and their motives, let alone get some inkling of attacks being planned?

The string of attacks clearly shows heavy-handed repression does not bring security, but vulnerability.

Is this what China really wants to expose?