Politicisation of flags

I am not really sure how I got embroiled in a political conflict, here at tmy summer school of space studies. I am at an institution founded on top-class education based on international exchange and intercultural understanding. But somehow the issue of my Taiwanese nationality has become an issue of debate. Unhappily so.

It all began as we were entering our final preparation stage for the report due next week. Historically, because the team compiling the report consists of dozens of people from all over the world, the tradition is that on the back cover there is a list of names, with next to the names the flag of the country where the person comes from. There have been incidences where people who have two nationalities have two flags next to their name.

So I do have dual-nationality, and like everyone who has the right to have both his/her country represented, I asked the person responsible for designing the cover to include the Dutch and Taiwanese flag.

Then came the email. From a fellow Chinese student who protested against the inclusion of Taiwan or the Taiwan flag in the flag. As if echoing the speech of an official from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this issue (before I realised it became an issue at all!) became labelled as a "serious matter".

So I took steps to stop things going any further. Believe me, the last thing I want is to be in the middle of a debate about sovereignty and never-ending "Taiwan-is-a-part-of-China" claim. It is simply futile and does not get anywhere. I wrote a very diplomatic and carefully phrased email to our programme director, requesting that he clarify the issue, and I cc-ed the email to people in our team, thinking they should be informed about the latest development in this very unpredicted protest from our Chinese colleague(s).

Hours later, I was spoken to by the chair. Though it was right to refer the matter to the director, and though the Chinese student had no right to decide what goes in or out of the final group report, it was a terrible mistake for me to cc the email to everyone. It was escalating things further, and putting the matter on the public forum, I was told.

I came away from that meeting somewhat disheartened. I am not sure what I had done to provoke anything, and if I did do anything (like write that email and send it to everyone) then it was only because I wanted the input from a neutral party with the authority to decide on such matters of controversy. And somehow the issue has come back to bite me, and I've made a number of people irritated.

It is funny.... even at an academic institution of learning and international cooperation, that politics can raise its ugly head and wreak discord and sow upset. All because of a flag... all because certain people cannot tolerate dissent or another opinion, and feels the need to shoot down all semblances of what has so often been labelled "splitting the Motherland" or "subversion".

And all I wanted was to be represented. All what I wanted was to be represented fully like everyone else has a right to. I am Taiwanese and Dutch, and those are my identities, those are the cultures and countries that have shaped me. Am I to deny that because someone else protests?

Once again, the politicization of everyday mundane things unveals its ugliness.

Go Andorra

I guess my friends and I were just fed up. Fed up with meetings that last hours but do not really get anywhere. Fed up with having to sacrfice Saturdays and Sundays to have discussions and work almost constantly day and night. Of course we all know that the project we are involved in is extremely important, and may even have an impact on the future of space activities, but we all needed a break!

So we silently sneaked out of our dorms on Sunday morning, and headed quickly towards the bus station. We booked a place, and the bus to get there, within an hour or so of deciding that we should take a short trip to get away from it all. Andorra awaited.

The bus journey to the mini-state lodged between France and Spain was uneventful, mostly because we were all dead-exhausted from lack of sleep and overload of work in the past few days. The day earlier, we had spent almost ten hours of non-stop meetings, and tensions between certain people in the group were running high. It was somewhat unpleasant to be there, and I could feel people getting really stressed and demotivated. So I slept almost the complete three hour journey from Barcelona to Andorra, only waking up at times to catch a glimpse of the scenery outside.

Mountains, blue water reflecting the sky, majestic rock formations, wooded landscapes... Catalunya is really such a diverse and magical land, with such much to explore and discover. It seemed like every turn of the bus revealed a new lands waiting to be discovered, towering tops of mountains, blended with gorgeous valleys and plains. Eventually, we arrived in Andorra, crossing the border with ease, and we were in another country.

The main city is located between soaring mountains in a way that it sometimes felt claustrophobic. There are only a few streets, and the main avenue was a shoppers paradise, filled with designer clothes, cheap electronics and ridiculously cheap cigarettes and liquer, because Andorra is a low-tax heaven. Most of the cars were Spanish or French, which shows how popular the country is. I felt a bit trapped, and wanted to get away into nature, but I didn't have much of a chance.

But it was nice to be with two people I could get to know better, and I think a shared experience like a road-trip, especially when sharing a room when the snore of another is so very close, really brings people together. We walked around the shops somewhat, and even had a chance to climb up half the mountain. Most relaxing of all was enjoying a long, long soak in the local thermal spa, which softened our bones and muscles after the past eight weeks of intense work and stress. I slept so surprisingly well, and did not get up until half an hour or so before we had to check out of the room!

I felt refreshed and rejuvenated returning to my little room in the middle of the heat of Barcelona. And I felt a little guilty too, especially since most of the group of people I'm doing this project with were here, slaving away... But sometimes you just need to get away to get some perspective. And get away to be free.