RIP TOMMY PAGE

Although Tommy Page never made it big in the USA, he was a big hit in Asia...RIP.

So Sad :--(

Note:  The photo above is a generic/stock picture of a cute Chinese baby.  It is being used to pull the readers' heartstrings.  The photo has nothing to do with the story referenced below.--Eds.

Four Chinese siblings, aged five to thirteen, were found dead of apparent suicide.  The children drank pesticide, the common method of suicide in rural China. The siblings were members of the large and growing legion of "left behind" children whose parents have left for work in faraway cities.

Chinese media speculate that they were either physically or psychologically abused.  Several village government officials in charge of child welfare have been sacked or disciplined.

Gift of the Magi

from the Times of India

Girl ends life to donate eyes to dad


Ashis Poddar, TNN Jul 4, 2011, 12.15am IST

NADIA: For days, Mumpy would listen quietly as the elders discussed how only an eye surgery could save her father's vision and a kidney transplant her brother's life. But both surgeries were beyond the family's meagre means. So, Mumpy hit upon a plan, which to her 12-year-old mind seemed the answer to all troubles. She would kill herself, which would save the dowry, too, and her organs would give her loved ones back their lives.



Mumpy did stick to her plan. But the suicide note in which she had scribbled down her wishes was found the day after she was cremated.

Yet Another K-POP Suicide

　Chae Dong-ha, 30, former member of the Korean pop trio SG Wannabe, was found dead in his home Friday morning, his agency said.



　Chae had hanged himself in his house in Eunpyeong-gu. Chae’s manager said Chae could not be reached the night before, and he was found dead the following morning when the manager arrived at his house. Police believe Chae committed suicide on the night of May 26.



　Chae’s agency said he had been suffering from depression since the death of his former manager’s, who committed suicide in 2009 in a motel in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang province.



　Chae had expressed his affection for his former manager in an album he released that same year. On the album Chae wrote, “He was everything to me -- my consoler, my friend, my brother. When I met him, I had the whole world in me.”



　Chae debuted in 2002 with his first solo album but failed to gain popularity. In 2004, he formed a ballad trio, SG Wannabe, with Kim Yong-jun and Kim Jin-ho. The group became popular in South Korea and Japan. In 2008, however, Chae left SG Wannabe and moved to a different agency. In 2009 he released his second solo album.



　Chae had been planning a concert next month in celebration of his birthday on June 23.



　Just four days before Chae’s death, an MBC sports announcer committed suicide. Celebrities including actor and singer Park Yong-ha, actress Choi Jin-sil and actress Jeong Da-bin have committed suicide in recent years.



　By Yun Suh-young (syun@heraldm.com)

Source:  Korea Herald

Bloggers' Pressure Forces Foxconn to Raise Worker Wages by 33%

The Fairbank Report is proud to be a part of the pressure groups which successfully forced the bourgeois elites at Foxconn to increase the wages of their workers and toilers from 900 RMB to 1200 RMB per month. Still, that's only 176 USD per month.

The fight continues. La lucha continua...

Outrage! Foxconn Chairman: Suicides Statistically Insignificant!

Drawing: bmezine.com

The putative chairman of Foxconn, the Taiwanese subcontractor for such large brands as Dell, HP, Nokia and Apple, told reporters that the 13 suicide attempts at his company's facilities on mainland China are insignificant. Ping-pong Guo, also known as "Terry," made the outrageous remark a few days ago. What a capitalist pig!

Experts blame poor working conditions, including twelve-hour shifts and social isolation, for the rash of suicides and suicide attempts among Foxconn's young employees.

Breaking: Former SKorean President Roh Moo-hyun Committed Suicide

Seoul, SK -- Breaking news: Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun (in office from 2003-08) died of apparent suicide as he and an aide hiked in the mountains.

For many months, Roh and his wife have been under investigation for taking bribes from a shoe mogul while in office. He was very close to being indicted by the South Korean Prosecutor's Office.

The Fairbank Report is your source for breaking news and for news that the MSM dare not cover...

Here We Go Again, SKorean Celeb Hanged Herself

Only a few months ago, we featured the story of suicide in Korean society. (Key in "Korea" in the Search bar).

From Korea Beat:

Jang Ja-yeon Commits Suicide

The young actress currently appearing in the show Boys Before Flowers has been found dead.

Jang Ja-yeon, an actress currently appearing in popular KBS2 drama Boys Before Flowers, was found dead in a Gangnam apartment Saturday afternoon.

It was reported that a close friend discovered her already dead and moved her to hospital at around 4:30.

A friend of Jang Ja-yeon said in an interview with Sports Shinmun, “Recently there’s been a contract problem with her management company and she’s been feeling low about the slipping significance of her role in the drama.”

Jang Ja-yeon debuted in an advert for a cookie company and was playing the role of Seon, one of the trio of “nasty girls” known as Jin-Seon-Yin in Boys Before Flowers.

The Chosun Ilbo has many funeral photo galleries through this link.

South Korea's "Culture of Suicide"

Up-and-coming actress Jung Da-bin hanged herself in February 2007.

K-POP, or Korean popular culture, has now permeated throughout the world. In fact, Korea's two largest broadcasters, KBS and MBC, are now vying with the legendary BBC and Voice of America (VOA) to project Korean culture, arts and cinema to the world. And it appears that the global audience is lapping it up. K-POP stars have mesmerized the world audience with their stunning good looks (often achieved through plastic surgery), charm and grace.

But behind the world-famous glam that is K-POP, there's a sad tale. Since 2007, there has been a string of high-profile suicides of K-POP stars who were in their 20s and 30s. While this statistic is scientifically insignificant, we thought that it might prove to be a sentinel indicator. And yes, it turns out to be so. In 2006, South Korea had the highest suicide rate of all the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the elite club of the world's 24 richest countries) member countries. See http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/158160.html .

Clearly, Korean society -- like that of Japan -- is not easy to negotiate for those who deviate (or are perceived to do so) from the narrow normative parameters. Here's one commentator's take on suicide and Korean culture. We don't necessarily subscribe to his thesis, but it is worth a read.

Well, one thing worth thinking about -- I think the nastiness is partially enabled by 1) lazy moderators on sites, and 2) the particularly extreme nastiness of the Korean internet.

Now, before people go off saying this is "racist" or whatnot, I'll say that I place this all squarely within a framework of causality -- not just "Koreans are essentially, genetically X."

There is an extreme amount of competition for scarce resources in this society, ranging from less space-per-person, how standardized tests rule everything, the extreme militarized hierarchy of society, and the general amount of mental trauma that has not at all been dealt with throughout the entire 20th century.

Take a country ravaged by invasion and colonization for 36 years, forced labor and military conscription through World War II, then "liberation" by a new set of neo-colonizers, then a devastating war that ravaged the nation and rent family ties asunder, which was then followed by dictatorship, torture, and the constant threat of force by the government on labor unions, activists, and anyone else who bothered to question authority, coupled with the crushing of organized labor and the democracy movement (within a nominal democracy, right? the irony) in Kwangju, and the constant "scare" and suspicion that one's neighbor was a "Commie" -- and then suddenly, the economy is great-n-the-80's, people are toting Prada bags and Beamers (or wanting to), and busy enjoying themselves -- or trying not to think about the massive collective trauma inflicted upon them.

Read more at http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/korean_pop_culture/