SCO: Getting Ready for Summer
Shanghai Cooperative Organization (SCO) will be held in Shanghai Stock Exchange building from June 14th through June 18th. Like many white collars who burrow inside their individual cubicle and stare at the computer screen for at least eight hours per working day, together with teams of blue collars doing all the menial sanitary jobs, the Shanghai Stock Exchange building is also where I work and at the United Design Group.
The Building Management had in last week sent out circulars for all office tenants to take measures, holidays or make plans to meet possible needs to return to the building. United Design Group, therefore, has also in turn informed all the staff to go on holidays, if necessary adjusting workload accordingly. Holidays are in fact not for free; for all these inevitable cast from heaven holidays, all the staff has to return to work on the already scheduled or replaced work days, on June 10th and 11th weekend. In other words, before the SCO, all will have to work nine consecutive days before temporarily vacating the building for good.
Also from the newscast last night, China’s Premiere Hu was seen briefing the SCO’s organization committee at a large u-shaped conference table inside a magnificent conference hall.
This early morning, in true blue and bleached light gray uniforms, many of them smartly in white gloves, the City Management teams were out in their blue trucks rounding up the streets, living up to the management skills of delivering white glove tests. Out with their trucks sweeping the streets, all around the proximity area closer to the Shanghai Stock Exchange building, the City Management teams swiftly arrived in unison.
Those street vendors and squatters around the fringes of the existing residential as well as commercial buildings were the main targets in the extemporaneous move. Anything spillover or unsightly will be aimed. Crates of fruits and basketful of vegetables, weathered greasy furniture, gas tanks, podiums and large parasols, make shift discarded doors for temporary display, including all that is possible to be picked up, loaded and carted, were all bull-dozed away by the convoy of trucks. In between, and between some vigilante passers-by or the squatters themselves and the City Management teams, squabbles broke out, scuffles flared, words and tears flew.
The real life actions took place speedily and the City Management teams were gone soon after. In the aftermath, scatters and splatters were littered all over. A street cleaner came around to carry out the follow up. As I could afford the panoramic view to zoom in on the actions from my bedroom window, the light rain was slowly soaking up the street – this one-way street seemed more unusually in its isolated solitary and in time elongated stillness - with the street returned to its early morning normalcy later.
For me, I already have plans long time ago. Sending out an sms (short messaging system) or text to the former coworker to see if he could afford the extra time to facilitate my timing and go on a brief holiday like we went to Xi'an (Peace in the City due West) last year. At this point of writing, several options are proposed and eventual decisions could be taken impromptu.
Yesterday was the Fifth day of the Fifth month of the Lunar Calendar. According to conventional folkloric observation of China as well as many Chinese throughout the world, it was the Duanwu Festival or in other popular term, the Dragon Boat's Day. Today, the World observes the Children's Day. Don't forget —— on June 21st or Summer Solstice, summer arrives when day and night splits evenly.
And how I love summer.
Shanghai Cooperative Organization (SCO) will be held in Shanghai Stock Exchange building from June 14th through June 18th. Like many white collars who burrow inside their individual cubicle and stare at the computer screen for at least eight hours per working day, together with teams of blue collars doing all the menial sanitary jobs, the Shanghai Stock Exchange building is also where I work and at the United Design Group.
The Building Management had in last week sent out circulars for all office tenants to take measures, holidays or make plans to meet possible needs to return to the building. United Design Group, therefore, has also in turn informed all the staff to go on holidays, if necessary adjusting workload accordingly. Holidays are in fact not for free; for all these inevitable cast from heaven holidays, all the staff has to return to work on the already scheduled or replaced work days, on June 10th and 11th weekend. In other words, before the SCO, all will have to work nine consecutive days before temporarily vacating the building for good.
Also from the newscast last night, China’s Premiere Hu was seen briefing the SCO’s organization committee at a large u-shaped conference table inside a magnificent conference hall.
This early morning, in true blue and bleached light gray uniforms, many of them smartly in white gloves, the City Management teams were out in their blue trucks rounding up the streets, living up to the management skills of delivering white glove tests. Out with their trucks sweeping the streets, all around the proximity area closer to the Shanghai Stock Exchange building, the City Management teams swiftly arrived in unison.
Those street vendors and squatters around the fringes of the existing residential as well as commercial buildings were the main targets in the extemporaneous move. Anything spillover or unsightly will be aimed. Crates of fruits and basketful of vegetables, weathered greasy furniture, gas tanks, podiums and large parasols, make shift discarded doors for temporary display, including all that is possible to be picked up, loaded and carted, were all bull-dozed away by the convoy of trucks. In between, and between some vigilante passers-by or the squatters themselves and the City Management teams, squabbles broke out, scuffles flared, words and tears flew.
The real life actions took place speedily and the City Management teams were gone soon after. In the aftermath, scatters and splatters were littered all over. A street cleaner came around to carry out the follow up. As I could afford the panoramic view to zoom in on the actions from my bedroom window, the light rain was slowly soaking up the street – this one-way street seemed more unusually in its isolated solitary and in time elongated stillness - with the street returned to its early morning normalcy later.
For me, I already have plans long time ago. Sending out an sms (short messaging system) or text to the former coworker to see if he could afford the extra time to facilitate my timing and go on a brief holiday like we went to Xi'an (Peace in the City due West) last year. At this point of writing, several options are proposed and eventual decisions could be taken impromptu.
Yesterday was the Fifth day of the Fifth month of the Lunar Calendar. According to conventional folkloric observation of China as well as many Chinese throughout the world, it was the Duanwu Festival or in other popular term, the Dragon Boat's Day. Today, the World observes the Children's Day. Don't forget —— on June 21st or Summer Solstice, summer arrives when day and night splits evenly.
And how I love summer.
Jeremy
Greetings from Shanghai
June 1st, 2006
No comments:
Post a Comment