Picture the idea of taking a vow to say “yes” to any request made of you, to say “yes” to any event. Heck, I wonder if we would still be alive after a week. I would have to follow my wife’s suggestion, which I get from time to time of, “oh, why don’t you just […]
Rod MacKenzie
CRACKING CHINA was previously the title of this blog. That title was used as the name for Rod MacKenzie's second book, Cracking China: a memoir of our first three years in China. From a review in the Johannesburg Star: " Mackenzie's writing is shot through with humour and there are many laugh-out-loud scenes". Cracking China is available as an eBook on Amazon Kindle or get a hard copy from www.knowledgethirstmedia.co.za.
His previous book is a collection of poetry,Gathering Light.
A born and bred South African, Rod now lives in Auckland, New Zealand, after a number of years working in southern mainland China and a stint in England.
Under the editorship of David Bullard and Michael Trapido he had a column called "The Mocking Truth" on NewsTime until the newszine folded.
He has a Master's Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland. if you are a big, BIG publisher you should ask to see one of his many manuscript novels. Follow Rod on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/Rod_in_China
Posted inLifestyle
The endless joys of discrimination
I now wish I didn’t know some of the Chinese language. Wherever I go in mainland China, and I mean wherever, I know people are talking about me in Mandarin. Look, a lawei (foreigner)! He is so fat, such a big tummy. Sometimes they run over to pat and stroke my boep which is shrinking […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Voting ANC: Oh come all ye faithless …
… joyless and de-fea-ted, oh come ye, oh co-ome ye to Luu-thuu-li house. Oh co-ome and behold him, with glorious spout sur-mouun-ted… Jokes and a new song for the shower aside (with lots of soap after a night of serious bed-jostling to make sure), what’s so bad about the ANC getting “in” again, note the […]
Posted inLifestyle
Spending habits: What’s this global financial mess?
Hell yeah! What’s this global crisis all about? Am I living in a safe, warm cocoon here in Shanghai? The Chook and I mostly live on one income and stick away the other. Yet I read in a recent Time magazine article on the global crisis, titled “The Great Fall”, some scary stuff, or rather […]
Posted inGeneral
What’s colour to a blind man?
As a UCT student in ’88, I once lived in a commune which included a blind man. His name was Ivan and we often chatted in the kitchen while we made our separate lunches. Once Ivan said to me, “I went to see a movie the other week in Claremont, it was really interesting”. “Oh, […]
Posted inGeneral
ANC candidate list: Winnie and the new/old morality
I love my new teaching job. I get paid rather well, if we convert from the Chinese RMB to the SA rand. It is, after the ridiculously low tax which my agency has wangled, a reasonably decent income by Johannesburg north standards. That given, I only work just over fourteen hours a week at a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC issues fake DA pamphlet: All parties should responsibly respond
I found the fake DA pamphlet some members of the ANC allegedly distributed to make a mockery of the DA somewhat funny, especially the caveat at the end, “Warning: do not show this pamphlet to your maids and garden boy … . We need their votes”. We see this kind of humour in Madam & […]
Posted inGeneral
Racial stereotyping: Cartoons of SA leaders, Obama, the Chinese
There is one striking thing about Chinese cartoons of Chinese people here in China. The characters don’t have the slant-eyed slits Western cartoonists often love, sometimes looking like twin Concordes taking off in opposite directions. The eyes are, well, normal. It would be interesting to find out if that is in scornful reaction to the […]
Posted inLifestyle
A privilege, called … life!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’ He chortled in his joy. Good on you, Lewis. Today I begin a new life. I will look upon all things and see the wonder in them. My clothing? I own three pairs of trousers, about eight T-shirts (my teaching job in downtown Shanghai has no dress code) and one […]
Posted inGeneral
God is now black and our evolving consciousness
One of the best articles I have read of late is “God is Black” by Michael Kinsley. Aptly, it appeared in Time Magazine’s inauguration preview issue of Obama becoming president (January 26 print edition), an issue which focused on the new US president’s policies and “the burdens that await him”. It was a delight and a […]
Posted inGeneral
Carl Niehaus, blame-shifting and what we can learn from this
Blame-shifting is self-destructive energy. Carl Niehaus is obviously a desperate man. Desperate men do desperate things, therefore the gush of confessions coming out of his mouth needs to be closely checked. For instance, already Rhema Church has denied ever lending Carl Niehaus about R700 000; a spokesman claims the church only stood as surety on a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
China-Zimbabwe relations: Mugabe’s $5.8m Hong Kong retirement home
We have turned east, where the sun rises, and given our back to the west, where the sun sets — Robert Mugabe The whole morning I marvelled at the apple-red faces of the 12-year-old Chinese children I teach at a new school I started work at yesterday. The ice-breaker game to introduce myself on my […]