To begin this new chapter by saying “Hello World!” seems childlike, almost naïve. The world is always here and almost has never left, at least not for me. But why do I feel so isolated from the world at the same time?
Then I realise that: I’m stuck here in China.
China, China. The place to be and the place to leave, the place where freedom is just a word of fantasy. For many people who were born and have passed on this land, freedom has never been a concrete form of reality. For me unfortunately, and fortunately in the mean time, the experience of living abroad all these years, have allowed me to understand that the concept of freedom is not solely tied to the freedom of speech. Many a time, it is supposed to be persistent in course of our everyday life. Yet here in this land, it never arrived. It may never be.
“Hello World”, this simplest phrase that tens of millions of coders use to test the feasibility and functionality of their codes, is the closest and merely suitable metaphor for the status quo. It is a luxury, for many, to see the world in this country, which was not long ago, the largest country when it comes to population. Thus I hope, and I will work, to say the phrase again and again, until that door comes ajar and the light is in.
Somewhere in China, by Dingster