Tashkent: spacy or spacious

The suprise starts at Tashkent International Airport (Yuzhniy). It is way too big considering the amount of users. The first few days in Uzbekistan – we started last week in Nukus, West Uzbekistan – I thought: wow, impressive building or square but where are the people? But then it starts to look familiar. My first impression proved symptomatic for the towns of this huge country with only 28 million inhabitants. The boulevards, the hotels, the stadiums, the parks, the underground; they all seem several sizes too big.

I know that size matters in some situations but the greatness of all the pubic facilities seems to be chosen to impress. To boost more than to accommodate and serve the Uzbek citizens in a comfortable way. Tashkent is a city that does not allow people to take pictures in the (beautiful) underground. The park opposite hotel Uzbekistan is green, has benches and all things a neat park needs. Everything is in order and brand clean. Every stone, tile, statue and grassroot is properly placed. The statue of Amir Temur is lit brightly by strong spotligts. It is surrounded by about six benches. In the evening men of a certain age play chess and back gammon. On every bench three or four men sit, playing in silence. So far I have not seen people entertain themselves or play in public places. I presume this will mostly take place safely behind closed doors. There are fun parks and a handfull of terraces but they are probable too expensive for the mayority. Nobody hangs around on the streets for fun. Than it struck me: these chess players in the park, they are exceptional. The players are so out of tune in this city governed by an obsessive order and cleanliness. They might well be instructed to play from 8 till 10 in the park. Just the way people are ordered to clean the streets or to work in the cotton fields.

Mmmh, if so than one thing is puzzeling. Why are the about ten prostitutes in front of the hotel allowed to wait for their clients? It is a very visible place. Or are prostitutes part of the picture the government wants to communicate of Uzbekistan? Intrigueing. It almost keeps me awake at night. More short stories and photos will follow soon.

Barcamper’s favourite tools

Last week I attended the Barcamp in Almaty.  Again it was a lively and informal gathering of enthusiastic digital natives from all over Central Asia.  On this videoclip (6.30 min.) some of them share the digital tools they use most and probable also love most.

New tools are not scary

Friday late afternoon I spent some time with friends at cafe Maxwell, one of the many nice pubs in my quarter. Winding down from a busy week and looking forward to  the long Easter weekend ahead. The sun was shining and the beer was tasty. The conversation took a spin after I mentioned a interesting experience with Twitter.  I am not twittering myself but I find it a fascinating phenomenon. I think Twitter and more of these digital tools are still very primitive and mainly appealing to playful and curious early adopters.

My friends reacted sceptically on Twitter. Their reaction was so full of mistrust that it took me aback. Their conservative views on new tools and media were annoying.  You should at least try them before you judge. Twitter is dead simple and after one hour playing you can find out for your self: this offers me opportunities and can be fun or this is too time consuming and not my cup of tea.  Instead of jumping to conclusions based on information you have read about-the-hype-that-is-called-twitter in the mainstream newspapers.

Digital technology is developing fast. Digital natives are born with their fingers glued to the keyboard and mobiles are growing out of their ears. This generation is not afraid of technology because they are growing up together. Meanwhile the majority of my generation – people in their forties and fifties – is not used to new technology. Most of them avoid it as much and as long as possible. Except the group of older early adopters. These people – amongst whom a lot of (former) hippies, squatters , scientists, artists and some journalists – are really putting in an effort to keep up.

We can not all be genius. Still, it is strange that most of my generation is not interested at all or even afraid of new technology. In the near future they will definitely benefit enormously from digital tools after these have matured in user friendliness and many other ways. In ten to twenty years time they will thank God on their bare knees for the advantages of digital technology.  There will be screens everywhere. Including many (wireless and mobile) possibilities to keep in touch with friends and to stay in business even when ones own mobility slows down.

I know digital technology – like everything and everyone else that is new – is looked upon with a certain waiting attitude and sometimes even distrust. Though it is much wiser to approach new tools with keen and critical curiosity. Please explore and enjoy them!

Athens was burning

My first two days in Athens felt surreal. Here we are, staying in a posh hotel, attending a congress on media (Global Forum for Media Development) with 450 media people. Meanwhile a few blocks away thousands of Greeks were demonstrating and fighting with the police.

Few people wanted to involve, one of them was Sameer, hub manager at Witness.org. He went out to have a look at the riots in the old city and shoot some video. Afterwards he showed me the material and his Flip camera; magnificent in its simplicity, quality and price.

I went for a walk to the centre on my third day in Athens (Wednesday 10 Dec). First I went to the Parliament building.  At 12.30 hr. the demonstration was forced to spread. For this the police mainly used tear gas.  Nasty stuff.  The demonstrators looked like average citizens (students but also older people, white collars ect). They could well  belong to the ‘Generation 700′; well educated people in their twenties and thirties with a monthly income of about 700 euro’s. That might be enough ten years ago but this is definitely not the case any more.

The scene I still remember clearly – without taking a picture – was the young boy crying on the pavement, leaning against a window.  Some people were helping him, to get the tear gas out of his face by blowing cigarette smoke in his eyes. The ten year old happened to be on the wrong place when the police starting firing the tear gas.

I continued walking to the Athens Polytech that was taken over by students and other youngsters. It is located about 500 metres from the Parliament.  The Polytech has a history regarding uprising. Wednesday the situation at the University looked grim; many black clothes and gas masks, some hollow looking junkies at the entrance  and big speakers blasting out loud punk rock music. The surrounding streets were a complete mess; everything that was inflammable – cars, trees and houses – was burned.

What always surprises me in this kind of situations;  the way ordinary life continues.  Also in Athens men continued doing their shopping, women kept selling cookies even when the police turned up behind their back, lots of people went for a walk in the old city centre during their lunch break. And of course, the taxi driver did not want to drive me back to the hotel (2 km) for less than 20 euro. No way buddy.

The Greek do not trust their government; corruption is said to be wide spread and the investments in the Greek society are insufficient; in health, in welfare and especially on education.  Of course, the concept of democracy is never finished and needs constant maintenance. Because times, yes they are changing. But it is ironic to see the country that invented democracy in such a troubled state.

Independent Greek paper Kathimerini; English edition

The Economist; Rioters without Frontiers

BBC on Greece; including peaceful protests

Prinses Irene, Deetman’s knoop en een lekker kontje

Prinses Irene
Iedere woensdag werd Folia opgemaakt op de zetterij van Vrij Nederland in een zijstraat van de Kalverstraat. Op een dag sta ik in de lift met een zeer gedistingeerde dame die me bekend voorkomt. Het blijkt prinses Irene, die onder kantoortijd een bezoekje brengt aan haar dan nog geheime scharrel, Vrij Nederland-hoofdredacteur Joop van Tijn.

Knoop
Onder de sollicitanten voor een jaarcontract als leerling-redacteur was er een die een knoop op tafel legde. ‘Deze knoop’, zei hij, ‘komt van het colbert van minister Deetman. Die heb ik er persoonlijk van afgerukt bij de opening van het P.C. Hoofthuis.’ Voor de sollicitatiecommissie stond de geschiktheid van de kandidaat daarmee onomstotelijk vast. De jongeman werd aangenomen en heeft nog jaren voor Folia gewerkt.

Lekker kontje
De getalenteerde en veelzijdige leerling-redacteur Beau van Erven Dorens werd op reportage gestuurd naar OV-jaarkaart BV in Rotterdam, om hem ook eens iets  serieus te laten doen. De dag erop bibberde een fax binnen van de directeur: er zaten nogal wat fouten in het conceptartikel. Maar verder was de Folia-verslaggever ‘toch wel een lieve jongen’ geweest met bovendien ‘een lekker kontje’. De naam van de directeur van OV-jaarkaart BV: Pim Fortuyn.

Enkele anekdotes van Sjaak Priester, mijn oude hoofdredacteur. Meer Folia herinneringen op Folia60jaar