I got the chance to spend some quality time with Jimmy Wales during a lunch break in the CWMC 2006 (中文維基年會) held in CUHK. Much thanks to Edmon for the invitation.
Jimmy seemed to enjoy this eat-eat-talk-talk, very typical HK style of conversation, while the topics were all about Wikipedia and social movement, neutrality, and China (Edmon will have more about this in his paper). Jimmy has never been to China (but Taiwan previously and this time HK). He is more into European stuff (can speak some German) and American politics. He will spend more time in India too. For China, he's humble and trying to understand the nation better. You look Jimmy, find him just like a nice American, a beer guy with a Bud in his right hand, but he's also trying to learn how to enjoy a cup of boiled jasmine tea in his left hand...
If the cup is the regime, the tea is the culture, then Jimmy (and the world) may prefer to pay more attention on the taste of tea.
The whole wikipedia editing process is a valuable lesson to whom have ever participated it. For ages people have had different views or disagreed with each other. Now on Wikipedia, we got to hear both sides of stories and live with the sayings. If history does not give us lessons, the wikipedia could, at least, fill up with what has been missing. This gives us Chinese a neutral forum to discuss and review our own history too. No one owns or can control this forum.
On the other hand, the English-dominated Wikipedia is a major threatening to many other languages and cultures. Jimmy knows it but there's not much he can do. For example, the Chinese Wikipedians (at least these 50~60 people that I met this time) are SO YOUNG. It's unlikely that they can "handle the truth", not just because of lack of information (especially in China), but what they have been told by their education system...what value that they believe in...is different. Who can lead them to the right path? Who is responsible (for these kids) for it?
The past Chinese Dynasties had a tradition to write / define the history of the previous dynasty or emperor. Even it's almost 100 years passed since the fall of the Ching Dynasty, the Wikipedia collaborative concept is still new to many Chinese. To make HK a start point, and given HK a special historical position in Chinese-English history, I think Jimmy and the HK Wikipedians have done a wonderful job this time, yet still, a long way (plus a great wall) is ahead.
(extended reading: Who Writes Wikipedia?)
I assume more eat-eat-talk-talk can be arranged... :-)
