love one another documentary的八卦，Yahoo名人娛樂都在討論

ที่สุด ❤

จำสี่ชื่อนี้ให้ดีครับ

Vern Unsworth
John Volanthen
Rick Stanton
Dr. Richard Harris

เพราะสี่ท่านนี้คือผู้ที่โชคชะตาพาให้เข้ามาเกี่ยวข้องกับภารกิจนี้อย่างไม่น่าเชื่อ ที่ TAF จะมาเล่าให้ฟังกันครับ

-----------------------------------------------------------

Vern Unsworth

นักสำรวจถ้ำชาวอังกฤษ ผู้มีภรรยาเป็นคนไทย และอาศัยอยู่ในจังหวัดเชียงรายมา 7 ปี หลังจากทราบข่าวว่าเด็ก ๆ หายเข้าไปในถ้ำหลวง เขาก็รีบมาเสนอความช่วยเหลือทันที เพราะตัวเขาเองเข้าออกถ้ำหลวงมาแล้วหลายครั้ง เขารู้จักซอกมุมในนั้นเป็นอย่างดี

แต่สิ่งที่สำคัญที่สุดคือ โน้ตกระดาษแผ่นเล็ก ๆ ที่เขียนส่งให้เจ้าหน้าที่ไทย

Time is running out! (เวลาใกล้หมดแล้ว!)

1. Rob Harper
2. Rick Stanton MBE (MBE คือเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ชั้น The Order of the British Empire)
3. John Volanthen

They are the world's best cave diver (พวกเขาคือนักดำน้ำในถ้ำที่เก่งที่สุดในโลก)
Please contact them through (กรุณาติดต่อพวกเขาผ่าน)
UK EMBASSY ASAP (สถานทูตสหราชอาณาจักร อย่างเร็วที่สุดเท่าที่จะเป็นไปได้)

ต้องขอบคุณที่เจ้าหน้าที่ไทยฟังเขา และติดต่อไปยังกระทรวงการต่างประเทศ ซึ่งติดต่อไปยังสถานทูตสหราชอาณาจักร ที่ก็รีบติดต่อไปยัง British Cave Rescue Council ซึ่งทั้งสามท่านตกลงที่จะเดินทางมาประเทศไทย กระทรวงการต่างประเทศไทยจึงออกตั๋วเครื่องบินของการบินไทยให้อย่างเร่งด่วน

-----------------------------------------------------------

John Volanthen และ Rick Stanton

คู่บัดดี้ดำน้ำในถ้ำสองท่านนี้คือนักดำน้ำในถ้ำที่เก่งที่สุดในโลก เจ้าของสถิติโลกการดำน้ำในถ้ำที่ยาวที่สุดกว่า 9 กิโลเมตรในสเปนเมื่อปี 2011

Rick Stanton เป็นนักดับเพลิงในโคเวนทรี ผู้ซึ่งได้ได้แรงบันดาลใจในการดำน้ำในถ้ำจากการดูสารคดี Underground Eiger เกี่ยวกับนักดำน้ำสองคนที่พยายามทำสถิติโลกการดำน้ำในถ้ำในตอนนั้น และทำให้เขาตัดสินใจได้ว่า การดำน้ำในถ้ำคือสิ่งที่เขาอยากจะทำ

John Volanthen วิศวกรคอมพิวเตอร์ที่ก็ได้แรงบันดาลใจจากการดำน้ำในถ้ำมาตั้งแต่ยังเป็นวัยรุ่น ด้วยบุคลิคที่มุ่งมั่นและเอาจริงเอาจัง เขารักการดำน้ำในถ้ำมาก มากถึงขนาดที่ในวันแต่งงาน เขาตัดสินใจไปดำน้ำในถ้ำเพื่อแก้เครียด

แม้ว่าพวกเขาจะไม่ชอบการเป็นจุดสนใจ และยืนยันว่าการดำน้ำในถ้ำเป็นแค่กิจกรรมยามว่างและงานอาสาสมัครเท่านั้น แต่พวกเขาทั้งสองคนสร้างวีรกรรมที่กล้าหาญที่ช่วยชีวิตคนมาแล้วหลายคน

หนึ่งในภารกิจที่มีชื่อเสียงที่สุดของ Rick Stanton ก็คือการดำน้ำเข้าไปช่วยเหลือทหารอังกฤษที่ติดอยู่ในถ้ำนานถึง 8 วันในเม็กซิโกเมื่อปี 2004 ซึ่งเขาดำไปพบและได้ช่วยให้กำลังใจและสร้างแรงผลักดันให้ทหารรายหนึ่งที่กลัวน้ำให้กล้าที่จะดำน้ำความยาวกว่า 180 เมตรออกมาจากถ้ำได้สำเร็จ

และเมื่อเขามาพบกับ John Volanthen ทั้งสองคนก็กลายมาเป็นคู่บัดดี้ที่เก่งที่สุดในโลก ที่รัฐบาลฝรั่งเศสเชิญพวกเขาไปค้นหานักดำน้ำในถ้ำที่หายไปในถ้ำลึกกว่า 1 กิโลเมตร โดยสมาคมกู้ภัยและช่วยชีวิตของอังกฤษ Royal Humane Society บอกว่าพวกเขาเป็น "นักดำน้ำในถ้ำเพียงไม่กี่คนในโลกที่มีทักษะและอุปกรณ์ และอยู่ใกล้ที่สุด" ซึ่งพวกเขาใช้เวลา 8 วันในการค้นหาร่างผู้เสียชีวิตจนพบ รวมถึงในปี 2014 ที่รัฐบาลนอร์เวย์ขอให้เขาทั้งสองช่วยค้นหาศพของนักดำน้ำในถ้ำสองรายที่เสียชีวิตในถ้ำอีกด้วย

พวกเขาไม่ต้องการมีชื่อเสียง ชอบอยู่เงียบ ๆ และทำกิจกรรมที่เขารัก แต่เมื่อมีเหตุการณ์เกิดขึ้น พวกเขาก็พร้อม พวกเขามาถึงประเทศไทยและเริ่มปฏิบัติงานทันที ทักษะและประสบการณ์ของเจ้าของสถิติโลกการดำน้ำในถ้ำนั้นช่วยให้ #หน่วยซีล ของไทยปฏิบัติงานได้ง่ายและปลอดภัยขึ้น

แม้ต้องล่าถอยออกจากถ้ำทั้งหมดจากฝนที่ตกกระหน่ำเมื่อราววันที่ 28 มิถุนายน จนมีภาพที่ผู้สื่อข่าว #BBC พยายามถามพวกเขาทั้งสองที่เดินออกมาจากถ้ำเพราะน้ำท่วมกระหน่ำว่า มีอะไรอัพเดตกับ BBC ไหม แต่ได้คำตอบเป็นหน้าบูด ๆ และสายตาที่ไม่แม้แต่จะมองนักข่าว BBC คนนั้น

เมื่อสภาพอากาศเป็นใจ พวกเขาวางแผนกลับเข้าไปอีกครั้ง และครั้งนี้เป็นการวาง "ค่ายกล" ที่ประกอบด้วยเชือกนำทางและถังอากาศทุก ๆ 25 เมตรตลอดทางที่พวกเขาไป

ซึ่งก็เป็นทั้งสองคนนั่นเองที่พบเด็ก ๆ ทั้ง 13 คน ที่พวกเขาเล่าว่า เชือกที่นำทางนั้นหมดลง ทำให้เขาต้องขึ้นสู่ผิวน้ำ และพบกับสายตาทั้ง 13 คู่ที่มองลงมา

"How many of you?" ในวิดีโอของหน่วยซีลของไทยก็คือเสียงของ John Volanthen นั่นเอง

แม้ว่าพวกเขาจะพบเด็ก ๆ แล้ว แต่นั้นก็นำมาสู่ปัญหาต่อไปว่าจะพาเด็ก ๆ ออกมาอย่างไร เมื่อทางเลือกอย่างการเจาะถ้ำนั้นยังไกลจากความเป็นจริง และระดับของออกซิเจนในถ้ำที่ลดลงจนเป็นส่วนหนึ่งที่นำมาสู่การเสียชีวิตของจ่าเอกสมาน กุนัน อดีตนักทำลายใต้น้ำ/จู่โจมของกองทัพเรือไทย ประกอบกับ #พยากรณ์อากาศ ที่เชื่อว่าจะมีฝนตกลงมามากกว่านี้ในอีกไม่กี่วัน ทำให้พวกเขาต้องเลือกทางที่เสี่ยงที่สุด เป็นทางเลือกที่ทุกคนไม่เชื่อว่าจะเป็นไปได้ และไม่เคยมีใครทำมาก่อนในโลกนี้

คือการให้เด็ก ๆ ดำน้ำออกมาทางเดิม!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Richard Harris

นั่นทำให้ทั้งสองได้ร้องขอไปยังเจ้าหน้าที่ของไทย ให้เชิญ Dr. Richard Harris วิสัญญีแพทย์ชาวออสเตรเลีย นักดำน้ำในถ้ำที่มีประสบการณ์ 30 ปี ผู้ถือสถิติการดำน้ำในถ้ำน้ำเย็นจัดลึก 194 และ 221 เมตร ที่เชื่อกันว่าคือสถิติที่ลึกที่สุดในการดำน้ำในถ้ำในน้ำเย็นจัด เพื่อตามหาต้นกำเนิดของแม่น้ำ Pearse ในนิวซีแลนด์ ที่พวกเขาต้องวางแผนที่สลับซับซ้อนในการจัดตั้งแคปซูลกู้ภัยในถ้ำเพื่อปรับความดันและหยุดพักในน้ำที่อุณหภูมิใกล้ศูนย์องศา ซึ่งการดำน้ำของเขาในครั้งนี้เมื่อปี 2011 และ 2012 ได้นำไปทำเป็นสารคดีโดย National Geographic ด้วย

Dr. Richard Harris คือผู้ที่ประเมินสุขภาพของเด็ก ๆ ทั้ง 13 คน และตัดสินใจเปลี่ยนแผนในถ้ำเป็นการนำเด็กที่อ่อนแอและมีปัญหาสุขภาพที่สุดออกมาก่อนเด็กที่แข็งแรงที่สุด Dr. Richard Harris คู่บัดดี้ และตำรวจออสเตรเลียอีก 6 นาย ถือเป็นหนึ่งในหลายสิบชีวิตของทีมดำน้ำในถ้ำที่ดีที่สุดทั่วโลกที่ถูกเรียกตัวมายังจังหวัดเชียงรายเพื่อปฏิบัติภารกิจที่ยากที่สุด เสี่ยงอันตรายที่สุด และไม่เคยมีใครทำมาก่อนในประวัติศาสตร์ของมนุษยชาติ!

จากการประชุมและวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลกับเจ้าหน้าที่ของไทย ประกอบกับการประเมินปัจจัยเสี่ยงต่าง ๆ ทำให้ทุกคนตกลงใจที่จะเลือกวันที่ 8 กรกฎาคม เป็นวันปฏิบัติการครั้งประวัติศาสตร์ที่นักดำน้ำในถ้ำที่ดีที่สุดในโลก 50 คน จะร่วมมือกับนักทำลายใต้น้ำ/จู่โจมของกองทัพเรือไทยอีก 40 คน ปฏิบัติภารกิจนำทีม #หมูป่า ดำน้ำในถ้ำที่เต็มไปด้วยหินที่แหลมคม กระแสน้ำที่รุนแรง ทัศนวิสัยที่เป็นศูนย์ ความมืดที่มีแสงไฟที่พวกเขาถืออยู่เป็นเพียงแสงสว่างเดียว นำเด็กที่อายุไม่ถึงเกณฑ์ที่จะดำน้ำในถ้ำ ไม่มีแม้แต่ประสบการณ์ในการดำน้ำ ออกจากถ้ำหลวงที่ผู้สื่อข่าวของ CNN กล่าวว่าเกือบจะเป็นโลงศพของพวกเขา มาสู่แสงสว่างและโลกภายนอก กลับสู่ครอบครัว สู่บ้าน และสร้างประวัติศาสตร์การกู้ภัยที่ยิ่งใหญ่ที่สุดครั้งหนึ่งที่คนเป็นร้อยเป็นพันล้านคนทั่วโลกต่างต้องกลั้นหายใจเพื่อลุ้นว่าปฏิบัติการจะสำเร็จหรือไม่

และผลลัพธ์ของปฏิบัติการ ก็คือวินาทีนี้ ของวันนี้ วันนี้ Mission Impossible ถูกเปลี่ยนเป็น Mission Possible ด้วยความสามารถ การวางแผน ความพยายาม และการร่วมมือร่วมใจกันของทุกคน/TAF

#พาทีมหมูป่ากลับบ้าน #ถ้ำหลวง #ThaiCaveRescue

-----------------------------------------------------------

Rick Stanton เคยกล่าวกับ divernet.com ว่า กีฬาดำน้ำในถ้ำนั้นเป็นกีฬาที่ไม่ค่อยมีคนรู้จัก และนักดำน้ำในถ้ำก็มักเป็นคนที่ไม่ค่อยอยากเป็นจุดสนใจ ซึ่งรวมถึงตัวเขาด้วย

สำหรับนักดำน้ำท่านอื่นๆส่วนใหญ่ BBC กล่าวว่าพวกเขาไม่ค่อยอยากออกตัวนักเช่นกัน เลยหาข้อมูลค่อนข้างยาก แต่มีจำนวนหนึ่งที่ BBC รวบรวมมาได้ตามนี้ครับ

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44761821

------------------------------------

ภาพจากข่าวสด English, AP, และ The Australian ตามลำดับ

TAF เรียบร้องข้อมูลบางส่วนจาก

https://www.mamamia.com.au/thailand-cave-rescue-dr-richard…/

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/…/british-divers-richard-stanton…

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/…/ae49c3cfe024fc8f00188a5b…

https://today.line.me/…/%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B3%E0%B9%8…
Remember these four names.

Vern Unsworth
John Volanthen
Rick Stanton
Dr. Richard Harris

Because these four are the people whose fate brings into this mission that taf will tell you about.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Vern Unsworth

British cave explorer who has a wife and lived in Chiang Rai for 7 years. After hearing that the children were missing into tham luang, he came to offer help immediately because he went in and out of tham luang. He knows the corner very well in there

But the most important thing is a little paper note that I wrote to Thai officials.

Time is running out! (time is almost over! (sighs))

1. Rob Harper
2. Rick Stanton Mbe (MBE IS THE ROYAL MACHINE. The order of the British Empire)
3. John Volanthen

They are the world's best cave diver (they are the best cave divers in the world)
Please contact them through (please contact them via)
UK Embassy ASAP (UK Embassy as soon as possible)

Thanks to Thai officials listening to him and contacted the ministry of foreign affairs who contacted the UK Embassy who contacted British Cave Rescue Council, which three of them agreed to travel to Thailand. The Ministry of Thailand, so they issued a plane ticket of Thai Airways urgently.

-----------------------------------------------------------

John Volanthen และ Rick Stanton

These two cave divers are the best cave divers in the world. The owner of the world record, the longest cave diving over 9 km in Spain in 2011

Rick Stanton is a fireman in the coventree, who inspired cave diving from watching underground eiger documentary about two divers who tried to make a cave diving world record at that time and made him decide that cave diving is what. That He wants to do.

John Volanthen, a computer engineer inspired by cave diving since he was a teenager with a determined and serious acrylic. He loved cave diving so much. Even on wedding day, he decided to dive in the cave for stress relief.

Although they don't like being interested and insisting that cave diving is just free time activity and volunteer work, they both created a brave thing that has saved many lives.

One of Rick Stanton's most famous missions is to dive into helping British soldiers who were stuck in a cave for 8 days in Mexico in 2004, where he went to meet and helped encourage and encourage and momentum for soldiers. One who is afraid of water to dive over 180 metres out of the cave successfully.

And when he met John Volanthen, both became the best buddy couple in the French government invited them to search for a cave diver in a cave 1 kilometres deep by the rescue association of England Royal. Humane Society says they are " a few cave divers in the world with skills and equipment and nearest where they spent 8 days to find the dead bodies, including in 2014 that Norwegian government asked them both help. Find the bodies of two cave divers who died in the cave.

They don't want to be famous, like to stay quiet and do activities they love. But when there is an incident, they are ready. They arrive in Thailand and start working immediately. The skills and experience of the owner of the cave diving in cave makes #thai seals easy to work. And safer

Despite all the caves from the rain on June 28th until the #BBC reporters tried to ask them both walked out of the cave because of the flood. Cuddle update with BBC But got the answer is grumpy and eyes that don't even look at that BBC journalist

When the weather is heart, they plan back in again and this time it's a "Mechanical Camp" that consists of navigation ropes and air buckets every 25 meters all the way

Both of them found the 13 children they said that the lead rope was gone, causing them to rise to the water and meet the 13 pairs of eyes looking down.

" how many of you?" in the video of Thai Navy Seal is John Volanthen's voice.

Even though they found the children, it leads to the next problem of how to bring children out. When the cave drilling choices are far from reality and the level of oxygen in the cave is reduced to part of sergeant ek's death. Saman kun cuddle, former Thai Navy Underwater Destroyer / attack assembled with #weather forecast that believes there will be more rain in the next few days, making them choose the risky way. It's a choice that everyone doesn't believe is possible and never. Who did this before in this world

Is to let the kids dive out the same way!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Richard Harris

That's why both requested to Thai officials to invite dr. Richard Harris cuddle Australian Anesthesiologist, cave diver with 30 years experience, a record holder of cold water cave diving, held 194 and 221 meters deep, believed to be the deepest record in diving. In cold water caves to find the origins of the pearse river in New Zealand, where they need to plan to set up a rescue capsule in caves to adjust pressure and stop in the water at near zero degrees, which his diving this time when Year 2011 and 2012 have also been made by national geographic documentaries.

Dr. Dr. Richard Harris is who assess the health of the 13 children and decided to change the cave plan to bring out the most vulnerable and health problems before the fittest children Dr. Richard Harris, buddy and 6 Australian police are one of the dozens of the best cave diving teams around the world called to Chiang Rai for the hardest, most dangerous task and no one has ever done. Before in the history of humanity!

From meeting and analyzing information with Thai officials, composed to assessments of risk factors, everyone to choose July 8th as a historic operation that 50 best cave divers in the world will cooperate with southern destroyers. The Water / attack of Thai Navy. Another 40 people are on a mission to lead the #wild boar snorkeling cave full of rocks. The cuddle th of the cuddle th of the darkness with the light they hold is the only light. Bring young children to dive in caves, no experience diving out of the royal cave, where CNN reporters say is almost their casket to light and the outside world returns to the family home and make the greatest rescue history once a person is. Hundreds of billions around the world have to hold their breath to see if the operation will be successful.

And the outcome of the operation is this second of today. Mission impossible is changed to mission possible with the ability, planning, effort and collaboration of everyone / taf

#พาทีมหมูป่ากลับบ้าน #ถ้ำหลวง #ThaiCaveRescue

-----------------------------------------------------------

Rick Stanton once said to divernet.com that cave snorkeling is a sport that doesn't know, and cave divers are often people who don't want to be interested, including him.

For most other divers, BBC says they don't want to start too. It's quite difficult to find information, but there are a number that BBC gathered as follows.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44761821

------------------------------------

Photos from live news English, AP, and the Australian respectively.

Taf smooth some info from

https://www.mamamia.com.au/thailand-cave-rescue-dr-richard-harris-rick-stanton-john-volanthen/

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-divers-richard-stanton-and-john-volanthen-at-the-heart-of-the-thai-cave-rescue-nhtrm9shr

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/thai-cave-rescue-australian-doctor-richard-harris-joins-rescue-operation/news-story/ae49c3cfe024fc8f00188a5b9b7b24b5?nk=510674cab3915f6cc2f330bc8e0ec200-1531246390

https://today.line.me/th/pc/article/%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B3%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4+%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%82%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%8A%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B1%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%87+13+%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%95+%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B9%E0%B9%88%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%96%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%87-Jk3Q1kTranslated

【《金融時報》深度長訪】

今年做過數百外媒訪問，若要說最能反映我思緒和想法的訪問，必然是《金融時報》的這一個，沒有之一。

在排山倒海的訪問裡，這位記者能在短短個半小時裡，刻畫得如此傳神，值得睇。

Joshua Wong plonks himself down on a plastic stool across from me. He is there for barely 10 seconds before he leaps up to greet two former high school classmates in the lunchtime tea house melee. He says hi and bye and then bounds back. Once again I am facing the young man in a black Chinese collared shirt and tan shorts who is proving such a headache for the authorities in Beijing.

So far, it’s been a fairly standard week for Wong. On a break from a globe-trotting, pro-democracy lobbying tour, he was grabbed off the streets of Hong Kong and bundled into a minivan. After being arrested, he appeared on the front pages of the world’s newspapers and was labelled a “traitor” by China’s foreign ministry.

He is very apologetic about being late for lunch.

Little about Wong, the face of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, can be described as ordinary: neither his Nobel Peace Prize nomination, nor his three stints in prison. Five years ago, his face was plastered on the cover of Time magazine; in 2017, he was the subject of a hit Netflix documentary, Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower. And he’s only 23.

We’re sitting inside a Cantonese teahouse in the narrow back streets near Hong Kong’s parliament, where he works for a pro-democracy lawmaker. It’s one of the most socially diverse parts of the city and has been at the heart of five months of unrest, which has turned into a battle for Hong Kong’s future. A few weekends earlier I covered clashes nearby as protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police, who fired back tear gas. Drunk expats looked on, as tourists rushed by dragging suitcases.

The lunch crowd pours into the fast-food joint, milling around as staff set up collapsible tables on the pavement. Construction workers sit side-by-side with men sweating in suits, chopsticks in one hand, phones in the other. I scan the menu: instant noodles with fried egg and luncheon meat, deep fried pork chops, beef brisket with radish. Wong barely glances at it before selecting the hometown fried rice and milk tea, a Hong Kong speciality with British colonial roots, made with black tea and evaporated or condensed milk.

“I always order this,” he beams, “I love this place, it’s the only Cantonese teahouse in the area that does cheap, high-quality milk tea.” I take my cue and settle for the veggie and egg fried rice and a lemon iced tea as the man sitting on the next table reaches over to shake Wong’s hand. Another pats him on the shoulder as he brushes by to pay the bill.

Wong has been a recognisable face in this city since he was 14, when he fought against a proposal from the Hong Kong government to introduce a national education curriculum that would teach that Chinese Communist party rule was “superior” to western-style democracy. The government eventually backed down after more than 100,000 people took to the streets. Two years later, Wong rose to global prominence when he became the poster boy for the Umbrella Movement, in which tens of thousands of students occupied central Hong Kong for 79 days to demand genuine universal suffrage.

That movement ended in failure. Many of its leaders were sent to jail, among them Wong. But the seeds of activism were planted in the generation of Hong Kongers who are now back on the streets, fighting for democracy against the world’s most powerful authoritarian state. The latest turmoil was sparked by a controversial extradition bill but has evolved into demands for true suffrage and a showdown with Beijing over the future of Hong Kong. The unrest in the former British colony, which was handed over to China in 1997, represents the biggest uprising on Chinese soil since the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing. Its climax, of course, was the Tiananmen Square massacre, when hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people were killed.

“We learnt a lot of lessons from the Umbrella Movement: how to deal with conflict between the more moderate and progressive camps, how to be more organic, how to be less hesitant,” says Wong. “Five years ago the pro-democracy camp was far more cautious about seeking international support because they were afraid of pissing off Beijing.”

Wong doesn’t appear to be afraid of irking China. Over the past few months, he has lobbied on behalf of the Hong Kong protesters to governments around the world. In the US, he testified before Congress and urged lawmakers to pass an act in support of the Hong Kong protesters — subsequently approved by the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support. In Germany, he made headlines when he suggested two baby pandas in the Berlin Zoo be named “Democracy” and “Freedom.” He has been previously barred from entering Malaysia and Thailand due to pressure from Beijing, and a Singaporean social worker was recently convicted and fined for organising an event at which Wong spoke via Skype.

The food arrives almost immediately. I struggle to tell our orders apart. Two mouthfuls into my egg and cabbage fried rice, I regret not ordering the instant noodles with luncheon meat.

In August, a Hong Kong newspaper controlled by the Chinese Communist party published a photo of Julie Eadeh, an American diplomat, meeting pro-democracy student leaders including Wong. The headline accused “foreign forces” of igniting a revolution in Hong Kong. “Beijing says I was trained by the CIA and the US marines and I am a CIA agent. [I find it] quite boring because they have made up these kinds of rumours for seven years [now],” he says, ignoring his incessantly pinging phone.

Another thing that bores him? The media. Although Wong’s messaging is always on point, his appraisal of journalists in response to my questions is piercing and cheeky. “In 15-minute interviews I know journalists just need soundbites that I’ve repeated lots of times before. So I’ll say things like ‘I have no hope [as regards] the regime but I have hope towards the people.’ Then the journalists will say ‘oh that’s so impressive!’ And I’ll say ‘yes, I’m a poet.’ ”

And what about this choice of restaurant? “Well, I knew I couldn’t pick a five-star hotel, even though the Financial Times is paying and I know you can afford it,” he says grinning. “It’s better to do this kind of interview in a Hong Kong-style restaurant. This is the place that I conducted my first interview after I left prison.” Wong has spent around 120 days in prison in total, including on charges of unlawful assembly.

“My fellow prisoners would tell me about how they joined the Umbrella Movement and how they agreed with our beliefs. I think prisoners are more aware of the importance of human rights,” he says, adding that even the prison wardens would share with him how they had joined protests.

“Even the triad members in prison support democracy. They complain how the tax on cigarettes is extremely high and the tax on red wine is extremely low; it just shows how the upper-class elite lives here,” he says, as a waiter strains to hear our conversation. Wong was most recently released from jail in June, the day after the largest protests in the history of Hong Kong, when an estimated 2m people — more than a quarter of the territory’s 7.5m population — took to the streets.

Raised in a deeply religious family, he used to travel to mainland China every two years with his family and church literally to spread the gospel. As with many Hong Kong Chinese who trace their roots to the mainland, he doesn’t know where his ancestral village is. His lasting memory of his trips across the border is of dirty toilets, he tells me, mid-bite. He turned to activism when he realised praying didn’t help much.

“The gift from God is to have independence of mind and critical thinking; to have our own will and to make our own personal judgments. I don’t link my religious beliefs with my political judgments. Even Carrie Lam is Catholic,” he trails off, in a reference to Hong Kong’s leader. Lam has the lowest approval rating of any chief executive in the history of the city, thanks to her botched handling of the crisis.

I ask whether Wong’s father, who is also involved in social activism, has been a big influence. Wrong question.

“The western media loves to frame Joshua Wong joining the fight because of reading the books of Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King or because of how my parents raised me. In reality, I joined street activism not because of anyone book I read. Why do journalists always assume anyone who strives for a better society has a role model?” He glances down at his pinging phone and draws a breath, before continuing. “Can you really describe my dad as an activist? I support LGBTQ rights,” he says, with a fist pump. His father, Roger Wong, is a well-known anti-gay rights campaigner in Hong Kong.

I notice he has put down his spoon, with half a plate of fried rice untouched. I decide it would be a good idea to redirect our conversation by bonding over phone addictions. Wong, renowned for his laser focus and determination, replies to my emails and messages at all hours and has been described by his friends as “a robot.”

He scrolls through his Gmail, his inbox filled with unread emails, showing me how he categorises interview requests with country tags. His life is almost solely dedicated to activism. “My friends and I used to go to watch movies and play laser tag but now of course we don’t have time to play any more: we face real bullets every weekend.”

The protests — which have seen more than 3,300 people arrested — have been largely leaderless. “Do you ever question your relevance to the movement?” I venture, mid-spoonful of congealed fried rice.

“Never,” he replies with his mouth full. “We have a lot of facilitators in this movement and I’m one of them . . . it’s just like Wikipedia. You don’t know who the contributors are behind a Wikipedia page but you know there’s a lot of collaboration and crowdsourcing. Instead of just having a top-down command, we now have a bottom-up command hub which has allowed the movement to last far longer than Umbrella.

“With greater power comes greater responsibility, so the question is how, through my role, can I express the voices of the frontliners, of the street activism? For example, I defended the action of storming into the Legislative Council on July 1. I know I didn’t storm in myself . . . ” His phone pings twice. Finally he succumbs.

After tapping away for about 30 seconds, Wong launches back into our conversation, sounding genuinely sorry that he wasn’t there on the night when protesters destroyed symbols of the Chinese Communist party and briefly occupied the chamber.

“My job is to be the middleman to express, evaluate and reveal what is going on in the Hong Kong protests when the movement is about being faceless,” he says, adding that his Twitter storm of 29 tweets explaining the July 1 occupation reached at least four million people. I admit that I am overcome with exhaustion just scanning his Twitter account, which has more than 400,000 followers. “Well, that thread was actually written by Jeffrey Ngo from Demosisto,” he say, referring to the political activism group that he heads.

A network of Hong Kong activists studying abroad helps fuel his relentless public persona on social media and in the opinion pages of international newspapers. Within a week of his most recent arrest, he had published op-eds in The Economist, The New York Times, Quartz and the Apple Daily.

I wonder out loud if he ever feels overwhelmed at taking on the Chinese Communist party, a task daunting even for some of the world’s most formidable governments and companies. He peers at me over his wire-framed glasses. “It’s our responsibility; if we don’t do it, who will? At least we are not in Xinjiang or Tibet; we are in Hong Kong,” he says, referring to two regions on Chinese soil on the frontline of Beijing’s drive to develop a high-tech surveillance state. In Xinjiang, at least one million people are being held in internment camps. “Even though we’re directly under the rule of Beijing, we have a layer of protection because we’re recognised as a global city so [Beijing] is more hesitant to act.”

I hear the sound of the wok firing up in the kitchen and ask him the question on everyone’s minds in Hong Kong: what happens next? Like many people who are closely following the extraordinary situation in Hong Kong, he is hesitant to make firm predictions.

“Lots of think-tanks around the world say ‘Oh, we’re China experts. We’re born in western countries but we know how to read Chinese so we’re familiar with Chinese politics.’ They predicted the Communist party would collapse after the Tiananmen Square massacre and they’ve kept predicting this over the past three decades but hey, now it’s 2019 and we’re still under the rule of Beijing, ha ha,” he grins.

While we are prophesying, does Wong ever think he might become chief executive one day? “No local journalist in Hong Kong would really ask this question,” he admonishes. As our lunch has progressed, he has become bolder in dissecting my interview technique. The territory’s chief executive is currently selected by a group of 1,200, mostly Beijing loyalists, and he doubts the Chinese Communist party would ever allow him to run. A few weeks after we meet he announces his candidacy in the upcoming district council elections. He was eventually the only candidate disqualified from running — an order that, after our lunch, he tweeted had come from Beijing and was “clearly politically driven”.

We turn to the more ordinary stuff of 23-year-olds’ lives, as Wong slurps the remainder of his milk tea. “Before being jailed, the thing I was most worried about was that I wouldn’t be able to watch Avengers: Endgame,” he says.

“Luckily, it came out around early May so I watched it two weeks before I was locked up in prison.” He has already quoted Spider-Man twice during our lunch. I am unsurprised when Wong picks him as his favourite character.

“I think he’s more . . . ” He pauses, one of the few times in the interview. “Compared to having an unlimited superpower or unlimited power or unlimited talent just like Superman, I think Spider-Man is more human.” With that, our friendly neighbourhood activist dashes off to his next interview.

For anyone interested in learning Chinese, we have recently got to know a friend called Hsueh ShaoLan who's developed a great way to start out learning Chinese, especially if you're interested in the characters! She's also just shared our song :)!
我們新認識的朋友ShaoLan剛分享了我們的歌，她創造了一個學中文的方式，很厲害！

Hello friends! Shall we have a little bit of music to welcome our upcoming weekend?

I had a super intensive week. First I went to TED Global in Edinburgh for a few days. Then I came back to London for a gathering in Downing Street (YES! That Downing Street!). I then rushed to Hertfordshire for another amazing conference called Founder’s Forum. And of course, everyone loves Chineasy (yay!). :D

One of the friends in Chineasy Club approached me a few weeks ago. His name is Josh Edbrooke. Josh is a member of Transition, a rock band based in Bristol. Josh and I had green tea one afternoon and I just fell in love with their music.

The coolest thing is that all the three members in the team sing in Chinese! Josh spent a few years in Taiwan and learned how to speak and write Chinese. He wrote all the lyric himself, and I must tell you, his writing is incredible!

Enjoy the song! And tell me if you like it. Josh and I are now friends and we will share more songs with you.

Here is a documentary that they made about their time in Taiwan, it tells something of the story of what they did there. I had a great time watching it and I am sure you will too. http://bit.ly/14zaANB

Facebook www.facebook.com/transitiontw
YouTube www.youtube.com/transitionofficial

對不起, 我的中文不好 Sorry, my Chinese isn't so good

Sorry, my Chinese isn't so good, really sorry, I don't understand what you're saying!
Sorry, my Chinese isn't so good, really sorry, I just want to be friends!
Hello, you're English sounds great, are American?
No, I'm definitely not American, I'm an English gentleman, listen carefully and you'll understand me!
Sorry, my Chinese isn't so good, really sorry, I don't understand what you're saying!
Sorry, my Chinese isn't so good, really sorry, I just want to be friends!
Welcome to my restaurant, what would you like to eat?
I would like to eat sleep.
Really, are you very tired?
No I'm not tired I'm really hungry, I want to eat dumplings, please make them quickly!
Sorry, my Chinese isn't so good, really sorry, I don't understand what you're saying!
Sorry, my Chinese isn't so good, really sorry, I just want to be friends!
No problem, my Chinese has improved, no problem at all, I still want to be your friend!
No problem, my Chinese has improved, no problem at all, I still want to be your friend!
No problem, my Chinese has improved, no problem at all, I still want to be your friend!
No problem, my Chinese has improved, no problem at all, I still want to be your friend!

對不起, 我的中文不好
對不起 對不起 我不知道你說什麼
對不起, 我的中文不好
對不起 對不起 我只想跟你當朋友
Hello 你好嗎? 你的英文好好聽
你是美國人嗎? 並不是美國人
我是一位英國紳士
如果你專心聽 你會了解我
對不起, 我的中文不好
對不起 對不起 我不知道你說什麼
對不起, 我的中文不好
對不起 對不起 我只想跟你當朋友
歡迎光臨 裡面坐
先生, 你要吃什麼?
我要睡覺. 你很累是不是?
我不累 我肚子很餓
我想要吃水餃 請你快點做
對不起, 我的中文不好
對不起 對不起 我不知道你說什麼
對不起, 我的中文不好
對不起 對不起 我只想跟你當朋友
(歡迎光臨 對呀 歡迎來北極熊的家...)
Oh! I am so sorry. Oh!
沒關係 我的中文進步了
沒關係 沒關係 我還要跟你當朋友

Everyone loves China's innovative bike sharing schemes... Well they used to! People still love to ride them, but new companies are flooding the market and the amount of these bikes around the city are insane! They're becoming a problem and are being neglected, left in strange places, vandalised and you won't believe the footage I have of them in this video! Come and see how bike sharing has gone overboard in China!

Mobike (Chinese Simplified: 摩拜单车, Mo-bai bicycle), founded and owned by Beijing Mobike Technology Co., Ltd. (Chinese Simplified: 北京摩拜科技有限公司), is a fully station-less bicycle-sharing system headquartered in Beijing, China. It is the world's largest bicycle operator, and in December 2016, made Shanghai the world's largest bike-share city.

In January 2017, Mobike raised $215 million in Series D funding led by Tencent and Warburg Pincus.

Access to Mobike bicycles is achieved using the purpose-built Mobike application, which requires a pre-paid 299 yuan fee to prevent deliberate damage of Mobike property. Each user is required to register using their mobile number alongside his/her national identification number (Passport identification and verification is also available for non-Chinese citizens). The software automatically disallows users under the age of 14 to use the app, through the identification number.

To use a bicycle, a user presses the black button near the bottom labeled "扫码开锁" (Scan code to unlock), which brings up a QR-code scanning interface, which requires the user to place the QR-code of a bicycle into the scanning area, after which the software will produce a low-toned beep to indicate a success in scanning the code. After a successful scan a progress bar will appear on the screen, indicating the "Progression of unlocking". With a successful unlock, the electronic lock on the bike will produce three short beeps followed by the characteristic "Tuck" sound generated by the lock opening. In the app, the progress bar fills to 100%, and the notice "开锁成功" (Unlock successful) appears for a short period before getting replaced by the rental timing interface. This interface also records the distance traveled, time spent, energy the user spent using the vehicles (in kCals), and an orange banner indicating the number of the bike and the estimated cost of using the bike. The first three stats shown on the interface will be added to the total value on the user page, while the cost will be deducted from the user's account. If several seconds elapse after the bar fills to 98% without starting the trip in the APP, an error will be reported to the user asking them to try again or change to another bicycle.

Availability in deployed cities is high, but reduces as the distance from the city center increases. Many Mobike bicycles can be found at entrances to metro stations. It is currently deployed in dozens of Chinese cities, which includes but are not limited to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Ningbo, Xiamen, Foshan, Zhuhai, Changsha, Hefei, Shantou, Haikou, Deyang, Nanning, Xi'an and Wuhan.

⚫ Watch Conquering Southern China (my documentary) and see China like no one outside of China has ever seen it before: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/conqueringsouthernchina
⚫ Support me on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/serpentza
Join me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/winstoninchina
Twitter: @serpentza
Instagram: serpent_za
My other channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/advchina
Music used: Tourach - Fly By Night

Tom Lemming remembers the first time he saw Allen Iverson play, back when Iverson was at Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia. By that time, Iverson was a known quantity. Even in the talent-rich Tidewater region, in eastern Virginia, Iverson's star power stood out, and he was being discussed as a blue-chip recruit. Lemming got on a plane to see for himself.

"He had terrific reaction, instincts, loose hips, and a great vertical," Lemming told VICE Sports. "A lot of people bring it up and ask me how good he was. He was a great player. Not a good player, but a great football player."

In some alternate universe, Iverson might have become the same sort of path-breaking star in football that he ultimately would be in the NBA. The same live-wire athleticism and fearless ferocity that would make him a legend on the court—and, as of Friday's induction in Springfield, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame—made him a force on the gridiron, too. Iverson fielded scholarship offers from major college football programs at the same time as he weighed basketball offers. The choice he made wound up changing basketball, but Lemming, a well-known national football recruiting analyst for the past 38 years, believes that Iverson could have made an impact if he'd stuck with the sport that was his first love. "He would've made the NFL," Lemming said. "Who knows, he could've been an NFL Hall of Famer."

The Showtime documentary Iverson features footage of Iverson playing football on the fields at Aberdeen elementary school in Hampton for coach Gary Moore, who served as a mentor for Iverson. Moore is now Iverson's personal manager.

"From day one, he actually wanted to jump right in and play," Moore said in the documentary. "He wanted to be my star player. That aggression and that enthusiasm is what I admired most about him. When I saw him dance and move, completely reverse his field all the way back around and not allow any of those kids to touch him, that's when I really said, 'Wow, this boy's something.'"

All the local high schools recruited Iverson. He ended up at Bethel in part because Dennis Kozlowski, the school's football coach and athletics director, had coached Iverson's aunt in high school track and field.

When Iverson was a five-foot-six, 145-pound eighth grader, hundreds of fans would come out to watch him play for Bethel's junior varsity team. The next year, he started at wide receiver and safety on the varsity. In his sophomore season, Kozlowski moved Iverson to quarterback but still played him on defense. As a defensive back, Iverson tied a Virginia record by intercepting five passes in one game and helped Bethel to an undefeated regular season before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

verson committed himself to sports. He played basketball most of the year and only played football from August through December, which didn't seem to hinder his development. As a junior, Iverson led Bethel to the 1992 Virginia state championship against E.C. Glass High School of Lynchburg, which had lost the title game the previous year. A few days before the championship, E.C. Glass coach Bo Henson drove the 200 miles from Lynchburg to Hampton to watch Bethel's semifinal game against Huguenot. Bethel got off to a slow start and trailed 16-0 in the fourth quarter.

"Somebody looked at me and said, 'Hey, don't count 'em out. Iverson's gonna bring 'em back,'" Henson said.

Iverson did just that. He threw a touchdown pass, successfully completed a pair of two-point conversions, and ran for two touchdowns, including a two-yard quarterback sneak in overtime to clinch the 22-16 victory. Before facing Bethel, Henson clipped out newspaper articles on Iverson and placed them on the desk of Tate Gallagher, a student in his history class and E.C. Glass's starting quarterback. Gallagher and others had never heard of Iverson.

"He was trying to warn me how good this person was," Gallagher said.

When Gallagher arrived at City Stadium in Richmond, he wondered what all the fuss was about. During warm-ups, he and his teammates looked over at Iverson getting ready for the game. They weren't too impressed. "We were like, 'Man, his legs look like noodles and his arms like noodles. We got this,'" Gallagher said.

That confidence didn't survive long past kickoff. In the first quarter, Iverson ran for a touchdown and returned a punt 60 yards for another. He later intercepted two passes on defense and threw for 201 yards in Bethel's 27-0 victory, the school's first state championship since 1976. "His speed was just extraordinary," Gallagher said. "He was so quick."

Iverson's heroics didn't surprise Henson, who coached E.C. Glass for 21 years. During that time, he faced future NFL quarterback Michael Vick and receiver Ronald Curry, who was the national high school player of the year as a quarterback in 1996. Neither of those guys compared with Iverson, he says.

So, if you don't have a car, how can you get around China? We'll start with the subway system and travel to somewhere interesting, take a look at how it all works and how much it all costs.

The Shenzhen Metro (simplified Chinese: 深圳地铁; traditional Chinese: 深圳地鐵; pinyin: Shēnzhèn Dìtiě; Jyutping: sam1 zan3 dei6 tit3) is the subway or underground system for the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, China. The system opened on 28 December 2004, making Shenzhen the sixth city in mainland China to have a subway after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan. The Shenzhen Metro currently has eight lines, 166 stations, and 286 kilometres (178 miles)[4][1] of total trackage in operation. The network underwent rapid expansion prior to the 2011 Summer Universiade, opening 110 km (68 mi) of tracks in June 2011. The system underwent another major expansion with the opening of Line 11 in June 2016 and both Lines 7 and 9 in October 2016 shortly making the system the third longest in China before Guangzhou Metro regained the position in December 2016. Two new lines and extension of several existing lines are underway with a long term goal of and 1,124 kilometres (698 miles) of lines by 2030. In February 2017, the government announced that work on four new metro lines (Lines 12,13, 14 and 16) would start in 2017 at a cost of 160 billion Yuan.


⚫ Watch Conquering Southern China (my documentary) and see China like no one outside of China has ever seen it before: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/conqueringsouthernchina
⚫ Support me on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/serpentza
Join me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/winstoninchina
Twitter: @serpentza
Instagram: serpent_za
My other channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/advchina
Music used: Virtual Vice - Your Love
Artist's bandcamp: https://new-world.bandcamp.com/album/off-duty