Like every Chinese child, Li Hanwei spent her schooldays memorising thousands of the intricate characters that make up the Chinese writing system.

Yet aged just 21 and now a university student in Hong Kong, Li already finds that when she picks up a pen to write, the characters for words as simple as “embarrassed” have slipped from her mind.

“I can remember the shape, but I can’t remember the strokes that you need to write it,” she says. “It’s a bit of a problem.”

Surveys indicate the phenomenon, dubbed “character amnesia”, is widespread across China, causing young Chinese to fear for the future of their ancient writing system.

Young Japanese people also report the problem, which is caused by the constant use of computers and mobile phones with alphabet-based input systems.

There is even a Chinese word for it: “tibiwangzi,” or “take pen, forget character.”

A poll commissioned by the China Youth Daily in April found that 83 percent of the 2,072 respondents admitted having problems writing characters.

As a result, Li says that she has become almost dependent on her phone.

“When I can’t remember, I will take out my mobile phone and find it (the character) and then copy it down,” she says.

Zeng Ming, 22, from the southern Guangdong province, says: “I think it’s a young people’s problem, or at least a computer users’ problem.”

One notoriously forgettable character, Zeng says, is used in the word Tao Tie – a legendary Chinese monster that was so greedy it ate itself.

Still used as a byword for gluttony, the Tao Tie is one of many ancient Chinese concepts embedded in the language.

“It’s like you’re forgetting your culture,” Zeng says.

Character amnesia happens because most Chinese people use electronic input systems based on pinyin, which translates Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet.

The user enters each word using pinyin, and the device offers a menu of characters that match. So users must recognise the character, but they don’t need to be able to write it.

In Japan, where three writing systems are combined into one, mobiles and computers use the simpler hiragana and katakana scripts for inputting – meaning users may forget the kanji, a third strand of Japanese writing similar to Chinese characters.

“We rely too much on the conversion function on our phones and PCs,” said Ayumi Kawamoto, 23, shopping in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district.

“I’ve mostly forgotten characters I learned in middle and high school and I tend to forget the characters I only occasionally use.”

Tokyo student Maya Kato, 22, said: “I hardly hand-write anymore, which is the main reason why I have forgotten so many characters.

“It is frustrating because I always almost remember the character, and lose it at the last minute. I forget if there was an extra line, or where the dot is supposed to go.”

Character amnesia matters because memorisation is so crucial to character-based written languages, says Siok Wai Ting, assistant professor of linguistics at Hong Kong University. Forgetting how to write could eventually affect reading ability.

“There is no way we can learn the writing systematically because the writing itself is not systematic – we have to memorise, we have to rote learn,” she says.

“Through writing, we memorise the characters. Reading and writing are more closely connected in Chinese.”

Chinese reading even uses a different part of the brain from reading the Roman alphabet, Siok’s research has found – a part closer to the motor area, which is used for handwriting.

Chinese characters are so complex that the country’s revolutionary leader Mao Zedong told the US journalist Edgar Snow in 1936: “Sooner or later, we believe, we will have to abandon characters altogether if we are to create a new social culture in which the masses fully participate.”

Instead, Mao eventually chose to simplify many characters into forms now the standard in mainland China.

Victor Mair, professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania, said character amnesia is part of a “natural process of evolution.”

“The reasons why characters are innately difficult to enter into computers and mobile phones are innate to the character-based writing systems themselves,” he said.

“There are no magic bullets that will make it easy to input characters,” he added.

The Wubi input system – available on some Chinese computers and backed by the government – uses character strokes as handwriting does. But the system itself is so difficult to learn that it has failed to gain mass appeal.

However, iPhones and other smartphones now offer an option in which users can input characters by drawing them onto the touch screen.

And in Japan, kanji kentei – a character quiz with 12 levels – has become a widespread craze among schoolchildren, housewives and retirees, according to Yoshiko Nakano, associate professor of Japanese at the University of Hong Kong.

Some argue that the perceived decline in character knowledge is, in fact, nothing to worry about.

A survey by the southern Chinese news portal Dayang Net, found that 80 percent of respondents had forgotten how to write some characters – but 43 percent said they used handwritten characters only for signatures and forms.

“The idea that China is a country full of people who write beautiful, fluid literature in characters without a second thought is a romantic fantasy,” wrote the blogger and translator C. Custer on his Chinageeks blog.

“Given the social and financial pressures that exist for most people in China… (and) given that nearly everyone has a cellphone, it really isn’t a problem at all.”

The explosion of internet and phone technology has itself led to the creation of new words and forms of writing. In 2008 Chinese people were sending 175 billion text messages each quarter, according to the Xinhua state news agency.

Still, both Li Hanwei and Zeng Ming have become so concerned about character amnesia that they keep handwritten diaries partly to ensure they don’t forget how to write.

If it weren’t for this, would they actually need to remember how to write characters with a pen?

Li is almost stumped, but says she uses one “when I have to sign the back of my new credit card. That’s almost all,” she says.

KEROBOKAN
By Carla Albertí de la Rosa
The Bali Times

KEROBOKAN prisoners this week received dental treatment from a team of 10 dentistry students and four qualified dentists who went to the jail as volunteers under a programme organised by the Bali International Women’s Association (BIWA) and its Australian-funded mobile dental clinic.

In a four-hour visit on Monday the team treated 112 inmates, 75 of them women. Three of those treated were foreigners.

BIWA’s charity programme aims to provide inmates with basic dental care and dental health education.

Only one government-employed dentist is available to treat the 663 prisoners currently in Kerobokan.

The dental students and dentists taking part in this week’s visit to the jail were all from Mahasaraswati University. One of the dentists, Yadha Rahina, said the inmates they treated had very bad dental hygiene. The main workload was filling small cavities and extractions.

“We have seen a few people with infected teeth that we can’t deal with because we don’t have the equipment to operate on them,” she said.

One of the prisoners, A.A Raka Trisnadewi, complained that the prison’s dentist meant to pull out one of her molars but instead of pulling the whole of it out she was left with half.

Bali Nine prisoner Andrew Chan, who has been in Kerobokan for five years, said there had been only one dentist at the prison for the past two years and before that the only option for prisoners had been to arrange for a private-practice dentist to visit.

“Even now there’s a dentist I have to have my wisdom teeth taken out and I’ll have to go to the hospital for that as the dental care at the prison is very basic and the dentist here is not fully equipped,” he said.

BIWA raised Rp4 million (US$444) for the one-day programme which was spent on vitamins, medication, disposable material that totalled Rp1,110,000 ($123) and a small bag for each of the patients that contained a toothbrush, toothpaste and medicated soap.

The programme aims to visit the prison periodically to treat prisoners.

BIWA’s chief, Melly St. Ange, said they need more donations to improve the dental care of all inmates. “We still have only limited equipment and because we have excellent hygiene standards, everything is sterilised, but the cost of the equipment is very high,” she said.

The programme is part of BIWA’s scheme at the prison, which includes providing raw materials for inmates to produce handicrafts and helping them to sell their own paintings, and for basic infrastructure works such as cleaning the septic tank or building a water tower.

The dentistry students took part in the initiative as part of their internship programme and although most were in their senior year and had treated real patients before, for some, it was their first time.

Ivan Ledoh, a 19-year-old student who is in the fourth year of his six-year degree course, said: “I’ve always practised on fake models and now that I’m going to work on real humans I’m a little nervous, but very excited.”

For him, treating a prisoner is no more of a challenge than treating any other person. “They’re the same as anyone else,” he said. 

The initiative is part of a cooperation programme between BIWA and Mahasaraswati University’s Dental Faculty. It began six years ago and has focused chiefly on dental health and education for children in remote areas of Bali.

As recorded in our special report this edition, outside medical care was provided to inmates at the severely cramped Kerobokan Prison in Kuta district this week. We applaud the efforts of Melly St. Ange and her fellow members at the Bali International Women’s Association (BIWA) in providing sorely needed dental treatment to prisoners because it is not widely available there.

Many prisoners received treatment during the clinic on Monday, including well-known foreign inmates at the facility, and said they were grateful to BIWA.

Amid talk of moving the prison to a more suitable location – one that’s not in the middle of a busy tourist area – so that the overcrowding issue can be dealt with, it continues to struggle to meet the needs of its close to 700 convicts (it was designed to hold little over 300), including even the basic of electric power. Prison authorities said last year that they owe a backlog in unpaid electricity bills and feared being cut off.

Therefore it is right that social-welfare organisations such as BIWA pick up some of the slack and help out. No one wants to see people suffering in squalor – no matter how bad their crime – or going without medical assistance.

But some take advantage of situations in which it is possible to ferment a scenario that may, behind the headlines, not be what it is. We are not advocating special treatment of any prisoner; hard time must be served for all those who are convicted in the courts.

And meanwhile, a vocal portion of the Australian pubic remains all too ready to ridicule the laws and those who enforce them in this country, in the apparent belief that being an Australian gives people some kind of immunity from incarceration in places where prison conditions are not what they might be at home. This is a far from universal belief among Australians, many of whom are irritated by special pleading.

It is past time that wiser heads should prevail.

Although women’s groups have emerged across the world, struggling for gender equality and justice, disparity and violence against women continues to be commonplace in Indonesia, limiting the full participation of women in the country’s development.
Melly St. Ange, head of the Bali International Women’s Association (BIWA), spoke with Carla Albertí de la Rosa and stressed the importance of government action and education in bringing about change.

Melly St. Ange: Raising awareness is very important.

Q In places like Bali, women don’t have the same rights as men. For example, if a couple divorces, the children automatically go to the father. What does BIWA think of this?

A If you ask BIWA, as an international women’s club, we don’t agree with this. It’s not fair. But we live in Bali and respect their traditions and culture. If you marry a Balinese you have to follow family regulations. So before you get married to a local Balinese, you have to think about it because you are also marrying all the traditions, family and culture. In my opinion, there’s no other choice.

Q Bali tops the nationwide incidence rate of HIV/AIDS. BIWA is working with the Hati Hati organization to try to combat this. What realistically is being done?

A We give money to the foundation and they visit victims – we call them clients, not victims. They are usually very poor people so they give them money for the food and education. We try to do what we can but it’s still not enough. We need the government to open their eyes and support them. AIDS used to be a taboo but now it shouldn’t be like that. We need to say to people: When you have sex, use a condom. Bali has the second [-highest rate of HIV incidence] in Indonesia. People should talk about it, in the villages, everywhere. The government doesn’t realise we have to talk to the Balinese people.

Q According to figures from the National Commission for Women (Komnas Perempuan), 14,020 cases of violence were reported nationally in 2004. That figure has almost quadrupled in the last couple of years. But many Indonesian women fear asking for help over being publicly stigmatised. What is it going to take for this attitude to change?

A People have to improve their knowledge. This is a traditional taboo, an internal family affair. In Bali and the rest of Indonesia if you speak about this issue it’s embarrassing. We have to keep educating people from banjar(community) to banjar, from community to community, exposing the problem in the newspapers. Everyone has to understand this is not good.
We give money to the Sruti Foundation to produce a book that we give out in the villages. It’s like a comic that explains that the husband cannot hit his wife or kids. But many see their grandparents have done it and they learn from them. We have to teach them that if abuse takes place they have to report it to the police so that aggressors can be put in jail.
Sruti also produce flyers and educate people through workshops. They go to the politicians, parliament, and to the high-ranking officer’s wives to push equal rights. At least there are people moving and trying to do something about it.

Q Police recently found that Indonesian minors have been recruited through Facebook and other sites for prostitution. Some of the girls come from middle-class families without any financial difficulties and it’s the luxury goods that lure them in. Are you going to educate younger ones about the potential hazards of the internet and help stop child prostitution?

A It’s not our field. Other people should do it.

Q East Bali is in dire poverty. Is BIWA helping out?

A We help according to BIWA’s goals. We have been to Selisihan village in Karangasem to ask people in the village what they need. They said they need Albesia trees because they can harvest them in five years and then they can replant again. They can make building material and sell the wood. So we gave them 1,500 baby trees.
We also send our BIWA dental clinic to remote areas in eastern Bali. We visited different schools and village to give free dental treatments. We pay for treatments and medication and give toothbrushes and toothpaste. We have also done this in Singaraja and Lovina.
Last year we gave donations to three schools in remote areas as well. In Bali, government helps schools but not enough. Some don’t have roofs or enough educational materials.

Q From what we see of your members’ postings on Facebook – those who are Bali Times “friends” – they seem to go to a lot of BIWA-organised events like lunches. Is there a danger that BIWA might be stigmatized as a bored-housewives lunch club?

A BIWA is not only for housewives. Our luncheons are a monthly meeting for members. Our members don’t stay in Bali all the time; they travel for business or go back to their countries for a while. So when they’re in Bali they want to join. BIWA is about friendship, cross cultures, networking and charity. If people don’t know BIWA they should click on our website (www.biwa-bali.org).

Q How many members do you have now?

A We have almost 300 members, representing 29 countries.

Q Do they pay a yearly fee to join?

A Yes, Rp250,000, so around US$25. Membership fees are an income to raise money to support BIWA’s social-welfare projects.

Q Breakdown for us where the cash is spent?

A It depends on the proposals. We do a survey and get information and then decide. We act according to our main goal: working to protect women and children.

Q What do you see as the main problems affecting Bali now?

A The government needs to pay special attention to women’s health. Breast cancer, AIDS and cervical cancer are some important problems. Cancer kills you without you knowing. Other issues are children’s malnutrition and children and women abuse, as well as education for poor children.

Q How can they be solved?

A BIWA tries to do as much as possible but the government has to help. The government has to open its eyes and ears, work properly, see their people are suffering. We send press releases to the local newspapers and talk to the government through the media. We are working closely with the governor’s wife, Ibu Ayu Pastika. She’s the head of all the social projects in Bali, including BIWA. Raising awareness is also very important.

OK, I admit it – I’m a virgin. Well, a SKAL Lunch virgin at least. Ashamedly after almost eight years on the island, I have never attended a SKAL, or any committee-type organized lunch such as BIWA or Rotary – why I don’t exactly know, but there you have it. So with my chastity belt firmly in place, I headed down to the Laguna Resort and Spa in Nusa Dua for my first entry to this tourism industry group, not really knowing what to expect. And I’m glad I did! Overcoming my shyness (stop laughing), I noticed some very familiar faces at the luncheons Café Lagoon destination – Debe Campbell who is back in town for a couple of weeks and looking fab with a trendy new buzz cut, recently pregnant Jo Macfarlane, whose baby is due in April, Andrew Charles, Ruth Zukerman, Malcolm Scott and Rob Kelsall, amongst others, but there were also a ton of faces I have never seen on the island all out to lunch (excuse the pun!). Expertly organized with toasts, raffles, prizes, speeches, international guest welcomes, fun fundraising “fines” dished out by charming Discovery Kartika Plaza GM Urs Klees and swift service for the 100-odd crowd who dined on a three-course menu of Citrus and Virgin Olive Oil-Marinated Lobster Medallions with mango salsa, tomato chutney and chardonnay pearls, a main Duo of Braised Beef Short Rib and Slow Roasted Lamb Rack with a butternut puree, Bedugal valley asparagus, mushroom-stuffed zucchini blossom and a desert buffet to satiate even the biggest sweet tooth. I noshed up, networked and nosed down a few cab-savs all within a superbly timed two-hour lunch schedule which was accomplished almost to the minute! Membership to SKAL is encouraged, with official members enjoying scrummy monthly lunches and special events throughout the year. I’ll scull to that!