Week 6 - Vy Nguyen

In “Search for the Real China”, Kevin Latham stresses the significance of the Olympics in Beijing and how China managed to rebrand itself by showcasing its “economic, technological, cultural, social and environmental achievements” (Latham, 25) to the world through this sporting competition. Latham specifically looks at the role of media and how China was able to constantly reinforce and refocus world's attention to its new “real China" image despite reality.

For instance, prior to the Olympics, China experienced a few downfall; particularly when China was confronted by a great earthquake. However, instead of living up to the unfriend public opinions from some Western countries, China proved the world by prioritizing its people's lives above all other actions, with its “speed, strength, unity of purpose among the population, the achievement of common objectives and its spirit of working together to overcome difficulty.” (Latham, 30). Despite foreign media trying to report the unreported sides of China such as stories of air pollution, corruption, political crackdowns and much more, Chinese media was still able to draw attention away from the tragedy and the reality of China to bring about the “real China” image once again.

Through this reading, I realized that our startup, Vingo, will best benefit from governmental funding. Even though, funding from industries, research grants, charities and venture capitalists are essential as well, but as seen through the reading, Chinese media (which is heavily influenced by the government) was able rebrand itself despite all obstacles. Therefore, Vingo can potentially achieve greatness if we be in partnership with the government to address the seriousness of language preservation beyond the motherland and aggressively promote this issue nationally and globally. Governmental funding can also ensure credibility and validity for Vingo and as the issue of diasporic languages is prevalent in so many communities, our company  model can help save other languages as well. Nonetheless, my only concern is: given the political divide  between overseas Vietnamese and Vietnam, how will Vingo develop and maintain its partnership with the government without receiving backlashes from the community abroad?

Works Cited:

• Latham, Kevin. "Media, the Olympics and the Search for the "Real China"." The China Quarterly (2009): 25-42. Web. 9 Feb. 2017.

Photos cited:

• Mark. Digital image. B.C. Homeowners! Are You Missing Out on These Government Grants?ShowMeTheGreen.Ca, n.d. Web. Oct. 2007.