It’s probably impossible to be neutral about China

But I'll try anyway.

Photo by Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra

The other day, I was watching a lecture by the former Singaporean foreign minister George Yeo when waiting for dinner to start at my parents’ home. He was talking about Europe’s position in a world where China is ascending.

My Mum sat next to me, and as she watched, she frowned.

“Why are you watching this? Interesting meh?”

“It’s my current obsession.”

“I thought last time you were crazy about gardening. Now you want to know about China politics? Don’t you think there are better things to think about?” she tuts.

We both shrugged and I continued to watch George Yeo debunk the commonly held beliefs Europeans had about China while my mum complained about how boring the lecture was.

I get obsessed about topics, and there’s no common thread to my topical obsessions. At one point I was obsessed with jewellery making. Then I quickly got bored and moved on to plagues and vaccines. And then it was the Indie Web.

You get the idea. I find many things interesting and this unique trait has helped me greatly in my career, even the one beyond journalism.

But none of my topical obsessions would get me in trouble or paint me in a bad light like my obsession with China.