The Uighurs, Perception and Architecture

Edition #3

Hi there,

Greetings from a chilly Amsterdam. You may have noticed that I changed the name of the newsletter to Building Blocks. The thinking behind it is that each week’s letter provides building blocks to add to your foundation of knowledge. Clever right? I believe it works better than the Next Step. If you have ideas on this, I’d love to hear your comments (or any other feedback you may have).

Get a cup of coffee ready and enjoy this week’s edition. As always, if a topic doesn’t strike your fancy, skip to the next.

The Uighurs

In April 1994, 800 000 people were killed in 100 days as part of the Rwandan genocide. Astonishingly, this horrific event went largely unnoticed as international media outlets were primarily focused on two other overlapping major events – South Africa’s first democratic election and Kurt Cobain’s suicide. While the world was reminiscing to the catchy guitar riffs of “Smells like teen spirit”, the Tutsis were decimated.

Never again, the world said, would such atrocities be overlooked.

Mindful of this lesson from history, I investigated the situation unfolding with the Uighurs. Here’s what’s happening:

Who are the Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs)?

Muslim Turks (approximately 11 million) who live in China’s Xinjiang province. For thousands of years, they lived in an area called East Turkestan, which was annexed by China in 1949 as part of the Communist Revolution.

China’s economic interests in the region

Xinjiang is rich in oil and has significant coal and natural gas reserves. Importantly, it’s also key to the Belt and Road initiative, the most expensive infrastructure project in history and a centrepiece of Xi Jinping and the Communist Party’s foreign policy.

China’s claims against the Uighurs

China labelled the Uighurs as “terrorists” after the 9/11 attacks. A move initially endorsed by the US as part of the “global war on terror”. Following subsequent attacks by Uighur militants on Tiananmen Square (2013), Kunming station (2014) and a knife attack in Xinjiang (2017) the Chinese government has increased “counterterrorism” efforts, warning that without tight control, Xinjiang could turn into "China's Syria".

China’s alleged treatment of the Uighurs

More than 1 million Uighurs (some reports indicate 3 million!) have been placed in “re-education camps” as part of a cultural cleansing. According to The Save Uighur Campaign, a Chicago based NGO, conditions in the (concentration) camps are atrocious with reports of beatings, reproductive interference, forced medication and indoctrination, rape and death. Outside of the camps, Islamic religious practices are prohibited (e.g. prayer, fasting in Ramadan, Halal food). Citizens live under intense surveillance, using advanced surveillance technology including facial recognition, mandatory mobile spyware and forced DNA sampling. Passports have also been confiscated, and Uighurs face local travel restrictions. The list of horrors continues.

What makes this even more insane, is that this is happening not in some far-flung war-torn country, but in China, an advanced global superpower.

If all of this is true, surely we can expect global media outrage comparable to the recent Trump-mania? Or will the demise of a few million people go largely unnoticed? Again.

Note: My research on the Uighurs was based predominantly on western sources such as The Economist, BBC and Bloomberg. See more on this below.

The power of perception

I recently read this passage which got me thinking:

“The book D-Day Through German Eyes interviewed surviving Nazi soldiers, asking them what they saw when the Allies came ashore in France. One German soldier said he and his fellow troops were shocked at how angry the Americans were at the Germans. They couldn’t understand why. Germans, he said, had been so thoroughly indoctrinated to believe they were the good guys, the guardians of Europe, that they couldn’t fathom how anyone could see it differently. The soldier said:

I think that I had the belief that the civilised Americans would not wish to disturb the peace of France. We in the German forces thought that we had gone to such lengths to protect France, to guard its people against harm. I think that deep down I could not believe that the Americans would shatter this peace we had achieved.

I was wrong about everything. I know today, ten years later, that everything I believed during the war was a mistake. I understand today that we Germans were not in France to protect the people, we were there only to exploit and persecute them. We should never have been in France, or Russia, Italy, any of those places. The things that we did were appalling . . . everything was wrong.”

Our information diet defines our perception of the world. As a result, you and I can coexist in entirely different realities. Perception is so strong that even the Nazis believed that they were the good guys. America’s current political polarisation also illustrates this point.

It’s easy to judge the actions and beliefs of others, but if we had the same information at our disposal, would we think or act differently?

*The above passage is from The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness (highly recommended)

Photostory: Discover your neighbourhood

By now you may be thinking: “Geez Robert, genocide and Nazis is a bit heavy before the weekend”. Fair point. Without trivialising the aforementioned, I’ll end on a lighter note.

…

We live in Rivierenbuurt, an area not too far from Amsterdam’s city centre. (Interesting fact, Anne Frank grew up in Rivierenbuurt). It’s a great area to live, but I’ve never been overly fond of the bland brick-based building style. Here’s an example of a stereotypical building.

However, that was before I inadvertently discovered that this “brickey” style is called Amsterdamse School, a socialist-inspired building style applied to expanding working-class housing developments in Amsterdam between 1910 and 1930. The goal was to create arbeiderspaleizen (worker’s palaces) for "those who’ve had to live without any form of beauty for such a long time".  Consequently, the buildings look similar, but upon closer inspection, each is uniquely decorated using techniques such as various types of bricks, decorative doorways, and windows or rounded facades.

Strolls in our neighbourhood are now illuminated by an enchanting new world. Each building is fascinating. Take another look at the same building through a new lens.

I now get kicks out of bricks.

This unexpected discovery has sparked a curiosity about my neighbourhood’s history, street names, monuments, etc. Do a bit of research. No doubt there will be hidden delights to uncover in your hood.

If you enjoyed this week’s letter, you can share this post or a subscription to the newsletter using the links below (or via your own email directly). The more, the merrier. Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend. Until next week.