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While you are reading this, the typically Chinese mantou ta home-cooked steamed roll) is gradually being replaced in the Oriental counterpart of burger stands across the countryside by mass-produced toast. What next? Peking duck that's finger-licking good? A quarter pounder of ground water buffalo smothered in sweet and sour sauce on a rice flour bun? Birds nest soup made from fresh-frozen nests? Thirty-seven different flavours of fortune cookies wrapped around mini menus or lists showing the loca- Where as the American military intervention in the Vietnamese interior struggle was an utter disaster, that North American invention, the fast-food drive-in, appears to be infiltrating the communist way of life. The People's Daily reports a government trend repla- cing traditional Chinese ea ting habits with a system of mass-produced dried soups and other ready-to-serve dishes. According to the recent press releases coming out of China, the “Big Mac attack" has more clout than the combined forces of the US. army, During regional couneirs discussion on whether a grant should be delivered into the hands of the centre, Cambridge Aid. Dave Durward was quoted as saying that the money was for extra staff to answer the phone. If I were one of the 12 volunteers who had spent the last few months working miracles on a shoe-string budget, I would have been frothing at the mouth. To The Rape Distress Centre has been in existence for the past two years, and according to their statistics, has dealt with nearly 200 victims ot sexual assault. Their contact with these people varies from one-0n- one phone counselling to on-going empathic support and medical and legal advice. They describe their ser- vice as being a “24-hour crisis line concerned and trained in the area of sexual assault." They are the only such service operating in the Region. While I can sympathige with the Region's decision, bearing in mind that it is a year of budgetary res- traint, I find it hard to fathom some of the reasoning put forth by regional councillors. Last week regional council turned down, the Wa- terloo Regional Rape Distress Centre's plea for a $5,000 grant. Lrefer to their request as a plea because withoutlt the centre has little or no hope ot receiving operational grants, and to say that its future is shakey is putting it mildly. _ All of them, especialy the men, are absorbed by their vocations. the sadistic cruelty of the revenue department. and their latest acquisition, whether Canadians on the whole, are probably the most boring conversationalists in the entire world. I doit say that idly, merely to put backs up. I say it from agonizing personal experience. Irs not because we are a dull people, though we are. It's not because ‘we're stupid. because we arent It seems to be based rather on a sort of philis- tinism that labels interesting conversation as a "cissy" pastime, fit only for dilettantes, idealists. Englishmen of a certain background, educated Europeans and other such intellectualtrash. Next time youve at a dinner party or any similar gathering, lend an ear. The dialogue will depress you deeply. Perhaps the real fault lies in the fact that we are basically a nation of materialists. and that we have become more and more so, with the withering of the churches and the increasing affluence of our society. Our topics of conversation change with the de- cades, but remain awesomely inane in their content. A few decades ago, men could talk for hours about cars and hockey, while women chattered incessantly about children and recipes. Nowadays, the men talk about real estate and boats, and women go on and on about Women's Lib and the trip abroad they have just taken or are just about to take. And they all say the same thing, or near enough. Bill Smiley by Geoff Hoile "T' ' . "t__".'..."" _.‘.__W ,_ A- ,...‘. w,;-' ,' C J... “19:. _ "sm-" 3 "T ' “ -h wt“ 31.“? "fC,: "iwt.aTE7 te<T'"e"iT,C,o7 'iiT"r: t "v-uit'.,'"-" 2...». A“? 3;" Wm . .. I - ""1 . w . _N'-' .1" -y 7" _ - ," ' . . ma, _ _ _ _ _ ' " v-r I ' H, . 't _ . A N.‘~ a.,' K .1"' -r .‘;Qhr>».“ r, . ' __ , L ' u- _ _r,,,_ _ . _ . - . F - . , . F #1 -. _ fl e';,, '.' ' 4:. , _ . in ,_ .. ' . . . _., ' T':. _ .. . _. a " " wst ' “ CC, y .9 ' e'.. .. Pl . 7 , s,", V. . ' M, C ', er' . . J... ccfN . : , ' . a _ -. - - ' F . I ' Ciir "n. - 's r a.,.-". F‘ tr".1 , _ _ PP- . I _ :.. l . - "Y ’ "Le/Fil. . "H . V " .3 .. i" T?’%’X:‘;f’a'n‘g‘"_j“.1f€:fi..u‘.:1)“ “Mama-{mm Tu- IT" v.2.‘r~-%F"Jz MA») ""mr.er'2/r. \5- "h. _ . A V _ rfs.t, _ / . ", .. 1. .. _ ' ' ' v - _ w . . h. , v .. a: ". I . _.. .. 3*“ . " “H: Jua- ,.. v... A, "r 43.5.; u w..,." _ "..-_, - T __ 4 _ .-_ _ . _ T » l - "W, 4: r-r- .s ot"'"'" . _ J P, I _ - - _ -. 's r " - _ -»_» mesa r- "'tr "cs-r.- F = - -. _ liar . T r . "v i . ' .‘ . u, .t , , ' a Gl. . . I 'm-tmr-r-ri-e-re-Mr-ttroi- " F , ' _ . [ -, " - ' 'tq-gl-tn _ . . .. 4 ' _ f x The follow-up statement in the People's Daily that the government is calling for stepped-up research on irroduction of foods which are inexpensive, nutritious and delicious is guaranteed to boggle the brains of even the most unmphisticated of western gourmets In the traditional Mandarin, Shanghai. Szechuan and Cantonese styles of cooking, many of the ingredients are fresh fruits and vegetables. economically gath- ered by China's labor intensified work force and pre- Will fried rice prepared in the average Chinese home be sent to the local fast-food outlet to become part of the meal instead of being, as it is now, merely a way of warming cold cooked rice for lalecomers to dinner? Does this-mean the centuries-old image of millions of Chinese-working knee deep in rice paddies, nourished only by a handfull of rice each day - is to be shattered by this new western invasion of commer- cial outlets, snaking across the land, their parking lots jammed with rickshaws and their bright young staff ready to serve five sizes of King Cong burgers with a side order of won tons? _ According to Hoile tions of the proprietor's chain of outlets? ICs a shame that Kitchener AM. Grace Stoner doesn't ttlt same way. She said the need for the centre was di inishing since the number of rapes in the Region dropped from 30 in 1977 to eight as of May 31, 1978. Has she never run across statistics which prove that a very low percentage of rapes are report- ed to the police? The centre has handled 200 calls within the lagt two years, a figure slightly higher than 46. There are probably a good number of cases which However, in my opinion. Dnrwooddid'redeem him- self to some extent when he suggested that the Region cut the grant to $2.500. By suggesting that the centre deserved any sort-of funding aran he wasimplying that they were providing some worthwhile service to the community. operating with sufficient staff and secondly that lif- wering the telephone was a menial clue. Thetelepttoetetineirtttecmttdttteserviee.Art werirtganinitialphomtea1ifmmavietimemgdmean the difference between a citiz‘en who can logically handle the problem to one who is emotioetatUnti- trubedforyearstoemrte. AstMtotumttmtirtgtrser- vice which operates seven days a week. a hm: a day is certainly not mterstaffed. Any additional staff could not heconsideredf‘extra," unless the numbers were highly unreasonahle.- l ‘ ---e me ttti.s 'tattsye'ttiytplir WE mew_m A party of politicians is even worse. Jostling for attention, back-slapping everything that is warm and breathing, needling the enemy, seeing everyth- ‘ing in black and white. "Therre black; we're white." Joe Clark likes westerns on TV. It figures, The big shoot-out, and let the bodies of bystanders fall where they may. Lawyers are just as bad. They may be a bit more sophisticated than the doctors, but they're just as dull. Dropping hints of inside dope on politics, Ob- sessed by the possibility of getting a judgeship or at the very least, a QC. Criers of the blues about the taxes they pay. Behind the politicians, but not far, are the civil servants. Empire builders, defenders of the status quo. Everything in quadruplicate. Everything se- cret. The Publicis the eqemy. Always go through channels. Keep your nose clean. Dopt get a black Dig up a deliberation of doctors, put a glass in each hand and listen to the drivel about the iniquities of "medicare, the ingratitude of patients, the penal taxes they pay, and the condominium they inst bought down south. Not a Best nor a Banting in the bunch. it's a power cruiser or a' swimming pool in the back yard. Get a gaggle of editors together and they talk shop, golf. and .how much advertising linage they carried last year. Seldom a word about a powerful editorial campaign they are going to launch to halt an evil or promote a good. ButttepriBefortttemttstitiogieaireasoeuutggoett 3 out to Aid. Ted Fairly: of Cambridge who wasun as saying “come“ shouldn't be giving out grants. I sincerely Object to it." This comment speaks for it- Perhaps if enough of the people have an opportunity to dine out with relatives in North America, and see the magnitude of the fast-food concept in full swing, they may organize a culinary revolution before things at home get too far out of hand. As you know, I always save the best to last. When it comes to dullness supremo in conversation, I have to hand it to the teachers. They go on and on and on about some kid who just won’t do his homework, or some meaningless memo from the office, or some student who decided to spend a nice June day in God's great out-of-doors instead of in a dull classroom with a dull teacher. Though the present government in China seems to have lost its palate and its sense of ancestorill direc- tion, it has relaxed to some degree the restrictions upon the people's freedom in terms of international travel. Ald. Stoner likened the whole issue to a “political football," which has been kicked arm. I couldn't have said it better. May I commend the volunteéls at the Rape Distress Centre forteing such good sports. If an opposing tiara had ptstotrptaying the tame to the extent that Regional Council did, the home team Would have been Justified in~walking off the-playing field, packing up their gear' and leaving them on their own. instead 12 volunteers, some mothers, some stu- dentSTsome career women. trained themselves and spent countless hours helping people in the com- munity in a crisis situation. Despite the fact that the football has been kicked out of their reach, they are still grappling to make a touchdown and'eome up the winners. I wish this team thebest of luck! ' you Is the writing there on the great wall of China for the nation's 850 million residents to be warmed that the old way is out of date and something newer and faster is what China needs today? ls the Hua Kuo-feng regime really telling the masses, "we do it all for pared/ in a manner which has long received intema- tionatacclaim. It i hard to believe Chairman Hua Kuo-feng and the rest f the post-Mao Tse-tung policy-makers would at- tem t to replace the excellence of close to four thou- sand' years of Oriental cuisine overnight simply for the sake of speed. _ Dentists ditto. They are just as dull as the others, but they commit the crime of asking a particularly dull question when your mouth is so full of Junk that all you can do is grunt, and then think you are in- terested and agreeing with their platitudes. when what you are trying to say is, "Shut up. turkey." "tnever-tre-tet-tie-edit-re-tmes or loved Me.. Traditionally mimic! system has 'rtttteeetAmrwfpreit-atttetktmtdtiiiofvietims oCttea1ae.tPiratttttttefrweirttteri-ietter- eyrthanstiteotelrtteasmrtoettrtotrititehorped Manufacturers are in the same boat. Wages are' too high. Can't get parts, what's the matter with thosuCpeople? Too much absenteeism on Monday morning. Profit down .03 per cent last year. Can't compete with those lousy foreigners who work for peanuts. Too much government interference. "h, ha! The farmers have been sitting back en- joying this. They're every bit as bad as the rest. It's the government's fault. It's the chain store's greed. It's the fickle public. It's 'the weather: too hot, too cold. too dry, too wet; or, if the weather is perfect and the crops are superb, it's taking too much out of the land. Business men are just as culpable of devas- tating dullness in their conversation. Too many forms to fill out. Lazy clerks. Second-rate workmen. Those dam' shopping plazason the edge of town. . mark on your record. Dull, dull. P"