China: Curse of the Bureaucrats(Chicom bans voodoo dolls)

Newsweek ^ | 05/24/06 | Quindlan Krovatin

[TigerLikesRooster]

Curse of the Bureaucrats

Voodoo dolls are all the rage in China—especially now that the government has banned them.

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Quindlan Krovatin
Special to Newsweek
Updated: 6:45 p.m. ET May 24, 2006

May 24, 2006 - Not content with jailing subversive reporters and restricting access to prodemocracy Web sites, the Chinese government has turned its attentions to a new destabilizing influence: voodoo dolls. Central government authorities are so bothered by the political implications of the dolls that they banned them entirely from Beijing's retail stores in April.

The dolls have become increasingly popular among the Middle Kingdom's misanthropes and trend-conscious teens. Customers purchase a doll (pin included), attach a piece of paper bearing the name of their enemy to the doll and then stab away. Voodoo Dolls Online offers a wide range of dolls in assorted colors. "Do you want to make your enemy feel as if someone is always stalking him behind his back?" reads the caption next to a doll clad in black. " 'The Magic Shadow Killer' will thoroughly destroy his spirit." Another popular item is the "Little Angel," which purportedly brings good luck and helps its owner find true love.

Authorities at Beijing's Industrial and Commercial Management Department claim the dolls encourage superstition and "promote feudalism and feudal beliefs." When officials first cracked down on the import of dolls from Thailand two months ago, Chinese entrepreneurs filled the growing demand by making the toys themselves, wrapping colorful yarn around wire skeletons and adorning each with a crude felt heart. The toys were a marvel of marketing: told that one doll could not be used to harm multiple enemies, the youths who bought them kept coming back for new ones as their hit lists grew in length. Moreover, some stores offered protective dolls..../snip

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"The police are serious," she adds. "This is not like pirated DVDs, where the authorities say 'Do not sell these,' and then look the other way while people sell them. Policemen have visited me twice since the ban took effect in April. They really believe voodoo dolls can hurt children."

No, it can hurt political leaders. Millions of enemies of Chicom buy voodoo dolls, and label them after Li Peng, Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Zeng Qing-hong, Bo Xilai,... and stab them with long pins again and again, reciting bloody curses. These "leaders" may meet untimely demise, and Chicom would collapse.:)

Come to think of it, why don't I buy bunch of them and long hideous pins. I will name them Kim Jong-il, Roh Moo-hyun, Lee Hae-chan, Hitlery, Sinkmaster, Chon-gyo-jo, Min-no-chong,.... It would be a real workout to give all of them their fair share of stabbings. Should be a fun.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[Sender]

I have a workaround. Buy a Tamagotchi, name it, don't feed it or pet it and let it die.

[yoe]

Dang! I was just getting my Hillary dolls on the market.............

[Turbo Pig]

We read stories like this where the Chicom leaders are so afraid of voodoo dolls that they ban them. One of two things are in play here:

1) They are a backwards superstitious lot and they truly believe these things can cause them harm; not a completely outrageous possibility
2)They are so frightened of dissent that the thought of someone poking a needle in a doll in the privacy of their own homes is seen as a threat to their control; most likely the case.

Either way you cut it, it doesn't bode well for future relations. You can not expect to get cooperation and peaceful existence with people like that; just look at the West's relationship with islam.

[Khurkris]

3) These are imported into the PRC. Translation, nobody is getting a cut on the manufacturing...no hong bao...(money under the table)

[yoe]

I gather you've never been to certain parts of New Orleans or Alabama.....or backstage on Broadway - VooDoo is easily found in all those places...not just China my friend.