Ryu2.mind

A bit of background for non China-residents: there's a underground industry here that deals in hacked satellite receivers and dishes to pick up satellite broadcasts from the Phillipines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. catering mainly to the expat community.  For a one-time payment of several thousand RMB, you can supplement the usually bleak Chinese TV with all the foreign news and entertainment you want.

But there's a catch.  See, other than in a few "licensed" residences and hotels, satellite TV is "illegal" in China.   The quotes are for a reason: namely, it's "illegal" in the same sense that spitting, jaywalking, and pirated/bootleg stuff is "illegal" in China: as long as locals are making money from it, the authorities usually turn a blind eye.

The other thing is that your residence has to be facing south to be able to pick up the signal.  My last place did.  My new place isn't.  I consulted the satellite installer, who said that he could install it on the roof and run cable to my room, so that it wasn't a deal breaker.

So, I'm in satellite heaven for a couple of weeks until a few days ago, when I return to my place and turn on the TV.  Suddenly: CNN, the Beeb, Discovery Channel... nothing, 无, nichts, nada, zip.  I wait for a day or two because sometimes, the signal is suspectable to weather.  Still nothing, on a clear day.

I call the satellite guy.  He climbs up to the roof and finds that the dish is missing.  Stolen.  

He reports it to the security guard, but to no avail.  He also related to me that he saw other tenants' satellite dishes alsomissing, and the security guard also mentioned that they've triedlocking the roof access several times, but people always break thelocks.

To make a long story short, the premises won't cover the loss because satellite TV isn't "legal".  He says he could install a new dish for 800 RMB, but he told me that unless something was done about the security, it was basically throwing money away, since it'd likely get stolen again promptly.  That's 4800 RMB (about US $600) goodbye.  The whole setup was installed about two weeks ago.

It's not so much that I can't live without the TV -- I've still got the 'net and Bittorrent -- and it's not so much the loss of the money that really irks me (large as it is) -- it's a reminder of where our treasure should truly lie.

Rather, it's just the whole idea that.people are resigned to this, that people make off with hundreds or thousands worth of stuff, that the status quo is so common that people here -- the security guards (what good is security if they just stand there?) and the satellite guy -- just shrug and realize that they've given up and don't want to fight that battle any more.

The true pwnage is not my and the other residents' dishes -- rather, apathy and resignation have truly taken over folks here.  How do we change it?

Sigh.. and thus life goes on.