Cheers to you China. I remember you from long ago and far away when I was on this forum before. You had a great passion for the country where you resided and I believe at the time you were a Canadian living in China. And I think you were teaching over there. So hello.
I have no problem with people leaving Canada China because the lifestyle here does not suit them. In fact I commend such a move. The world is large and full of adventures and many, many possibilities.
You are right, I do love my country, I came from immigrant parents who chose carefully what suited them best. My dad had job offers in Australia, the States, Africa or Canada. They chose Canada and they flourished here.
I also know a Chinese couple who "escaped" to Canada many years ago. They were not treated well when they first arrived. None the less they stuck it and they too have flourished here. They return to China likely once every few years. They like to visit but have zero intention of living there ever again. You see they are Canadian now, not Chinese.
That's how it works when given the option we have the world to chose from. We are very fortunate.
If that old guy would like to leave I say, wow, good luck and bon voyage. I wish him well. But he should not LIE, mislead or embellish his story. You see when people do that, lie, embellish or mislead they do so because the facts do not support their cause. It is not true that people can not live in basements in Cambridge, but it is true that they must adhere to a rigid fire code, thus the fine you see?
I am not a blind patriot, although I am a patriot. Have been since I was tiny. We moved once when I was tiny and lived abroad for a year. Apparently I whined incessantly about being Canadian and missing my country. My parents learned quickly that they too were now very Canadian and missed it, so thus moved back.
I think we have huge problems; poverty, marginalization, and on and on. I am willing to work for change, I am willing to contribute, I am willing to listen to solutions whether I agree with their approach or not.
I do not discount the good that Canada offers either and neither would my friends who escaped from Communist China. One thing I learned from them that I have never forgotten, the greatest thing an individual can have is freedom. People will die in order to have freedom. They risked their lives to escape. There is nothing more debilitating than to be imprisoned be it in a country or a jail or one's own mind.
So if people criticize things here, they do so out of love and I have no problem with them.Once they want to leave, I say, adios, get going.
