Every time I hear an American conservative bemoan “LGBTQ propaganda”, I just have to laugh. It’s as if being exposed to something once means you’re instantly & utterly engulfed & influenced by it. But I grew up being exposed to straight people everywhere… TV, movies, real life…& I’m still queer. 🤷

I see people complaining about the algorithm on X and their low (“suppressed”) engagement. I wonder how long it’ll take before they realise it isn’t an algorithm problem, and they’re not being censored — people are just disengaging from them and their views.

This is nothing short of frightening. So many questions. So, so many questions.

We talk about social media algorithms, but maybe the real issue is ‘engagement addiction’ — the endless craving for clicks, fights, and validation.

Hello everyone, I am now also on Substack. Bit of an experiment for me, but I suspect people who follow me might like that format better: substack.com/@dakekang

Sometimes I wander back over to X just to take a squiz at some people who once piled on me for things I said online. Funny thing is, stacked up against the self-absorbed drivel, cheap attention grabs, and straight-up bigotry they’re spewing out now, my old posts look positively tame. Ironic.

I don’t condone violence in any form. Charlie Kirk didn’t deserve to die for holding opinions. One thing I am surprised by is some of my Aussie friends on Facebook openly mourning his death, talking about “honouring” him by continuing to spread his message. I don’t begrudge them in mourning…

Sometimes I’ll ask ChatGPT to translate if I can’t be bothered. It prevents wasting time on useless stuff. But you can’t always rely on it. It translated “There can only be a New China without the Communist Party” as “There would be no New China without the Communist Party”.

Brisbane Bluesky

In polarised times, quiet neutrality can be its own form of resistance.

The Chinese sphere is an interesting space. On the one hand, analysts claim the Chinese economy is “booming”, with decent facts and figures to back them up. On the other hand, personal connections in China talk of a slowing economy, house values falling (“roughly 40%”) in GZ, and fewer jobs.

Have been tweaking my Substack article archiving my career back in China, and I found this while researching. The titles for the shows about me on 56.com in 2011. What’s missing? No “foreigner” or “laowai” in sight. Just my name and what I was doing. Might seem trivial, but it means something…

In Fiji for a few days. I’ve been here less than 48 hours and reckon I’ve already seen a thousand smiles. Fiji’s my kind of place: where if you treat others with kindness, they return it in abundance. Saying “Bula” to everyone feels like saying “g’day” on the street back home. Old school Aussie.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that his country will recognize a Palestinian state in September, joining a growing list of Western allies as international condemnation and anger builds over Israel’s actions in Gaza.

substack.com/@hazzahardin... I still exist on the Chinese internet, but old content is often scrubbed to make way for the new, to save server space. Some content has almost certainly disappeared because it no longer fits within China’s “harmonised” online environment.

To my Aussie friends on here, since I’ve been home from China, I’ve noticed people (roughly 25%) start e-mails or messages with “G’day”. I say “G’day”, but rarely type it. I feel like it’s more of a Queensland thing, but I could be wrong. Is it a thing where you are in Australia? Should I adopt it?🤝

While U.S. media is firmly fixated on Epstein and likely links to Trump, RT (Russia Today) is eerily quiet on the issue. 2/3 of today’s RT news bulletin on its website is dedicated to attacking Trump on everything but Epstein, while 1/3 is dedicated to the starvation crisis in Gaza. But why?

Where are Ivanka and Melania Trump?

28 Hazza发布了一篇小红书笔记，快来看吧！ 😆 WJnVl3P6oyKQKii 😆 xhslink.com/m/6XBwnzXB4oW 复制本条信息，打开【小红书】App查看精彩内容！

open.substack.com/pub/hazzahar... Worked for Chinese state media 12 years—where my sexuality was technically banned, but never stopped me doing my job. Back in Brisbane, I applied to volunteer at a Christian radio station… and got rejected. Because I’m gay. There’s some irony in that.

不是为了反对谁，也不是为了支持谁。 不是以我所持有的国籍发声，也不是以任何宗教信仰或组织成员的身份发声。 我只是一个有良知、有能力共情的个体。 我选择站在巴勒斯坦一边。 杀戮、轰炸、仇恨与种族灭绝，必须停止。

As an Aussie born in the 90s, lately I’ve been wondering if the quiet anxiety I feel is just my subconscious mourning the world I was raised to believe in—a world that perhaps never truly existed, or if it did, isn’t coming back. And the one that’s potentially replacing it… genuinely unsettles me.

Some people are obvious apologists, some are completely ignorant and want to stay that way, some people just hate everything to a point that feels prejudiced. But there are also lots of reasonable people just trying to make sense of a very opaque and confusing country.

人的善良，大概就是，看出了你的为难，便不再为难；人性的恶就是，看出了你的为难，然后使劲拿捏。 “Kindness is witnessing pain and choosing not to worsen it. Evil is seeing struggle and deliberately choosing to exacerbate it.” I have a mate in China & we practise translation together. Just something little every day. I really liked this one. ☝️

www.smh.com.au/world/asia/i... I actually really regret giving this interview back in 2021, for a number of reasons. 1) It was a relative who first asked if I would be interested in doing an interview about my life and work in China. I said I would consider it, but ultimately declined. After…

I just saw somebody wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap in Brisbane. I really wanted to ask “why?”, but then I reminded myself they probably don’t actually know either.

There’s an influencer/host in New York I really admire. She works with people with opposing views & politics, and she does it so effortlessly & with poise. We started commenting back and forth, and we’ve kind of become friends. One day, she sent me this long voice message on Instagram, telling me…

The “China analysis” circle needs to be far more inclusive. People get sick of the same people saying the same thing again & again. We need to hear from younger voices with recent lived experience in China. Like Wing. Young, smart, knowledgeable & passionate. Someone do something with this talent🙏!

youtube.com/watch?v=sRz5... 【匿名中国】I’m trying something new. Many China stories just don’t get told. Not because they aren’t worth hearing, but because people are afraid of speaking out. So, I’d like to try to offer a platform through which people can anonymously tell their China stories well.

How did we get here? People divided over politics and no consensus on even basic truths and facts. Part of me feels like this culture of distrust and conspiracy was borne out of September 11. I can remember at the time, there were conspiracy theory videos and blogs everywhere. September 11…

“The proposal is limited to granting registered couples rights in matters relating to healthcare and death, such as hospital visits, making medical decisions, and collecting the body of a deceased partner.” If only this were the case on the mainland…

open.substack.com/pub/hazzahar... 我真心的、出于善意的建议是：请不要再伤害那些努力维护中外联系、为了这些联系牺牲了个人时间和职业发展的好人。每一次你们这样做，都会让人更加犹豫是否继续合作，也会让人对像新疆这样的地方更不信任。

I personally don’t believe we should be attacking Princeton. I applaud Princeton for trying to keep open channels for exchange and academia, when that’s not easy from either side now (US and China). CPC and state media should be blamed. Time and time again, they do things (in this case using…

I watched my first Tucker Carlson podcast last night with Marjorie Taylor Greene. For a moment, I was like: why does it sound like these ning-nongs are making at least some sense? Parallel universe? Next minute, Tucker’s talking about how we need to get rid of Pride because Bible. Still ning-nongs.

NEW EPISODE: after achieving marriage equality in 2018, Chinese Australian community has become more progressive on LGBT topics, but coming out to Chinese parents could still be challenging. Check out the stories of these great young Chinese Australians: www.sbs.com.au/audio/englis...

I hope the Lattouf decision gives other board members decision makers around the country serious pause in the future. Political opinions are still legal in this country. Facts and criticism about horrific human rights violations should be supported, not punished.

In Guangzhou, I met and became friends with people from all corners of the globe. I met Russians, Ukrainians, Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians, Americans, and Sudanese. We all had one thing in common: we were outsiders, foreigners together. So when I see what is happening in the world, I can’t…

Now is a moment to reshare this video

Had a pretty rough few weeks. A grandparent in & out of hospital (couple of nights in ICU), & an 11+ hour wait in emergency for a free bed. Absolutely buggered. Church organised a rehearsal to practice new songs this morning. I wanted to stay in bed, but I’m glad I went, & really like this one:

My Nanna’s physio e-mails me her exercises, because you need to print them from an app. Easier to just print them for her. Anyway, they start each email with “G’day Harry,”. And I absolutely love it.

A mate in China sent me this for my birthday today. “Please don’t be angry, I just want to try and help you with something”. They took a photos of me & my late husband & used AI to make a video of us smiling & embracing. It healed a corner of my soul that I didn’t realise was still hurting. #Love

Chinese propaganda really isn’t that dangerous. It’s easy to spot, & apart from causing outrage among certain circles, never really gains much traction. Russian propaganda is harder to spot — it hides amongst far-right commentary & conspiracies. It blends in. And it absolutely has impacted America.

music.apple.com/au/album/dan... I simply couldn’t resist… this song has been stuck in my head for the last 13 or so years, and I think I just exacerbated the problem by actually singing it. Dancing Lasha Tumbai, originally performed by Verka Serduchka 🇺🇦❤️🎵

Journalism is not a crime, & I would have thought that wouldn’t be something you would need to remind riot police of in the U.S. Shocking violence toward a young Aussie journalist just trying to do her job. The cop needs to be seriously reprimanded, & the safety of reporters ensured.

I still love the great things about China, & I’m very pleased we have 2 Haidilao Hotpot locations in Brisbane, and numerous KTVs. Whenever I miss China, there are places I can go in Brissy to be transported back to China for a bit. & I think that’s testament to Brisbane’s growth as a global city.

Got Siri? Please ask it to “play Milkshake Man by Hazza.” Got YouTube Music, & you have a spare second? Please search and play it! If you have Spotify, & don’t mind, please search for it & play it! It helps with the algorithm, & I get like 1 cent! Haha. No record label anymore, doing this on my own🤣

This is now the only thing I do on X.