Thursday, December 11, 2014

China's Rat Tribe

“Rat Tribe” explores the lives of low-waged migrant workers who live underground in Beijing and make up one-third of the city’s estimated 20 million people. These waiters, karaoke hostesses, hairdressers, chefs, security guards, domestic workers and kitchen helpers are the backbone of Beijing’s service industry. But they have been unkindly dubbed the “rat tribe” for making a home in Beijing’s 6,000 basements and air raid shelters — about one-third of the city’s underground space.

Photographer Sim Chi Yin spent two years shooting members of the capitol’s so-called “rats.” “

Monthly rent for a single that sleeps two and three people can range between an affordable 300 and 700 renminbi (about $50 and $100). But kitchens and bathrooms are communal. Hallways are dank, dark, and airless.

The spending of the rich and famous, meanwhile, is insatiable. Consultancy McKinsey & Company forecasts that China will dominate more than one-third of worldwide luxury spending by 2015, a stark comparison to an urban underbelly populated by people referred to as rats.


China's Rat Tribe, by Sim Chi Yin from Invisible Photographer Asia on Vimeo.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

The Hour of Code - WORLDWIDE


The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries.  It is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. Anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. One-hour tutorials are available in over 30 languages. No experience needed. Ages 4 to 104.  Last year 15 million students worldwide learned an Hour of Code.

The Hour of Code is organized by Code.org, a public 501c3 non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. An unprecedented coalition of partners have come together to support the Hour of Code, too — including Microsoft, Apple, Amazon,Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Linkedin etc.

JOIN THE LARGEST LEARNING EVENT IN HISTORY, DEC 8-14, 2014. SIGN UP to host an Hour of Code event here- http://hourofcode.org/ and start planning. You can organize an Hour of Code event at your school or in your community  like in an extracurricular club, non-profit or at work. Or, just try it yourself when Dec. 8 arrives.