Egg On Mao

Denise Chong’s new book Egg On Mao, tells the story of a Chinese dissident, Lu Decheng, who defaced a portrait of Mao in Tiananmen Square.  If this article is any indication, it will be an enthralling read:

Ottawa author Denise Chong tried to look inconspicuous as she stood at the pre-arranged rendezvous point on a busy street in the Chinese city of Liuyang.

Before arriving, Chong had used a map to memorize the layout of the city and the locations of her clandestine destinations. She did not want to arouse suspicion or provoke queries from helpful strangers by looking lost or in search of something forbidden to foreigners.

The stories of dissidents and people who greatly imperil themselves to fight oppression should be widely read and forever trumpeted.  I have not picked up Ms. Chong’s book, but I will, and I would suggest that everyone else does as well.  As a bonus, there will be a book launch at Library and Archives Canada on Tuesday October 27 at 7:30 pm.  It will take place at Library and Archives Canada on Wellington St. in Ottawa.  I hope to be there.

Today, decades later, I still have vivd memories of the Tiananmen Square protests.  It was an awakening, uplifting and horrifying experience.  In the years right before I entered high school I witnessed the protests, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the destruction of the Soviet Union, the Velvet Revolution and the end of the Cold War.  It was a significant time to become politically aware, and the lessons that were learned, though they may have been forgotten by some, should cherished.  Ms. Chong has done a tremendous service to keep some of them alive for us.