A day on the streets soaking in le fashion

Ralph Lauren store in Myeing-dong 

Store Display at H&M

 Korezn Fashionistas :)

I want to be an artist... there I said it!!!

I remember attending my pre-school graduation, and they asked me what I want to be when I grow up. I had recently found out that you can make a career from drawing, and it was called an Artists. I was really good at it too. They had asked all the other kids, and i was the second last one asked, and I just kept quiet because I didn't want to say Nurse, police lady, doctor, teacher. I just wanted to be an artist. At the time I thought people would think that it was a wack career so I just didn't answer. My mom was so annoyed.

It's a girl!!! :)

BEFORE

AFTER

ALL ALONG, I THOUGHT MY DOG WAS A BOY. SHE IS A GIRL

NOT FOR SALE

Nick van Dam*, a 32 your old South African businessman, wakes up from his suburban home, kisses his wife good morning and then proceeds to his daily jog on his treadmill. After his shower, he eats breakfast with his wife and kids. He then leaves for work carrying his briefcase.

What you don't know about Nick is that he runs an underground human trafficking ring. He has discovered how profitable it is to buy and sell humans for sex and forced labour.

Yes. Take a quick but deep whiff of the air around you. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the smell of modern day slavery and human trafficking.

The IOM (International Organisation for Migration) provides the following definition of human trafficking: "Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. It is rooted in poverty, lack of opportunities, gender discrimination, social and political violence, and demand for services. Oftentimes, victims are lured away from their homes with promises of good jobs. Instead, they are forced into dangerous, illegal or abusive work.”

According to the IOM, there are 27 million people around the world in slavery. Of those who are trafficked, 50% are children and 80% are woman. At an estimated $32 billion per annum, human trafficking is the third largest black market industry in the world after guns and drugs.

The US Department of State has listed South Africa on their "Tier 2 watch list". On their website they define tier 2 countries as: "Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA (Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s) minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards".

South Africa has failed to provide significant reports on human trafficking and slavery. This is because these cases are filed under categories such as prostitution, organised crime and abduction. This is also due to a lack of a definition for it in our current legal framework; as a result law enforcement officers are not able to take action against these cases.

Minimal unrest was created with the legalisation of prostitution in South Africa for the duration of the world cup. Although certain human rights groups stood up against this, we as a nation sat back and allowed the government to legalise it so as to please our visitors. I am most certain we would have achieved just as much success without this law.

Most prostitutes do not willingly sell their bodies. No matter the circumstance; I don’t think children are raised with the disposition to aspire to become sex slaves. Many of those in prostitution are enticed and Pimps prey on these young girls’ insecurities. They are beaten, raped and drugged until they circum. Even if they don’t give in, they suffer the same fate.

The current rate human traffickers pay is said to be R60 000 per person they traffic. These woman and children sleep with an average of 15 clients a day, at R450 each. That is 450 men for the duration of the world cup, which is 30 days. That means they made a profit of R142500 per trafficked victim.

Sex tourism and trafficking is growing in South Africa. Humans are bought and sold on the internet and it is occurring because we choose to ignore it.

Asia is one of the continents where it is most prevalent and sex tourism is said to be common in Thailand.

The Not for Sale campaign website states that: “a Bangkok-based children’s rights group has tracked the country’s boom in sexual tourism over the past two decades. Its research shows that more than 11 million foreigners visited the country in 2003. “Roughly two-thirds of foreigners entering Thailand were unaccompanied men. “In other words, about 7.3 million unaccompanied men visited the country in 2003. Certainly, not all of these men came as sexual tourists, but it’s a good bet that a significant percentage did.”

In South Korea, where I have been based for the past two years, brothels are often masked as barber shops or bars. They use one red and blue spinning barber light to differentiate between an actual barber and two lights means that it is a brothel.

On the street leading to my apartment building there are several very suspicious looking places. I have never seen anyone walk out of these place, or the doors open during the day. In the evening I notice cracks of light through the door and tinted windows and the signage lights outside are on.

“Love” motels are also very common, but they are mostly used by married men who want to spend the afternoon with their mistress or couples.

It is said that roughly 80% of woman and children trafficked to the US are Korean.

Not For Sale is a world wide campaign that provides a resourceful platform for those who want take part in abolishing modern day slavery. They have a world of information that you can tap into, including a slavery map where you can track and file cases on where human trafficking is most prevalent.

They have found simple ways that we may use to contribute to abolishing modern day slavery.

For example, Free2Work has an iPhone application that helps consumers identify companies whose products are manufactured in factories where forced, trafficked or child labour is practiced.

Free2Play supports children who have been rescued from slavery and gives them freedom to play again. American Baseball player Jeremy Affeldt of the San Francisco Giants pledges $100 to Free2Play for every strikeout he makes in a game.

Please visit their website (www.notforsalecampaign.org) and find that children are not prostitutes. By doing nothing you continue become one of the men/women who drive the demand. In no other time in history has human trafficking been more prevalent than now.

*(Nick van Dam is a fictitious name.)

I'm like totally loving this b/w situation I've gotten myself hooked on.

In pursuit of figuring out whether my scribbles make any sense

I am trying out my writting skills, this is an opinion piece I submitted to an online news site in South Africa http://www.getnews.co.za/. It's a steady start. Here's to many more. I am really excited about it.http://www.getnews.co.za/story?id=140


This is what I wrote:
You would think that a Xhosa girl from Mdantsane would be more street smart, but how can I dispute an argument like: "This is not made in China,  It's Made in Korea"?. This is what many patriotic sales assistants will say to you when bargaining in the Republic of Korea.

It's widely known that bargaining is the main form of trade in Asia and Korea is no exception.  

Boasting indoor markets, some up to ten stories high, filled exclusively with electronic goods and others with seemingly endless fields of clothes and accessories. This could be a bargain hunters heaven or a shopaholics hell.

While South Africans may perceive bargaining and buying from markets as a backward form of trade, Korea's standard of living is decades ahead of ours.

After the Korean war ended in 1953, an industrial development strategy was implemented, closely modeled in light of that of Japan's. They educated their nation, motivated and encouraged them, and then used their education and manpower to build industries.

Today, South Korea prides itself in it's first world status, hosting the 4th strongest Economy in Asia and 14th in the world. As the worlds 6th largest exporter (in 2010), they manufacture a vast range of goods for commercial export as well for their own subsistence.

I am certain that Korean brand names like; Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo, LG and Samsung ring a bell.

Economic success 101: Koreans are loyal to their own products, manufactured on their own soil by their own people. This then obviously means that they are loyal to their economy. I repeated the word "own" for on purpose. What do we own in the Eastern Cape? or rather what do we own in South Africa that isn't being exploited by foreign investors?

Going back to brand loyalty. It is rare to see a non Korean car being driven on the street. This product loyalty extends through all industries namely: electronics, furniture, food and clothes. 

In South Korea, LG not only produces electronic appliances and cell phones, but toiletries such as shampoo, soap and body lotion to mention a few.

We have Proudly South African and their products under that campaign, but do we really think about them when we're shopping?

The Eastern Cape's favourite word "uBuntu"

Yes, Koreans capitalise on buckets and buckets of humility. Their customer service is near flawless. They acknowledge the importance in valuing all their customers. Except for foreign restaurants, in Korea tipping your waiter is not accepted and this is after they more than go out of their way to serve you. They also offer free delivery to your house or office.

Most Korean stores have their floor staff, greet you as you walk in at the entrance. As you walk through the store, store assistance pass by you and bow saying "welcome to X store". At certain intervals, they will ALL put their tools down and chant: "Welcome to X store, we hope you enjoy your shopping experience". They will do this several times while you shop. 

We may not have to take it to this level, but we could reconsider how we serve our clients. Clients/Customers could use a bigger and better serving of humility. People will remember you by how you made them feel.

I do acknowledge the Eastern Cape government's current efforts to boost the Eastern Cape economy and infrastructure through institutions such as the ELIDZ, COEGA, the ECDC,  ASGISA  EC. As well as efforts by every day business women and men. I also recognise that Korea and South Africa are worlds apart. We are not currently faced by the same challenges, but they once were and we could surely learn a thing or two from them.

The Republic of Korea is only 100 000km² making it 68,966km² smaller than the Eastern Cape Province. It hosts a population of 50,062,000 which is roughly equal to that of South Africa. I don't necessarily think we need that many people to make it work.

What we need is solidarity, motivation and unified goals to demolish laziness, greed and individual gain.

It can be done, as we witnessed during the hosting of a successful soccer world cup. 

The way I see things...

War Zone