March 2010 – Junjun's Home

Google.cn: Let’s Say Goodbye!

If you are familiar with the happenings these months related to the Google in China, you should not forget the debating several months ago that concerns the exit of Google, a world-famous search engine, from China, a country that is famous around the world for its strict censorship on both Internet and traditional medias, like TV, newspapers and magazines. In fact, in the past few months, majority of Chinese like me, are still holding the hope that the Google should maintain its service in China, with the consideration on the commercial benefit, which, in my opinion, ultimately determines the decision for most businessman.

Google Eventually Leaves China

However, the exit of Google bring me new understand of the business. Unlike the most common businessman that profit is the only thing they care, the great groups, like Google, make me understand that determination of its own culture and perspective is also essential. Till now, Google is the only company that bring the censorship in China open to the public. Though the censorship policy in China is quite strict and known to the practitioners in the field of media, it is rarely known to most common citizens in China, especially those who are not that familiar with Internet and whose English is not that good to read some articles published overseas.

If you open Google.cn this morning, you are surprisingly to see the following website, instead of the traditional Google.cn, a special version of Google that meets the censorship requirement in Chinese government:

On the front page of Google.com.hk, you can observe a short sentence saying “Welcome to the new house of Google Search in China”. Due to the special policy that is adapted in Hong Kong, though it is regarded as a part of territory of PRC, no censorship but only some potential controls on media exists. Following the rules in Hong Kong, Google would face less litigation risk for their oppose to this policy. But the question is that I am wondering whether this site would be forbidden for visit from China. Previous examples for this prohibition includes Yahoo! HK and many BBS in Hong Kong.
Official Annoucements from Google on Its Exit

An updated version of the announcement is also available in both English and Chinese. Due to the key words that are involved in this article, this article would soon be forbidden, according to the rules of censorship. The only question is that how long it would stay in live. Following are the two pics for this announcement. One in English from the Google Blog,and the other in China from the directly link to Google.com. You can click on the pictures for larger size.
Availability of Other Products: Official Evidence

The other action that Google made is that they expose the existence of GFW. Though it has been understood for most Internet users, it is unwillingly to know for majorities. As a strong evidence that argues the freedom of Internet recently claimed by Chinese officials, a site that detects the availability of some largest Web 2.0 applications around the world for most Internet users in China, without abnormal skills and trainings is now available. For interested readers, you can click here. Following is the result of detection today.
Conclusion

We are living in a country that regards censorship as a necessary step for filtering ‘unhealthy information’, though porn webs are mostly available. As a good saying goes that, you should try to be accustomed to the environment once you find you can hardly change it. In a country that regards politics as a sensitive term, any discussion on related topics can bring you unexpected consequences. What we can do is to follow the policy, do what we can do, and never try to break the rule.

A Letter to My Grandma: Memory Only

This is a letter that I am writing to my grandma, who has left us for absolutely one year. Due to the protection of my family members from too much depression, this letter would also written in English. Please remember that don’t put any Chinese Character for the comments to this article. Any Chinese Character would be deleted by me without any notification.

Dear grandma,

it has been one year since you have left from us! In the past years, I have achieved a lot due to my hard-working in the master’s program. As what you have told me that no gain should be anticipated unless you have devoted adequately. In that past few years, I have been awarded the first class of scholarship, and was invited for a conference presentation at a conference of my school of accounting, with four other professors. For a postgraduate student like me, it is undoubtedly of great honor. I do wish to share this good news with you, but can you feel about that?

My PhD Program is getting smoothly. I have obtained a conditional offer from Lancaster University, a school that is settled in United Kingdom. Though I have to fight again for IELTS to meet their condition, and the funding for this program is still unclear yet, it means something, at least, a partial convince on what I have learned and mastered through the past three years. Meanwhile, I have also accomplished the first run of the PhD admission exams from Sun Yatsen University in Guangzhou,and the result is unrevealed yet. I wish provide you further information in due courses.

I clearly understand your willing of our being excellent, for all us three, including Keke, Kuan and me. In fact, all us three are working very hard.

Wish you everything goes well in heavens!

Yours,

Junjun

PhD Entrance Exams at SYSU: A Conclusion

The PhD entrance exams for Sun Yat-sen University have eventually been accomplished, no matter how the result would be. The questions appeared on the subject of corporate are a bit easier, but due to a long trip from Guangzhou to Suzhou, I have mostly forgotten them. But there is one lesson that you should take if you are to be a player of such exams in 2011 or later. That is, paying adequate attention on econometrics, not only its usage, but also its fundamental knowledge.

The questions that I came across at the exams of accounting theory may indicate its potential failure. The questions this year are focusing much on auditing and financial accounting. Unlike the questions that you can find in previous years, the questions this year are focusing more on policies, accounting standard settings, and, most of them are following the framework of narrative research, rather than the positive ones which are of great popularity recently.

Anyway, quite a number of questions are focusing on academic thoughts, which are highly regarded by both professors and graduate students nowadays, especially those working in top universities of China. Take an analytical question in finance for example. A paragraph is presented, which is introducing a new policy published in 2008, that mostly listed firms in China are required to announce the details of their dividend plans. The question is that you are invited to make a brief analysis on why it comes out, its influence of capital markets, as well as the potential research opportunity it may involve. Such questions would, undoubtedly, a disaster to those who are not accustomed to develop their independent thinking.

However, there is one thing that would be beneficial for most takers of the exams, no matter whether they are admitted eventually or not. The lesson is that the questions showed us the correct way that a researcher should probably work like. Focusing and take a good think on the important events on the capital markets should be a good way to find research opportunities, as is shown on the exam paper. Trying to use the existing theory and research to explain, or predict what is happening and is to happen, though not that correct and accurate, would be beneficial for you to know the way of academic considerations. Once the resource of research is ensured, and the academic thoughts are formed, doing some top-level researches would not be far except for some professional training on methodology and tools.

There has been a debate in the academic world, especially in the field of economics and something related that intuition or methodology, which is more important? In my opinion, neither should be abandoned. So also pay sufficient attention on econometrics. What you want to know is not only how to read the result appeared on the computer screen, but the concept of them, like the way how the estimate produced, the steps that somewhat test aligned, and what their potential assumptions are likely to be. If you are still feeling frightened of reading a textbook with mathematics, try to get used to that from today!

I don’t know how my exams would be. In fact, a summary of the exams has been required for my potential supervisor, and I am concerning how to make it with sufficient objectivity and unbiased. Anyway, I do learn a lot from this process.

PS: It is unlikely to make a revision before you take the PhD entrance exams at SYSU, especially in the field of accounting. What you have learned and mastered during the daily research would work!

PhD Entrance Exams at SYSU: Accounting

今天考完了第一天的考试。说实话，中山大学真的很漂亮，绿化做得很好。北门外的珠江也很漂亮。不过广州这两天的天气实在是不好。非常的潮湿。尽管对于一个像我这样在南方生活了二十多年的土著而言，此种潮湿天气并不是什么大问题，但是还是让我些许不爽。不过相比较武汉而言，广州让我最喜欢的一点是这里的吃食非常好，非常符合我的口味。我现在终于知道我老板和我姐都会抱怨广州的菜没有味道了。哈哈。

早上的英语考试，说实话没有太强的感觉。毕竟最近英语看得比较多，以至于看到考卷都没有了感觉。但是这种感觉也绝对不是好事儿，因为你会忘记自己是在考试和做题目，然后就会不知不觉的看得飞快，以至于我在不到一个小时时间里就搞定了除了作文外的所有题目，但是正确率却不敢保证。以至于后来的作文我磨磨蹭蹭的写了一个来小时，写了400来个字，才算对得起重大给的我三个小时的考试时间了。总体来说，英语考试不算太难，应该比考研英语略容易。不过考场上还是有不少同志没有做完的。

下午的会计理论考试才是真的郁闷了。这个题目跟往年相比，差异巨大。我以为中大向来不入俗套，没想到他今年也狠狠“低俗”了一把，没办法，哥们认栽。考虑到有很多人会跟我一样在网上搜索历年考题，我就在这里贴出来，供明年的小弟弟小妹妹们参考吧。

简答
1. 就“系统免疫”论谈谈你的看法
2. IASB的报告体系的逻辑关系，会给你一张图
3. 金融工具准则的“顺周期效应”，谈谈看法
4. 市净率和市盈率分别是什么？他们提供怎么样的信息？
两个讨论题
1. 2008-2009年度中国资本市场重大事件列出并写出研究机会、
2. 写审计质量的文献综述。
研究设计题

结论：中山大学的题目的确不好准备。要考好，或者自己有关系事先弄到题目（这个不是没可能～），或者够牛（如此牛何必留在中大？），再或者，跟我一样，泰然处之！

PS：中大风景美，人更美！