Dear Tata Mandela,

Today is your special day.  Mine was a week ago.  Please have a lekker day and don’t let the fact that the whole world wants to be in on it, deter you from having a wonderful day with Graca and your family.

We wish you love, health, peace and lots of rest.

Mike, Priscilla, Micaela and Ethan Jansen

Hung Hom Bay

Hong Kong

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela cartoon by Zapiro

PS. We asked The Arch to say something special on your birthday:

Today, 10 July, the year of our Lord 2010, I celebrate my 21st (cough) (cough)-st birthday!

I also celebrate 4 years of living in Hong Kong, and 10 years in Asia overall.

生日快樂 !

At the stroke of midnight last night, the family surprised me with this, amongst other goodies:

And look who ended up enjoying most of it!

Yumm!

July 1 celebrates the hand-over of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom (UK) to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

WikiPedia writes:

The handover ceremony of Hong Kong in 1997 officially marked the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China. It was an internationally televised event with the ceremony commencing on the night of 30 June 1997, and finishing on 1 July 1997, at the new wing of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) in Wan Chai.

We can just add,

Thanks for the day off Hong Kong.  It’s probably the hottest day of the year to boot!

Out with the old, In with the new…

To celebrate their 5th birthday, the world’s biggest media sharing website YouTube has launched a dedicated channel in South Africa called YouTube.co.za

According to local daily Independent Online:

This means that fans of all things local can see videos of their favourite bands and shows, including videos from the likes of Freshlyground, SABC and KhayaV, the well-known South African vlogger, as well as a drumming sensation, ‘deedlebag’, who gets more than 100 000 hits a day, stand-up comedian, Don Packett, or Rhodes TV.

Alon Chen, a YouTube Marketing Manager had this to say:

“Today, I am excited to announce the launch of the South African version of YouTube.”  He continued: “Content uploaded by users in SA will show up as ‘browse pages’ on the YouTube South Africa site. That this will make it easier for locals to find videos most relevant to them and their way of life.”

Reports online have it that YouTube has already put their servers in place in South Africa to serve the growing local market.  A quick glance (this afternoon in Hong Kong) at YouTube.co.za used to bring up a screen with a cool SA FLAG superimposed over the TUBE in the YouTube logo. 

This time around, typing YouTube.co.za brings up a ‘regular’ YouTube.com page with a“SpotLight:YouTube in South Africa” link.  Clicking that link takes one to a page with South African content.

Here’s hoping that our compatriots back home, with their “internet caps” and where they mostly use their mobile phones for internet access when they’re not at the office PC (can you believe that some still use dial-up for internet access?!) will now be able to use the world’s biggest media sharing site without worrying about their monthly download allowances!

If you’re back home and disagree with me…

Send me a “Please call me”

When it comes to internet access, we’re really fortunate (my Missus says: jaded) here in Asia.

Have you visited our Howzit Community Forum yet? Click here.

# Please call me is a uniquely South African feature that allows someone without cellphone airtime to send a free “Please Call Me” to someone, who will then (hopefully) call them back.

PS:

While typing this, ironically, I am listening to Cape Town online entrepreneur Dave Duarte on Heart 104.9FM who quoted the following:

* 44% e-mails sent/received via mobile phones

* more cellphones per household than TV’s

70% of South Africans have cellphones…