Your Voice: Fifa Women’s World Cup promises fantastic football skills; death of whale shows Hongkongers must respect nature (letters)

Seven months ago, 1.5 billion people watched Lionel Messi lift the Fifa World Cup trophy in Qatar and take the internet by storm. Football and non-football fans eagerly kept up to date on the tournament. However, when the Women’s World Cup rolled along, barely anyone, let alone hardcore football fans, knew about it.

The tournament kicked off in Australia and New Zealand on July 20. Teams from the host countries faced off against Norway and the Republic of Ireland, respectively, securing the Cup’s first wins, unlike Qatar’s humiliating loss at their opening match at the 2022 Men’s World Cup.

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The Fifa Women’s World Cup features an exciting new expansion of 32 teams, allowing countries such as The Philippines and Zambia a chance to shine on the world stage. Four teams in each respective group play in a round-robin style, with the top two qualifying for the knockout round.

From creative videos to stunning new kits, ad campaigns have helped spread the popularity of the Women’s World Cup. One French ad, for example, begins by supposedly featuring clips from the men’s games coupled with the audience’s celebratory atmosphere. Viewers are then shown that the clips were edited, and it was actually the women’s team playing instead of the men’s. This demonstrates that female players also possess high levels of skill and competitiveness.

The US holds the championship title after winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup. This year’s team features favourites like Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe and new players such as 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson. It is the team’s first global tournament since winning their equal pay campaign in 2022 after six long years of fighting. The issue of pay will definitely linger in the background: CNN has reported that female players at the Women’s World Cup will only earn about 25 per cent of what male players did at theirs.

According to Forbes, Alex Morgan, the highest-earning player at the Women’s World Cup, only earned around US$7.1 million in the last year compared to France’s Kylian Mbappé, the highest-paid men’s player, who earned $128 million. It should also be noted that only US$0.8 million came from her on-field earnings, the rest coming from other sources such as advertisements, compared to Mbappé‘s staggering US$110 million.

Despite the US’ strong team and previous win, other teams look to seize the trophy for themselves. A few stand a chance, such as 2020 Tokyo Olympics champions Canada, 2022 UEFA champions England, and the consistently strong Germany. They are certainly favoured to win the World Cup, but with football, anything can happen. The unpredictableness of this tournament can also be seen in the impressive rise of teenage stars such as Casey Phair, who is representing South Korea at only 16 years old, becoming the youngest player to ever compete in the Women’s World Cup.

The Women’s World Cup promises weeks of intense action and spectacular skill before the anticipated final on August 20. It’s a tournament that can’t be missed.

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Ng Wai Yan, St. Mary’s Canossian College

The whale spotted in the waters of Sai Kung last month caused quite a stir, attracting hoards of whale watchers. While observing it, people could see scars on the animal’s back. When the whale died, an autopsy discovered fresh wounds, likely caused by the propellers on boats.

It shows how detrimental whale watching can be to these majestic animals. Aside from physical injuries caused by propellers, noise can hurt them too. According to a report by the World Wildlife Fund, noise – especially from giant ships – stops whales from communicating with each other and interferes with their navigation. They may find it harder to search for food and suffer from starvation. Moreover, prolonged exposure to loud noise may result in hearing loss or injury.

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As responsible citizens, we must do as much as possible to protect Hong Kong’s marine life. Firstly, local visitors and travellers should avoid watching whales on boats or ships, and other watercraft should not get too close. Those interested in spotting marine life should stay on land, keep a safe distance and contact marine police for help if they observe any abnormalities. We should also protect whales by donating to charity organisations such as WWF, which works to help animals and the environment.

In conclusion, we should respect wildlife, treat whales like precious friends, and live together harmoniously and peacefully on Earth.

Shloka Vishweshwar, Hong Kong International School

Much to the sorrow of fans, the hit Netflix drama Never Have I Ever has aired its fourth and final season. The show centres around Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), an Indian-American girl living in California, attempting to balance the standard dilemmas of being a teenager as she copes with the trauma of her father’s death. While the show bears a simple premise, its coverage of hard-hitting topics has made it resonate with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Race and diversity are both central themes of the show. By providing accurate and insightful portrayals of shared experiences among immigrants and South Asian people, the show shattered negative stereotypes, promoted the importance of culture, and revolutionised the representation of South Asians in mainstream pop culture.

Younger generations recognised themselves in the main character, Devi. Hot-tempered and problematic, Devi is not perfect by any means. However, despite being flawed, she learns from her mistakes and shows significant growth over the course of the show.

While everyone could relate to Devi and her imperfections, she was particularly revered among South Asian teenagers for being one of the first brown main characters on a Hollywood show. One 15-year-old South Asian student named Raghav Bhatnagar explained what the show meant to them, saying, “Growing up and seeing primarily white people in TV shows for my age group made it seem like that was the norm, and whenever there were South Asians, so many were either side characters or stereotyped.” Devi received the type of attention and plots that non-white characters didn’t get before, scoring a win for representation.

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Devi’s portrayal offers solace to immigrant or minority children, particularly through her struggles with being a third-culture kid. Growing up in America, Devi is out of touch with her roots, submitting to whitewashing and internalised racism as a result. This is made clear through Devi’s continuous negative stereotyping of her own culture. In the earlier seasons, Devi’s dislike towards her cousin for being “too Indian” reflects her inner negative bias. In the third season, Devi makes more assumptions about someone of her own culture based on her internalised negative stereotypes.

Far from a unique struggle, this experience is prevalent among many immigrant teens. Growing up away from your ethnic country and struggling to appreciate your roots can create internal conflict. Luckily, Devi eventually makes peace with this by the end of the show. Showing spectacular character development, Devi goes from refusing to carry an Indian lunch to school to performing a classical Indian Bharatnatyam dance in front of her classmates.

Aria Tahilramani, a 16-year-old Indian student living in Hong Kong, stated that she thinks Never Have I Ever is “one of the first shows that accurately represented what it is like to be an Indian teenage girl living somewhere out of India.” The show set a monumental example for kids worldwide, showing them not to be ashamed of their roots but to celebrate them.

Besides internalised racism and third-culture kid struggles, the show involves other themes, such as the relationship between immigrant children and their parents. The show depicted the fraught relationship between Devi and her mother, Nalini, with unrelenting honesty. The two had their differences and often lashed out at each other. While Devi often felt suffocated by her mother’s parenting, the show also shared Nalini’s point of view – her struggle to raise her hot-tempered, trauma-ridden child.

Rather than being a caricature of a strict Asian mother, Nalini’s perspective gives a dimension to immigrant mothers that is rarely seen on screen. Ishita Bansal, a 16-year-old Indian teenager, stated that the scenes between Devi and her mother were deeply touching for her, as “not only did [the show] cover common and relatable aspects of an Indian mother-daughter relationship, but they also tied in concepts like grief, trauma, and embracing your Hindu culture.” Immigrant parent-child relationships are complex and delicate, but the show’s representation of both perspectives encourages empathy between generations of real-life watchers.

Other prevalent themes included Devi’s animosity towards her Indian classmate Aneesa, representing the toxic way society can pit women of colour against one another, as well as Kamala’s arranged marriage, which helped destigmatise a seemingly old-fashioned concept.

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But the real reason why the show stood out was its honest depiction of South Asian experiences. From the way Devi’s family takes their shoes off when they enter the house, or how they cannot show up to people’s homes without a confectionery gift, to the way Devi prays before important occasions, South Asian culture is woven throughout the show without being too exaggerated or cliché.

There were several more groundbreaking odes to Indian culture, such as full episodes dedicated to festivals such as Ganesh Puja and Navratri and traditional Indian weddings. These normally do not receive much clout on television despite being such staples of Indian culture. The specificity and authenticity of these scenes made them incredibly impactful and defined what true, non-tokenised representation of culture should look like.

By proving that a simple, culturally significant story about an Indian immigrant family could have massive worldwide appeal, Never Have I Ever has cemented its legacy as one of the few shows to authentically represent South Asians with multidimensional, multifaceted characters. This show’s impact on its audience ensures it will live forever and pave a path for South Asian creatives everywhere.