Medium Post #1

The Chiney Shop connected Chinese and Jamaican together. Although there were a few Chinese, but the shop distributed among every city and village. The radio played in the Chinese shop influenced not only Jamaican music, but also the relationship between Chinese and Jamaican people. When the Chiney shop played music, Black people came and gathered, listening to the music and chatting together. The shops were not only a place to buy things, but the unity of cultural sharing. They provided a place for the black people to cultivate and compose music, which contributed to the popular music culture. Another contributor was the mobile sound systems. At that time, Jamaican believed that “The only good system is a sound system (Goffe 103).” This belief was beyond the British or American colonial order. When Chinese almost monopolized the grocery business in Jamaica, Jamaican used their sound system to win the market again. This relationship was subtle but not hostile. Culture was a more important determinant for people’s life although being colonized. The development of local sound system and the relation between Chinese and Jamaican were beyond British colony and control, and the development was unstoppable. Cultural influence was the mental food for local people, while the colonialism could not affect or achieve. In Goffe’s article, I see how Chinese and Jamaican’s culture influence and connect to each other.

However, when we engaged this question of sound to Honolulu’s Chinatown, that’s not the case. Personally I do not think the “Harmonic” scene would happen here. The sound system or music were not famous or developed in Hawaii. This was the crucial element. Moreover, Hawaii at that time was successfully controlled by America. This was the fact and would be hard to change their mind. The cultural influence was deep-rooted. So I do not believe that the same solution would work here.