China did itself proud in its staging of the Olympics in Beijing. There was much scepticism about whether the country could pull it off with worries about whether journalists would be able to use the internet to file their stories and of pro-Tibet protests. However the Chinese authorities staged a well run, efficient and wildly sucessful event. No mean feat. They put on spectacular opening and closing ceremonies and UK audiences watched curiously to see what our contribution would be to the handover part of the closing ceremony. This was our opportunity to give a glimpse of what the Olympics might be like when we host it in 2012.
To say our contribution was lame would be an understatement. Indeed the Chinese media is full of articles and comment damning our contribution and saying that we were disrespectful. They are especially damning of our Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Boris is often portrayed by cartoonists as a shaggy dog due to his unkempt appearance and his exuberant nature. Boris is notoriously eccentric and his appearance and behaviour at the closing ceremony when he received the Olympic flag were to us watching at home 'typical Boris'. In fact we were all hooting as we saw him wander up to the stage jacket unbuttoned and hands in his pockets. He stood out like a sore thumb amongst the neatly coiffed Chinese dignitaries. It was no surprise to us when he acted so casually. It was simply just Boris.
But, to the Chinese, he was really very rude and disrespectful. I have done business with people from the Far East for many years and have seen how polite and courteous they are - a far cry from our Western casual and off-the-cuff way of doing business. The Chinese put an incredible amount of thought and effort into their contribution for the Olympics and our reaction to our chance to shine was to send in a London Bus with Jimmy Page (a faded rocker from the 70s), Leona Lewis (who no one recognises in the Far East) and David Beckham on top. A really terrible effort. This was only to be topped by Boris, who had in fact brushed his hair for once, standing knock-kneed with his hands in his pockets to receive the Olympic flag. If this is the message that we are sending out to the World about Great Britain and London then I am not surprised that we continue to dive in global popularity. I look forward to next year's Eurovision song contest when even Coldplay could enter for us and we would still get 'nil points'.
Comments