Limehouse Nights

This is a story about ‘An Other Story’. A story within a story. Inspired by the history of Chinese immigration to London, a very talented and interesting friend of mine, James Yeatman, wrote and directed the exhilarating Limehouse Nights, an unflinching examination of race-related drug issues in 1918 Limehouse now playing in East London. I am no trained theatre critic, so this is not a review, nor is it a shameless sales-pitch, simply a referenced reason that forms the inspiration behind this series of thoughts. A play of irony, featured less ironically in Limehouse Town Hall, Yeatman’s writing picks up on the dark fascination that Chinatown became for many English, the opening scene featuring a ‘tour of Chinatown’ where its Chinese residents become the objects of bemusement, stared at and photographed like tourist attractions.

Of course, the title may be familiar. And this is for good reason. Thomas Burke’s writing on Chinatown didn’t quite have the international currency of some of his predecessors, Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu for example, but his first successful publication of the same name played on this exotic myth of violent and sexual interaction between working-class English men and their Chinese neighbours, profiting from the orientalist attitude of British readers who liked to imagine themselves as ‘at one’ with the exotic, searching for ‘that other’. Not pour les jeunes, Burke’s Limehouse Nights is full of both heart wrenching tales of basic human emotion, the heart as it is, and imagined terror. Of course this was based on a healthy mix of melodrama and gritty realism, yet it seems to end with a romanticised and poetic view of a heavily stereotyped opium-drenched Chinese population.

Burke’s work played entirely on a literary fascination with this fairly conventional cast of stereotypes; Chinese opium dens, the mysterious Chinese femme fatale, of innocent (and more importantly, white) belles corrupted and hypnotised into an underworld controlled by an evil Chinese presence. Did any of this actually exist, or was this myth created out of the public reaction to police stories that, parallel to the way black people were treated in America at the beginning of last century, simply needed to find a culprit? Between the Great War and the 1930s, Limehouse, and what has been called it’s ghostly double ‘Chinatown’, became this imagined dangerous and exotic place in British literature.

East London today is an eclectic (however much I hate to use that word to describe anything) mix of nouveau artistic riche and traditional working-class communities, the estates of Tower Hamlets, to the stainless steel of Hoxton Square, but by the beginning of the twentieth century, the entire riverside district of East London was effectively a slum. Limehouse was distinctive from the poverty of Bethnal Green or Shoreditch, in its cosmopolitan maritime connection, housing a population of sailors from all over the world. Whilst the numbers of Chinese in London were small in comparison (and I mean a matter of hundreds), around forty percent of the Chinese officially resident in London pre-1914 were in and around the birds-nest network of Limehouses’ alleyways and streets. It becomes apparent, when you walk through the West End, under the bright painted archways of 2010’s ‘Chinatown’, that the existence of a Chinese community in Limehouse was short-lived. As the port declined and shipping slumped, the Chinese population disappeared with them, until the Second World War literally blitzed the rest. The families who did survive were moved to the relative safety of the West End, and the rest, as they say, is history. Well…not quite, that would be a rather simplistic view. But for the purposes of this story, we can pretend that life is that black and white.

an. Opium Den
“An establishment where opium is sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th Century, most notably China, Southeast Asia, North America and France. Throughout the West, opium dens were frequented by and associated with the Chinese because the establishments were usually run by Chinese who supplied the opium as well as prepared it for visiting non-Chinese smokers. For the working class, there were also many low-end dens with sparse furnishings. These latter dens were more likely to admit non-Chinese smokers” [Wikipedia]

So we’ve established that the London press (thanks mainly to police inadequacy), along with popular British authors such as Burke, were fond of portraying Limehouse as an exotic and dangerous district. Much of this was down to a simplistic connection made easily in the minds of most readers. In the word’s of Yeatman’s character Thomas (undoubtedly a play on Thomas Burke himself), ‘all Chinese people smoke opium don’t they?’

Limehouse’s reputation as an opium-drenched pit of mystery creates a fantastic basis for fiction (and I use that word deliberately). Upon the infinitely small population of Chinese that existed in Limehouse, was heaped notoriety for opium-induced sordidness and debauchery, a topic which would effectively titillate British readers enticed by the shock factor that a mixture of ‘foreigners’ and drugs could bring. Whilst history struggles to prove this – scholars have yet to unearth a single historical photograph of opium smokers in London at the time – it is simply more interesting to believe it was true.

After stepping out of the theatre (or town hall), one of my friends turned and asked me, ‘is it odd that I’ve never been offered opium?’. As we talked about it we realised that, whilst opium in its myriad of forms of heroin is prevalent on the streets of London, opium doesn’t seem to feature as much in popular culture. I then found myself wondering how quickly this was going to change with the deepening links between the UK and Afghanistan. Links is probably not the most descriptive word to choose here, too many lives have been lost over this ‘relationship’ for it to be described with such simplicity, but I didn’t set out on this piece to exhaust the political aspects of the ‘war in Afghanistan’, nor describe how opium destruction if fuelling the Taliban insurgency (and here I go off on a tangent again…)

But it has to feature. Myth or mystery in Limehouse, opium is fast becoming a simple way of life for many Afghans. Despite years of attempted burning of the poppy fields in Afghanistan, drug addiction still remains a fact of daily life. From children as young as two months, who are given it to stop crying, to grandparents using it to quell the labour pains of working on the country’s (second?) most famous export – carpets. It can take up three months of 10-hour days working to create one of Afghanistan’s traditional and beautiful rugs, and it is opium that keeps them going. Cheaper than medicine, it becomes it’s substitution. In the middle of the Turkmen desert in Afghanistan’s far north, doctors and pharmaceuticals simply don’t exist. The rare addiction centres that do exist contain wards sometimes filled with three generations of one family, from a 2-month old baby to his mother and grandmother, forced to go ‘cold turkey’. This habit can then easily develop into a heroin addiction for many of the migrant workers who are paid, not in money, but in substance. Whilst the number of addicts has doubled in just a handful of years, wiping out a single field can destroy the income of a family of 12.

The BBC’s Ian Pannell quantifies the extent of the problem in Afghanistan, “Afghans sit at the wrong end of many league tables: it is one of the poorest countries in the world, also one of the most corrupt and violent, and it sits right at the very top in terms of opium production. More than 90% of opium and heroin originates here…Afghanistan has the highest relative rate of addiction of any country in the world.” Opium may have been rife in the streets of Limehouse at the end of World War One, or it may have been imagined. With the growing reliance of Afghan people on the drug, both for personal use, and survival-by-export, I think it’s going to take less imagination to see it on the streets of London in the near future.

Emily Akers



Yeatman’s first solo written-and-directed piece provides the latest production from Kandinsky, one of London’s most significant emerging theatre companies. Self described as the first company to ‘develop and produce plays that bridge the gap between art and science’, Kandinsky has had a weighted impact in Edinburgh, at consecutive Fringe Festivals, but has also featured heavily in London where it began work seven months ago on Limehouse Nights. For more information please visit http://www.kandinsky-online.com/

World Child Cancer

World Child Cancer is dedicated to improving cancer diagnosis and treatment for some of the world’s poorest children. 80% of global childhood cancer occurs in developing countries and two-thirds of this goes undiagnosed. Whilst 75% of children survive cancer in developed countries, for the few who are diagnosed in low-income areas, survival rates can be as low as 10%.

Traditionally global health policies have focused on malaria and infectious diseases; cancer in children has been a neglected issue for too long. Despite the fact that simple procedures can raise survival rates to above 50%, lack of local knowledge leaves many areas severely underdeveloped.

Now WCC is working to reduce this gap by developing international twinning partnerships that transfer the expertise of specialists in resource-rich countries to health centres in areas where survival-rates are low. Based on the model developed by St Jude Children’s Research hospital, WCC has developed operations in Malawi, Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines with four new projects in development in Mozambique, Ghana, Namibia and Nepal.

Whilst WCC provides seed-funding of £30-40,000 p.a. for the first 5 years of each partnership, sustainability is key to the success of our projects. In each partnership, the project leader is trained to identify long-term funding sources in order to create this self sustainability. The project in Ghana is a fantastic example. With a population of over 23 million, Ghana has only two hospitals that treat child cancers, and survival rates are lower than 10%. Twinned with the Royal Sick Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh, WCC is working with the Ghanaian government to secure the funding needed to create long-term sustainability of treatment in their country in order to significantly raise their survival rate.

Relatively small levels of funding can make a significant impact. For just £40,000, WCC can fund the total cost of a twinning partnership in Malawi, providing training and treatment for a whole year. It is sobering to think that so many young lives can be saved for so little when the cost of treatment for one child in the USA averages £300,000.

In the Philippines, where an estimated population of 88million is spread over an archipelago of over 7000 islands, access to treatment has been the Partnership’s biggest battle. Almost 80% of patients here live outside of Davao City, where the health centre is based, leaving the completion-rate of treatment as low as 30%. Through the establishment of satellite treatment-centres and awareness campaigns, this partnership is working to create a centre of excellence in child cancer to maximise the sustainable impact.

Build believes that ‘no one can go through life without at some point being touched by an international, cross-cultural partnership’. World Child Cancer aims to create health care institutions in partnership globally, sharing medical knowledge and practice with the areas that need it most.

To find out more about World Child Cancer, Please visit their website at: http://www.worldchildcancer.org/

Love after Love

Love after Love

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine, give bread, Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

and the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

A poem by Derek Walcott

Nine Things to Frustrate

1. That all it takes is for the weather to get to 13 degrees for London parks to turn into festival grounds, replacing your view of grass with a mass of bodies...and that I was one of them

2. Political journalists who don't give MPs the space to finish a sentence because they think that this sounds more authentic, pushing the boundaries, when actually they are just arguing for arguments sake

3. Disappointing cupcakes - that cost you £4 and taste about as interesting Paris Hilton's views on voting

4. Kids at the age of 8 who ask you to 'suck their d!*k' and want to 'wipe their face in your arse and then c*m in your mouth'. Mainly out of an unhealthy jealousy that I didn't even know what sex was at 8 years old.

5. Forking out an unreasonably large sum of money for a salad, not just a salad, an over-packaged, insanely promoted, expensive M&S salad...and then realising that you didn't get a fork to eat it with. Doh

6. Realising that you are the only person who has said 'doh' since the 90's departed us...

7. When your light switch is so broken it has come away from the wall, and yet the light still magically stays on

8. The fact that I strongly refuse to admit I am British, preferring instead to be Belgian, European, or even at a push, specifically Welsh, and yet I have just spent ten minutes complaining as a form of entertainment.

God save the Queen.

9. The fact that its only 8 o'clock and I'm already so tired that I can't actually put two words together to create a coherent thought let alone a tenth thing that frustrates me...

Maybe I am Belgian afterall

Wear those trousers high

Recent activities have brought about a resurgence in my interest in men who wear their trousers high. And when I say high, I mean knocking on the door of 1996 high.

Replace 'interest' with the word 'amusement' and actually that statement would be more apt.

The first such spotting was in Village Underground at Nabokov Arts Club last week. After turning up late and missing the poetry and theatre (big loss of brownie points when it comes down to trying to appear creative among the ever-difficult-to-impress east London crowd) I feel I regained some face by looking suitably intrigued at the contemporary dance routine and creating my own Lego family scene in a dolls house, perfected by the naked boy with white sneakers.

This is unfair actually. I genuinely was intrigued by the dance - who wouldn't be drawn in by 6 people hunched over, flexing around the stage in a re-mixed scenario of the Gestapo.

Back to the story.

Updating someones incredibly talented drawing of a teddy bear with fluorescent body-paint and the words "tribal bear" (so it lacked creativity, but I could never compete with a friend's interpretation of the world with tears dropping down..so i simply didn't) gave me the perfect excuse to do a not-so-subtle sneaky photo of me with an incredibly dressed man. I instantly fell in love with him. And this was for one reason - he was wearing a leather jacket tied around his waist at roughly the height of his armpits.

So my expectations for the week were pretty high, and never could I have believed this moment would be topped. But it was. On Thursday at a Sleghbells gig at Notting Hill Arts Club (if only I could be measured by how many nights I went to with 'arts' in the title...people might actually believe I was cultured) I was struck by the image of a man straight out of a Boyzone video, black jeans, white ribbed t-shirt (tucked in, high, of course) and the most fantastic leather necklace with a silver yin yang symbol on it*.

I feel fuelled by all these sightings of incredible men and I genuinely fall in love with them at first sight. Every time.

This might sound like I'm taking the michael, but I'm not. Irony, as I continually say, is not my strong point. I genuinely believe that the 90's had something to teach us about the practicality of fashion - keep it simple, tied around the waist, and wear it high. A-mazing.

* I had this necklace when I was a teenager. I officially love it. I officially still do.

As Always...The Story Comes Back to Russia

On paper, Maksim Popov looks like a modern day saint; Psychologist, HIV activist and head of Uzbekistan based NGO Izis. Yet reality sees him sentenced to seven years in prison for the promotion of (all those well-known sins) safe sex and attempting to prevent the spread of HIV. Ironically, thanks to Uzbekistan’s contradictory policies, he is now living amongst many of the people he was trying to help. Incongruous as that may be, the imprisonment of this enthusiastic and effective educator has raised serious questions as to the lack of real progress being made in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to create an effective discourse on drug policy.

With UNAIDS estimating around 1.5 million people live with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, it’s not as if governments can afford to start banging up the people who are working to see this number drop. Not surprisingly, this vicious circle brings us back to Russia, and more importantly, a complete lack of understanding of drugs. Sharing injection equipment is three times more likely to transmit HIV than sexual intercourse, yet, despite the UN’s endorsement of methadone substitution therapy – a harm prevention strategy used in many countries around the world – 2005 saw Russian narcologists sign a memorandum against the use of the treatment. Restricting access to methadone substitution treatment in Russia is a basic violation of human rights, so how can Russia still be saying ‘no’?

It doesn’t take a genius to understand the scale of the problem in Russia. Human Rights Watch estimated as many as one million Russians used heroin in 2007, whilst the Federal Drug Control Services source unofficial estimates as high as 2.5 million people, almost 2% of the population. Without meaning to state the obvious; that’s an impressive market waiting to be sold a product. With an estimated 80% of HIV in Russia found in current or former drug users, the statistics begin to create a depressing picture.

There is no denying that this is a global issue; millions of people inject drugs on a daily basis in over 150 countries around the world, yet Asia and Eastern Europe contain the largest injecting populations. Russia stands proud at the top of the table for having the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world. Maybe we should print them a certificate. According to the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) report of 2009, “Since 2001, the number of people living with HIV in the region has more than doubled,” when you start projecting that into the future, you realise how much Russia needs a hero.

Enter Victor Ivanov, Russia’s ‘Drug Czar’. So bold is he in his policies that he might concede to a bit of experimentation with treatments in some ‘regions’ of Russia. Of course, he refuses to provide the federal support needed to implement an actual methadone substitution programme. Exactly the strength of policies Russia needs to cure an epidemic. Perhaps not. Europe’s passionate response? Carel Edwards, Director of the EU Commission Drug Policy Coordination, emphasises that the EU’s position is the “exact opposite of what Mr Ivanov said on all accounts.”

Not exactly hero material then.

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union footage, at the Second Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference 2008 (EECAAC), exposes the Russian government’s attitude for what it is; restricting the use of treatment that could literally save lives. Considering Russia has potentially the world’s largest heroin market, an area of the world where the trade of needles is synonymous with guerrilla tactics, how many more people need to die before they consider taking action?

Russian concerns centre around the introduction of another drug into an already vulnerable Russian market. Anya Sarang, a drug policy expert from Russian Harm Reduction Network, insists that this is an idealist sentiment at best. Methadone is already an established drug within Russian street trade, its introduction is likely to have about as much impact as an anti-alcohol campaign. We’re talking about a country where teenagers buy window-cleaning fluids because its cheaper than a £2 bottle of vodka.

Would it be too cynical to mention the words ‘old ideology’ at this point, or are there deeper economic concerns? Activists speculate that the influence of lobbying pharmaceutical companies within the Russian market is having a negative effect. Methadone is a relatively cheap drug with, therefore, little lobbying potential – could this be linked to the lack of Russian narcologist interest? Profit over health…Not exactly a real shocker.

Ivanov’s blasé attitude is frustrating enough, but what really gets the heat rising is the fact that methadone substitution treatment actually works. Ukraine is a fantastic example of the successful human impact of this type of intervention, reducing the risk of illegally acquired injected drugs, and in turn reducing the impact of associated HIV infection. Yet, despite these success stories, Ivanov still claims there is no evidence of its scientific effectiveness, “During the use of methadone treatment in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic States, we see only the worsening of the drug situation.”

The experts tend to disagree. Audrone Astrauskiene, director of the Drug Control Department in the Republic of Lithuania, reported positive results from the programme’s implementation in her country, where HIV infections have significantly reduced in the last five years. More time might be needed for conclusive evidence, yet substitution treatment and related services in Lithuania has led to a decrease in new HIV cases from 70% in 1995 to 30% present day. Perhaps someone should tell Ivanov that his sources are having him on.

Enter the IHRA 2009 report confirming the potential success of OST treatments: “Russia and Ukraine combined are home to 90% of the region’s injecting drug users, but the two countries have employed quite different responses.” Whilst Ukraine appear to have responded positively, initiating methadone prescription in 2008, Russia, home to an estimated two million injecting users, has only 69 needle and syringe exchanges across the country – a pathetic statistic considering it is the largest country in the world.

Clearly Russia aren’t responding to tactful statistics and scientific evidence. Perhaps the international community’s language needs to get a bit more colourful.

Future Perspectives

Release, the UK’s national centre of expertise on drugs, believes policies must evolve in order to better regulate and restrict the negative effects of drug use. A drug free World has never, and will never exist, and Russia is no exception. As the experience of Maksim Popov has highlighted, even an association to the world of drugs can lead to a life of extreme stigma and marginalisation.

Kind-hearted activists, however, are the least of Russia’s problems. Access to harm reduction strategies, according the IHRA, is a fundamental human right, “Individuals who use drugs do not forfeit the right to the highest attainable standard of health.” With the XVIII International AIDS conference being held in July, UNAIDS feel confident that the epidemic in Eastern Europe will be a key focus. The conference’s theme ‘Rights Here, Right Now’, emphasises the importance of Human Rights work in responding to the epidemic. Yet the Russian Federation disagree that Human Rights is linked to HIV prevention in the context of drug control policies, and are unlikely to change their position against universal access to HIV prevention methods. How are we meant to promote change in a country so stubborn it refuses to help itself?

If you want to stop the HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe, taking a hard-line is not the answer, you need to clean up, literally, the way users use drugs. “People using drugs have a right to access the best possible option for HIV prevention, care and treatment,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé at a recent press conference. Calls for effective harm reduction approaches are echoed in higher places. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agrees, “No one should be stigmatised or discriminated against because of their dependence on drugs.”

Fair statement, but is that enough to put pressure on the Russians to change their policy?

With up to 10% of all HIV infections occurring through unsafe injection, measures are needed to provide better access to treatments the world over. Craig McClure, director of International AIDS Society, highlights that “both methadone and buprenorphine are listed in the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines,” a guideline of medicines that should be included in every country’s health care programs...no Veto allowed.

“For me, not giving the right to people to have access to services, when those services can save lives, is a violation of human rights,” argues Sidibé. In his words, it’s that simple. Globally, the situation looks bad enough; according to UNAIDS only two needles and syringes are distributed to the worldwide community of injecting drug users every month. Yet in Russia, this is non-existent. How can the international community be so active on certain violations of human rights – think Burma, think Afghanistan – and still stay silent on these restrictions in Russia? It might not seem as dramatic as going to war, but believe me, those affected are equally likely to be staring death in the face. No-one is endorsing drug use, but if we really want to reverse the HIV epidemic, access to sterile equipment and suitable treatments needs to be established as a basic human right; the right to save a life.

Article written by Emily Akers for Talking Drugs, as part of the Release organisation.

Irony Isn't My Strong Point

SAD is seen to be one of those 'trendy' syndromes - one of a long list of complaints not taken seriously in the immediate and attention seeking daily life. To be fair, I've been to the doctors complaining that I have the bladder of a 94 year old granny (94 isn't specific - it could be plus or minus a few years...). Despite it being an absolute pain in the (extract a terrible pun), causing me to run to the toilet to pee literally every ten minutes, and almost take myself to bankruptcy through my sheer buying power of toilet roll, I was laughed out of the clinic and probably the butt of the GP coffee room jokes for months to come.

Back to my original, uninspiring and unimaginative point - it's amazing how effective waking up to clear blue skies can be to your mood. Seasonal Affective Disorder...you'd think more people would have cottoned on living in a country where all it takes is for the sky to be less than 50% cloud covered for the population to start wondering around town in shorts and flip flops. Sun starvation. It's a powerful thing.

Enter the stupidity. I decide to risk ruining my mood by tuning into iPlayer Radio 4. Of all the interesting, culturally diverse, and perhaps even comical programs I could have listened to, I feel I am being wise, nourishing my intellect with a half hour slot on 'Tea Party Politics in the US'. How is it that such a ridiculous 'ideology' gets to tar such a beautiful act - the Tea Party. Images come to mind...a fusion of my mum in her twin set and pearls berating a jittering lunatic who thinks Communism, fascism and democracy are all the same thing. Sorry. It's too early to be politically correct. There's nothing like politics to ruin your good mood.

This is all making me sound far more intelligent and studious than I am. Don't get me wrong, I'm the first person to throw a jigger (aka remote control - don't laugh, I have a weird mixture of Belgian, Welsh with a sprinkling of Portuguese roots that causes me to say some ridiculous things) at the television because the public have voted the wrong person to win 'So you think you can dance'.

The sun persists. The smell or roast and crumble emanate from the kitchen. I managed (almost in record time of under an hour) to get a brush through my hair....It feels good to be home.