I’m just randomly feeling proud of myself today. Not for my groundbreaking ability, but because I was, at some point in my life, involved in www.jay-chou.net. The people I have met and kept in touch from there is just incredible. There’s even a Whatsapp chat group now with some of the Singaporean JCNetters, and we go out every so often. I’m floored every time I think of what we have accomplished in and with JCNet.
Before anyone starts to think I must be this massive Jay Chou fan to even join a Jay Chou forum, I am not. A friend of mine was and she raved about how fun the forum was and how they don’t all just talk about Jay. So I decided I was going to try it out and see what it gives me. To my absolute joy, it was the best decision I ever made! There was camaraderie, it was fun and entertaining, and it taught me a whole lot about internet etiquette. I always smile when I remember how we would throw sarcastic remarks on trolls until they crash and burn. BURN!
This was how it looked like when I first joined, back in 2004.
Personally, the best thing that JCNet was known for is their news and translations. We had all the best translations of Jay’s lyrics for every single album, in Han Yu Pin Yin and English. Our translations went far and wide, pilfered left and right, all over the internet. Folks would email our web administrator and demand for the translations if we are a bit late. We were the first place folks who did not understand Mandarin came to as soon as Jay released a new album. We were known. 🙂
Translating lyrics was always hard work and it would never have happened if we didn’t have translators who were dedicated to what they were doing, even though it was entirely voluntary. I’m so proud to have been able to contribute to that team. All the lyrics translations you see on this blog were done by me, and posted on JCNet. Google the translation for 青花瓷, you’d still find my work all over the internet (Over 250,000 results by searching the first line of the English translation). This simple thing just makes me want to puff up my chest and walk with a smug smile on my face. It’s not a fantastic translation, but it was the best I could have done at that time. It’s something like a legacy that I’m leaving in the internet world.
Good things never seem to last, and when Jay stopped producing enough news-worthy albums and all the news and information we could find about him was really the same piece, recycled, the forum sort of died. Plus, most of us just, well, grew up. We were no longer University students with plenty of time on our hands. We graduated, got jobs, got married, had kids! Life outside of JCNet caught up and that phase of our lives just faded into non-existence.
This was just before it was taken down.
Now it’s just gone.
I’m a little sad, but it had its good times and I guess I’d rather have it go when it’s still good, than let it die a cold sorry death.