Happy Corner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Happy Corner, also known as Aluba (or "hitting the tree") in Taiwan, is a hazing ritual that is popular among Asian male students, especially those in higher education institutes such as universities, as well as among adolescent males in middle and high school. In addition, it has also been reported as a favorite hazing ritual amongst military personnel in Taiwan. It is also known in Norwegian primary and secondary schools, where it is known as stolping (literally: poling, derived from the word pole) or gjelling (literally: gelding).
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[edit] Details
A male student is lifted up by several of his classmates and his groin is then rubbed against a hard object such as a pole, a tree, or even the edge of a door. In Taiwan, Aluba is usually performed by hitting the victim's groin on a tree trunk or a pole. Additionally, in mainland China the victim's groin is then rubbed on the object, often resulting in torn clothing. In Hong Kong, the ritual is called corning or being corned, whereas in Taiwan it is known as Al or being Al-ed. In some cases two persons are rubbed against each other, resulting in what is called X-con.
Happy Corner is also a growing phenomenon in residence halls, and has become increasingly accepted to mark a male resident's birthday. Happy Corner is then performed along with a song parodying Happy Birthday to You, with the lyrics changed to "Happy Corner to You".
Like most hazing rituals, proponents claim that the intent is not to injure, though victims typically have to face a rather painful physical experience and psychological humiliation. Perpetrators see it as entertainment or a type of practical joke.
[edit] Name origin
[edit] Hong Kong
Happy Corner is simply a variation of Happy Birthday. However, the other names used have different origins. Because of the creativity of university students, a number of 'execution methods' are derived. Such as Harry Porter Corn, with the victim forced to sit on hard and stick-like rod such as broom and mic stand.
[edit] Taiwan
In Taiwan as early as the late 1970s and early 1980s, students carried out exactly the same hazing practice before the term Aluba was coined. At that time, the practice had no particular name, but a variety of slang expressions with meanings similar to "hitting the tree" were used. Later during the late 1980s and early 1990s, students at The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University began using the phrase Hō--sí-lah (literal meaning: "Let him die", but pronounced similarly to the number four in Taiwanese). A student then used the Arabic pronunciation of four (arba'atun); use of this term spread and was later corrupted and shortened to Aluba.
It is worth noting that a joke with similar action was common among students at that time:
- Two explorers landed on an island full of cannibals and were caught. The tribe chief asked the explorers to choose between death penalty or "being snapped on the penis with a rubber band". The first explorer thought there was nothing worse than death so he made the second choice. The second explorer, hearing the horrid screaming of the first explorer from the torture, chose death. However, the tribe's death penalty was "snapping the penis with a rubber band until death".
Because of the similarity between this joke and the hazing ritual, the two became linked; eventually the "snapping the penis with a rubber band" part was replaced by the term Aluba. Due to the similarity in pronunciation to Aruba, the story was incorrectly described as an incident on Aruba in the Caribbean, and the Arabic origin of the term was largely forgotten. In fact, no such incident occurred in Aruba.
[edit] Problems in Happy Corner subculture
Happy corner has been very popular among students in higher education since late 1990, especially in orientation camps (popularly called o-camps by students). Part of its controversy stems from the fact that some students hazed other students not familiar with the practice, or hazed the other gender, as an act of simulated sexual intercourse. Students who refused to participate in such activity were described as being "uncooperative", and were labelled the black sheep of the party.
There are reported cases in which students only participated because of peer pressure, which caused emotional abuse. A study also said that this activity may render the victims infertile.
Some have also criticized the Happy Corner subculture for contributing to an openness in attitude in sexual relationships among students.
Owing to potential danger and the implicit sexual nature of the act, the ROC (Taiwan) Ministry of Education has issued a notice that requires all schools to ban this activity. In early 2004, the ROC Ministry of National Defence also forbade this activity among military personnel.
[edit] See also
[edit] External source
- A feature about Happy Corner in universities, Ubeat Magazine, CUHK.
- "The Campus so Hot" (Broadcast on 18 May 2005, Chinese version only), featuring the prank near the end of the episode. This is one of the episodes from A Mission for Equal Opportunities, a docu-drama series jointly produced by Radio Television Hong Kong and the Equal Opportunities Commission.
- "Goodbye Aluba", article on the official banning of Aluba in schools in Taiwan by the ROC Ministry of Education, also details the ten most popular variations.
