Updated!

Chinese tourist defaces Luxor Temple in Egypt

Thanks Jamie from NMAtv for sending this in(:

Updated!

Youth who vandalised Egyptian temple: “What’s the big deal about a few words?”

The Chinese tourist who defaced a 3,500-year-old Luxor temple relicunapologetically posted, “What’s the big deal about writing just a few words?”

He had scratched the Chinese words, ‘Ding Jinhao was here’ and the vandalism was uncovered by a Weibo microblog user who visited the Egyptian temple on May 6 and posted it online.

Netizens hunted down the perpetrator, 15-year-old Ding Jinhao (丁锦昊), a middle school student in Nanjing, reported China Daily. They also hacked his school’s website to shame him. According to a report in AFP, they also hacked his school’s website, forcing users to click on a sign parodying Ding’s graffiti on the ancient sandstone relic on the banks of the Nile River, before entering.

“We want to apologise to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China,” Ding’s mother said in Modern Express, a China newspaper. They also said their son had “cried all night” after learning of the cyberattacks, which prompted them to issue the apology.

However, what their son has posted online does not seem apologetic. TT.mop, Tianya and Kanka news uploaded photos of the student and screenshots of his postings. AFP also reported that a top China official lamented earlier this month that some Chinese tourists overseas are harming the country’s image.

Mr Wang Yang, one of China’s four vice premiers, condemned behaviours “talking loudly in public places, jay-walking, spitting and wilfully carving characters on items in scenic zones”.

Credits: STOMP Singapore

Spotted on STOMP today:

3,500-year-old Egyptian temple vandalised — just for China tourist’s 5 mins of fame

This article was contributed by the STOMP Team.

A Chinese tourist at Egypt’s Luxor temple shares his saddest moment: Spotting the unmistakeable handiwork of one of his fellow countrymen on a hieroglyph-covered wall.

The tourist had spotted the scrawled words on a wall during a visit to the temple complex. Ashamed, he had tried to wipe off the graffiti, which read ‘Ding Jinhao Was Here’ in Mandarin, but was unable to do so. He even resorted to using water to scrub off the words, but the words were etched too deep into the stone.

His picture has since drawn thousands of negative comments from China netizens decrying the behaviour of their own people abroad.

Egypt’s Luxor temple complex is located on the east bank of the Nile River and was built founded in 1400 BCE, making it close to 3,500 years old. Vandalising Egypt’s many historical sites is a crime that carries severe penalties, including jail sentences.

Credits:STOMP Singapore

This person whoever did it is really too much! How can this DING JINHAO person vandalize a historical site? He should seriously be ashamed of himself! What a disgrace to his country.

I did a search online and realized that it was a teen who did it!

The parents of a Chinese teenager exposed and condemned by internet users for vandalising ancient Egyptian artwork have apologised, reports say.

On Friday a micro-blogger posted a photo of graffiti at a temple complex in Luxor, Egypt, which said: “Ding Jinhao was here”. Angry internet users then managed to identify the teen, posting his date of birth and school online, reports said.

His mother told a local paper they were sorry for his actions:  “We want to apologise to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China,” Mr Ding’s mother told local newspaper Modern Express on Saturday.

She added that the teen, now a middle school student in Nanjing, committed the act when he was younger and had realised the seriousness of his actions.

Credits:BBC UK

Haiz, still..he should have known better right? -_-

Till later,
♥ mitsueki