The Mandarin Collar Society

I hate neckties. It is one of the most stupid vestments ever invented. It serves no purpose whatsoever, except to choke your neck. Some say its adds a bit of color to a man's outfit. That may very well be the case, but color can also be added in other ways.

Being a journalist, there are not many occasions necessitating wearing a tie. I used to have a rule, that I would wear a tie if invited to attend a function including heads of state or government. Once I wore a tie to a press conference with French president Jacques Chirac and the former European Commission president Romano Prodi. My colleagues, who had never saw me wearing a tie, laughed at me. They thought I must be a Chirac fan. I also wore a tie to an interview with former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji. On such an occasion, unfortunately, not wearing a tie may be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. Having no chance to explain the absence of a tie, you better yield to the tie mafia. But those are the exceptions that confirm the rule: no stupid ties!

Now it seems the anti-necktie movement is gaining strength. The Shanghai Tang company has launched the Mandarin Collar Society with a strong statement opposing neckties. Shanghai Tang wants to sell elitist mandarin collar shirts. I am not sure that is the right way lo launch an anti-necktie movement, but anyway it may be a start. Moreover, all anti-necktie activists better unite to combat the necktie pest.

There are only a few well-known personalities who have never been photographed wearing a necktie. Chairman Mao never wore it. Today, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, chairman Kim Jong-il of the DPRK and businessman Charles Branson are famous for rejecting neckties.

Never mind the elitism of the Mandarin Collar Society, if you can make a fashion statement by not wearing a necktie, the struggle to liberate mankind from the scourge of the necktie has truly started.(The Times: Fighting over the ties that bind)

"Loosen the noose! End the oppression!", concludes the Mandarin Collar Society's manifesto.