January 29, 2014

January 13, 2014

Miscellaneous

One day I saw my elderly neighbour picking up empty tin cans from a dustbin. It is not that he needs the little money he can made by selling the cans or old newspapers. Many elderly people who do this are thrifty folks. I believe it is due to their upbringing and their experiences when they were young. They are frugal and will not throw away things that can still be used. They get satisfaction from the small amount they get from selling the empty cans.

Every Tuesday FAIRPRICE gives a 2% discount to the elderly 60 years old and above. That means you pay 20 cents less for $10 of purchase. If you are not buying a lot of things, the money saved is not much. However, there is a psychological effect. People like to feel that they have gained. Many housewives will buy loads of things on Tuesday. Even people who don't buy a lot will wait for Tuesday to buy the more expensive things.

January 05, 2014

花月东墙记

The Unexpected Rendezvous
The Drama Centre, 4 January 2014

At first I thought this was a tragedy. I was wrong. It is a comedy with a happy ending. I think most fans have not seen this opera before. The show was entertaining. There were comic moments that made you chuckle. The songs were melodious and refreshing and at times the dialogues were quite humorous.

happy ending ...

Since it is a comedy, I think the audience would overlook things that did not look logical. An example: The Emperor wanted to prosecute Yim Sai Fan for his crimes. Members of his household would also be arrested and punished too. The maid of Yim's daughter volunteered to impersonate her so that the daughter could escape. Surprisingly, the righteous daughter straightaway accepted that.

The leading artistes were Chan Mei Yin and Chan Mei Ling. They are competent artistes and did not disappoint. They performed well. So too were the artistes who played the other four main roles.

张宪才, 樊丽美, 郭广麟, 陈美燕, 胡桂馨, 陈美玲, 李季桦 ...




Before the show Joanna Wong explained to the audience why there were no physical backdrops for the scenes. It seemed that the computer system that controls the movement of the curtains and the bars that raise and lower the backdrops was down. So there was also no closing of curtains during changes of scenes which were brief, just enough time for props to be changed and the scene projected onto the screen. 

I think this did not have much effect on the audience's enjoyment of the show.

One of the ushers was over zealous in enforcing the no-photo-video-taking rule though this rule was not announced before the show. When a man was holding up his phone trying to adjust his angle, she quickly rushed to stop him. Even after the show was over and some people were taking photos during the curtain call, she was darting here and there to tell them to stop. I think the show organizers do not mind people taking photos after the show.