commendable act

One morning a few days ago I took a lift in my block to go down. As I entered the lift I saw a piece of tissue paper at one corner on the floor. Then the door closed and the lift started to go down.

It stopped at a lower floor. The door opened and an elderly man who runs a stall at the wet market downstairs pushed in a trolley stacked with some goods. I greeted him happy new year and he returned the greeting.

He saw the tissue paper and did something I didn't expect him to. He picked up the tissue and placed it on top of one of the boxes on his trolley as if it was the natural thing to do.

I wanted to say something to show appreciation of his thoughtful act. Before I could think of what to say during that few seconds, the lift reached ground level and we went out.

大地回春

The artistes in the pictures in the video are Singapore Cantonese opera performers. 
There are 34 of them.

Miscellaneous 2

Which of these two statements sound stronger to you?
' I think he is innocent.' or 'I believe he is innocent.'
For myself believe is stronger than think because 'believe' is based on faith rather than on reasons; just like you believe in God.   


I think your feelings towards Chinese New Year are not the same when you were 10 years old, 30 years, 50 years or later when you are 70, assuming you are 50 something now. This is because we look at things in different ways as we mature.


We should not be too easily upset or annoyed by inconvenience and discomfort. When I was a child there were floods in my area during heavy rains. I remember we also had water rationing during droughts though it was rare. My parents and neighbours took these as part and parcel of life, sometimes cursing the bad or dry weather. As a child I didn't mind the floods and not bathing for a day was no big deal. 

In our daily life we may face inconvenience and discomfort, like having to walk a long distance to a bus-stop or the air con in our office is out of order. Learning to accept that such things do occur will make our life more pleasant. We should not let them make us unhappy or affect our job. 

Miscellaneous

Several years ago I bought an LG DVD player. It was the first time I bought an LG product. There were glitches a few weeks after using it, not serious ones but recurring ones which were annoying. Because of this experience, I have no intention of buying other LG products. Perhaps this is discrimination. Maybe I will reconsider if friends or visitors to this blog tell me they have used LG products and highly recommend them. Anyone of you?

I feel that many things that we like or dislike, for example an opera video on Youtube, are also favouritism and discrimination. Sometimes there are no good reasons for it.


I believe the mother of the two kids who were killed in the traffic accident also blames herself for allowing the older kid to go and fetch the younger kid on a bicycle. Imagine two young kids on a bicycle on a busy road. I think they were too young to be aware of the danger and young kids can be playful. They could easily lose their balance and fall.

長貧難顧

長貧難顧 - This Chinese saying means something like this: You have a friend or relative who is poor. He borrows money from you quite regularly. He doesn't have a job and has no savings. Although you don't mind helping, you know you cannot do it indefinitely.

I have a similar experience and this Chinese phrase pops up.This friend had borrowed money, not small sums, from me a few times already and I had no hesitation lending him each time because I trust him. He had paid me back only the first loan. However, recently he increased the amount. Now I am wondering whether I have been lending him money too readily in the past. I also wonder if he borrows from his other friends too.   

I think I will tell him nicely that he cannot depend on me every time. I hope he won't be offended.

spring cleaning

After hibernating for 12 years, the Snake will soon slither into our home with a big hiss. Have you started your spring cleaning?

In the old days, the family would pick a day or two and everyone would help out. From the floor to the ceiling, every space and corner would be cleaned. Every square cm of the floor would be scrubbed. Old and broken things would be discarded.

Nowadays I think it would probably be the job of the wife and/or maid with some help from the husband and children. It would also not be a big affair.

Well, I have already made a start - clearing and tidying things on my table and in the drawers and cupboards. Quite amazing that I had so many things to throw away.

I guess people are like that. They put things aside thinking they would need them in future or they are reluctant to throw away things they are nostalgic about and after 10 years the things are still there gathering dust. And so things accumulate.

大断桥 - 林建炜, 谢绮玲

武則天, 王羽, 葉玉卿

Wu Ze Tian, the woman emperor of China, was a powerful woman. She could control almost everything on Earth but she couldn't control her own biological clock. Like all mortal beings, she grew old and died.

Actually I was looking at some pictures of Wang Yu, the kung-fu star in old mandarin movies and Yip Yook Heng, the actress in adult-rated movies many years back.

This is Wang Yu in his prime years and in recent years when he is about 70. The One-armed Swordsman was one of his well-known movies.

This is Yip Yook Heng in her prime years and when she is 46 at which she made a come-back  after having retired for 15 years. Pretty woman was one of her movies.

There is a site called In 20 years - http://in20years.com/   You can upload a photo of yourself and it can show you how you will look in 20 years' time. I was trying out with Yip's photo (below) but it was not working. If you try and it can work, please send me a photo of Yip in 20 years.

粤曲 情淚浸袈裟 - 任劍輝

blink

I used to say 'blink your eyes'. Actually just blink is enough because blink means close and open your eyes quickly. Anyway, you can blink only your eyes, you cannot blink any other thing. However, I think saying blink your eyes is also not wrong.

I think most of us blink both eyes together. But some people can just blink one eye. Some can blink the left eye, some the right eye and some can blink the left eye or the right eye. A blink is not the same as a wink.


Last week I read two articles which said being slightly overweight is not a bad thing, even better than having the recommended weight. Actually I don't mind a little overweight, I only don't like a bulging tummy. But my friend said 'you look more like a boss with some stomach, most bosses have some stomach'. 

Well, I have only targeted to reduce the waist  a little; I didn't target to have a flat tummy.

hahahaha - hilarious names

A few days ago I watched a Cantonese movie. A female character in it has a hilarious name. I searched for other funny names. Below are some that I found. They are hilarious when you say them in Cantonese.

The first one means a lecherous old man .....

鲁任松

吴洁芬

游咏富

毛仁爱

钟乐海

李露媚

周生幸

胡莉貞

武仁胜

戴祿武

蔣文端 videos

If you are a 蔣文端 fan, here is a YouTube channel with a lot of her clips .

These 3 videos are from there.

蔣文端, 丁凡 - 觀音情度韦陀天花絮

老倌點將 - 康健

2013 first post

By the way, the stomach in the picture in the post below is not mine. My stomach is not so big. And the post is not meant to be a new year resolution. I don't have the habit of making NY resolutions. When I have an objective in mind I would try to set a target and work towards it, for example saving money for an expensive item like a holiday abroad.

Except for the house and the car, I prefer to pay upfront cash for furniture and electrical items and appliances rather than to buy them on hire purchase. The primary advantage of hire purchase is that you can use or enjoy the item before you could save enough money to buy it. The main disadvantage is the high interest rate you have to pay.

For houses and cars we should make sure that the monthly payment is not too harsh on us.  Otherwise I think it is better to get a smaller house or to do without a car.

2012 seems to pass exceptionally quickly. In the blink of an eye, 2013 is upon us and before you could blink again, it will be Chinese New Year.

getting fat ...

Many months ago, when I bent down I could touch my toes. Now I can't. My fingers are about 15cm from my toes. That means I have been eating more and have not had enough exercise and so fat has accumulated around my waist making it thicker.

Many people also can't touch their toes. It is not something unusual or abnormal. But I don't like to have a thick waist or a bulging stomach.

So I have decided to do something about it. I have set a modest target – to reduce the 15cm to 6cm in 5 months. I hope I will have good news to tell you in May 2013.

I have found several sites telling us that fat around the waist is not good for us. There are also suggestions on how to reduce weight.

Actually I am not fat but according to the mass-to-height formula I am a little overweight. 

點秋香 – 尹飛燕, 阮德鏘

Miscellaneous

Did you notice there are a lot of irrelevant comments in my blog recently. I deleted quite a number of them already. By the way, if you post comments at a post that is more than 2 weeks old, the comments will not be published until approval is given by the owner.


I cannot access my email at Lycos these few days. It has happened before. If you have any mail for me, please try frannxis@singapore.com .


Some people say that we only appreciate something when we don't have it anymore, be it a person, a relationship or a material possession. I was thinking of growth and foreign workers. I guess we don't really know until we have no growth and foreigners do not want to come here to work. My view is that if that happens, it does not bode well for Singapore.

粤曲 花染狀元紅 - 任劍輝

essential service

At first I thought transport is not that essential. If there were no buses, the most you can't go to work or you just stay at home and don't go anywhere.

But, on further thought, it could be much worse. Take the worst scenario. All transport drivers (bus, rail and taxi) go on strike. Life will come to a stand-still. This will affect other essential services. Workers like nurses and fire-fighters cannot report for work. Tourists who want to return home cannot go to the airport.


I am one of those who support bus fare increase. I think it it reasonable. Of course most people will say no. Nobody will say yes to any increase unless it benefits them. I guess most MPs will speak against it in parliament even if they think it is necessary. I suppose they cannot be seen as unsympathetic or do not want to be accused of profit-minded. 

三皇五帝酬神演粵劇 - 龍貫天, 鄭詠梅

Your friends all died already

These were the words from a Cantonese a song that just sticks to my mind. I couldn't remember its title.

When I was young, Rediffusion was a major source of entertainment. Cantonese songs were one of my mother's favourites and she would increase the volume so that she could hear it at any part of the house.

This is what the song is about ...

A man and his daughter went to a cemetery to pay respect to someone. The man was a lazy bum. He mistook a few graves to be the one they were looking for. Then he found out that these graves were that of his old friends. He didn't know that they had died.

So his daughter remarked rhetorically : " Your friends all died already? " It sounded a bit funny.

I think the message in the song is to lead a healthy lifestyle as the man's dead friends had unhealthy habits and vices.