Pictures

A cute dog... see its rueful look...
" Please don't scold me "


a beautiful fan

fanciful fruit... really got this type of fruit?

English quiz

Remember, some time ago I did a survey about visitors to this blog. About one third of them are 50 or above, and another one-third are 30 or below. The rest are between 30 and 50. So, many of you had left school for a number of years. Unless you work in the education line, I think you would have forgotten some of your English lessons.

Check yourself with this quiz; it has a little of everything - tenses, verb-subject agreement, infinitives, pronouns, nouns, vocabulary, clauses, idioms. Just pick the correct answer:

1. " Is it really true? " she asked, giving him an ___ look.
(a) incredible (b) incredulous

2. It ___ since last night.
(a) has been raining (b) was raining

3. Which sentence is correct?
(a) The principal who everyone respects has been transferred.
(b) The principal, who everyone respects, has been transferred.

4. Yesterday the teacher made him ___ round the field.
(a) run (b) ran

5. I suspect he has sent us on a wild-goose chase.
'on a wild-goose chase' means...
(a) to catch wild geese (b) on a foolish and fruitless search

6. Neither he nor his brothers ___ in school today.
(a) is (b) are

7. I want two ___ apples.
(a) dozen (b) dozens

8. She gave you $200. He also gave you some money. Did he give you more than ___ ?
(a) her (b) she

Beggars

You read about these people from China becoming beggars in our shore. Some have one limb missing, some on wheelchairs and all trying to look pitiful. I doubt all of them beg in their homeland. Remember, not long ago there were fake monks…

Some people still gave although they were not sure if they were real hardship cases or they belonged to a syndicate. They said it was the right thing to do and it made them feel good.

I think I won’t give. You see, these beggars have to get an air ticket to come here and then have to pay for accommodation and food. And their intention? Not to visit our lovely Island but to prey on the kindness of soft-hearted Singaporeans. I just feel it is not right.

Reincarnation

During the CNY some Chinese go to temples to pray. I think some of them are Taoists while others don't have any religion and they just follow traditions or they go to pray for blessings. Buddhists don't do that.

But both Buddhism and Taoism believe in reincarnation. Before being reincarnated you lose memory of your previous life. A lecturer in Buddhist Studies once remarked that it would be good if we could retain some memory of our past life.

I think it depends what you could remember. If people could remember about their previous families, then it would be a rather surreal situation. Everyone would be going to look for his previous parents or children.

But it would be good if we remember things that would help us, like fire can hurt us, smoking is harmful or remember some language and maths skills. People would be wiser and make less mistakes.

Or wouldn't it be nice if we were allowed to choose what we want to be in our next life or where we want to be born - like whether we want to be black, white or brown or we can choose to be born in Pakistan.

Praises

Just came across a blog post praising our country. So must let you all know also. Here it is:

Monday, February 11, 2008
Singapore

Here are a few pictures I took of Singapore while driving around. Pretty quiet there as you can see, most folks must have been busy visiting relatives at their homes as it was the Chinese New Year festival. I noted that Singapore is really clean, and their roads are mostly very well kept indeed. Greens are abundant there, something I really would like to see more in Kuala Lumpur. Despite Singapore being scarce for land, I am impressed at how much space they allocate for their parks and greens instead of turning it into a huge concrete jungle alone. Very generous planning really, and if you have experienced their public transportation especially the MRT, you will know just how efficient they are. This is why Singapore is where they are now, and other Asian countries except for Japan, are still lagging behind them despite having longer histories. Singapore's orderly planning never ceases to amaze me...

CNY childhood joys

According to reports the average amount in the ang pow youngsters get this year is $10. That was the maximum I got when I was a child and that was from my poor parents. Friends, relatives and neighbours gave much less. Sometimes I also received coins, usually 10-cent and 20-cent, wrapped in red paper. 20 cents was quite a lot of money then. It could buy you a bowl of mee in the school canteen.

I think even up to the early seventies there were still people who wrapped coins in red papers and gave them as ang pows. I don't think the banks gave out ang pow envelopes at that time. You have to buy them. I remember my father once bought those with our Chinese surname on it.

The joys of CNY during my childhood: wearing new clothes and shoes, eating sweets and drinking soft drinks, playing with fire crackers and counting ang pow money.

Discipline

Today's news:
"Never take the risk. Always be around to watch over them" - This is the advice given by the aunt of a 13-year old girl who was almost drowned in a condo swimming pool.

But in this case the girl and her friends sneaked out in the early morning to go swimming in the pool. So how would the adults know and be around to watch them?

Nowadays it is not uncommon to see kids running around and not obeying their parents. I would say parents should discipline their young children. Tell them they cannot go swimming alone and must get permission from their parents or the person taking care of them. If they disobey, punish them.

Junk Bin

Occasionally my emails go to to the Junk Bin instead of the Inbox. My habit is to empty the bin without opening it. Today there was only one in the JB, so I just took a look. It was not junk; it was a poster of a coming opera performance sent by Mr Yeo.

So friends, if you have sent me such information and I still have not put them up, it means your mails have been sent to the JB and I have discarded them. If that happened to your mail, sorry for my carelessness. Please do send them again. Thank You.

CNY Greetings

I copied these greetings from Victor's blog (Taking up the Challenge) to wish you all. Sure got one that suits you. He did not make them up except for the last one. They were published in the Business Times 5 years ago.

1. Wish Happy Be Rich (恭喜发财)

2. Horse Arrive Work Done (马到工成)

3. Step Step High Rise (步步高升)

4. Year Year Got Fish (年年有余)

5. One Road Smooth Wind (一路顺风)

6. Heart Think Work Done (心想事成)

7. Dragon Horse Sperm God (龙马精神)

8. Early Born Expensive Son (早生贵子)

Email from an opera fan

Thanks to all of you who have sent me CNY greetings and very interesting cards.

Share with you an email I received a day ago from Jodie.....

"I wanted to post this mail to your blog but being a computer idiot, I do not know how to do so.

Well, last December, my aunt and I had a short break in Guangzhou. Fortunately, we managed to catch "Hua Yue Ying" there as we had missed this performance in Singapore as both of us were in Vietnam then; this is a good show and we thoroughly enjoyed the stage performance.

Anyway, that is just a side track. The purpose of writing this email is solely to share with you and the fans of Mr Ow Kai Meng, our experience while we were in GZ.

As avid fans, the first thing we did was to find out the dates for the opera performances. Not only we did that, we also went to the extent of visiting the Hong Dou and Guangtong troupe at their respective sites. We chanced upon Mr Ow and his Manager, Mr Su Hua.

We must say that we are indeed impressed by Mr Ow's humble hospitality and well-behaved manners which nevertheless gained our respect - no air at all! We saw two of his performances while we were there - to our surprise, he could pick us up from his crowd of both local and overseas fans - came straight to shake our hands and on the last night, expressed his well wishes to us for a safe journey back.

I am certainly looking forward to watch his performances in Singapore which I understand should be soon....."


Transport woes

Another one.....

Another example (yesterday's papers) that Islamic laws can affect non-Muslims - A Hindu mother cannot claim the insurance money her son left her because her son has converted to Islam. Islamic law says a non-Muslim cannot claim inheritance from a Muslim.

Who will get the money then?
Can Islamic laws override any other law or any agreement you have made?

Islamic laws

I was thinking a bit about two news items last week:

1. A 70+ Malaysian man who had been paralysed for the past 2 years died. He was buried as a Muslim, against the wish of his wife and family who are Buddhists, because the Court overseeing Muslim affairs said he had converted to Islam before his death.

So you see, non-Muslims can also be affected by Islamic laws.

2. The PAS (the opposition Islamic party in Malaysia which rules the state of Kelantan) said non-Muslims would benefit if Islamic laws (which includes cutting off limbs and stoning) are implemented in the state because these laws will only be applied to Muslims.

I say it is not so simple. The PAS wants people to believe that just have 2 sets of laws and everything will be fine. As if there are 2 distinct groups that don't mix - one group of Muslim criminals/offenders and victims and the other group of non-Muslims.

If a case involves both Muslim and non-Muslims, wouldn't it be very messy.

Then, Islamic laws are bias against women. I remember reading some news that in a rape case, the woman has to produce four male witnesses. I wonder how any rape victim would be able to do that. Again If it involves Muslims and non-Muslims.....

All this can cause resentment and racial tension.


新春好戏在粵劇情懷

Fond memories

Here are 2 nice pictures

This one was taken in Tokyo. Not Mt Fuji, just a scenic serene place near the hotel where we stayed in. It gives you inspirations to be a Su Dong Po.


A signboard...anyone could see the crab a km away. This seafood restaurant was in Thailand.....along the beach of Pattaya. I don't know whether it is still there or not.

Performance at Kolam Ayer CC

Some of the performers:

六月雪之大审 - 邝荃荃, 陈惠婵

黃莉莉, 钟丽容, 黄安妮, 黃兆平

Dirty money

After reading MD's adventures in Guangzhou, I also got something to say...

When I visited Guangzhou many years ago, most of the paper currency I got from transactions were old, tattered, worn, or soiled. The people there also preferred you to give them such notes as they were scared that new notes could be counterfeits. If you gave the cashier a new note, especially a 100-yuan note, she would peer at it from every angle before deciding whether to accept it or not.

Last year when I revisited GZ, there were more new notes but some small sales and food outlets still preferred you to give them small or old notes. I wonder if they use new notes in their ang pows.


The picture below was taken during my first visit. It shows the 'Journey-to-the-West Park' inside Yue Xiu Park. During the second visit, I went to Yue Xiu Park again but the other Park was gone.

The Xi You Ji Park was an interesting place. You could see the mythological characters from the famous classic folklore Journey to the West - bull demon-king, iron-fan princess, spider spirits.... There were also the torture chambers in Hell. Pity they didn't keep it. I think it was because of the high cost of maintenance.

Recent happenings

Someone made a comment at one of my videos - How...How...How...
For a moment I thought it was a question. Then I realized what she meant - Good...Good...Good...
I think it is Hao, right?

Sometimes students need to be pushed to work harder, to be told the harsh realities or to be given a good scolding. No need for parents to worry or think their children's confidence will crumble. If a sec 5 student loses confidence just because the principal tells him some unpleasant facts, I doubt he will do well in the O level.

Overheard this at a food-court.
A 30 something China lady telling his 20-years-older Singaporean male companion - Singapore has no poor people. True or not?

Consider these recent news:
China has 300 million people living in poverty, many subsisting on less than US$1 a day.
Singaporeans shun unglamorous jobs. This means they are not so desperate for jobs or money, right?

So Singapore does not have people living in poverty in the absolute sense of the word. It means no Singaporean needs to sleep on the street, go hungry or has to eat grass. But there are poor people too. This is relative to our cost of living.

Actually hungry is also relative. In Singapore you say you are hungry when you miss one meal. In another place it could mean no food for a few days.


福建省芳华越剧团

紅線女八十不言休

MM Lee Kuan Yew is 84. She just turned 80 last month. He is a brilliant statesman and she is an outstanding opera artiste. Both have a zest for life and a passion for work.

She is Hong Xian Nu or Hong Seen Lui in cantonese, one of the most distinguished cantonese opera artistes of all time. She first stepped onto the opera stage when she was 12, performing the role of a lantern-carrying palace maid in Liu Guo, the traditional opera performed during Lunar New Year. Since then, thousands have become her fans, entranced by her, her acting and her singing. One of them was Aw Yeong Peng Mun (Singapore's nan hua dan) who became her pupil.

In the later years she seldom performed, spending more time grooming the young ones. Nowadays she does not perform anymore but she stays interested in opera and remains engaged in opera activities.

Isn't that what the elderly here are encouraged to do - stay interested, be active. Haha, so don't think of stop working once you cross 55 and rot away at home.

I have not seen any of her live opera performances. The first time I saw her in person was many years ago. It was one evening outside the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre. The occasion I think was the showcase performance by Aw Yeong Peng Mun. I guess she should be around 70 then. Despite her age, she was captivating - a slim elegant figure in a striking red cheongsam. No wonder I thought. No wonder the audience were mesmerized by her in those days. If I were one of those in the audience, who knows, I might have decided to take up opera. Hahaha...

Great artistes like Hong Seen Lui, But Suet Sin, Sun Ma Chai, Lum Kar Sing and Yam Kim Fai are life-long idols of a lot of people, unlike those transitory idol-worship craze.

Answers to hua dan quiz

These photos are original, no distortion. Click on photo to see larger version. Anyway I guess you all are not keen on quizzes.

1. 南鳳

2. 鄧美玲

3. 麥文潔

4. 蔣文端

5. 黄美玲

6. 張淑蓮

Hua dan quiz

See the dans (in cantonese opera) below..... I've distorted or camouflaged the photos a bit. Can you recognize them? The HK and China dans are well-known artistes. If you often watch local shows, you would know the Singapore dans. The photos were quite recent. All were taken within the last two years, not 10 or 20 years ago. One was taken in HK and rest in Singapore.

1. HK dan

2. HK

3. China
4. China

5. Singapore

6. Singapore

Misconduct

I'm not very interested in ministers' sex scandals. But this one by a Malaysian minister has the ingredients of a good political thriller. To make it more exciting, we can involve foreign hostile elements out to blackmail him to obtain state secrets. Get the spy agencies in the US, China and Iran involved too. Link it to terrorism as well. And you have a super thriller!.

A bit about the scandal. Whether it was an entrapment or not is one thing and whether he should resign is another issue. Even if it was an entrapment, it doesn't make him less guilty, for example, of being unfaithful to his wife.

My view is that a minister involved in sexual misconduct should resign. Likewise, we also don't want to see our ministers frequenting casinos or getting drunk at parties or karaoke sessions.

It is not that we are holier or we expect ministers to be saints. These may be small things, personal weaknesses you say. But a person holding high office in Government should have a good image. If not people will not respect him and how can he give advice to his fellow citizens or face ministers from other countries. Being a minister, he is also involved in policy-making. Will these small things affect his thinking. Then, doesn't these things also reflect personal values and lack of self-discipline.

A wife could accept her husband's apologies but she might not forgive him so readily and surely, she will not forget.


南音, 三六, 周璇, 再世红梅, 吉兆粵韵, 真情戏曲