.. from port to port ...

A handwritten date in the guide book to Portopia '81 – the Kobe Port Island Exposition – purchased at the Minoo Campus. (箕面キャンパス) , University Co-op –大学生協 - seikyo -( in campus store) , noted:

8Juy 1981
Osaka University of Foreign Studies (OUFS)

It was 3 months to the date on arrival at the university for a six-month intensive Japanese Language course. The Minoo Campus was a new campus site about a year or two old and located in the northern skirt of Osaka Metropolis.

The Osaka World Exposition – Expo 70 – was more than a decade ago, and the Okinawa Ocean Expo was more than 5 years ago.

The Portopia '81 was a celebration of Japanese technological innovation with the completion of the man-made island reclaimed from the sea off Kobe City,.

Quoting from the guide:

Mountains inching out to sea … A reclaimed Island 120 times as big as Koshien Baseball Stadium15 years in the making

Of the pavilions visited – was the IBM Pavalion.

Interestingly the theme of the exhibition was .. Japan’s continuing cultural adventure. -

The main exhibit was a 20-m long model of an ancient kentoshi ship . Officials, scholars, and monks from Japan travelled on these kentoshi vessels to the Tang court of Imperial China (Tang Dynasty 618-907 CE) .

Perhaps IBM – a leading US company had chose to feature the kentoshi - 遣唐使 –literary meaning envoys dispatched to Tang China - vessel then, was because - with Deng Xiaoping selected as the 1978 - Times Man of Year - there was plenty of goodwill and positive feel towards the country. China – was just starting on her first step towards the trail and error of the market economy.

At the OUFS - met the first of the exchange students send by the Chinese government to Japan. Two were from Shanghai and one from China NE – majoring in Japanese Studies. A hallmark of these students was their drab attire – the pride of the proletariat perhaps.

Fast forward Shanghai World Expo 2010 … what a generation make-th.

References:

1. OUFS - Osaka University of Foreign Studies – 大坂外国語大学

A search for OUFS lead to Osaka University School of Foreign Studies 　－.
大坂大学外国語学部　and came to know that OUFS had merged with Osaka University in 2008.

http://www.sfs.osaka-u.ac.jp/eng/

2. Osaka - Expo 70

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_

3. Potopia 81 - entrance ticket

3. Time Magazine – 1978 – Man of the Year

http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/personoftheyear/archive/stories/1978.html

---//--

. . . from - 浮屠 to 佛 to 仏 -

A browse thro the bookshelves found these two books – spanning a period of 21 years odd.

The one in English - Buddhism in China – A Historical Study – by Kenneth Ch’en - bought in July 1988, not long after coming to work in Singapore at the Pearl Center next to Outram Park MRT Station.

The second book –written in Chinese by Ji Xianlin (1911.8.6-2009.7.11) – 季羡林自选集：佛 - Ji Xianlin Collection: Buddha - was a recent purchased in Nov 2009 at a Buddhist artifacts cum bookstore in Geylang East.

Among the number of books on Buddhism, and the many aspects of Buddhism – and being one interested in things historical – thro these readings – it has allowed me to gain a little insight into the spread of the religion from its cradle somewhere in Nepal to India and the rest of Asia.

Initial books were in English, and thro the years, thro self-study driven by an urge to understand one’s ‘mother tongue’ as well as to have a first hand knowledge of one/s ‘mother culture’ – it has gradually enabled me to read books in Chinese directly.

(If not directly – many of the web dictionary could help to translate the more difficult words)

The recent read by Professor Ji has an interesting article on how the Chinese word for Buddha - 佛 – fo - came about.

This single syllable word did not get into China directly from India but thro the translation of translated works of Tocharian - 吐火罗 - tuhuoluo - a defunct ancient tribe found in the Kushan Empire in NW India around 1st - 2nd CE.

Directly from India, Buddha was translated as - 浮屠 – futu – a two letter word – which is closer to its Sanskrit - 梵语- fanyu - origin. In early Chinese classics prior to adoption of the word 佛 by the literati, 浮屠 was commonly used.

Perhaps then,
释迦牟尼佛 - Shì​jiā​móu​ní​fó​ - Sakyamuni Buddha – could be written as 释迦牟尼浮屠. –Shijiamounifutu .

And his teachings the Buddhist Dharma - 佛法 - fofa - would be written as - 浮屠法 –futu fa.

Well, with - 佛 – written as 屠法 – in this new ancient context it sounds and looks - 糊涂 – hutu - indeed!

(If you do not know Chinese - you can copy this word- 糊涂 - and paste it to the web dictionary in Reference - Mother tongue is fun! )

When Buddhism spread from across the mainland from China thro Korea tto Japan, the Japanese came up with a variant for writing 佛.

Perhaps the Japanese famous for their haiku –俳句 - short stanza poems and – and a knack on minimalism – ( they being the progenitor of using simplified Chinese characters ) simplified 佛 – to -仏 - and pronounced as – butsu - ぶつ - ( on reading) . or hotoke- ほとけ (kun reading ) .

Well, the Buddhist Dharma in Japanese is written as - 仏法. How then would you pronounce it : ぶつほう？butsu ho? No, it is - ぶっぽう - buttpo .

What a cupful indeed – from 浮屠 to 佛 to 仏 .. or was it just an empty half cup.

Reference:

1. Ji Xianlin - 季羡林

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ji_Xianlin
http://baike.baidu.com/view/17941.htm


2. 浮屠 to 佛

http://www.china84000.com/Article/club/fxrs/200907/12481.html
http://book.ifeng.com/lianzai/detail_2009_08/03/291932_12.shtml

根据上面的论述，对于"佛"与"浮屠"这两个词，我们可以作以下的推测："浮屠"这名称从印度译过来以后，大概就为一般人所采用。当时中国史家记载多半都用"浮屠"。其后西域高僧到中国来译经，才把"佛"这个名词带进来。范蔚宗搜集的史料内所以没有"佛"字，就因为这些史料都是外书。"佛"这名词在那时候还只限于由吐火罗文译过来的经典中。以后才渐渐传播开来，为一般佛徒，或与佛教接近的学者所采用。最后终于因为它本身有优越的条件，战胜了"浮屠"，并取而代之。
- 1947年10月9日

3. Tocharian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocharian_languages

4. Kushan Empire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushans

5. Chinese-English Dictionary

http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php

---//

曾经上海 - the shanghai that was

With the world expo and the focus of attention worldwide– what was the Shanghai then –

Perhaps then, thro the eyes and ears of this lass – probably in her sixteen to seventeen in the second half of 1930/s -

The rare treat to a movie to the cinema in Ipoh would be a made-in-Shanghai film. The high mandarin collar of her flower patterned Chinese dress –would have been tailored to the fashion trend in Shanghai. Her bobbed hairstyle popular in the 1930/s would have been the hairdo of the Shanghai actresses.

The latest Mandarin songs that she listened to would be from the parade of singers from Shanghai. The legendary Zhou Xuan-周璇 – popularly named the singer with the golden voice - 金嗓子 -. jin shang zhi - would come to represent the voice of the Shanghai of that era.

From the late 1920/s thro to the 1940/s – for close to two decades, the Shanghai recorded Mandarin songs crescendo to their golden age. Many of these songs would be what her children would first hear from their cradle when they grew up in the late 1940s to thro the fifties.

天上人間 - tian shang ren jian - Heaven on earth – re-rendered by the popluar Taiwan male crooner Fei Yuqing – was one song that she remembered well. She said that she learnt this song in her school days.

Many of the classic evergreen Lunar New Year songs – were written and fist sung in Shanghai. Akin to a Christmas is not one without listening to ‘White Christmas’ – the Chinese Lunar New Year - is incomplete without listening to the LNY songs like –恭喜恭喜 - Gong Xi Gong Xi - sung by the brother and sister team - 姚莉/姚敏 – Yao Li / Yao Min - and lyrics by - 陈歌辛 - Chen Gexin.


With the establishment of New China, the horses no longer galloped and the dancers no longer waltzed, and the bourgeois and the capitalist roaders took flight. Night Shanghai faded into a long slumber.

The baton of being the entertainment and cultural center of the Chinese diaspora – that is - huaren - 华人 –passed on Hong Kong and Taipei. From the 1970/s to the 1980/s came the likes of Sam Hui - 许冠杰 - and brothers and Teresa Teng - 邓丽君.

With her re-established glory and all the mega hardware - will Shanghai re-emerge as the cultural & entertainment center of the Huaren – 华人world?



Photographs / scan

1. Mum - (1922 to 1987) in her teens - probably in the mid 1930/s.

2. Book Cover -

A Short History of Shanghai -
FL Hawks pott - Kelly & Walsh, Limited

RMB 80.00 on 1999.11.10 @ Shanghai Pudong Airport -
first holiday trip to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou

References:

1. 费玉清 - 天上人间(新茶花女电影插曲)
http://www.yue365.com/getgeci/63/13226.shtml

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/t09WOBP6Ruo/


2. 周璇 -
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/3YNC1BhlABA/

3. High collar Cheong Sam of the 1930/s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam

http://library.thinkquest.org/11518/customs/costumes/chinese/c-dress.htm





-//--

spring …a window into Japan

Yesterday 05April, was Qing Ming – 清明. It is the first major festival after the Lunar New Year festivities in the Chinese calendar of traditional festivals.

Another must know of this season, other than it being the Tomb-sweeping day, is the Tang Dynasty poem by Du Mu – 杜牧 - 803-852CE , titled Qing Ming - 清明

清明时节雨纷纷，
路上行人欲断魂。
借问酒家何处有？
牧童遥指杏花村。

Tis the season of Qing Ming with misty rain filling the air
Along the path a traveler on foot filled with melancholy
Asked ‘Whence the wine shop? ‘
The little cowherd pointed his finger to the distant Qing Hua Village

Thro the millennium this poem has set the mood for the season. And even in tropical Singapore & SEA, where rain is expected practically daily – when it rains around this time of the year, the older Chinese folks would as a matter of fact quote – it’s because Qing Ming is near.

Where in the Chinese psyche – the start of April is perhaps rainy, a call to filial observances, across the ocean and east of the China Sea, and to the Land of the Rising Sun – April registers a differently mood altogether.

The rainy season of Plum Rain – 梅雨 - tsuyu - in the beginning of summer – is still two months away.

The mood is perhaps best conveyed by this QSL card from Radio Japan – with the pinkish blossom of Sakura busting onto the scene practically over night – to truly herald the return of Spring to mother earth.

In the Japanese literature many a story and poem starts with ….

満開の桜の木の下に - mankai no sakura no ki no shita ni ….
Beneath the full bloom Sakura tree. ..

The new fiscal and academic year starts in April in Japan. It is said that one of the first assignment of new hires is to go and ‘chop’ a place beneath the full bloom Sakura tree for the company picnic.

In our lower secondary school days in the early 1970/s we were taught the Japanese folk song - Sakura. We sang it in Japanese, but did not know what the lyrics meant, expect that Sakura means Cherry Blossom.

Japan then, was the premier developed country in Asia and well on her way to becoming the ‘Japan as No 1: Lessons for America” of Ezra Vogel best seller in 1979.

My window into Japan then – was thro Radio Japan, the shortwave station overseas station of NHK – the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. While my cohorts would listen to Bee Gees and Melody Fair, I would be tuned in to Radio Japan to the likes of such pops as:

Jirozu - ジローズ - 戦争は知らないこどもたち - sensoo wa shiranai kodomotachi - The kids who doesn’t know about war
Fuse Akira布施 明 – シクラメンのかおり- shikuramen no kaori - The fragrance of Cyclamen

Fast forward:
April 05- 2010/Monday bulletin - Radio Japan – 3680khz 2300hrs UTC:
- This year’s Sakura bloom lasted a record of 10 days. In normal years it would be in full bloom on average for 8 days, and starts to fade. However because of the cold weather that followed after it blossomed; it lasted for a good 10 days.

To get into the mood of the Sakura season on this tropical island, a live Sakura in bloom was exhibited at Nee Ann City – the premier shopping center with Takashimaya as anchor tenant.

Meanwhile, the love affair of Singaporeans with Japanese food & things Japanese continues unabated …be it in hiragana or katakata … a brand with touch of Japanese seems to sell….


Postscript :

1. QSL card –
dated : April 4 – 1993,
address: 7D, Paya Lebar Road.
This QSL card from Radio Japan was dated 04April1993. It was an acknowledgement of the technical report on the reception condition of the shortwave broadcast

Though it is 17 years ago to the day that I got this Ｑcard, the engagement with Radio Japan goes back much longer and the first QSL card I got from Japan went back another 20 years before that – in the early 1970/s .

2. Yakun Kaya Toast @ Central
ヤクンカヤトース
http://www.yakun.com/

3. Japanese food stall @ Chinatown food center

まるはちまる - 080

References:

1. Qing Ming – blog Chinese poetry

http://www.chineselearner.com/chineseblog/2006/04/chinese-poem-qing-ming-by-du-mu.html

http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/qingming-poem-by-du-mu/

2. Poetry Qing Ming – in audio :

http://odeo.com/episodes/24461165-Lesson-152-Chinese-Poem-Qing-Ming

3. Du Mu - 杜牧

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_Mu

4. Sakura - Japanese folk song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKTRnO7SV68

5. Japanese pops

戦争は知らないこどもたち– ジローズ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzrZx0b6THU

シクラメンのかおり– 布施 明
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSfmyedrDwk&feature=related

-//---

… the emperor’s portrait - a tale behind ...

While preparing to shift, found this yet to be completed portrait inside the sketchbook. The grid drawing was dated 12.Aug.1995.

Well, it was done close to 15 years ago, and it seems that the drawing is awaiting to have it completed all these years.

And while trying to confirm if the figure was that of the Ming Emperor Yungle - 永樂 (1402-1424), I rummaged thro a pile of old newsletters. No, it was not Yungle, but Yung Lo’s grandson, Xuande - 宣德(reign 1425-1435).

The newsletters from which this picture of the emperor was copied was published by the National Palace Museum (NPM) Taipei - 国立故宫博物院展览通讯 -覽通訊, -

I was on their free subscription list for a number of years. First from the early 1970/s thro the 80’s with the address in 1A Menglembu, and later from the early 1990’s till 2001 after moving to Singapore.

Recalling how I first got to get the free copy, the - Voice of Free China - 自由中國之聲 - came afresh .

DX-ing, short-wave radio listening was, and is still is my hobby. It was then my window to the outside world for the boy from the small town. The world came alive turning the magic knobs on the Philips Philetta vacuum tube radio.

Among the many short-wave broadcasts varying from Radio Japan, Radio Beijing, Radio Nederland, BBC, and the Voice of America - the Voice of Free China (VOFC) was one of my most listened to stations. It beamed from Taipei, Taiwan to South-East Asia, in Mandarin, and the dialects – such as Hakka, Cantonese, and in English. The reception was pretty clear, and strong on the vintage Philips.

In each of the hourly shortwave broadcasts, it started off with the signal, then the announcement - This is the Voice of Free China, and the national anthem of the Republic of China – Three Principles of the People – would solemnly followed.

The Taiwan then was the bastion of things Chinese, and played claim to be the vanguard of Chinese culture. Thro the DX – technical reception report that I sent to the station, my name and address found its way to the National Palace Museum newsletter mailing list.

The short articles in the newsletter introducing the crème de la crème of the Chinese artifacts and paintings making their rounds at the various galleries provided a good insight to the readers of this wonderful work from Dynastic China.

For a period of time after moving to Singapore, I did not get to receive the newsletter until I re-registered with the NPM counter in one of the World book fairs in the early 1990/s. I continued to receive the newsletter through the nineties and into 2002.

However, when I got the 2001 edition – I thought that NPM had posted me a mistaken newsletter. Instead of the trademark cover with selections from its Chinese Imperial collection, this edition was a 1928 oil painting by Salvadro Dali - Carne de gallina inaugural.

Looking back, this was a perhaps the signal of the de-Sinicization process - 去中国化 that was to come in Taiwan. The pan-green DPP - Democratic People’s Party - won the Presidential office the year before in the May 2000 election.

Earlier on in 1998, the Voice of Free China was replaced with Radio Taipei International. With the opening of Communist China already into her 20th year, and the end of the ‘Cold War’ - Taipei had found that her beacon call – VOFC - had played her historical mission and had to be taken off-stage.

In 1970’s during the throe of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, one would hear Radio Peking riling and purging Confucius, while and on the other hand, from the VOFC one would hear the solemn chants and tones from the bells in Taipei’s Confucius Temple - on the ceremony to commemorate the Sage’s birthday.

The past voices from the VOFC will always have a dear place in my heart.


References:
1. The National Palace Museum

http://www.npm.gov.tw/zh-tw/learning/quarterly/comint.htm

2. Voice of Free China - Radio Taiwan International

http://english.rti.org.tw/customerservice/FAQSubject.aspx?sid=65

3. 自由中國之聲 - zi you zhongguo zhi sheng - VOFC

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%A4%AE%E5%BB%A3%E6%92%AD%E9%9B%BB%E5%8F%B0

4. Three Principles of the People 三民主義

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Anthem_of_the_Republic_of_China





--// --

遇寶 – a treasure awaiting re-discovery

If the story in Wikipedia of how the early Cantonese named Ipoh were to be believed, then the Chinese character for Ipoh should be written as: 遇寶, instead of 怡保.

For :
遇寶 - yubao (pinyin) – yeebou (Cantonese) – meaning – to encounter - 遇 - treasures -寶

While:
怡保 – yibao (pinyin) - yeebou (Cantonese) – meaning to preserve/defend - 保 - harmony - 怡

However, in all essence, Ipoh’s first name I believe was Paloh . For the descendants of the early Hakka’s who were one of the earliest migrants to the mining outposts in the Kinta Valley have to these days call Ipoh as Paloh.

Whenever we want to go to Ipoh –we still say –– 上壩羅 - song baloh （Hakka）- shang baluo (pinyin) , meaning to go up to Ipoh.

For the term上 - 下 or 落 – shang and xia or luo - meaning up / above or down/below – is used as a verb here to mean to move in the direction towards or away from a place, and with the capital location as the source of reference.

Thus when we are returning from Ipoh to Menglembu – we say ：
落万里望 – luo wanlimoong (Hakka) - luo Wanliwang (Pinyin)

- this concept of - 上 - 下 came in handy when learning Japanese – for when one travelling in the direction toward towards Tokyo – it is 上がり – agari. While 下り- kudari - is moving away from the capital city -

Susequently when Ipoh grew and taken on a township - her name evolved from Epoh to Ipoh, and the Chinese equivalent is 怡保. A name meaning - defending or preserving harmanony.

Perhaps a aptly named new township - on the same theme of peace and harmony - as with Taiping - 太平 - the old capital of Perak State in the Larut Valley.

The early migrants to Ipoh are the Cantonese and Hakka’s engaging in the tin mining industry. They left the poor villages of Southern China, located mainly in the Pearl River estuaries and the mountainous regions of South-eastern Guangdong Province – 广东省.

Since then in 1978 when China opened her door and experimented with - socialist market economy - 社会主义市场经济 – many of these poor villages in the Pearl River estuaries have boomed into mega-factories for the world. And in many aspects, these once – poor villages are doing much better economically than Ipoh and her outlying townships in the Kinta valley.

Perhaps Ipoh is a city where her treasure is awaiting re-discovery. Since the collapse of the tin mart in the late 1970/s Ipoh has lay dormant for the greater part of the last 30 years, when the world passes her by.

And for the past year and more - it spiralled into political stalemate, bringing unwanted attention to this once peaceful valley.

With the resources of the world being depleted by the rising economies of the new world order, perhaps a re-discovery of the application of tin would make it viable to mine the mineral again.

The town that tin built would perhaps have her re-birth.

The Kinta Valley is awaiting the discovery of her - unobtanium – albeit all the good and green stuff.... I mean.



Postscript –

This pamphlet by Kinta Heritage was given me by my niece on a trip back to Ipoh last December.

A google on Kinta Heritage – shows a site awaiting update. And scan of this pamphlet is found in another blog, except the page on – Ipoh’s Living Heritage.

Markers with informative signboards were put up at the various historical sites in the vicinity of Ipoh civic center and the Old Town. However, as if it’s the norm of things, most of them are poorly maintained and in a dilapidated state.

Ipoh Heritage Trail – Map 1 – is map number one, and am eagerly waiting for the rest of the maps.

Kudos to Kinta Heritage for doing its bit for a treasure to be re-discovered.


References –

http://www.kintaheritage.com/blog/

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%80%A1%E4%BF%9D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipoh

http://ipohnkinta.blogspot.com/2009/11/free-heritage-maps-of-old-town-ipoh.html

http://www.lestariheritage.net/perak/index.html

http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/





-//--

shooting lantern riddles @ tiger terrace - 猜灯谜

The celebrations to usher in the Year of the Tiger came to a close on 28Feb, Sun.

Over the fortnight from the new moon to thefull moon, there was much gaiety & boisterous happenings to renew one’s self and spirit . With the Resort Word Sentosa throwing its casino doors open on the most auspicious of day and time – the first day of the first moon @ 12:38pm, all the more – the celebration to welcome Spring in this city-state has morphed into a festivity to honor the God of Fortune.

Perhaps an indication of this trend it that it has become de rigueur - to end the lion dance with a big bang from a golden cascade confetti cannon, and shouts of - huat ah! – 發啊 – (Hokkien dialect) – meaning - prosperity!

A boisterous New Year

The Chinese are a loud and boisterous people, I’ve often told my Japanese friends. The louder the noise the merrier, I said. And – huat ah! , is the latest addition to this whole symphony of noise for the Chinese Lunar New Year (LNY) celebration.

Unlike the Japanese, where their New Year is celebrated in a more somber and quiet tone, such as with a rendering of the elegant koto - 琴- court music, the Chinese LNY – is celebrated with a bang. And the louder the bang the greater the fortune it will bring in the coming year.

Where are the boisterous bangs coming from:

- LNY songs: A LNY song is no longer a LNY song without an accompanying of cymbals, gongs and drums

- Firecrackers: The real sound of firecrackers could still be heard at Chinatown or at the River Hongbao - 春到河畔迎新年- during the opening and closing ceremony of the LNY celebrations. In their substitute are mechanical firecrackers driven by pneumatic devices that give a false punch.

- Lion and Dragon dance: Without the vigor and near deafening beat of the drums and cymbals the lion and dragon would be a lame and lifeless piece of cloth paper-maché.

- Lo hei : 撈起 - the tossing of raw fish salad is getting to be akin to yam-seng toast during wedding dinner, the louder the wish made, the merrier.

Shooting lantern riddles –

Lest be it taken for granted that LNY is but all noise, gambling and wishing for good fortune, LNY is also a time for literary pursuit. At a corner of the River Hongbao celebration, as in past celebrations, a stage was set up for ardent fans 猜灯谜 – cai deng mi - to test their skills on solving riddles.

This pastime has its beginning during the Song dynasty(960-1279AD), a millennium ago. On the 15th Day of the first lunar month, during the Lantern festival – 元宵节 - yuanxiao jie - the literati & the educated would hang riddles on lanterns, with each trying to solve the meaning behind it. As such these riddles came to be known an lantern riddles - 灯谜 –deng mi - and an activity – associated with the LNY celebration.

These riddles are also known as 文虎 –wen hu - literal tiger - in Chinese. The contents of the riddles are many facets & is a test of one’s general knowledge on current affairs as well as the classics. One has to solve what the word or phase that is behind the riddle.

Without a sound fundamental in Chinese & especially the written Chinese characters, and be up-to-date on current events in the Chinese newspapers, one would hardly be able to track down the – tiger.

The stage where the riddle is held is known as tiger terrace - 虎台-hutai - because solving a ‘lantern’ riddle’ is akin to shooting a tiger - a literary one for that.

A riddle that came on during one of the day’s that I was at the tiger terrace was:

从军出征在此时
-cong jun chu zheng zai cishi– now is to hour for the army to go on the expedition -

The riddle is to guess a well-known personality –

Well - the answer is:
伍茲 – Wuzi

In English it is - Woods.

The person who solved the riddles had to give an explanation as to how he/she arrived at the answer. The MC would determine if the answer was logically explained, and if it was he would strike a drum beat. The right answer was rewarded with a token.

As to the explanation on deriving the answer to the riddle:

For: 从军 - cong jun – means – to serve in the army or to gather an army

While: 伍 –wu – means - a squad of five soldiers

As such - wu is the answer to cong jun.

As to: 出征在此时 - chu zheng zai cishi – meaning – now is the hour to go on an expedition

The answer to it is - 茲 : zi – which is for Wuzi - the surname of a famous personality that has been hitting the headline lately.

The word 茲 - zi - is hinted in the riddle from the word - 此–chi -, and both words have quite a close sound and meaning - namely, zi - hereby, and chi - now, this. As such chi is also a pun on the word zi . (Confusing? lost? - you got to know some Chinese-ne, to get the logic)

The word - Wuzi - for Woods, is referring to Tiger Woods that is. His full name in Chinese is: 老虎伍茲 - Laohu Wuzi .

With -Lauhu – meaning – Tiger, and Wuzhi - a transcription for Woods, without a particular meaning.

Well, so much for the lantern riddles... isn't Chinese cool & hip..

LNY is not just all merry and money. In the midst of all the noise, feasting & the rolling of dices & clatter of chips – the Chinese New Year it’s also an occasion to brush up on one’s Chinese.

As to Mr Woods comeback, take heed, geomancers, punters – this is the year of the Tiger and for the Tiger….at least it’s written in the lantern…


Postscript –

1. River Hongbao

An annual event held by the Singapore River – to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Over a period of 8 days or so, there are nightly performances by cultural troupe invited from China with exhibition of lanterns, a giant God of Fortune structure, food and cultural fair adding to the festive mood.

With the Chinatown light-up, and Chingay Parade – it is one of the three main LNY public celebrations.

On the 3rd day of the LNY – MM visited River Hongbao celebration– 春到河畔迎新年. When he arrived there was a bustle of excitement in the air, and the folks were cramming around to get a glimpse. It was a pleasant surprise as it was the closest that I got to see him in person since coming here. And, thought Dad would be as old if he was still around.

The 18M tall God of Fortune showered golden confetti at regular intervals. And when MM was around, to add to the gaiety – the golden shower spurted forth from the gigantic structure.

2. 春到河畔迎新年

In Chinese the River Hongbao celebration – is referred to as:

chun dao hepan ying xinnian - meaning – the celebration of New year with the arrival of Spring to the River - the Singapore River that is. It is much more a cultured and poetic name than River Hongbao.

For - hongbao – 红包 –in pinyin – meaning the red packet – is a red envelope with money – given out during the LNY, for good fortune.



Perhaps, it would be considered an un-cultured term for such an important festival, to the Mainlanders if they could read the English term for it.

3. Spring Couplet – 春联

LNY is also a time to put up spring couplet – with phrases celebrating spring to & to welcome –harmony, happiness, health, & wealth.

The couplet that I wrote – a first - this year:

天将化日舒清景
室有春风聚太和

Tian jian hua ri shu qing jing
Shi you chunfeng ju taihe

Dawn soothes the morning calm
Spring breeze congregates harmony

References:

1.River Hong Bao

http://www.pandahome.com/temp/20100220/6342650473282.htm

- news carried in Chendu City web on MM visit to River Hongbao – adapted from LHZB – Chinese daily /Singapore.

2. Chingay parade –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chingay_Parade_(Singapore)

2. Lo hei –撈起 - Yusheng salad -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng

3. yam seng - drink to success
http://www.singlishdictionary.com/singlish_Y.htm

4. Lantern Festival and Lantern riddles -元宵节, 猜灯谜

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_Festival
http://blog.sina.com.cn/riddleassoc
http://www.zaobao.com/chinese/region/singapore/festival/singapore_festival280101.html
http://baike.baidu.com/view/102576.htm







---//--

交春 – the start of spring

On this day at the time stated in the Almanac- 通勝 – mum would made offerings to Heaven at the altar set up at the porch. On the altar would be a piece of red paper written with the phrase -迎春接福 . Another unique preparation for this offering was that in place of the usual porcelain censer for placing the joss sticks she would use a small basket filled with rice grain and wrapped with red paper.

At the end of the prayer session, she would request a male member of the family to paste the piece of paper over the front door of the house.

As a child I was always curious as to why this one of a special offering during the Lunar New Year period. Even if it was on the first day of Lunar New Year with all the offerings and prayes, , this offering would be made, on the specified time and then up went the small red banner up the front door.

As I grew older, and able to write with Chinese brush, I took on to write the words to welcome – the starting of spring, and paste the smaller red banner over the front door.

In our dialect this offering is called – gao chun -交春 - jiao chu (pinyin) – literary the interval to Spring.

The timing for gao chun is not fixed but changes each year on the day of - 立春–li chun - one of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunisolar calendar – which falls on the first week of Feb each year usually on the 3rd or 4th day.

This tradition of honoring the start of spring was not practiced widely even then. I noticed that among the households in our neighborhood and within our uncles and aunt, perhaps it was only mum that observed this custom. And now, it would be harder still to find a family that would still keep this tradition in the hometown, and certainly not in Singapore.

As a child I would hear the older folks mentioned that on this day one would be able to make an egg stand up-right when placed on the table. Perhaps it was a pun on the word - 立春– li-chun . While li - 立 - meaning to stand upright , and chun - 春- meaning the spring season, is also the same pronunciation for an egg.

The day of 立春 marks the start of spring. The phrase 迎春接福 - ying chun jie fu – means to welcome Spring and the good fortune that it brings.

In the traditional agrarian Chinese society – this was an important day with all its rituals and customs. The custom of pasting - 迎春接福–above the front door to welcome spring seems to be practiced only within the Hakka’s in Southern China – as a google indicates.

Postscript -

1. Chinese Calendar : 2010. Feb. 4

http://chinesecalendar.orados.com/


今天是農曆二十四節氣之首的立春, 代表著新一年的開始. 古時候的生肖屬相都是以立春為準, 一直到1914年才被袁世凱改成目前的農曆正月初一

- Today is the day of Li-chun – in the 24 solar cycle - Agrarian Calendar . It symbolizes the start of Spring. In ancient times, the zodiac year in which one is born was counted from the day Li-chun.

It was only in 1914, when Yuan Shih-kai, changed it to start from the First Day of the First Month of the Lunar calendar.


2. 交春 – Start of Spring

2010年2月4日6时48分，农历二○○九年十二月二十一日卯时立春（立春也叫打春）。 北方就是这时，南放提前10分

- the time of gao-chun is 06:48 Northern China, and in the south it is 10 minus earlier.

Namely with the time 卯 - mao

http://wenda.tianya.cn/wenda/thread?tid=4ff659fd51d6244f

http://hk.huaxia.com/hxjk/jkys/shbj/2009/02/1307053.html

http://www.weather.com.cn/static/html/article/20090201/23265.shtml


3. The 24 Solar terms -

http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/time/24solarterms.htm


4. Chinese Almanac –通勝 -tong sheng

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_shing


5. 立春 - risshun – Japanese

Li chun – is still widely celebrated in Japan as Setsu-bun 節分– or the bean throwing festival,.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AB%8B%E6%98%A5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun





-//-

萬里郷情 芽籠望

上个月趁着长假回家乡去走了一趟。这三几年来 ，一年一度的回乡都转到阳历年年未十的二月分，而这正好又是冬至的季节。俗语说过冬大过年，回家乡过冬也是个挺好的选择。

在冬至那一天喝完早茶走在怡保市旧街场的商业街巷时听到一位商人和他的邻居店铺的老板说 - 又大一岁了。

听见这句话，觉得很温馨很有意思 。 小时候，每每过冬时常会听到大人说， 吃了汤圆就又大了一岁。冬至过了就等待年了， 而过冬就代表年就快要到来了。

这个概念过冬就等于过年在家乡的街头小巷还听得到 –

圣诞节前的那一周，家乡的天气早上清凉，一早起来感觉寒冷，蓝蓝的天空带来了北方冬天天气的气氛。那就又好像回到更远的那个乡镇去。 那是 客家山地的松口镇。

记起旅游客家本营的梅州松口镇已经过了有十二个年头了。 那年和父亲们一起还乡刚好是挂着亚洲金融危机 地飓风。冬至 晚饭在香港吃完了的第二天就乘长途巴士到广州。然而过了一夜接着搭夜班火车往梅州去。

梅县松口是 祖辈的老乡，是祖父们度过他们童年的故土。也许为了那个浓浓的乡情，年轻时离乡背井到了南洋来，度过了四十多年的岁月成家立业，最终太平洋 战争结束后的 1946年还是选择归还乡度老年。

他和他的二哥如同大多数其他南来的客家乡亲都到去了锡矿生产地区。。 也许这个位置在近打河流山谷 刚开发的村落的地貌环境有些像他们家乡的山丘，他们定居了在这 个名为万里望的小镇上。

从他少年下番到老大还乡的漫长岁月里，大时代的日子一幕一幕马不停蹄的在演变， 从大清皇朝的崩潰到共和，从小战到战大战一直到新中国开国的前夕他在这两地的家乡建立了密切的来往。

记得小时候，有两大铁箱子从老屋搬过来的，里面载满着书信。那一件件传统红色信封上是贴着民国邮票，而贴着清朝的邮票的信也看过。 因为不懂 得中文， 不知道信中写些什么， 但都晓得那一封封的家信是两的来来往往的传家讯。

转眼间，光阴如箭 从祖父下番到南洋已过了一百多年了。 从祖父那一代开算起南洋这一方后裔面已经传到了第五代人了。而从万里望作为本营又在这五六十年里移民到别的地区去。


对于咱们生在万里望的裔孙家乡是在万里望，梅县松口已是个远方陌生的老家 。以前和远在唐山老家的密切关系已被岁月冲得淡淡了，而那两地的来往也逐渐消失了。

多年来每每回到万里望都会去再次寻探这些家乡情。 从中了解到我们各个族群是从哪里来， 咱们的根在那里。

万里望镇真唯一的乡亲会馆是嘉应五属会馆。从会馆墙壁上挂着的先辈们的遗照中可看到祖父母的照片。 小时候清明节去扫墓时父亲多次提过在总坟可找到祖父的名子。这回回乡也去寻查了战前乡亲会所修建的总坟。从刻在墓誌铭上先贤们的名列中了看到了祖父的名子， 也解到祖父建总坟的一些贡献和捐贈 。

乡情流长，万年青。


Postcript -

A thought of home from Geylang -

A check at the MD_BG Chinese-English translation web, 乡情 – xiang qin – is translated as nostalgia or homesickness which does not seem to fully convey what the phrase in Chinese means.

The trip home in December, was the annual ritual of ‘ balik kampong’ (in Malay), which perhaps much more aptly describes what going back to the hometown connotes.

It’s written in broken Chinese, and perhaps a more intimate way to convey the xiang qin .


//---

what wine do they drink in Geylang?

It’s the time of the season for merry festivities – of sumptuous dinning with a glass of good wine perhaps.

Going by the flyers one gets in the letterbox – the bottle of wine would most probably be a chardonnay, a cabernet or a merlot from either the vineyards of France, Australia or California in the US.

With a picture of sleazy - where streetwalkers ply their services till the early hours of dawn on any fine weather weekend, the average Singaporean would perhaps find it hard to relate the finer taste of wine drinking with Geylang.

They do. At the Turtle House restaurant in Guillemard road, on the fringe of Geylang opposite Kong Hwa School, red wine & white wine is on the drink menu.

Well, other than the Turtle House, where else and what wine do they drink there?

As I was passing one good morning I chanced upon a few empty wine bottles left outside one of the many Chinese migrants operated restaurants along Geylang Road, and being curious of what wine the diners drink, I picked one up for a closer look.

Lo & behold, on a closer look – I was staring into history thro the empty wine bottle.

The label states:

Changyu Reisling Dry White wine
张裕 雷司令干白葡萄酒

Changyu Pioneer Wine company Limited Yantai, China,
烟台张裕葡萄酿酒有限公司

It was a bottle of wine from China. And with it a note that explains the history of the Changyu wine, which perhaps of all wines sold in Singapore, has the closest connection with this island.

For Changyu winery was the pioneer wine producer in China. It was established a century & more ago in Yantai - 烟台 - Shantung Province, ahead of the better known Chinese wines abroad – such as Dynasty, or Great Wall.

The founder of the winery Chang Pi-shi - 張弼士 - aka Cheong Fatt-Tze - was the mandarin capitalist from Nanyang – (South-east Asia) who for a while was appointed consulate of the Qing court in Singapore in the 1890’s.

Well, Geylang is not just your any Geylang, it’s rich is history too, and even in the wine they drink…




Reference:

1. Changyu wine -
http://www.yellowmoonimports.com/changyuwinery/changyuwineryfacts.html
http://www.rmhb.com.cn/chpic/htdocs/english/200712/7-1.htm


2. Chang Pi-shih

Chang Pi-shih hailed from the Hakka district of Dapu.

At Lorong 22, Geylang is the Char Yong Association of the Dapu Hakka - a clan assocation with a museum on the upper floor -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheong_Fatt_Tze
http://charyong.org.sg/index.asp

3. Turtle House restaurant
http://www.sionglee.com/

-//-

the navel of japan - 諏訪湖 - lake suwa

This view of Lake Suwa -諏訪湖- sometimes referred to as the navel of Japan – was taken on Sunday , Jun21, 1992.

In the vicinity surrounding the lake are three townships – Kami-Suwa - 上諏訪、Shimo-Suwa - 上諏訪 & Okaya - 岡谷.

Being located in the central highlands of the Honshu Island, with clean mountain air, the townships in this part of Japan was developed into centers for precision engineering, emulating the Swiss watch making industries with the likes of Seiko Hattori.

Lake Suwa, though not as famous as her sister lake in Shiga Prefecture – Lake Biwa - 琵琶湖 -the largest lake in Japan - the two lakes are however intimately linked by a melodious song – Lake Biwa Roving song – which any Japanese should be familiar with.

The author of the lyrics of this song hailed from Okaya. The statue of Oguchi Taro stands by the shore of Lake Suwa, and one can listen to the song from the musical box next to it.

There is a museum dedicated to this song, and there is no lack of version of this song in you-tube.

Suwa is also well-know for the Obashira festival. I came to know of this festival when I was there in 1992. Though I just missed it by a matter of weeks, I nevertheless heard from the locals that the festival is held once every 7 years.

It is perhaps the most dangerous of festivals in the Japanese potpourri of traditional festivals. The locals mentioned that in each festival one or two people would be crushed by the giant logs as the revelers rode on it sliding down a steep slope. The next will be held in 2010.

Comes winter when the lake is frozen, there would be a natural phenomenon where the ice would crack and form a pressure ridge cross the lake. The local would relegate this formation as the o-miwatari – a sign that the gods from the Shinto shrines are making the rounds visiting the other shrines located around the lake.

Perhaps that the Japanese are so attached to their land even if they had not been singing their national anthem in schools, is due in no small part to influnce of these culture and traditions -

- thro the poems that they pen to romantic lyrics and sung to enchanting melodies they inculcate a sense of longing, and bond with the tanah that nutured them.

- a love for traditional festivities that sprang from the hamlets ages ago and enjoyed with renew gusto in each cycle of celebration, thus linking them back to a past with deep historical roots.

Ours too – we have it on this island : in the likes of poems by Edwin Thamboo, the joget musical of Geylang, the Chingay’s, ...

If these cultural assets are liken to roots of a people, whereas the roots of Lake Suwa has sunken deep to the soil, the new roots of ex-Shonan, are as yet seems shallow and have yet to develop the same firm grip that has braved the test of time.

Ah, a nation in the making ….


Postscript;

1. Okaya

After having left the Japan upon graduation, and had not visited the country for close to 8 years, the trip was a welcome opportunity to renew ties with the country. It was the start of many trips then, the longest stay being from 13May – 27June 1992

The most frequent hotel to lodge in was in Okaya -岡谷. Daily drove to the workplace along the river bank to another township located close to an hour by car –Chino - 茅野.

Chino was the center of Chinon camera, which wound up its camera business close to two decades ago.

A set of matchboxes collected during the stay then, and I wonder if the hotels and restaurants still continue to make match boxes..

Reference:

1. Lake Suwa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Suwa

http://www.suwakanko.jp/

2. Lake Biwa Rowing Song - 琵琶湖周航の歌 - Biwako shyuko no uta

http://photoguide.jp/txt/Biwako_Shuko_no_Uta_Shiryokan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH3mtrS3xWo

3. Ombashira festival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvXk-zq4uI

http://www.onbashira.jp/

4. Lyrics of Rowing Song of Lake Biwa by the shore of Lake Suwa.

/--

three-hundred- thousand - 三百千

When we were a kid, mum used to tell us over dinner that when she first started schooling – one of the text that she recited was the primer – Three Character Classic - san zi jing - 三字经

That was in early years of the 1930/s, and a decade & more after the 1919 May Fourth Movement in China, which revolutionized Chinese as a language – a watershed from classical Chinese to modern day Chinese. Among other things, classical education were frown upon by the intelligentsia.

However, in the small town of Menglembu, on the outskirt of Ipoh, & some where in the south seas – the Nanyang – 南洋 - the classics were still then a very much a part of the primary school text.

Among them were the :
Three Character Classic – 三字经 - Sanzhi jing
Hundred Family Surnames - 百家姓 – Baijia xìng
Thousand Character Classic - 千字文) - Qianji wen

Subsequently, when these texts were done away with in the school curriculum, and replaced by modern day primer, these classics managed to made it’s way into the family thro the yearly Almanac - 通書 – Tong shu or - 通勝 - Tong sheng.

As a kid, I would often flip thro the pages, and being educated in English in a mission school, the pages were Greek. Nevertheless, I was curious of what was written in there, and without the pinyin notations, neither could I pronounce the words.

These were part of the many early cultural mysteries that has enthralled me since. It was a part of the Chinese-cultural roots and make-up that I was trying to unravel –

And along the way, an interesting encounter -

The Purge –

The Three-Hundred-Thousand Classics, were almost annihilated in the first 30years of New China. In the later years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1970), Confucius was purged. I recall the cover title in Mastika – a Malay language magazine - ‘Mao nak bunuh orang yang telah mati ‘ - Mao want to kill a dead person.’

As part of the DX-ing hobby, one of the many stations that I used to tune in to was Radio Beijing, and particularly the campaign to - Criticize Lin Biao and Confucius - 批林批孔 - pilin pikong.

The traditional value system expounded in the classics, with a two-thousand year old heritage and more, was scorned upon and purged in the political wild fire of the 1960’s and 1970’s – in the land of origin.

However, much of this value system was a matter-of-factly continued to be transmitted from mother-to-son in the Chinese communities beyond.

The Resurrection -

Well, of late, from the gaige kaifang - 改革开放- the opening up of the New China to the outside world in 1978 and especially so in the last five years, Fortune has once again found favor in Thee-Hundred-Thousand.

Speakers interpreting the Classics, and expounding Confucian thoughts have nowadays become celebrities, and ...

...To be rich & famous is glorious!


Postscript :

1. Majalah Mastika –

With a aim to improve Bahasa Malaysia –a compulsory language subject in the MCE Malaysian Certificate of Education Examinations - Form 5 ‘O’ level, used to purchase this Malay language magazine & the other was Dewan Masyarakat .

Mastika – a monthly publication similar in size to Reader’s Digest , with articles on general knowledge – world and local happenings.

2. A cycle of 60 years –壽 - 寿 & China’s National Day celebration – Oct 01.

In the traditional way of counting one’s age, the 60th year is much more important than the 50th, and it is accord a special word known as – shou – written in the full script as 壽 - or in the simplified script as 寿 .

A sexagenarian has completed a cycle of - jia zi - 甲子- in the Chinese calendar of heavenly stems and earthly braches -天干地支 .

The previous - 寿 – shou - celebration on such a grand scale, was perhaps last done when Emperor Qianlong 乾隆帝 （1711-1799）of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) celebrated his 60th year reign. – 1796.

Perhaps, the Thee-Hundred-Thousand – and the classics will continue to exert a moderating influence on the new found pride and confidence of a New-New China.

Effectively,
–contrary to man being a sinner from birth, human was born inherently good nature ….

- to quote the opening phrase in : Three Character Classic – 三字经 - Sanzhi jing :

人之初 (rén zhī chū) People at birth,
性本善 (xìng běn shàn) Are naturally good.
性相近 (xìng xiāng jìn) Their natures are similar,
習相遠 (xí xiāng yuan) Their habits make them different


3. 三百千 Three-Hundred-Thousand

百家姓 三字经 千字文 第子规
木子编
新疆少年出版社出版， 1996年7月第一版
定价27。80元

1997。12。23
探访客家祖地梅县松口旅程
第二站 ：广州市， 古籍书店购
- purchased in Guangzhou on trip to ancestral village Songkou, Meixian

References –

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Character_Classic

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Family_Surnames

3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Character_Classic

4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_shing

5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagenary_cycle

6) http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majalah_Mastika




-//----

tide of history – reflection on century old primer from Kyoto

Found this text book in Kyoto in a box of old books placed outside the book shop selling old books located in the north-eastern part of the city.

The date of publication - the 25th year of the Meiji Era, entitled – 帝国読本 - Teikoku dokuhon - An Imperial Primer - is 1892. It was the 8th in a series of reading text from Imperial Japan, dated

At 1 ¥00 (S$1.158) and for a 107-year old text book which is in a relatively well-kept condition – it is a memorabilia well worth its price. A good pick from this ancient but modern capital city, for someone who loves to old books.

For a item of similar item with this age, it would cost 20 times more at the Sunday Flea Mart in China Square.

Well, come to think of it – for a city with a continuous history of 1300-years, a 107-year old text book is but just a tiny pebble in her river of time . What it a century when time is flows in the millennium.

The owner of the text book had written his name Okunishi - in neat Victorian style English alphabet on the cover of the text. Inside the text is found the seal - 奥西 - in vermillion, stamped on a number of pages - to attest ownership.

Reminiscing the era in which this book was printed -

Since the start of the Meiji Era in 1868, it was a period of learning from the West, and writing one’s name in the English alphabet must be in vogue, then.

Within the contents of the primer, there were short chapters on geography of the world & modern sciences – explaining the cause of earthquake, and introduction to anatomy. It was a text to introduce western science and technology to the Japanese students.

By then, the Meiji restoration - 明治维 - was already into its 25th year of modernization. The foundation of a new society build on western science & technology was well on its way to enable Japan to - 脱亞入欧 – datsu A nyuu O – tuoya ru ou - that is - to literary pluck itself out of Asia and enter into the European sphere of civilized nations.

Interestingly, inter-woven into the text, were also short chapters embodying the essence of the Japan bushido spirit – on Japanese history, geography and Shinto-ism – the native religion of Japan.

Flipping thro the text, one could feel the flow of history on the fingertips.

One got a first hand glimpse of the teaching material that put Japan on the modernization path. In it the ideological essence of that era - 和魂洋才 - wakon-yōsai- meaning - Japanese spirit and Western knowledge & techniques - were written on its chapters. That was the part that Japan took to rise to be a world economic and industrial power.

Close to a century and a half have since passed, since the Meiji Restoration -


In between, the waves of militarism & pacifism have washed her rugged shores. In the rise and fall of nations, other Asian nations have been coming of age, since.

Would perhaps the Land of the Rising Sun come home to to roost again with her Asian neighbors, in the aftermath of the 2009 genreal election . . . and the spark to the begining of a new primer.



Postscript -

1. Kyoto – Old Book Fair　－古本祭り

Old book festival ＠ Shimokamo Kyoto held thrice yearly in May, August & November

http://openkyoto.com/sightseeing/market/kyoto-used-book-festival.html


2. 帝国読本　券之八　学海指針社編輯

明治二十六年九月十八日
文部省撿定濟

目次

第 一 課 三種の神宝
第二　 課 八岐の大蛇
第三　 課 日本の武尊
第四　 課 日本ノ三景
第五　 課 日本ノ工藝
第六　 課 雪舟
第七　 課 地震
第八　 課 奥貫友山
第九　 課 蟻ノ話
第十　 課 節儉
第十一 課 山下禅尼
第十二 課 日用晝類
第十三 課 世界
第十四 課 支那
第十五 課 支那歴史
第十六 課 三韓征伐
第十七 課 弘安の役
第十八 課 朝鮮征伐
第十九 課 食物の行方　其一
第二十 課 食物の行方　其二
第二十一課 飲食
第二十二課 日用晝類
第二十三課 仁徳天皇
第二十四課 醍醐天皇
第二十五課 國體
第二十六課 國史大要　　其一
第二十七課 國史大要　　其二
第二十八課 國民ノ大義務　其一
第二十九課 國民ノ大義務　其二
第三十 課 國民ノ大義務　唱歌


明治二十五年九月十八日　仰刷
同年　　　　九月十八日　 出版
明治二十五年九月十八日　仰刷
同年　　　　九訂正　 再発行

編者 學海指針社
東京市日本橋區通油町拾六番地
發行者 小林八郎
仰刷者 小林清一郎
發賣所 集英堂本店
仰刷所 集英堂活版所

定價 券八金十銭o五厘

Contents of text printed in 42pages of thin paper .

３．Wakon-yōsai (和魂洋才) 　－Japanese Spirit Western techniques

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato-damashii


- Poster of - Sunday Flea Mart @ China Square -


















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bite me, if you love me! - the Geylang connection

What has them in common -
- love me, bite me, duck neck, Fist of Fury- all in Geylang.

- Since moving to Geylang, I’ve been trying to catch up with all the wonderfully interesting shops and signboards along Geylang Road. Interpose with the traditional straits shop houses, and you will find vignettes of the sub-urbancenter in transformation

At a glance, I thought that the Chinwoo Athletic Association located in Neil Road had set up a branch in Geylang.

Though within Geylang precinct there is already quite a number of clan associations and clubs that offer martial arts and pugilistic training, and well, perhaps to attract the new migrants from our ancestor land and to boost its membership, the association had extended to the eastern part of the island.

- For Geylang is the under-declared Chinatown of 21st century Singapura.

However, I found it a little misplaced that the big sign outside the shop front should be titled – 精武門　－Jingwu Men. If it is a branch of the Chinwoo Athletic Association, & in keeping with the official name of Chinwoo Association worldwide – it should be - 新嘉坡精武體育會 – 芽籠支部. – Xinjiapo Jingwu Tiyuhui Yalong zhibu - Geylang Branch.

Well, 精武門 – Jingwu men – is the title of Bruce Lee 1972 movie hit, Fist of Fury – in Chinese. And getting all the more curious, and wanting to find out more what is in Jingwu men, I ventured into the shop to take a closer look –

Instead of a dojo – it actually is a kopitiam that started off selling the local fare such as curry chicken noodles & laksa. However, along with the influx of the new migrants, the kopitiam has transformed itself into a semi-pub, and with a front stall selling possibly the latest craze in Geylang –yabozi - duck neck.

Interestingly on the wall, I also found not one, but two photographs of the founder of Chinwoo – Huo Yanjia - 霍元甲(1867 – 1909 -haphazardly placed on the wall, among the mess of tables, chairs and drinking bottles.

Not in a million years, I thought would ever the upright and respectable HuoYanjia, approve of his photographs to be hung in a messy kopitiam-cum-watering hole, that is patronized by pot-bellied ah pek, (local dialect for uncle) & pandered by 流萤 – liuying – fireflies.

Well, in Geylang, Bugis, and Chinatown – there is a proliferation of - yabozi stalls and shops – usually branded as ：

武汉久久鸭脖子 – Wuhan 99 duck neck
武汉精武鸭脖子 - Wuhan Jingwu duck neck

Jingwu is derived from the street name – Jingwu Lu – 精武路 - in Wuhan which is supposedly the origin & center of the yabozi stalls.

There story had it that – one of the stalls invented the catchy phrase as its advertisement slogan:

爱我就啃我 - aiwo jiu kenwo - if you love me, bite me!

That is - buy my duck neck and you will be assured of a good, crunchy and tasty bite.

With this catchy phase, well, the rest as the say was history. Thro the web – this advertisement caught on China-wide.

If you go Beijing, you will not leave without having a taste of Beijing duck. If you go to Wuhan, having a bite of the duck neck, is a must taste in the itinerary. The duck biz – neck and all – is reportedly a RMB6 billion ($$1.25B) dollar business in Wuhan.

As Hou Yanjia is a native of Tianjin – 天津 (the city with the eco-project joint with Singapore), Jingwu - 精武- has long been registered as a trademark by a food business in Tianjin. And reportedly this Tianjing company has taken the Wuhan Food business to court for infringing on the word - Jingwu.

Perhaps – the Wuhan entrepreneur who ventured into Singapore has an eye for Geylang – for one, because of the congregation of the Chinese migrants there, and two, all the more because there is a free flow of love in Geylang…. if you love me, bite me.

Well, so much for the duck business, out goes the window Chinwoo & the founder…Geylang, Wuhan yabozi style.


Notes & references:

1. 精武 - Chinwoo - Jingwu

Chinwoo – possibly derived from the southern Chinese dialect, such as Cantonese - zingmou – is the same as - jingwu (pinyin).

Chinwoo Athletic association was spread to the Chinatowns world wide by the early migrants from South-china.

http://www.chinwoo.org/history.htm

This picture of the Chinwoo Athletic Association in KL was take in 2005 CNY period - @ Chinwoo Hill, close to KL Chinatown.

http://www.chinwoo.org.my/en/home.php

2. 霍元甲 - Huo Yanjia

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huo_Yuanjia

3 . Films on Chinwoo and its founder

- Fist of Fury - 1972 : Starring Bruce Lee & Nora Miao

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee

It was an impressionable film that I watched while in Form 3, in my hometown. I remember after the show, I reverted to using chopsticks for dinner that evening, instead of eating with fork and spoon.

- Fearless - 2006 : Starring Jet Li - & based on the autobiography of Huo Yanjia.,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearless_(2006_film)


4. 鸭脖子 - yabozi –

Listed as the 10 ten snacks in Beijing Street food - reported in The Star, Toronto -

Yabozi (duck's neck) – The duck's neck is long and winding, weird-looking and leathery, but it's chopped up and makes a great snack-in-a-bag. The neck is marinated in brine with chilies, boiled and, finally, stir-fried. Its flavours vary from star anise to cumin, but this classic Wuhan snack will likely leave your lips buzzing. You don't need to spend an evening (and a fortune) in a fancy restaurant having Beijing duck to, well, eat duck: You can also buy whole ducks on the street.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/469434


Tianjin net : (in Chinese)
http://www.022net.com/2007/7-13/465231232845408.html


5. 流萤 – liuying – fireflies.

This term is used in the local Chinese dailies to refer to the lady-of-the night, the street-walkers that congregate in Geylang area, from sun-down .




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街头街尾芽笼巷 - active aging Geylang style

In today’s ST there is a article on active aging. It’s the story of a retired lecturer who feeling bored after a month of migrating down under, returned to the city island to take up a teaching position in a polytechnic. He’s 70 years old.

Well, this photograph taken along Geylang Road tells of a tale that would hit this story of active aging on the head -

It was Sunday afternoon, 1:00pm, walking down Geylang Road from the junction of Guillemard Road towards city, and looking for a place to lunch.

This tanned sinewy Ah Pek – 阿伯 - with balding silver hair painting the shop front caught my eyes. As I was considering painting my new place myself, I thought it would be a fine opportunity to get some hands on free advice on painting from him.

So much for cultivating a kampong spirit in city living, and good neighborliness, it will also give me a chance to get to know some of the residents in this new neighborhood. Notorious though it may be – Geylang - there was a gang attack just the night before in the lorong nearby – there should be friendly souls around, I thought.

Sure enough, Ah Pek was an approachable and affable man, and probably the friendliest of folks that you could expect in a place such as Geylang.

He gave me a cheerful smile, while going about his job and said that the previous tenant – a hotpot restaurant named Alishan – had vacated the lot and he’s sprucing the place up looking for a new tenant. He’s doing up the whole shop by himself – electrical, piping, painting and all and is his own contractor.

He said that he had been working on the shop front for the past three days. First, repairing the cracks on the wall with putty, before applying the paint, and that the work though relatively easy, is strenuous, but it helped him saved without sub-contracting out the work.

Well, his reply fits perfectly to my intent. What he said next, all the more is no excuse not to do the paint job myself –

Ah Pek asked me:

你知道我几岁吗?
(Do you know how old am I?)

Looking at his sprightly self climbing up and down ladders, I attempted a guess - 70 perhaps.

He smiling replied:

我已经八十岁了!
(I’m already 80 years old!)

Ah Pek continued that a few years ago when he was younger, he even replaced the floor tiles on the five-foot way & decorated the facade of the Straits shop house, with a dragon motif.

Seeing that he’s so active for an octogenarian, I whipped out my mobile phone camera, and asked if I could take a picture of him.

Ah Pek gleefully replied:

为什么你要拍我的照片，我有什么美。 你应该拍哪一个吗!
(Why you want to take my photograph, I am no beauty. You should be taking the picture of that one.)

He turned his head and gestured at the prettily dress lass that just walked pass.

So much on active aging – see you in Geylang . . .


Postscript

1 . 街头街尾芽笼巷

Jie tou jie wei Yalung xiang – literary meaning – up & down Geylang and its lanes

If Beijing has her hutong – 胡同 - and Shanghai the linong – 里弄 - then Singapore, would have or should it be had, Geylang & her lorong's - albeit a humbler version.

Straddling the two main roads – Sims Avenue and Geylang Road - that runs parallel the length of this sub-urban center are the many lorong (Malay) – 巷 – xiang – lane / alley. In all what’s left now is from Lorong 2 to 44.

The locals will head to Geylang – if one is in seek of durian. Pleasure quarters are on the even numbered lorong’s while gourmet offerings in general is on the odd number sector.
It’s the place in Singapore where heaven & earth meets - temples, mosques and churches are an alley’s apart with the house of vices.

While our ancestors gathered at Kereta Ayer - 牛车水- the defunct Chinatown- when they migrated to the Nanyang – 南洋 - a century and more ago, Geylang is alive with the new migrants and foreign labors from China – the new China-town.

Geylang is touted as one of the top 10 tourist attraction by Times magazine.

http://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1845806_1845592_1845748,00.html

2. Ah Pek – 阿伯

Uncle – in local Hokkien dialect to address an elderly man.

阿伯 - a bo ( pinyin) - ah pek (Hokkien) – ah bak (Cantonese ) : paternal uncle – who is older than one’s father
阿叔 – a shu - ah jik - ah suk: paternal uncle younger than one’s father

3. After lunch – went to visit to the museum and the Aljunied Library. On the way back at about 4:30pm, Ah Pek was still actively at work – clearing the back of the shop house. Another centenarian in the making -

4. Despite her notoriety & sleaze – Geylang was and is abode to learned monks and renowned artists – check it out:

http://www.museums.com.sg/MRM_konghiap.asp

http://www.tanswiehian.com/index.php?lang=en&CODE=05

http://www.nhb.gov.sg/www/pr/sam/Xu%20Beihong.pdf

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