Dragon Descendants

A Chinese Song : 望春风 Looking forward to the spring breeze

2025-07-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

The late Teresa Teng was once very popular in Japan. Before her however, there was another songbird who was very popular there, Judy Ong 翁倩玉, a Taiwanese who became a naturalized Japanese citizen. Remember first seeing her in a 1973 Taiwanese movie, Life Begins Here where she played a school teacher with a terminal disease. The movie has many beautiful songs and a warm story. It I'm sure was influenced by Hollywood's Sound of Music too and sometimes, I thought of it as the Chinese Sound of Music. Lol.

Here's Judy Ong performing a Hokkien number 望春风

More Chinese songs!

A Steaming Chinese Dinner

2025-01-07T18:46:00.000-08:00

Chinese dinner during weddings or other formal functions to me, is a fun affair. An eight course dinner; there would be fish, meat, chicken dishes which we normally don't cook at home and if there's any rice to eat, probably they are fried and come in a big dish for everyone to dig in. There was a formal dinner that I attended where the first dish seemed to be steaming hot.

Enjoy this dinner, won't you?

Chinese Cemetery Turnoff?

2024-10-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Not sure about Chinese cemetery in ancient times but was of the impression that it was a place shunned by the Chinese then. The place is not just associated with the dead but the tombs themselves, being huge mounds scare off some people especially when they are overgrown with weeds. Before Cheng Beng and long after the festival, the place could be unkempt and a turn off. In modern times however, Chinese cemeteries could be a beautiful place with a landscaped garden. Chinese today may have no qualms about buying a plot of land for themselves to be buried in when they passed away later. Sometimes, I wonder if it could be the influence of Buddhism where death is considered something natural which is bound to happen once a person is born. In a cemetery nearby, one would feel welcome with numerous Buddhist artifacts.

Just watch this!

For more on Buddhism, click Dhamma Delights!

Happy Mooncake Festival!

2024-09-16T02:27:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, especially during the weekends, there were gatherings here and there to celebrate the Mooncake Festival. There was a big celebration in the local Lake Gardens, I heard; with Chinese drums being beaten by about a hundred drummers among many other activities. A relative had a private party at her home and was invited. Didn't go though, not to her house or to the Lake Gardens. Everyone probably has a good time though. The holidays has just begun and there is just something for everybody. Happy Mooncake Festival everyone!

Wishing you a Happy Mid-autumn Festival!

And there may be just the perfect lantern for you here!

Colourful Mooncakes

2024-09-10T00:42:00.000-07:00

Never give much thought about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes, as usual have appeared in the supermarket and shopping malls for sometime now. It was only yesterday when someone gave a box containing some colourful and delicate looking mooncakes that I checked out the actual date for this year Mid-Autumn Festival. This year, the festival falls on 17 September. That would be a week away. Have a happy Mid-Autumn Festival, won't you?

9.9.24

Power Generation Glass

2024-07-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

There wasn't a glass that could produce eletricity but there is now, thanks to Pan Jingong. Pan Jingong reportedly was a bright child and harboured dreams of becoming a scientist. He furthered his studies in America, specializing in high-efficiency and low-energy power generation technology. Later, despite being offered a million-dollar annual salary, he returned to China. He discovered a material with strong light energy absorption capabilities and minimal environmental impact, cadmium telluride which industry thought had no future. It took six years of hard work before he made power generation glass became a reality.

Watch this!

Assimilated Chinese

2024-05-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

It should be common knowledge that Chinese could be found all over the world. Heard once that they are like grass; they could be found everywhere, even in harsh conditions where they are found to be rather resilient. In a post in FB, it is stated that Thailand has the most Chinese followed by Malaysia, USA and Indonesia. In some countries, the Chinese form a very distinct group and irked the locals for having their own schools and still keeping their cultures and religion. There, in bad times the Chinese becomes scapegoats for whatever trouble that arises and there would be calls for them to give up their language, culture or religion in order to assimilate and integrate with the locals. In Thailand and Indonesia, some said that the Chinese have assimilated and integrated well. Many Chinese there are said to have adopted non-Chinese names and have forgotten their language. Having assimilated and integrated, it is a wonder that the Chinese in these countries still appeared as Chinese in datas.

Happy Birthday, Mazu!

2024-04-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

It's 1 May, Labour Day; and it coincides with Mazu's birthday. Mazu, by the way is a popular Chinese goddess and patron of the sea, revered by fisherman and sailors. Mazu, reportedly lived in the late 10th century in Meizhou Island, China. During her lifetime, she had dedicated herself to helping others. Her mother supposedly gave birth to her on the 23rd day of the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar after taking a pill purportedly given by the Goddess of Mercy. There are stories regarding Mazu's death; one claiming that she had died while attempting to rescue the survivors of a shipwreck while another said she died while meditating. After her death, a temple was built in her honour and she was venerated as a goddess.Today, there are over 200 million devotees worldwide and over 5,000 temples devoted to Mazu. Happy birthday, Mazu and Happy Labour Day!

A Chinese Song : Using the Malaysian Weather to Say I Love You 用馬來西亞的天氣來說愛你

2024-04-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Once, when the people in Johor were urged to wear masks, it was not because of Covid 19. The haze had then made a return to the local scene! At one time, the air quality was reported to be unhealthy in 19 areas in seven states! Remember once when the air was clean and a local Chinese songwriter penned a song 用馬來西亞的天氣來說愛你 Using the Malaysian Weather to Say I Love You. Tan Kheng Seong 陈庆祥, better known as Ah Niu 阿牛 and several other Malaysian singers of Chinese descents sang and recorded this song which was well received by the local Chinese community. The melody of the song is catchy; and an equally catchy folksong Rasa Sayang was incorporated into it. Rasa Sayang is rather popular in South East Asia. The song, expressing love, is in Malay; and while many think it a local Malay song, the Indonesians say it is a song from Ambon, Maluku in Indonesia. I just thought that there isn't a need to incorporate the folksong into the Chinese song. And during the haze, one couldn't use the weather to express love. Probably, not the present heat wave too. It is reported that high temperatures would to be expected in some places.

Here's 用馬來西亞的天氣來說愛你 Using the Malaysian Weather to Say I Love You... performed at the Lake Gardens...

More Chinese songs!

8.10.23

Before Qing Ming

2024-04-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Qing Ming festival was on Thursday 4 April. It is almost two days since then but there probably would be people still going to the graves of the departed to pay their respect. Afterall, this is permissible ten days before and after the actual Qingming Festival. Qing Ming is also called tomb-sweeping day for the simple reason that besides making offerings and burning joss paper, family members will clean the gravesite when they go there to pay their respect. These days however, a family may employ someone else to do the cleaning. Days before 4 April, an Indian man kept phoning me, requesting me to allow him to clear the weeds of the tombs of my parents. I remember many Indians would be at the cemetery during Qing Ming day itself; and anyone could get them to clean the graves at a fee. Indians themselves don't celebrate Qing Ming festival; but this, I thought is a case of people of different races and religions being able to live together in harmony when they complement each other.

Getting Ready for Qing Ming...

A Chinese Science Fiction Writer

2024-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Isaac Asimov 's name rings a bell. The American writer was one of the Big Three science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinein and Arthur C.Clarke. It never occurs to me then that famous science fiction writers were Westerners and that I haven't heard of a famous one from the east; at least not until The Three-Body Problem trilogy sold 8 millions copies worldwide and got translated to more than 20 languages. The Three-Body Problem trilogy was written by Chinese writer Liu Cixin 刘慈欣. The trilogy has also been adapted into a Chinese TV series as well as an English-language Neflix series.

A Royal Visit

2024-02-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

Read in the news that the former wife of Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, Datin Paduka Seri Hajah Mariam visited the house of Wu Chun 吳尊 during Chinese New Year. Visiting relatives and friends is a norm during the festive season but getting a visit from royalty deserves a spot in the news. But then of course, it shouldn't be a surprise in the case of Wu Chun since he is a big name himself. Wu Chun used to be a member of a Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit. The singer, actor, and entrepreneur actually hails from Brunei but he is rather popular among the Chinese in Asia. Suppose he must be very talented and his ability to speak and read Chinese allows him to go beyond the shore of Brunei.

Mandolin Man

2024-02-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

Many people especially the younger generation would not know the late Tan Tong Tong 陳同同. Tan Tong Tong played a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, the Yueqin 月琴, otherwise known as the Chinese mandolin. Probably, at one time, he must be a familiar figure in the streets of Penang. He used to ply the streets there, strumming his Yueqin, singing songs and rhymes in Hokkien and telling fortunes, then the trade of the day. Tan Tong Tong later appeared in radio, singing old Hokkien songs in a one-hour program on Redifusion Malaysia and a half-hour programme on Radio Malaya. There is a mural of the mandolin man at the backlane of Delta Office near Pitt Street in Penang; in honour of him, I suppose.

Here's another mandolin man!

and a Mandolin woman wishing you a happy Chinese New Year!

Flowers for New Year

2024-02-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

A friend suggested that we visit the nursery the other day. We had visited the same nursery a fortnight ago but the nursery would now come alive with new flowering plants since Chinese New Year is just round the corner. It is not unusual for Chinese to shop for flowering plants such as chrysanthemums and kumquat to usher in the new year.

Which of these caught your eyes?

26.1.24

Some Maths Genius

2024-01-23T23:16:00.000-08:00

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; I read 2,500 students from 31 countries took part in the UCMAS International Competition. The students were tested on their speed and accuracy in mental math. Four Richmond students who won prizes proudly flaunted flags of Canada and all have Asian faces. Lately, I've been reading news on people who are good in Maths. An award-winning Chinese mathematician Sun Xin reportedly left US to work at Peking University. Then, there was this Chinese maths genius monk who left monkhood to get married, saying that he was better suited to down-to-earth life. Now, I really wonder if he meant down-to-earth life means getting married.

A Shopping Mall in China

2024-01-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

In a video in Youtube, an expartriate working in Kunming, China stated that less than 20 percent of the people in China possess a passport. That probably means many people in China don't travel out of China. China is a vast country with many distinct sights and cultures. Remember once while visiting the Leshan Buddha in Sichuan, my friends met three youngsters whom we helped take some photos with a pagoda as a backdrop. The youngsters were from some other parts of China and were on holiday. The people in China probably travel just within the country and then maybe if they don't, they can just go visit a shopping mall.

Just watch this!

Drama Quotes : A Chance Meeting

2024-01-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

When people are dead, can they enjoy the view?
There's only the present that we must face.
Does the conflict make you happy?
You are still young. God shouldn't take you.
Money is impermanent.

A Chance Meeting (2022) with an ex-lover brings heart pain, revelation and finally reconcilation.

4.7 ⭐

More Drama Quotes!

20.2.23

A Chinese Puzzle

2024-01-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

Chinese call the tangram 七巧板 qīqiǎobǎn. which means seven boards of skill, seven because it consists of seven flat polygons called tans which needs skills to be put together to form a target shape like a square or an animal. The catch is the tans must not overlap. Fun and challenging it may be but a tangram can also be used to teach mathematical concepts like congruency, symmetry, area, geometry, and perimeter. Hence, this Chinese puzzle is also considered a mathematical puzzle. The tangram reportedly has been invented in China around the late 18th century and had spread over to America and Europe via trading ships.

Here,see if you can solve this puzzle...

and enjoy this!

8.7.23

Saturday Special : Chinese Porridges

2023-12-29T22:42:00.000-08:00

The lady running the stall was a Vietnamese lady, married to a local, I suspect; there are many instances of local Chinese men taking Vietnamese brides these days. Chinese brides seem so hard to come by especially to some Chinese men who are poorly educated and not so well off financially. The men can however still afford arranged marriages with ladies from Vietnam; the latter normally could speak Mandarin and don't mind the hard life. The lady running the stall was hardworking no doubt; and was getting me to buy her porridge. There were fish porridge, chicken porridge and century egg porridge. I decided to have the century egg porridge for lunch. Vietnamese porridges, I read are sometimes cooked with pandan leaves and mung beans. No pandan leaves and mung beans in my porridge though. It only came with yaw cha kwai or youtiao. All the porridges do indeed look Chinese!

More Saturday Specials!

Umbrella Story

2023-12-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

Oh, that was such a marvelous idea. Big umbrellas to ease the heat during summer in Saudi Arabia; umbrellas fit for giants. Then, I was reading about umbrellas having a long history in China, at least 4000 years. The wife of Luban 魯班, a famous ancient Chinese inventor was said to have invented it. Wonder if it was similar to the oil-paper umbrella 油紙傘 that was so common in the 60s. Someone sent a video claiming that this umbrella was created a thousand years ago. Yet somewhere, it is written that it is not known when oil-paper umbrellas started to appear and yet another that claims its use spread after Luban's invented what was described as bamboo sticks chopped to thin strips, covered in animal fur, closed to become a cane and opened as a cone. Feathers or silks had been used in early umbrellas before being replaced by paper. Luban and his wife, by the way lived during the Warring State Period in China.

Giant umbrellas in Saudi Arabia!...

Watch how an oil-paper umbrella is made:

A Day for Cleansing

2023-10-20T01:54:00.011-07:00

Come twenty third October, a Chinese school is taking a break. It is the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar and the day of the Double-Ninth Festival or Chongyang Festival 重陽節. An Indian lady asked what is the festival about and this should not be a surpise. Though the festival isn't something new; its origin went back as early as the Warring States period; it strangely isn't celebrated in Malaysia, at least not by Chinese I know. Double-Ninth Festival is observed in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea and even Vietnam. On this day, I read people celebrate by climbing mountains, drinking chrysanthemum liquor and wearing the zhuyu (茱萸) plant Cornus officinalis. The zhuyu plant supposedly has cleansing qualities and can be used to air out houses and cure illnesses. Pardon me for thinking that the Double-Ninth Festival is a day for cleansing.

A Belated Mooncake Festival

2023-10-14T20:51:00.005-07:00

Mooncake Festival 2023 fell on September 29 this year but a school had celebrated it a week later. It seemed that many people have their own Mooncake Festival parties to go to on the actual day and the school had made room for them. Then, when the day came, a big luminous moon and bunny adorned the school compound. An Indian lady asked about the significance of the bunny. In Chinese legend, there was of course a rabbit in the moon. The story goes that three immortals posing as poor old people, begged a fox, a monkey and a rabbit for food. The fox and monkey both offered food to the immortals but the rabbit which did not have any, offered itself instead and it jumped into a fire. Moved by the sacrifice, the immortals sent the rabbit to the moon to become the immortal jade rabbit.

Mooncake Festival 2003...

Guess what the activities are...

A Chinese Song : 送情郎 Seeing a Lover Off

2023-09-29T06:04:00.006-07:00

It drizzled in the evening and I wonder if there would be a full moon tonight or if people would throng to the Lake Gardens. That's afterall what a lot of young people do each year during the Mooncake Festival and today is officially Mooncake Festival 2023. Besides carrying lanterns, eating mooncakes and pomelo, what better way than listening to this old song, 送情郎 Seeing a Lover Off. Remember this song which mentions the Mooncake Festival was a duet between matinee idols of yesterday, Lin Dai and Yen Chun.

送情郎 Seeing a Lover Off :

Happy Mooncake Festival, everyone!

More Chinese songs!

Drama Quotes : Water Margin

2023-09-20T01:04:00.000-07:00

Having Buddha nature doesn't mean enlightenment is assured.
I'm a matchmaker. I'm also a matchbreaker.
A good neighbor is a blessing.
When there's life, there is hope.
Even the Gods can't save them.

The 1998 television series The Water Margin is adapted from the 14th-century novel by Shi Nai'an. The story revolves around Song Jiang who leads a group of outlaws at Mount Liang to rebel against the government during the Northern Song dynasty.

More Drama quotes!

Farewell Hungry Ghost Festival!

2023-09-13T20:31:00.006-07:00

Just the other day, someone was murdered in the nearby market. A banana fritter seller had told off a potential customer for using his hands to touch the banana fritters and in the ensuing scuffle, the latter had wrecked the vendor's stall. The attacker left the scene, only to come back later with a stick. He then hit the vendor on the head and killed him on the spot. The murder became a hot topic in town and someone had related it to the Hungry Ghost Festival. The Hungry Ghost Festival is the time when ghosts are supposed to roam the earth and cause havoc too, I suppose. Death especially of old people, some say; is more likely to occur during the festival; but an old 2010 newspaper reported that in Singapore, the death toll did not increase then. As it is, today September 14, marks the last day of the ghostly festival and it must be a relief to some. Goodbye Hungry Ghost Festival and welcome, Mooncake Festival!

Hungry Ghost Festival in Vietnam! :