Start Work
Yes! what a title! "Start Work" is traditionally a Chinese way of
saying end of Holidays and now back to business! Today is the 5th Day
in the Lunar New Year and many businesses and career people go back to
their busy lives once again. The New Year is not over yet! The last
day for celebration will be on the 21st of February 2008.
Nowadays it is rarely celebrated this way! Most people commence work
or business either on the 5th or 6th Day onwards. Living in present
times are hectic as well as competitive. Have not been blogging since
the New Year Eve and feeling lazy to do anything! We would like to
Wish all those who are back to business, a fresh beginning and a
fruitful, productive Year ahead!
It is also a bit of sadness that we feel now. Our friends and
relatives are all gone! The last to leave was my elder brother and
sis-in-law! Now back to the usual routine of quietness once again!
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Posted by bokjae at 1:29 PM 7 comments
Labels: Culture
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Best New Year Gift
What a super- generous friend I have in Marzie! She awarded me 8
Awards at one go! Talking about good things coming during the Lunar
Princess! You are Greatest, Most Generous and such a Wonderful friend!
I have done a Photoshop piece on the Awards and will share with others
as soon as I get over the New Year busy schdule of visiting friends
and relatives! Cheers!
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Posted by bokjae at 12:05 AM 10 comments
Labels: Social
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Lunar New Year Wishes
It can be a bit confusing to people who are not familiar with Chinese
Culture! We just celebrated the New Year 2008 and now another New
Year? To clear things up a bit, the Chinese Lunar New Year falls
around January or February in most years. The Chinese Calendar follows
a 60 year cycle of the Moon hence Lunar! Today 6th February is the Eve
and Chinese all over the World will have some sort of Reunion Dinner
with the family.
It is customary for Chinese to say 'nice things' to others during this
Lunar New Year Celebration and this year it falls on the 7th February
2008 as the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. In appreciation
to my readers, first time visitors and fellow bloggers, I would like
to wish you all the following :-
May the Good Lord Blesses you with Health, Wealth and Peace.
A loving family to enjoy and friends that are true and loyal at least.
Good food, great wine, lovely music it shall be.
You will attain to who you wannabe! A Blessed New Year!
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Posted by bokjae at 10:00 PM 7 comments
Labels: Relationships
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Our Match Maker
It may sound strange to you that rock and I had a Match-Maker! In the
40's and 50's and maybe even in the early 60's most couples came to
know each other which eventually leads to matrimony was through a
match-maker. I remebered attended my elder sister's 'Introduction
Lunch' organized by none other than a match maker! All I remembered
was the egg-tarts were great and I attended the lunch. Well my sister
married that guy who became my brother-in-law and that was when I was
about 5 years old! Up to that point I was my elder sister's sleeping
partner but not long after that lunch I lost my sleeping partner!
Today, our match-maker Jackie dropped by the house and we had a
wonderful time chatting about old times! Really old times because it
was about events more than 35 years ago! She came with her hubby, all
the way from Aussie land, coming back to celebrate the coming Lunar
New Year! In a sense she was not really our match-maker but more of
through her inviting me to attend a house party that I met rock! She
was a classmate of rock's sister ruby! Jackie's hubby was a pal of
mine and we rented a house or a bachelor's pad in Bangsar KL! That
explained all the intricate connections!
What stood out was the friendship, relationship that lasts more than
three decades! Now her children are all grown up and married and
lately became a granny! It is indeed sad to note that modern marriages
are so fragile! They could not withstand the many ups and downs in
life and many marriages ended up in divorce! What was different then?
Has over stressing of individual rights anything to do with it?
Honestly I don't know. In our parent's generation divorce was frowned
upon and a taboo! In our generation, divorce became more acceptable
but rare, now it seems to be a trend! One well publicized marriage in
Malaysia in recent months lasted only for about a month! How fragile
it could be? Have the Rules of Engagement changed that much?
Well, it is difficult to say what causes these breakups or breakdowns
and I am sure many of you have your own opinions and conclusions.
Relationships that lasts a long long time is something to be
cherished, be it about spouses, relatives or friends! Not that those
who stayed married are better people per se but one thing for certain
is the presence of ingredients such as tenacity, committment, and very
important, forgiveness when one party does wrong. No matter what life
throws at them, they stand united to face the challenges. This I
believe, gives the children a sense of assurance and the basis for
their own sense of security while growing up.
The visit of our match-maker gave us a quiet sense of joy, contentment
and even satisfaction within our hearts that we can still see each
other with the spouses and talking about children and grandchildren.
What is life if it is not about meaningful relationships, mutual
respect, love and honour for the other person! What a great beginning
for the Lunar New Year this visit was. Like re-establishment of old
ties that goes on until we say our final good-bye!
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Posted by bokjae at 8:01 PM 4 comments
Labels: Relationships
Monday, February 4, 2008
Poetry in Passing Motion
Pardon me for being crude to share on a topic like 'Passing Motion'.
Please bear with me for it is absolutely funny and brilliant how
creativity comes to some people while doing that and in such a place
is definitely wonder of wonders! Heard that song before 'Poetry in
Motion'? Well not the title of a song but just a line from an old old
pop song.
I am sure many have experienced or the need to use a public toilet and
discover a myriad of scribblings on the walls! Most are just filth but
occasionally you find some rather interesting works there! I guess you
are forced to read them since there is nothing much better to do
inside there! Here are some very creative scribblings collected by
anonymous!
Here I lie in stinky vapor,
Because some bastard stole the toilet paper,
Shall I lie, or shall I linger,
Or shall I be forced to use my finger.
Before he graduated to be a poet, he wrote this...
Here I sit
Broken hearted
Tried to shit
But only farted
Someone who had a different experience wrote,
You're lucky
You had your chance
I tried to fart,
And shit my pants!
Perhaps it's true that people find inspiration in
toilets.
I came here
To shit and stink,
But all I do
Is sit and think.
There are also people who come in for a different
purpose...
Some come here to sit and think,
Some come here to shit and stink,
But I come here to scratch my balls ,
And read the bullshit on the walls...
Toilets walls also double as job advertisement
space.......
(written high upon the wall)
If you can piss above this line, the Singapore Fire Department wants
you.
Ministry of Environment advertisement.
We aim to please!
You aim too! Please
On the inside of a toilet door:
Patrons are requested to remain seated throughout the entire
performance.
And finally, this should teach some a lesson...
Sign seen at a restaurant:
The hands that clean these toilets also make your food...please aim
properly.
And one from my own collection....found on a urinal in Japan!
If it still leaks turn cock to the left!!!!!!!
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Posted by bokjae at 7:14 AM 12 comments
Labels: Fun
Friday, February 1, 2008
Finding my Roots
Relocating is not a fun thing, especially for a sixty year old! The
packing of personal belongings into carton boxes itself is tiring and
time consuming. However I came across two boxes of old photos and
can't resist the temptation but spent a few hours browsing throw them
which inspired this post.
My mom and dad came from Guangzhou China. Dad emigrated to Malaya then
to find his fortune while mom stayed home in Canton. Eventually after
the Second World War, my dad sent for mom and two siblings. Heard so
much about the family house from dad and mom that in 1988, I made a
trip to Guanzhou to look for my last remaining uncle, my dad's eldest
brother who lived up to the ripe old age of 94 then but he passed away
a couple of years back. It was a business trip but I took a day off to
locate the family house. all the time within my heart I was rather
doubtful that I could find it. Apparantly my Great Grand Father was a
land owner back in the early 1900's and when China came under
Communist rule, all our family land was confiscated and became State
owned except for the family house.
It took me tremendous effort to locate the family house in a corner of
Guangzhou. On top of that, I do not read and write Chinese although I
speak the lingo i.e. Cantonese, which really helped a lot. I managed
to hire a kind taxi driver for the whole day to bring me to the
district of Shun Tak and helped me locate Peng Onn Gate, just that for
address which was passed on through word of mouth from dad! Well to
cut the story short, after a lot of leg work and enquiries from the
locals there, I managed to locate the house and to my amusement Peng
Onn Gate is not a street but the name of the family house! The small
entrance betrayed a huge compound inside! I was also amused that the
street where the house stands bears the family surname! Wow! My
forefathers must be some landlord then! My uncle was over joyed to see
me in person and he recognized who I am! He said I looked very much
like my dad. The strange thing was that although we had never meet
each other till that very moment, there was a sense of 'family' and we
chatted as though we knew each other our whole life! He knew all the
details about me and my very own family, perhaps from the many letters
between him and my dad and this was embarrassing because I know
nothing of his! He could even name my children! Wow! I guess this is
something we modern people lack, this 'sense of family' and the
interest in each and every detail about the next generation or his
nephews and nieces! He could even tell me when my mom and dad passed
away! I could hardly recall the date now! Admiration and respect just
flowed from my heart for this senior citizen.
Peng Onn Gate or Gate of Peace
It was an education coming to the place of your origins. I was so
amazed that 8 generations of the family were all buried inside the
compound of the family house! Took a picture of that `sacred place'
with my uncle and he tried to persuade me to bring my mom and dad's
ashes back there to be buried! Finding your own roots proved to be a
great learning experience and I heard him talked for hours on the
family history! Very interesting, bitter sweet, and learning of their
struggles through unimaginable hardships brought tears to my eyes.
Hearing from this old man relating the family's story through nearly
100 over years was a lesson about life itself. Saying good-bye to him
was emotional! He cried and I cried and we promised each other to meet
again but alas it was not to be so! I believe he must be buried in the
same place ending 8 generations! I don't think I'll be buried there
when its my time to say good-bye and it sort of putting a closure to
the family's story in China, to be continued in Malaysia, New Zealand,
Australia, UK and Canada.
Family Scared Place
It was rather sad to learned that most of my cousins had migrated to
Australia, Canada and UK! I guess life was tough living under the
Communist Regime in China. Many still live in Hong Kong but from there
many migrated elsewhere! I don't think that I will ever meet them! We
are like strangers knowing the name just like reading about a
character in a novel. I am glad that I found my roots and I intend to
tell my children where their forefathers came from and the family
history through time. Being buried in a family burial plot or land
sounded so historical. Like in the Bible where it said 'so and so
slept with his fathers' giving the story such a deep sense of
richness!
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