Two families leave China 100 years ago, This is a journal recording their passage, their so-journ in Borneo and then on to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, England and beyond. A fascinating account of how time and place have changed the members.
I am not a music lover, but I love certain songs and there is one piece of music. It has much significance to me.
I
first heard the music piece on the radio called Tranquility in 1984. I
just had a twenty six hours of difficult time giving birth to my first
born. When I went to my room with my baby, totally exhausted, this music
was played in the pipe line. It gave me tranquility as I lovingly gazed
at my sleeping baby.
I fell in love with the soothing music and it became my favourite music.
Is Tranquility the same as Music Box dancer? Was it played by Frank Mills then?
This
same baby plays the piano, and lives thousands of miles in China.
When she plays it to me over the phone, it gives me tranquility.
Many
parenting experts suggest playing music to your baby while she/he is
still in your stomach. D is the only child who plays the piano. I wonder
if her listening to this piece when she was a few hours old have
anything to do with it. What do you think?
With eight water-related deaths since Christmas Day, Kiwis are being
urged to only swim at patrolled beaches for the rest of the holiday
season.
New Zealand's drowning toll this year passed 100
yesterday (Monday), which compares with 90 for 2014, and per head of
population, is twice as bad as Australia's.
Surf Life Saving New
Zealand chairman Geoff Hamilton says of the eight water-related deaths,
including six coastal, that have taken place over the last four days,
none of them have been at patrolled locations.
"I cannot stress enough, the need for people to choose one of these spots to swim at," he said.
"The beach is our natural playground but it can also be deadly."
Since
Christmas Day, seven people have drowned, including four on Christmas
day, and 12-year-old Jack Martin was killed on Boxing Day when he was
riding an inflatable sea biscuit and was hit by a passing vessel on Blue
Lake in Central Otago.
Yesterday,
a 50-year-old local was free-diving at the private Puatai Beach near
Gisborne when he was caught in a rip just after 2pm.
His family were trying to revive him on rocks when the Eastland Rescue Helicopter arrived. However, the man died at the scene.
Eighty per cent of all drownings are males.
Water Safety New Zealand is targeting Kiwi men and boys in 2016.
It
wants to eventually bring the male drowning death toll of 80 down to
around 40, but a "realistic goal" for the new year would be around 60,
WSNZ chief executive Matt Claridge said.
Males are often more
involved in aquatic activities, he said, but with that brought a higher
chance of risk taking, and males were prone to being "pretty confident
... before they've even got any skills or basic knowledge, which is a
problem".
Drownings in rivers and river mouths are a particularly
bad New Zealand problem, as are the "cultural reasons for heading to
the river," Mr Claridge said.
"Not many other countries in the
world that have Maori and Pacific people that gather kai to put food on
the table. For some elsewhere it's a sport but here it's part of every
day life and that brings problems."
Two of his key messages were
for parents to get in water with their kids, and for men to wear
life-jackets on boats: "They are absolutely no use to you in the cabin."
And
if the weather conditions are poor, then people should make the right
call and not head out onto the water, Mr Claridge said.
"Our message is, stop and think before going near the water."
Lifeguards from 74 Surf Life Saving Clubs are currently patrolling around 90 of the most popular beaches across New Zealand.
Ten people drowned during last year's holiday period.
With
another week to go until the end of the official holiday period (6am on
January 5) Mr Hamilton hopes no one else drowns over this time.
If people can't get to a patrolled location, they need to consider the risks before entering the water, he said.
And when it comes to children, Mr Hamilton says supervision is key.
"You have to keep them within arm's reach at all times. It's as simple as that."
To find you nearest patrolled beach, visit www.findabeach.co.nz Rips are often identified by a patch of calm between waves.
How to identify a rip
• Calm patches in surf with waves breaking each side • Rippled or criss-crossed water • Discoloured water • Foamy water • Sand bars with the above features between them
What to do if you get caught
• Don't panic! • Let the rip sweep you along until the current weakens • When the current has subsided, swim parallel to the shore for 30-40 metres before returning to shore, swimming slowly •
If you are in trouble, float on your back to preserve energy and wait
until the rip has stopped taking you out before swimming away from it. • If you are at a patrolled beach, raise your hand to alert the surf lifeguards that you need assistance.
It was mid winter, cold and crisp. But the sky was very clear.
The
Winter Solstice Festival or The Extreme of Winter (Chinese and
Japanese: 冬至; Korean: 동지; Vietnamese: Đông chí) (Pinyin: Dōng zhì),
(Rōmaji: Tōji), (Romaja:Dongji) is one of the most important festivals
celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the dongzhi solar
term on or around December 21 when sunshine is weakest and daylight
shortest; i.e., on the first day of the dongzhi solar term. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
In
my Cantonese dialect, it is called GUO DONG. Traditionally, the
Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One
activity that occurs during these get togethers (especially in the
southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the
making and eating of Tangyuan (湯圓, as pronounced in Mandarin Pinyin:
Tāng Yuán) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion
These
Tangyuan comes in various form. Most of these golf ball sized dumplings
have a sweet filling like sesame seeds, peanut fillings, eaten either
in a sweet syrup or dried rolled in a ground peanut powder. Of late,
this festival is revived in Singapore with grand mothers and mothers
invited to schools and community centres and demonstrate making these
dumplings.
My small Cantonese dialect group, the Quang
Nings make a ball of dumplings and we serve it with savoury duck soup. This is
served at the beginning of the special feast, in a small bowl of about 5
dumplings.
I never liked this because these glutinious
dumplings are very filling, and sit in your stomach so you have no room
for anything else. I kept this secret until about ten years ago, when I
found out my Dad had the same idea. Mother had died prematurely at 60,
and her sisters took care of Dad.
One particular year,
just before my Dad died, my youngest aunt told me to take her shopping.
She wanted to make these special dumplings for dad, as he had been
living in Australia, and probably had not eaten these home made Tangyuan
for a long time. She enthusiastically served a big bowl to Dad. Dad
discretely told me to get a small bowl and give him one Tangyuan so he
had symbolically eaten her precious dumplings. I LOl with him, both of
us are guilty of breaking with tradition.
These days, you can buy frozen Tangyuan all the time. They no longer symbolise what they meant.
When
I went to Singapore 20 years ago, there were a lot of children's
Chinese singing competition. This MAI TANGYUAN or selling Tangyuan was a
very popular song. Children dress up in traditional Chinese clothes. Do
click on this .
My father told me there is a
folklore that it is very important to grow them the right way up, or the
tapioca would be poisonous. It would be better not to eat them.
Tapioca is a dietary staple
in Africa, Asia and South America, and you'll also find it in beverages and
puddings in the United States. Although commercially packaged tapioca is
generally safe, the plant can be highly toxic if not prepared properly.
Tapioca naturally produces
cyanide, which is poisonous to humans; however, the cyanide may be removed
during processing. By eating poorly prepared tapioca, you may risk cyanide
poisoning according to the American Cancer Society. Symptoms include headache
and dizziness; in severe cases, you may experience convulsions or coma. It is
suggested that if a person is allergic to latex, it is best not to eat tapioca.
some 70,000 seeds being smuggled to Kew in 1875, by Henry Wickham, at the service of the British Empire, from Brazil and stole some
rubber seeds aka Hevea brasiliensi.
From those stolen seeds, they grew to supply the rubber gardens in Malaysia and Borneo.
The
original rubber trees were very good, but took too long to reach a
productive age. Then the good old scientist developed a smaller tree but
produced more and called it high yielding tree.
My
plant is a miniature tree. It's a tribute to both sets of my ancestry.
It was rubber that brought them to Borneo.In 1907, my Great Grand father
was scouted to lead a developing company to grow this important cash
crop.
During the World War Two, trading ceased. People
stitched up rubber sheets and wore them. The more enterprising ones even
made shoes.
