Chinese Culture (General)

Dear Anon, 1. I believe, in an agricultural society, it would be good to have more children. In my opinion, this is also the same in the West. 2. In the past, the mortality rate is also high for new borns. 3. It would be interesting if you can share with us, if you do come across the article on the weather. It sounds interesting. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, I agree with your statement that it takes lot of time and extensive research and the hardest part in translation is to interpret what was said correctly. The key essence is to complete all the translations and interpretation before one should apply the theories. Sometimes the information is no longer relevant and how does one differentiate these. In the past, a Chinese Emperor was said to have kept Feng Shui theories to himself and got his officials to plant `false' works on Feng Shui. There was even the suggestion that at one time, the Imperial Palace was constructed on `false' Feng Shui. You would have guessed, it burned down. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Usually, this applies to family owned companies where the patriot e.g. founder believe strongly in Chinese astrology. Here, more importantly, new venture partners are checked discretely by their regular Geomancers. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, In Chinese sword play, some swords are considered Yang (Male) while others are Yin (Female). Therefore, there is some truth in the above statement as I believe, the seven star sword is Yang. In Chinese sword play, sword fighting methods differ for a woman and a man. Some sword fighting methods utilize a Male and Female (in harmonious interaction) and this pair (under a skillful pair) is difficult to beat. Warmest Regards, Cecil

How many have seen the recent movie title: Gangs of New York? In my opinion, in this film, the only interesting scene is a short segment of Chinese immigrants to New York. In one of these scenes, despite the gang war going on around the Chinese immigrants, they were busy doing business. We can use this as a case study: 1. For most Chinese, it is most important for them to see if they can on the basic level try to bring food to the table of family, first. 2. If they are living in subsistence or on basic necessities, many Chinese would divert most of their resources on their next generation. 3. For example, Singapore is a wonderful place because it exercise meritrocity or …

Dear Anon, I believe, not only the Chinese but Anglo-Saxons, Celtic etc... do give importance to dragons. Many of their flags or symbols have dragons on them. Likewise, the Chinese also in their own way give importance to dragons. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, There is quite a diverse Chinese both in China and many overseas Chinese. Frankly, so far, I did not recall any or many Chinese displaying a picture of an Emperor and Empress. In China, it is `illegal' during the Communist period to display such pictures other than leaders like Mao or Chou Eng Lai. Perhaps, you could have seen pictures of Chinese Gods e.g. God of Wealth. The most popular Gods are the three figures of Fu Lu Shou or Luck, Prosperity and Longevity Gods. A picture of the three Gods are available under the conference: "Photo Tours with Interest." Warmest Regards, Cecil

To the Chinese, red is auspicious... here goes

Dear Anon, There is a saying that Chinese eat anything with four legs. (And more!) The more expensive delicacies are: 1. abalone 2. broiled sharks fins 3. drunken prawns (life prawns placed in a covered bowl and VSOP poured into it. The prawns got `drunk' in the VSOP). 4. Scallops (at one time) 5. Oysters. (more Westernized Chinese) 6. Peking duck lots more.... Exotic dishes that combined various goodies include " Buddha Jumps over the Wall", suckling pig and lots lots more. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, As there are many Chinese, there are many points of view. The Chrysanthemum plant phonetically called `Ju' or sounds like the number 9 in Mandarin. 9 is represented by Autumn or the 9th month. This plant is thus an `autumn' plant. I guess some people would not like having `autumn' but rather `spring or summer' plants. I believe to some of these people, autumn is like `sun set' or closer to winter. While spring and summer is bright and `alive'. Warmest Regards, Cecil

QUOTE: China's banks: `The fish always stinks from the head' China's chief banking regulator Liu Ming-Kang has a folksy way of explaining his work. "The fish always stinks from the head" is a favourite. This belief that regulation must focus on banks' head offices can be seen in China's zeal to enforce the Basel III rules. While there is talk in the United States and Eurpoe of easing the lquidity rules, the China Banking Regulatory Commission has been pushing ahead with a set of rules that is stricter in definitions than what has been agreed internationally...... -- UNQUOTE -- This reminds me of the same way Geomancer's view the "Head of the House" or rather; th…

Dear Anon, It is quite expensive to change doors and windows every year. Unless they are made of material that has a high wear and tear and need replacement yearly. You will be surprised to learn that not many Chinese know the art of Feng Shui especially the Flying Star Theory. In the past, there is a veil of secrecy in Feng Shui. One Chinese Emperor also planted falsehood in Feng Shui for fear that others use it also. It was said that this Emperor kept the real `secrets' of Feng Shui and planted falsehood. This is why, till this day, it is said that not all Feng Shui theories are 100 percent applicable. We must therefore, sieve out the not workable from what is relevan…

Dear Anon, From what I understand: 1. During the communist rule, although Feng Shui was `abolished', some of the elite in the Communist party continue to apply Feng Shui practises. 2. Today, and even in communist China, poorer quality Luopans were manufactured in China. 3. I understand that a small percentage of houses for the elite and even business of the People Liberation Army (PLA) which at one time owns a substantial number of business used Feng Shui. 4. Many Feng Shui practioners believe that the Bank of China building in Hong Kong had been seen by a Feng Shui Master as the building comprises two elements. 5. With the relaxation of communist rule, I believe, more an…

This photo was taken in Tampines, Singapore at around 7am in the morning. These elderly ladies are practising what is known as "Tai-ji fan exercises. It is interesting to hear the group of ladies flip the fan open together. The sound is like a "thunderous sound" of a platoon of soldiers standing at an attention! Why do the wrist exercise? Based on the Five Elements concept; flexing the wrist(s) is said to help improve one's liver and gall bladder. Usually, the exercise begins with the Five-element position and there is suppose to be two sets of routines each with six different stances. Did you see some of the ladies holding a fan?

Dear Anon, The dragon year only begins on 5th February 2000. I believe, the 2000 couples got married has to do with millennium celebration. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, This is an interesting question. I believe, today, we do live longer thanks to modern science. Not only for the Chinese but mankind all over the world. If we talk specifically about useful Chinese practises that help one to prolong life, these include:- 1. Using a pair of Chop sticks Hey! What has Chop sticks got to do with health? One comment is that because one use a chop stick to pick food and eat it, one is thus forced to eat smaller pieces of food. I believe this has been `documented' or highlighted as a good practice. 2. Traditionally, Chinese food is very healthy It depends on the region one is in but overall traditional Chinese food is healthy. Not lik…

A comical look at Chinese Names and their `meaning'/`significance':- Anne Chang (in Mandarin) - dirty Anne Chin (in Mandarin) - keep quiet Faye Chen (in Mandarin) - dusty Carl Chng (in Hokkien) - buttock Monica Cheng (in Hokkien) - touching your buttocks Michael Tan (in Cantonese) - selling eggs Tommy Huang (in Mandarin) - Tang Ming Huang : Ming Dynasty's emperor Lucy Liaw (in Hokkien) - you are dead Judy Soo (in Malay) - lost in gamble Jane Tan (in Mandarin) - fried egg Suzie Leow (in Hokkien) - lost till death Henry Tan (in Hokkien) - let you wait Henry Mah (in Mandarin) - hate your mum=20 Corrine Tai (in Hokkien) - poor fellow Paul Chan (in Mandarin) - bankrupt Nelson …

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00A3_01C11FF2.26BF4320 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This article shares light into the hanging of a handphone on one's =neck... and the `new' danger it may pose to a person:- --- Original Message -- Hello Everyone, There has been a growing trend of people starting to wear their hand =phones around their necks with some sort of a necklace device. This =trend started to come about recently when hand phones have started to get =lighter and lighter. However, doing so is actually very harmful according to doctors. As we =all know, hand phones discharg…

Some business prosper during the Chinese 7th month...

1. Although we all know that a vehicle/car is wasting asset, one has to really open our eyes that the price Singaporeans pay for a car. 2. I believe, this will come as a shock to readers outside of Singapore. 3. This is one of the rationale why, I mentioned that boys in Singapore may end up asking their parents: " Daddy, can you give me money to buy a car?" Please note that the average exchange rate for Singapore S$1.00 is equal to US$1.70. Average prices (Source and Credit: The Highway magazine, July 2003) All prices are for brand new cars on the road: BMW: BMW318i (Auto) S$149,000 BMW520i (Auto) S$179,000 FORD: Mondeo 5dr (Auto) S$102,900 Galaxy Ghia 2.3 (Auto) S$123,90…

Dear Users, This is inscribed on an ancient Chinese tomb...