Chinese Culture (General)

Dear Anon, 1. During the cultural revolution or the peak of communism, most of the movies, have a story line and a `morale' of the story. Yeah, this type of shows are more to inculcate, patrotism, communism and `achievement' for the country. 2. In the late 70s, there are some good shows directed by Chinese Directors which had won an award at the Cannes festival.e.g like the Red chamber etc... which relates a story about prostitution etc... 3. In the 90s, many films are shot in China. For example, many of the `period dramas' e.g. sword fighting by Singapore broadcasting Statutory board, shot several films in scenic parts of China. Many Hong Kong directors also direct film…

Dear Anon, 1. Onyx comes in different colors. Some are white, some in green etc... 2. Under Chinese Astrology, for the animal sign " The Ox "; it's lucky gemstone is `White Onyx'. 3. Onyx is been sold by companies dealing with home interiors e.g. kitchen table tops, bath room tops etc... 4. It is also carved into objects e.g. swans and other figurines for display etc... I believe there is a commercial demand for it. 5. In my opinion, based on above, I do not believe that the chinese consider the onyx inauspicious unless, because perhaps could it be that these mines you mentioned are dangerous to work in. This is because some mines have dangerous gases within them. On the …

Dear Anon, 1. In the past, a large percentage of Chinese do not have tatoos. During the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, tatoos especially elaborate ones are found on Chinese gangsters or secret society members. 2. You can really see lots of tatoos on their bodies, hands and legs. 3. It was not difficult for the Police Secret Society Supression unit to run them up. 4. Even in the 1980's, tatoos on these youths but lesser. With the advent of model `equipment' or status symbols, at one time, many of these youths or secret society members carry instead at one time `expensive' Motorola `brick' handphones of the 80's. Suddenly, handphones, from my personal observation became the st…

Dear Anon, As far as I can remember, Chinese do have a holy river where one must pay a pilgramage like the Indians. Alternatively, Chinese would rather bury their dead then to cremate bodies and scatter ashes into the sea. Here, the traditional belief is that a good burial site would ensure prosperity for the decendants. More affluent Chinese and in particular the last few dynasties e.g. Ming and Ching dynasties place high (very high) importance over this. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, 1. China do have libraries, especially those in schools and universities. 2. Chinese literate and books are cheap and many. Usually, the books use cheaper quality paper. Books include romance, fairly tales, literature etc... Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, So far, China has come to grip with economic development and thus the focus on most people's mind is to make `money' and security for their family. Many Chinese at the moment are simply `struggling' and not so fluent to be involved in cults. So far, Chinese government view the Fa Long Kong cult a threat and another major `gang' as threats to the fabric of the society. Otherwise, the country can be considered relatively free from `cults'. In the past, especially in overseas Chinese, such as Hong Kong and even Singapore, secret societies were more prevalent especially in the 1950's; 1960's and 1970's due to the poorer economic situation in such countries. Today…

Dear Anon, In a `communist' China (especially, in the past), women are considered `equal' or have played equal roles in all areas. For example, in the army, there are also elite Chinese special force (army) women who are considered `equal' with the men. If one looks hard enough, one can find an equal share of women jouranlist/newscasters in China. Especially in the development of communism, women, have grown in prominence as compared to the past (Imperial dynasties). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Basically Dragon is Yang and it belongs to the earth element. Earth is one of the strongest elements because it always occurs in between each season. Sorry, I like to elaborate that there are two interpretations of Tiger. Tiger belongs to the wood element. 1. Under the Four Symbolic Animal Concept, One view is that Tiger (any tiger) but particularly a white tiger is considered Yin because it is actually the West cardinal point. (A yin location) 2. A tiger under Chinese Astrology Here, the Tiger is a wood element and under time or two hourly timing it falls under the Yang time of 0300 to 0459 am. It depends on what we are `talking' about. Since, placing a stat…

A touching story........ One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the Chinese countryside with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be = considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the = trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Oh yeah" said the son. "So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four." "We have = a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that = has …

Ang Mo Kio Central

Dear Anon, 1. Yes, in a recent documentary on China, I saw that this is still popular especially in the rural areas. 2. The documentary includes how these simple kites were made. And even complex ones that looks like a dragon etc... 3. It is also interesting to note that glass is often pounded into fine grains of glass. `Glue' e.g. rice glue is used to coat the string with these fine grains of glass. Here, the kite owner would fly his/her kite close to another kite and try to pull or jerk the kite to `cut-it'. The action of the fine glass piece can easily cut another kite like a mini saw. This is considered `Kite fighting' and adds excitement to the activity for some peop…

Human Luck is one of the factors which can help to improve your Heaven Luck and even Earth Luck. ie. Say you are a weak person and your life is always following your inauspicious path. Does it mean that you will be bound to have very inauspicious life? No. This is because you can actually borrow someone else luck to boost your own luck. In Feng Shui your Children is your greatest Wealth. Many times people nowadays always relates Wealth to physical money. However, in Feng Shui it is your Children which represents wealth. Why? Simply, if you educate and bring up your children, they will in turn look after you when you are old. So, say if you bring up 3 very filial children…

Yesterday, went for an appointment, near-by. This food stall (operated by a mainland Chinese) in the Midview Building at Bukit Batok has the signage that says " Everyone OK kitchen".

This ayam bua keluk dish is eaten with a plate of rice. The gravy of this dish is "soaked" into the rice, giving it a "nutty" flavour. The alkaline of the bua keluk seed or nut (fruit) is balanced by adding assam to give it more "acidity".

Dear Anon, Yes, this is true based on Chinese Astrology, taking into consideration, a person's YEAR Chinese Astrology chart. Reference: http://www.geomancy.net/love/cdragon.htm Under the above link, where possible, pairings `best avoided' is between a dragon and dog:- "A mismatch. There is a serious clash of personalities. The problem is that both have strong characters and unyielding character. There must be compromises and sacrificies but it is hard to relate to each other and there will be no communication between the two and tempers will fly. There will be constant bickering and the relationship may be short-lived." Need to work real hard on the above relationship. Ge…

Dear Anon, It is true that some Chinese consider it inauspicious to keep caged birds. The significance is based on `symbolism'. Where it is cruel to keep the birds. Rather, they should not be `imprisoned' but to be allowed to fly freely in the wild. Warmest Regards, Cecil

They say you can bottle-train just anything! Check this out....

Dear cecil, Thank you for answering the above question (though diplomatically). We are glad to know that you believe in the freedom of speech and the protection of human rights. Since it is important for some users/readers like me to know that since this is a moderated site. So wanted to sure that this site believed in the freedom of speech of the user.

Dear Masters Our auspicious dates for moving house based on Ba Zi is 06 Feb 2018 (Tue); 16 Feb 2018 (Fri); 18 Feb 2018 (Sun); 28 Feb 2018 (Wed); 02 Mar 2018 (Fri). Four of the dates fall within the 15 days of the Chinese New Year. Both me and my wife are Singaporean Chinese. Is there any feng shui or cultural taboo to move house during 15 days of Chinese New Year? Pei Hua