Year of The Ox 2009 - Singapore 18.1.09

Went to visit Singapore yesterday (18.1.09) to "look see look see" Chinese New Year celebration there. While Ray was busy shopping for his clothes at the malls, I took pictures instead. After all, I am financially very tight this Chinese New Year (CNY) and all I can spend was a few clicks of my Nikon camera. Oh Yes, instead of buying things for CNY, I bought 2 novels instead. Ha ha!

First stop - Bugis Junction.

The Peony flower balls are beautiful, although they aren't the real peony flowers. I wish I can take one home and used it as chandelier at my house's balcony... :)

Next stop was Paragon Mall at the Orchard Road. Its theme is the "Lantern"

The arrangement of these lanterns makes people feel as if they are in ascending mode, yet suspending in ether.

Chinese New Year (CNY) is also called Spring Festival 春节 and we can not take out flowers from the CNY equation.

Beautiful, healthy blossoms.

How I wish I can bath in this sea of flowers (I don't mean literally) ;)

Trip to Singapore around CNY time is incomplete without visiting the Chinatown.

The Chinese auspicious wishing idiom (牛转乾坤) being chosen for this year is most appropriate.

牛 means "cow", and has the same pronunciation as 扭. So, 牛(扭)转乾坤 means "bring about a radical change in the situation or reverse the course of events in the year of Ox". So appropriate for 2009, as this year economy is going to be shadowed with gloomy sentiment.

This is indeed a year of Ox, we see them everywhere.

I accidentally captured a happy face of a lady. She was definitely happy to have 2 bouquets of plum and peach blossoms for her home. To the Chinese, the plum and peach blossoms for CNY celebration is like Christmas tree for Christmas.

Like before, Chinatown is jam-packed with shoppers and tourists during Chinese New Year time

The icon of Chinatown - 珍珠坊 buildling

"Must have" red and gold decors for CNY celebration

Red color = 红, an auspicious lucky color that bring good luck. So, 鸿运当头, which 鸿 (means abundant, grand) has the same pronunciation as 红. In total, the phrase means "Lots of good luck, right to your doorstep"

Gold color 金 symbolises 富贵, i.e. fortune and wealth.

Fish is 鱼, which has same pronunciation as 余, which means "having surpluses"

So, a "golden fish" means having surpluses of gold, i.e. having good fortune and wealth.

Chinese language is so beautiful.

Yummy CNY cookies for sale. Anyone care to get me a few boxes as gift? Ha ha!

Nuts and seeds - goes very well with beer and liquor drinking with friends and family during CNY celebration

Children's favorite - fruit and fruit flavored jelly.

Free food sampling for Taiwan's Muachi, so to convince the shoppers to buy at least 1 box home.

Other than the plum 梅花 and peach blossoms 桃花, ornamental bamboo plants (竹) are also popular during CNY celebration. The bamboo plant is symbolising 竹报平安, i.e. wellness and safety. You will also see lots of fruiting tangerine plants (桔子) on sale at many plant nurseries. 桔子 is symbolising 吉祥, i.e. auspiciousness.

Sweets and lots of sweets, symbolising 甜甜蜜蜜 (sweetness in life)

Happy Chinese New Year to all. Wishing all lots of good fortune, great luck, marvelous health and have a safe and superb career this year.

Peace to the world....not.

Everyone in the world should be praying for a peace and harmony, and a better life when the new year of 2009 was approaching. At least, that was my assumption, although deep down I knew that such wish was a bit too hopeful.

True enough, the World was informed about the military aggression in Gaza just not long after Christmas 2008.

For years I am aware about the crisis between the Israel and Palestinian, but always faintly. I faintly remember when I first came to be aware of the crisis there. I was still in Pre-U if I am not mistaken and now I am closing to 40 years old in a 2+ years time; and the conflict there still persist, after decades. It is only now I take a greater interest and wish to have a deeper understanding about these lands in crisis.

As a person who was takes no great interest in the past, my perception about the Middle East and its people was generalised and plain simple. To me, those countries and people were not fond of peace. Violence, hatred and revenge are deep embedded in each person’s body and soul there. Most probably, such dark forces even extended into their afterlives.

Being a birth place to 3 major religions in the world, I would expect the land there to be a land of peace and tolerance. A Holy land is not supposed to be a land of forever crisis. This has long set my doubts to all faiths and religions; and I am still not very religious until these days.

I admitted that my past perception and generalisation about the Middle East is now considered to be one sided, as the mainstream foreign media which I was exposed to was predominantly the CNN. I realized now how CNN has failed in making media reporting fairly and freely; and the picture that they have painted and still showing to the rest of the world was not all rounded but skewed.

The coming up of Al- Jazeera into the world media network had provided viewers a different perspectives about Middle East and news about Middle East is becoming more well balance.

I have started my quest to understand Middle East in greater length, along with my on-going journey to becoming a more political & socially aware citizen of my country – Malaysia. I hope more countries, like those in the Africa would be added to my list.

Why I take more interest to Middle East? Perhaps it was prompted by the incidence after Christmas, or it could be just random. Perhaps I am living in a country which Islam is the national religion and people are defined as Majority Muslim and Minority Non-Muslims; and I hope to learn and see how faith and people in total conflict and intolerance to others can put a nation and people into.

With my purest intention, I hope Malaysians will learn the mistake of others, as well as ours, both current and past mistakes, so to prevent a nation falling into jeopardy, destruction, starvation and hopelessness.

Like the Chinese believes, building a business empire is tough, sustaining it is tougher but making it fall is so damn easy! The same applies to a nation.

Wake up! Instead of focusing energy to bring down other races so to upholding one race's ego and supremacy; why not focusing the energy to greater common good like helping the real "needies" and the unfortunates, regardless of colors, faith, gender and sexuality.

Who is inciting racial hatred and how come these people are not charged by law?

Such a picture perfect when Malaysia is staging itself to the world. In reality, there are cracks now.

------------------------------------------------------------

I am deeply hurt and saddened with this country when i saw some pictures that my friend sent to me today.

These pictures were about the banners used during the recent demonstration on banning pig farming in certain states of Malaysia. These banners were seen hung on the fence of a premise, which I suspect was a school.

On these banners, the demonstrators / organiser of the demonstration had used words and threats to demolish non-national schools, calling names, denial of other ethnic contribution to this country but their ethnic group, and swearing of protecting supremacy of certain race and religion.

The choice of word and language used are blood-boiling and were utterly aimed to incite racial anger and hatred. Even a dumb knew such statements are dangerous and would threaten the social stability of this country and it was so obvious that these demonstrators / organiser of the demonstration had broken the law.

However, these demonstrators and organisers were not charged by law but still roam freely in this country. Moreover, one needs permit to stage a demonstration, how come such demonstration was allowed to happen while peaceful demonstration for justice and human rights were banned and being demonised?

Is this the works of some authorities playing the racial and religion card game again? How can the lawmakers, the Home Ministry and police are closing both eyes on such serious and dangerous matters? If such bad hats are not contained or removed, it will spread its claws uncontrollably and destroy the nation.

Frankly, I am so tempted to post these pictures on the blog to show the world how racism has deepened into the roots of some ethnic group after 51 years of Malaysia Independence. However, I can't, because in social cases like this, the law here seems to be one sided and color-coded, protecting the criminals but criminalise the whistle blower. Such Grotesque!