Friday 30 October 2015

The Ideal Chinese Ambassador - Assoc Professor Huang Shih Ying


For us - the two geriatrics - the past  10 days have seen an excruciatingly frustrating nail-biting series of doings and undoings with the bureaucracy in Malaysia.  "Some third person decides your fate: this is the whole essence of bureaucracy,"  - Alexandra Kollontai 1872-1952.

But more upsetting for us is the loss of  Assoc Professor Huang Shih Ying - our acupuncturist from Tung Shin Hospital - when she returns to Taiwan at the end of October.



For the past three years,she has treated and mended my joint and respiratory maladies.  She has always managed to tweak me back to normalcy over my insomnia and fatigue syndrome. Part of her treatment comes from her caring and kind demeanour.  When she enters the room, you get a bright smile. With her hands folded close to her chest she gives you a courteous bow.

She remembers the problems you had the previous week and makes an inquiry about your progress.  Always very encouraging,    Prof Huang  reassures you with "I will try my best".   And she has never failed to do so for the spouse and AsH!    And after inserting up to 30 needles all over the parts of you that western medicine cannot reach, she leaves you with "Now you rest, Aunty" or "Uncle, you rest now".

We have had a couple of very revealing  and insensitive statements about Malaysia from His Excellency Mr  Huang Huikang, the Chinese (PRC - Peoples' Republic of China) Ambassador to  Malaysia.  (See my previous posting on 11 October)

However, Prof Huang from Taiwan (ROC - Republic of China) offers the best that Chinese medicine and Chinese culture can offer.   She takes away the nasty odour that Ambassador Huang Huikang and his Malaysian Chinese brethren leave in the mouth.

We will miss her very much: Professor Huang the acupuncture specialist and the ideal Chinese Ambassador.

The spouse made this farewell card for our "Taiwan niece".



She had to run back to her office while exclaiming "this is very unprofessional conduct" because the card left her in tears.  She came back a minute or so later to attend to us and left us with the usual comforting "Rest now, Uncle/Aunty".






Sunday 11 October 2015

China's 'Daughter' in the Pariah State.

Baba Huang asks Malaysian Chinese "Allow me to love all of you, alright?"
"As the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, I will continue to play the role as a friend of Chinese education."

So His Excellency sees himself as the "minder" of Chinese education in Malaysia.    But China's commitment to Chinese education in the Malay Peninsula goes a long way back - to 1922 - and maybe even earlier.  That ambition had cast a long shadow over Malaysia's past, present and future

The beginning of the Brave New Middle Kingdom - the "future masters of the Malay Peninsula."


The Ambassador also assured Malaysian Chinese of their 'family ties'.

The strong ties of the TONG PAO - of the same womb






For more heartwarming details of this special relationship, do look up .......


http://theantdaily.com/Main/Chinese-envoy-proves-family-ties-cannot-be-broken


                                                           ********************

If only, oh if only the Malays - the Malaikwai (Malay devil) - could find protection and succour in the arms of "an economic superpower" like our fellow Chinese citizens.  If only we had the formula to enable us to put our bums on two stools.

What do we have?


Read  https://helenang.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/tun-says-msia-is-now-pariah-state/#comment-161382


For as long as this septuagenarian can remember, three words were never to be used to describe Indians in Singapore and Malaysia.  They are Keling and Pariah and P*****.  Such utterances would - in my mother's eyes - deserve a red hot chili rubbed hard against the lips.

From the Internet: pariah is a social outcast, a member of a low caste in South India.

"1610s, from Portuguese paria or directly from Tamil paraiyar, plural of paraiyan "drummer" (at festivals, the hereditary duty of members of the largest of the lower castes of southern India), from parai "large festival drum."  Especially numerous at Madras, where its members supplied most of the domestics in European service" [OED].  Applied by Hindus and Europeans to any members of low Hindu castes and even to outcastes.

Last year Tun M declared my bangsa as "shameless".  In 2015 he called my "tanah tumpah darah ku"  a pariah state.

Malaysian Chinese can take refuge in Baba Huang's Middle Kingdom.  Indians can return to the Indian sub-continent.

Malays can only putih tulang and putih mata. 

                                                         *************

Nana, nana. Lekas pulang.
Aci takut tinggal sa orang
Belakang rumah ada jembalang.
Mata sepit, hidung-nya belang.


  







Friday 2 October 2015

Malaysia's National Anthem

Malaysia, tighten your seat belts please.

We know that the ringgit is down in the dumps - that puts paid to shopping for imported foodstuff and prezzies for the coming festivities.  Our little darlings -  Kevin, Suu Lin, Farhana Faezah, Arul Armand will pout and scream because overseas holidays will have to be put on hold.

Right now, the nation's name and reputation is mud!

We're all at each other's throats claiming moral superiority for our divided loyalties and our choice of heroes and  villains.

Well, here's something else to worry about.  Did you know that the arch-English composer Benjamin Britten was paid a handsome fee (for a 1-minute song) to compose our National Anthem in 1957 and our then leaders. rejected it !!

"The great English composer Benjamin Britten once wrote Malaysia a national anthem - only for it to be rejected in favour of a cabaret tune.  Did the government make a horrible mistake, asks Alex Marshall, author of a new book on the history of anthems."

For more titillations to feed another fracas in Malaysia, read :

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34417765

I shudder to think about the disgruntled voices arising from this news item.

1. Our aficionados of classical western music would be wringing their hands in despair. This only proves how crass and stupid the Government was - to reject this great British composer. Just think - how proud we would feel when our national anthem - composed by the Benjamin Britten - is played at our local and international soirees.

2.  100 guineas?? This is corrupt cronyism. The Government must get back their money with interest - it's been 58 years.  Check the bank accounts of the politicians , the bureaucrats and the Minister of National Anthems.

3.  Our uber-Arabised brethren will be foaming at the mouth when they realise that Negaraku was once a hit number  "at parties and cabarets  ..... and went on to be a popular Hawaian song".

Do read the BBC article.  It cheered me up no end.

                                            *                                 *                                    *

And now do enjoy the Top of the Anthems.




1. Britten's 100 guineas composition. That's 2100 shillings or GBP105 in 1957.  That would be a helluva dosh today. And when you take into account that the exchange rate is 1 GBP = 6.7 MYR  !!???






2.  The ancestor of Negaraku - not a great pedigree - but still a "gently stirring"  and endearing melody.