Kitchen Deity is back today

The Kitchen Deity is back today after having been in the Jade Emperor's Palace for four days reporting the going-on in each household he resides in.

Traditionally the Chinese will welcome the Kitchen Deity back to Earth on the 4th day of the Xin Nian. Offering in the form of fruit and cakes will be display on the altar while praying.

I am of the opinion that it may not be true that the deity will report what goes on in our house to the Jade Emperor. Yet it is a good thing if it is so as it will act as a deterrent for family members to be on guard and do what is right so that no bad things will be reported to the Jade Emperor.

In real life, laws are introduced to keep human beings disciplined and deter crimes. We don't like to spend our lives in jail and be despised by others when we are released from prisons and therefore we will not do anything against the laws to put ourselves at risk of being arrested and sentenced to prison.

Xin Nian Kuai Le or Happy Chinese New Year

I would like to wish the Chinese all over the world a very Happy Chinese New Year or 'xin nian kuai le' today as it is the first day of Xin Nian, the New Year celebrated by the Chinese including me.

On this auspicious, we look forward to a very prosperous year to come. To keep all things unpleasant away, we are forbidden to sweep the floor because as is the belief of the Chinese, rubbish represents 'cai' or money  /property and to get rid of it on this year is to drive away wealth.

Children and adults alike are not supposed to say bad words to one another for the same reason - keeping things unpleasant.

Once again, 'xin nian kuai le' to all the Chinese around the world.

Today is Reunion Dinner Day for the Chinese

Today is the Chinese New Year Eve and as has been practised in the past until now, the family members from where they are will converge for a dinner called 'tuan yuan fan' or Reunion Dinner. The very purpose of this dinner is to get all members of the family together at least once a year. To me, this is a very good practice as we get to hear news from other members of the family and to get over the 'missing you' feeling since we can't meet on normal day. This is because we may not work in the same state.

Parents will give their children 'ya sui qian' in the form of 'angpow' or red packet to be placed under the pillow while sleeping. It is meant to keep the children safe and healthy for the coming year.

Xin Nian is around the corner

I was unable to get into the editor to do my posting for several times. I was lucky today for I managed to come here to do my first post of the year.

The Chinese New Year or Xin Nian is just 7 days away and everywhere at the market places you can see vendor selling Xin Nian decorations and Nian Gao or the the typical glutinous rice dumpling offered to the Kitchen Deity tomorrow the 24th day of the 12th moon according to the lunar calendar. Legend has it that the dumpling is made sweet so that He will only report the good things to the Jade Emperor of the household he resides in. He will return to the Earth on the 4th day of 1st month, that is the 4th day of Xin Nian to reside in every devotee's house.

Human beings are really funny. We only want to hear good things about us and detest the mention of anything back about us. In real life situation, words pleasing to the ear really make others happy and the very utterance of hurt-causing words will send streams of anger and sadness down one's throat. Hence, why not say only good things about others and forget about their bad things whatever they are.

For this Xin Nian, let us start the year by saying good things to brighten up life.

Yu Lan Shen Hui or Hungry Ghosts' Month

Today is the fifteenth day of Yu Lan Shen Hui dedicated to beings in the Ghosts' Realm. Every where you can see most of the Chinese buying cakes, fruits, 'buah rambai' (a type of fruit that comes in bunches) to be offered to the Hungry Ghosts when they pray.

According to Buddhism, there are six realms one has to go through if one has not attained nirvana. One of the realms is the hungry ghosts. It is believed that the seventh month of the lunar calendar is the month when hungry are released from the Ghosts' Realm. Hence their relatives who are still living will offer food for them, especially today although it lasts for a month.

It reminds the Buddhists that they should do good and practise Buddhism so that when they pass away they will be born as beings outside the samsara (Six Realms, which are human beings, dewas, azuras, animals, ghosts and hell) and stop the rebirth processes.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

I would like to greet all Muslims a 'Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri'  after having observed fasting for a month. They will celebrate their success in overcoming hunger during the day from dawn until sunset for the said period. The act teaches them to appreciate the suffering of the poor especially those who have to go hungry because of the scarcity of food caused by drought or war.

The Malays in Malaysia usually will have open houses and invite friends of other races to enjoy the food prepared for them. These include 'lemang' (glutinous rice put in bamboo and placed over the fire to be cooked), 'ketupat' (glutinous rice wrapped in coconut leaves and steamed), 'dodol' (glutinous rice stirred continuously while being cooked for hours until the mixture of sugar and rice turn brown', 'rendang' (chicken or beef cooked in spices until it is well done) and other Malay 'kuih'. Personally I like to eat 'ketupat' and 'dodol'. Being more of a vegetarian now, I do not like the meat stuff.

Once again, I would like to extend my belated greeting to all readers who are Muslims on this festive occasion.

Watching the London Olympic Games 2012

I am sure most of us will watch the 4-year-once Olympic Games. For this year, the venue is in London. I am very happy to be able to watch the games through my computer. The International Olympic Council has done a good job by asking Youtube to show the video clips to the world. Because of this arrangement, we can go to the following website to watch the games:
www.youtube.com/olympic

There are also video clips of past events which you might have missed. You can click them and let the Samsung Galaxy S3's ads disturb you for 30 seconds. Then the video clips will start to play. If you like the clips and would like to watch them again later on, you can right click the url of the video clips and download with Free Youtube Downloader so that you can watch them offline and delete them when you don't want them anymore.

Go to the site and start watching the games at real time now.

'Selamat Berbuka Puasa (Happy Breaking Fast) to all Muslims

The Muslims all over the world or rather in Malaysia will start fasting from today for a month. Being a Malaysian, I know too well the religious practice of the Malays all of whom are Muslims here. One of them is 'berpuasa' or fasting. They would start abstaining from food after 'makan sahur' (consuming food after midnight and before dawn prior to fasting). Then they will fast at 'imsak' or when the sun rises. For today, my Malay friend told me that the time for 'berbuka puasa' (breaking fast) was 7.38pm. I understand that  the time varies from day to day and from place to place.

Personally I feel that fasting is good for health because when the body is devoid of food, all the organs will start to work to make them function better.

I wish all Muslims happy breaking fast.

Proving through action

I was at the Jelutong market place this morning when I passed by a man who was selling abrasive sheet to clean the bottom of cooking pots. He told the crowd around him that the abrasive piece is very good as it can remove carbonised coating on the wok's bottom by rubbing it with the aid of water.

To prove that it is really water and not other chemical that he poured from his bottle, he drank the water first before pouring it onto the bottom of the pot he was dealing with. If you look at his action, you will surely be convinced that it is water all right and not chemical of any sort.

The man is really smart. He has proven his point in a simple way.

How to use 'bazir' and its other derivatives

Many users get confused when using 'bazir'. The following are the common mistakes related to this word.
1 Jangan bazir semasa menggunakan air.
2 Dia membazir wang yang banyak untuk membeli kad prayar telefon bimbit.

You cannot use 'bazir' (to waste) by itself. By adding the prefix meN you can form the intransitive verb 'membazir' which has no object. Hence sentence 2 above is wrong. The correct sentence to be constructed is 'Dia suka membazir semasa menggunakan air.' [He likes to waste water.]

The word 'bazir' can be turned into a transitive verb (a verb that takes an object) by adding the affix 'meN_kan'. The verb formed is 'membazirkan' (to waste + object). A typical sentence you can make with this verb is 'Adik sering membazirkan air semasa mandi.' (My younger brother often wastes water when he bathes.)

The correction for sentence 1 is 'Jangan membazir semasa menggunakan air.' (Don't waste when you use water.)

I hope this short article will benefit those who takes an interest in studying the Malay language.