Ching Ming - Visit To My Grandfather’s Grave
March 21, 2008 | 2 Comments
Ching Ming is an event when Chinese folks visit the burial grounds of their family members who had passed away. In olden times, people are buried in graveyard that were poorly maintained. So the annual event was necessary to return to the burial grounds to tidy up the grave, visit and remember the ancestor and to pay respect to them as a sign of filial piety.
These practices has been passed down in generations irrespective of which dialect group you belong. Interestingly, this event can also be a point of contention between family members. Sometimes a good event to commemorate the ancestors can turn ugly because descendants would like to “up one” on others, to show off that they are the most filial descendant. This is usually because the descendants cannot get along well with each other. I think it is also because man is full of pride and this is one event which people can easily “show off”.
My grandfather passed away last year and this year was the first Ching Ming for him. Apparently, for the 1st Ching Ming, it has to be done before the actual days for Ching Ming. Subsequent years, the visitation can be done anytime during Ching Ming.
From the video you can see that nowadays, graveyard is being maintained by highly qualified professions. You can choose to buy the plot based on your budget up to arranging for the full funeral service. The service is so good that its almost like checking into a 5-star hotel with your own concierge, even after your death, the company will take care of your grave and keep it spick-and-span! This makes cleaning and tidying up the grave obsolete so, what remains is to pay respect and remember our loved ones.
This is really in contrast with the old graveyards in Penang. The graveyard in Penang island really look grave. Lalang is over grown and occasionally, the caretaker will just burn the grass down. This will give the graveyard a scorched look. On other days, with the unkept lalang and bushes, it is a fine place to film horror movies.
Anyway, I suppose with impeccable service, clean and pleasant environment makes professionally managed graveyard the way forward. Their service will ease the pain of mourners and make visitation a more pleasant experience.
Learn From Malaysia’s 12th General Election!
March 12, 2008 | 3 Comments
Malaysia’s 12th General Election has finally come to a close. I have to admit it was an exciting time in Penang. It was obvious that Barisan Nasional was going to lose in Penang. Most BN ceramahs were quiet and deserted whereas the opposition’s rally was packed with people enthusiastically shouting their support for the opposition and frustrations at the government.
All forms of media were propagating the support for BN. The opposition only had the blogs and a few other independent news websites such as www.malaysiakini.com and of course youtube. Rally speeches were recorded and disseminated through the blogs, youtube and the independent news websites. These cheap and viral marketing methods manage to garner more support than BN’s media blitz. Truly it’s a David vs Goliath match in media muscle…and David won.
We can learn 3 things from what has happened.
First, we must constantly learn and develop ourselves. If we stop learning, we’ll be obsolete very fast. The opposition were hard pressed to spread the news of a need to change the way of governing. Due to the restrictions in media, they learnt to use current technological means of disseminating news. Blogs, youtube and websites have only grown popular in the past few years, yet the opposition is able to use it effectively. BN however, were ignorant about it until after the election. If we continually invest in personal development, then we can keep up with the changing trends of the world and keep abreast of new developments. This will enable us to find opportunities and seize it.
Second, blogs, youtube and news websites cater to targeted readers and viewers. They flock to such sites because they are looking for answers. They are looking for solutions to problems. In this election, the people were unhappy with the problems caused by the government, so the people were looking for solutions. The opposition provided the solutions in the blogs, youtube and news websites. Not only that but the blogs and news website also pointed out and reinforce more problems and provide the solutions as well! This is the way to be successful in internet marketing. You need to find a big problem or problems faced by many people. Then you provide a solution to the problems and charge an affordable fee for it. Internet marketing is that simple. But implementation is difficult because there are some basic technical skills you need to know first or if you are press for time, you can outsource it.
Third, know your competitors. If you are sitting in an ivory tower and don’t know anything outside the tower, you are being ignorant and doomed to fail. BN has failed to hear the people’s voice in the last 4 years. They also grossly underestimated the opposition team. If you apply this in your internet marketing or offline business, you are sure to fail. If you don’t hear what your customers want and just anyhow offer something which the market dislike, how are you going to make a sale? You need to understand or know your competitors so that you can formulate successful strategies to fight for sales. So, understanding your customers’ taste, preference, market trends and your competitors are very important.
DAP Ceramah in Han Chiang High School
March 8, 2008 | 4 Comments
Election fever in Penang is really running in high gear and talk of the town is that the whole country is looking at the fight in Penang between Barisan Nasional and the Opposition composed mainly of DAP and Keadilan.
Left:Jeff Ooi at Pulau Tikus ceramah, Right: Haris Ibrahim at Chye Ling Park ceramah
This was my first time attending ceramahs and it was an eye opener! I got to see the famous bloggers Jeff Ooi and Haris Ibrahim. I wanted to listen to Raja Petra but apparently he was hijacked on the way to Chye Ling Park rally.
Thursday night, more than 25,000 people (estimated by Straits Times) gathered at the rally in Han Chiang High School. According to DAP there were 50,000 supporters in the school compound and another 10,000 outside the school premises around the fence. The Star only mentioned that a “mammoth crowd” gathered at the rally, not even a photo of the rally was printed. People have to read foreign news paper to get fairer coverage of both sides of the team, how sad.
The people gathered at Han Chiang really were die hard supporters. Just after it started, the heavens opened up and there was a heavy down pour. Yet the people stood fast and braved the heavy down pour. You can observe the comradeship of the people, strangers to each other, sharing umbrella. Not only did DAP unite the Malays, Indians and Chinese together for the election rally, the heavy rain also helped foster kinship between the races as everyone shared their umbrellas and newapapers with strangers from all walks.
It was good that the rain only lasted less than 1 hour and the rest of the night was cool.
Lim Kit Siang ended the rally with a speech and as the fiery evening drew to an end, fireworks display was showcased and the atmosphere was like a celebration of victory. Perhaps the Opposition had read The Secret that you must believe and live as if you already own what you desire.
Election Bloopers
Some of the campaign posters I saw around my area are quite funny.
Is this an election or a Valentine’s Day poster? First impression is, perhaps they are gay activist lobbying for recognition of their love?
This has got to be the mother of all bloopers. Gerakan launched its slogan (top 3 chinese characters in blue font reading from top to bottom) “Zai Zhuan Bian” which officially to Gerakan means “to keep reinventing”. DAP creatively placed their poster below (bottom 3 chinese characters in red font) “Tou Huo Jian” means “vote for rocket(DAP)”. When you read the resulting six chinese characters put together from top to bottom, “Zai Zhuan Bian, Tou Huo Jian”, it means “For change, vote for rocket(DAP)”. The phrase was catchy, it rhymes and this new slogan actually works more for DAP instead of Gerakan and Barisan Nasional. In fact it is more popular than DAP’s other slogans. In Han Chiang’s rally on Thursday, this was the most popular slogan used by everyone!
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