Archive for September, 2003
19 Sep, 2003
What on Earth is Ezed?
Give me a break already. It’s Easy, not Ezed.
When you’re brought up on International English (British), and not American English, you’ll have learnt that the letter “Z” is pronounced zed and not zee.
Question: When there’s an “E” in front of a “Z”, what sound does the letter “Z” give?
EZ, it’s “easy”.
Apparently, there are countless people whom I know who still go “Ezed”, as in eee-zed, and you’re possibly one of them.
Sure, you might argue that since you’re brought up with International English, EZ should be pronounced like E-Z or “Ezed”. But what does “Ezed” mean? EZ used in this way would be silly, as “Ezed” is a nonsense word. Just take it from me, everytime you see the letters EZ together, chances are it’s an abbreviation (short-form) for the word “easy”.
Freedom Fries?
Anti-American? That’s just too bad. Saying Ezed will make you seem childish instead. Take for example when the Americans renamed their “French fries” to “Freedom fries”. They were trying to prove a point, but ended up making themselve look silly. So come on, say it with me, EZ is easy!
I wrote this mainly because of the countless number of people in my office who keep calling the “SIA EzHolidays” the “SIA Ezed Holidays”. Not that I want to judge, but it just sounds, *cough*, stupid. And of course, the “EZlink” card we have in Singapore, these same people call it the “Ezed Link”.
If you’ve made that mistake before, the world forgives you — just don’t make it again.
18 Sep, 2003
Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Teng - Lyrics and Meaning
Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin
Page contiains lyrics and commentary of song (which investigates the song’s true meaning). If you just want lyrics: english translation of the lyrics | hanyu pinyin version | lyrics in simplified Chinese characters.
Last Updated: 25 September 2008
The Full Song Commentary
There’s this song that I love called (translated): The Moon Represents My Heart or Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin (Hanyu pinyin). It was sung by the late Teresa Teng.
The Moon in Chinese Context
Taken out of context, the moon is the moon, nothing special. However, in Chinese culture the moon is much more than just “a moon”. The moon to Chinese culture is something like the sun to Western culture. Not the same in the literal sense, but rather in terms of importance and value it’s somewhat equivalent — e.g. Western culture uses the Sun to tell time, the Chinese use the moon (without which there will be no Lunar New Year). And time, arguably, is of great importance to man.
Moon Represents My Heart?
But putting these cultural differences aside, was there any significance as to why the moon was used in this way to represent the heart? I’ve been looking for resources on this over the internet, but commentary on this song in English (don’t know about Chinese) has been non-existent. That’s why I have decided to give some commentary of my own.
The Moon as a Metaphor
The very reason why I took an interest in finding out the meaning of this song was because firstly, the language used is simple — no pompous, bombastic, or crazily difficult Chinese words in here. What this means is that I can sing this to my chosen one. :)
Secondly, I was thinking about the fleeting feelings I had for my proposed chosen one. I’ve been infatuated (slang: puppy love) with girls before, only for the infatuation to steal away for a while, and return with a vengeance. At that time I thought that I was perhaps just being childish and fickle for not holding on to that feeling (of love) forever. I sought out a reason why this was so.
Then one day while thinking, the song came into my mind: “the moon represents my heart.” Wait a minute… the moon?? “that’s a weird representation of a muscle,” I thought to myself.
I went out to take a look at the moon, hmm… it was a moonless night! Sheesh, some love song. On a moonless night it would be a stupid song for a lover. Then it struck me. On a moonless night, one cannot see the moon, and yet one knows the moon is there — somewhere out there. Gosh, there was more to this metaphor than meets the eye.
Night-time’s a Romantic Time
Suddenly it dawned on me why the moon was a great metaphor for love. Firstly, the moon brings to mind night, and all the associations that come with it. Some of these associations include romantic feelings from candle-light meals, feelings when one settles onto the same bed as one’s partner, or when one goes out together with a loved one for slow walks by the sea, etc,.
Then comes the moon as an indicator of love. The feeling of love does not last unwaveringly day in, day out. It comes and goes, and it’s when it goes that determines who the successful couples are. The moon changes all the time, from the full-moon, to the half-moon, to the crescent moon, to moonless nights — then magically, back to crescent moon, half-moon, and full again!
The Love Cycle
Like magic, love is replenished through time. Does the moon really change over time? Nope. It’s always the same moon, it’s only how it is viewed that makes it seem different. From certain angles, the moon reflects light in a certain way, from other angles, it reflects light in other ways.
And yet, the love though seemingly different, never changes. Underneath the veil of a half-moon, or crescent moon or no-moon, there is a full moon just waiting to appear. Add to all this the significance of the moon in Chinese culture, and you get a great song.
The Moon Festival
According to Angela, this song is sung on the moon festival…or autumn festival….and on that night the moon is the fullest in teh whole year [sic]. The festival mentioned here is the mid-autumn festival, or as many Chinese fondly call it, the moon-cake festival (for we all love them! and it is only during this time that they are wildly sold).
If this is so, it would provide another (and possibly originally intended) explanation. Interpret it as you will: for practicality purposes, you might want to use the meaning I put forth on this page. But if you do somehow manage to recall this song during the festival, then you can use that meaning instead!
To conclude, the moon metaphor is how I would represent my own feelings for someone. It isn’t that I love or don’t love you, because I do, it’s only at times my love is more obvious than others.
English and Hanyu Pinyin Lyrics
English Translation
You ask me how deep my love for you is,
How much I really love you…
My affection is real.
My love is real.
The moon represents my heart.You ask me how deep my love for you is,
How much I really love you…
My affection does not waver,
My love will not change.
The moon represents my heart.* Just one soft kiss
is enough to move my heart.
A period of time when our affection was deep,
Has made me miss you until now.* You ask me how deep my love for you is,
How much I really love you.* ** Go think about it.
Go and have a look [at the moon],
The moon represents my heart.Repeat *
Repeat **
Hanyu Pinyin
ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen
wo ai ni you ji fen
wo de qing ye zhen
wo de ai ye zhen
yue liang dai biao wo de xinni wen wo ai ni you duo shen
wo ai ni you ji fen
wo de qing bu yi
wo de ai bu bian
yue liang dai biao wo de xin* qing qing de yi ge wen
yi jin da dong wo de xin
shen shen de yi duan qing
jiao wo si nian dao ru jin* ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen
wo ai ni you ji fen* ** ni qu xiang yi xiang
ni qu kan yi kan
yue liang dai biao wo de xinRepeat *
Repeat **
Simplified Chinese
Due to the lack of support in many browsers for Chinese characters (including mine!), I have put up the lyrics in Simplified Chinese in an image file. See the lyrics of The Moon Represents My Heart in Simplified Chinese:
Like this page? Link to it then! Want to leave a comment on this song? Comment here!
Looking for the MP3?
Try this link that searches for the song in MP3 on Baidu.com
17 Sep, 2003
When I Die
If you were in plane that was crashing down, with less than two minutes to live, who would you call, and what would you say? If you knew you had a year to live, what would you do? If you could live life all over again, how would you live it? What are some of the things you would do different?
You know, these questions were asked of me before, all throughout my life, by well-meaning people. I have known them to be considered “motivational” questions, to make one think about what really matters in one’s life. However, I have never really made a commitment on my answer, I don’t know who I would call; in fact, I probably wouldn’t call anyone.
I prefer not to single out anyone in my last hour. Indecision to the end, that’ll be my way.
If I died right now, at this very moment, I would have no regrets. If I could live my life over again, I would not do anything differently.
It’s not that I have never made any bad decisions, no-no… I have. But oddly enough, I don’t regret making them. A blessed life? No, not at all. But a life I don’t regret. What would you choose? A life without regrets, a happy life, a full life, or a joyful life? What word would you choose to describe your life?
12 Sep, 2003
It’s Just Business!
I was in the toilet releasing tension in my bowels when something occurred to me. The absurdity of, to put it crudely, shitting. What a taboo subject. No one wants to talk about shitting. You go to the toilet “to do big business”, “to let go”, “to answer nature’s call”. Nice phrases given to a very crude subject.
When one sees a boss, a teacher, a respected one, an elder or almost anyone for that matter, one often forgets just how human they are. When you think Bill Gates, it’s absurdly difficult to picture him having to go the toilet like everyone else. In the computer world, he’s God (or Satan, depending on where you’re coming from), and therefore doesn’t have bowels!
If you see the Pope, you will also forget it. Or Michael Schumacher. Or Tiger Woods. Or Osama bin Laden. Or George W. Bush. Or David Beckham. Or Brad Pitt. Or Jennifer Aniston. They’re human too!
I was reading this book “The Art of Travel”, very good book I might add (written by Alain de Botton), where the Author talks about this philosopher who made his toilet exploits publicly known. He talks about the importance of this daily occurance, about how great it is, how essential it is for our health and well-being. Shitting’s great stuff!
How something so important could become so taboo puzzles me. Just because it’s smelly, looks bad, and downright disgusting doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be talked about. Without the process of shitting, we would grow into the things we let go!
I think it’s important we talk about it. Especially over meals, as it’s what goes in that comes out (therefore most appropriate). We should talk about how some vegetables that go through the digestion process still seem identifiable when out the other end, or perhaps how some foods like beans and cabbage make you pass gas, and from there it might lead to the quality of farts, how the louder ones seem to smell less awful than the “silent killers” etc.
It makes for a great conversational piece. So the next time you invite your friend over for dinner and you have no idea what to say, just start by talking about crap!
12 Sep, 2003
Clothes Maketh the Man
Why do we bother what other people think about our appearance? Why do we dress like others? Why not just live our lives dressing up according to who we really are?
Attraction Attracts Friends
We care about what others think about our appearance because we are sociable creatures. We want to make friends — man is not an island. By conforming to social standards, others will be more likely to make friends with you, to be more attracted to you (you look more attractive if you look like them right?). The person who is not looking for friends or acquantences will most likely not bother conforming to standards — he doesn’t have to. That is not to say the latter is better or more mature, s/he might just be anti-social!
The Right Clothes, Not the Best
I have been labeled over-sensitive to appearance and vain by people before, more often than not because of the slightly-longer-than-average time I take to get myself ready to face the outside world. I have to make sure my hair is that way I like it, my clothes match (or at least don’t clash), my shoes are right etc. I value appearance quite a lot. You’ll understand why if you read some of my other posts on appearance.
Mental Comfort vs. Physical Comfort
When I talked about the way I dressed, I was using very subjective terms (”the way I like it”, “shoes are right”). There is no such thing as a good looking article of clothing. To each his own. When we look for something to wear, we don’t have to pick our favourite or best clothes. We pick what feels right, or what we think is right (or appropriate). We pick what makes us most comfortable mentally.
If I was going for an interview, the clothes I pick may be physically uncomfortable (e.g. long-sleeved shirt and tie), but mentally I know it’s appropriate, and therefore I feel comfortable mentally. If I were to wear shorts and a singlet, I might feel comfortable physically, but mentally uncomfortable — actually, it won’t only be me, the interviewers will probably feel embarrassed for me too! As a rule, we wear things that don’t upset our mentality.
Gandhi and His Loincloth
Then there are the exploiters of this rule. Gandhi wore a loincloth to provoke response from people. To make people jump out of their comfort zone. He needed to spark controversy as the people of India were apathetic to his cause. He wanted to free India, but India didn’t want to be freed, they had gotten comfortable… his clothes were out to make a statement and provoke response.
Dressing affects our thinking
Our physiology is intimately connected to our emotions. By forcing a huge grin, and keeping it there for a while, one can actually break out of any other emotional state (including sadness and depression), even if it’s only for a while.
Remember though, that dressing appropriately is very event-specific. Do your research on the internet, and get tips on how to dress your best, for the specific occasion. Even Gandhi’s extreme dress down was deliberated over, and was picked because it suited his purpose.
Below area couple of useful links on dressing I used when choosing clothes, and how to carry them off, for my graduation.