8the day of Chinese New Year

Posted by fiveloaf on February 25, 2026

The 8th day of Chinese New Year is supreme to the Hokkiens, not the Cantonese, Teochews, Hockchews, Hakkas nor any other dialect groups that existed within the Southeast Asian Chinese community, more so in Penang. For it is on this day, the Hokkiens purportedly emerged from the sugar cane plantations they sought refuge from the atrocities committed by the Japanese during World War 2. The sugar plantations is hence their life saver, and thus, on both sides of the altar table stood sugar canes representing the two main pillars of thanksgiving to the Jade Emperor for keeping the Hokkiens safe, a unique add-on, besides all the other condiments spread out on the altar table, signifying abundance as thanksgiving throughout the new year. Besides this, fireworks lit up the night sky in frenzy, chasing away bad luck and evil spirits that looms around the homes and shops of these worshippers. And believe it or not, it will always rain before the clock strikes midnight on the 8th day before the prayers begin.

So who is this Jade Emperor (Thian Gong/Heavenly God) or Thni Kong to the Hokkiens and why is he revered to more than the Lord Buddha so much so that in every Chinese temple, joss-stick carrying Hokkiens will turn to face the sky and worship Thni Kong first, before entering the temple or turning to face the altar table, which the Lord Buddha, the Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin) and the rest of the Taoist deities are placed?

As according to Taoist folklore and culture, Thni Kong is considered the supreme ‘deity’ and ruler of heaven. Thni Kong governs the cosmos, and oversees a vast hierarchy of deities who reports to him on human affairs for example, the Kitchen God (Chau Chu Kong), who reports annually to him on each family’s well being. Thni Kong is also considered the supreme administrator of the Heavenly Court (Tian Ting), governing heaven, earth, and the underworld. In essence, Thni Kong’s significance stems from his role as the sovereign ruler of the visible and invisible world, a concept that resonates deeply with communities more concern with order, justice, and prosperity in this life. For communities who focuses on worldly affairs, seeking prosperity, health, justice, and social harmony, Thni Kong is the ultimate authority. He is the one who makes the final call on one’s fate. Hence, this makes him the focal point for prayers related to practical, everyday life and his impending popularity to the Hokkiens.

On the other hand, the Lord Buddha is the enlightened teacher and founder of Buddhism, a path to escape suffering and the cycle of rebirth. Lord Buddha offers a different kind of salvation, focusing on the next life, making him less directly involved in the daily bureaucratic affairs of the world. In folk cosmology, Buddha’s realm is often seen as a separate, independent system- the Western Paradise focusing on spiritual liberation.

In Southeast Asia, Hokkiens worship a curious tripartite mix of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. They would consider the Lord Buddha as supreme, but rites and rituals are more often than not bent towards Taoism, with moral teachings resonating Confucius values.

Kris Lee 2026.

Chinese New Year

Posted by fiveloaf on February 8, 2026

Chinese New Year has been traumatic for me since some forty years ago when our life took a drastic turn. I did not expect the phobia to last and replays itself yearly, but nevertheless, it serves as a reminder to me, to be weary of dubious pretentious characters.

I had a kind unassuming dad, a man of few words but hardworking, and ever since the day he got lucky winning the social welfare lottery in 1966, he left his job as a cashier, bought a few properties and initiated several businesses. Dad helmed several important positions in his own clan, ethnic, school and political associations. He particularly loves sports, is a champion at table tennis, and he is fond of music, all kinds, taught himself to play several instruments and is good at singing. Despite his busy schedule, he was there for us, a father figure, took us to his farm on Sundays, and acclimated us between his flurry of social activities. Most distinctively, he is kind and generous to a fault which I am convinced must be due to his childhood hardships, one who survived the war. He is there for just about anyone, his own siblings included who were in need of his assistance throughout their daily struggles, never dodged, and in the end, got buried under irrecoverable debts from those he once helped.

Mom was different. She is a bit offbeat and modern. A year younger than my dad, fortune was in her family’s imprint. Despite her pompous character, she did not inherit grandma’s nor her uncle’s shrewdness, and is susceptible to sob stories. She gave handouts to anyone in need, even on the streets but mostly gravitates herself towards the welfare of her own biological family. But in her final moments, she got plummeted, buried under others misfortune and plight. Mom was never a homemaker. She rarely cooks, relies on maids and employees to help her in household chores while she wiles away with her social class, but nevertheless, she tried to raise us, often at times, outdoing her capabilities and gets sidetracked by her two vagrant brothers as well as appeasing to the needs of her siblings, her social class of politicians and Tai Tais.

Surmounting differences indeed between my mom and dad, yet they found commonality in dancing, and in association matters. From dad’s reaction, I could feel he prefers mom to be homey, which she wasn’t built for. But her socialising attracted trays of other’s sob stories, which became a balancing test of mercy or kindness and that bits off a large chunk of his once good fortune. Mom’s grouses centred around women with an affinity for good looking men, which leads to many disputes between both of them and we as children, were caught in between, witnessing some terrifying moments of kungfu at play. Amid tears, our pleas never got heard because we were puny then and eventually, as fate had decided, they both pulled each others rugs, and along with it, goes our home, their businesses as well as our properties. Even our education prospects got curtailed. My sister’s studies in the UK were forfeited, my brother failed his SPM and a blur cock skirt chaser like myself got ejected to Singapore where I needed to work to study.

My mom’s scorn knows no boundaries as many a time, she and her bunch of nosey Tai Tais was busily calibrating and tracking down dad’s movements as well as their own, even engaging Sherlock Holmes to fill the missing pieces. She damaged dad’s reputation unsparingly with her uncanny blasting without realising the impact it will generate and because most of my dad’s businesses and property is in her name, she pulled the final brakes, calls herself boss leaving just one so he could gasp for air, to see it collapsing one by one. And dad found himself managing that shop staying upstairs, sharing it with his sibling and family whom helped run the business until his dying days.

Chinese New Year was fun in the beginning of our childhood years before the tussle began. We once had three or four Lion Dance troupes performing yearly, not discounting the many greeting cards alongside visitors coming by the hundreds, including those from government ministers. We had stacks of goodies, drinks and red packets lined up for each and every visitor, not forgetting beggars and paupers all lining up outside temple walls. Dad makes it a point to grace five or six temples yearly bringing us along with him before we visit the elders. As kids, we were like happy radios not knowing the significance of each kowtow, each greeting, each cookie and dried fruit, but we were fully dressed up bright and gay sipping F&N Sarsi and Orange carbonated drinks and getting paid for it. And our altar were filled with an allay of meat, dishes and sweets to appease the anointed spirits.

But one Chinese New Year day, I found my mom, whom once graces centerstage between her battalion of misfired goons, all alone, staring at vacant spaces, shattered by the eerie silence where it once was a bustle, year in year out. That image vividly stays, imprinted and entrenched in my memory and it pops out yearly. Not because we weren’t hospitable nor accommodating, but because it occurs to me then, that societies wheel can only be coxed with money. And money is the primal glue that binds friendship and people to you. As usual, the goodies were stacked, but no one cares to visit. Not even the lion dance troupes. Everyone dismounts from the carnival they were once a part of. And I thought mom and dad had true caring friends. They don’t. Except for a handful who knew what gratefulness is, the rest are just leeches looming in the swarm looking for blood to suck. And the emptiness went on consequentially year after year after year.

Confucius has a saying. If you are poor and you live in the city, no souls will visit you. But if you are rich and you live in the mountains, souls will strive to visit you even if the journey is ordeal. Not exactly word for word. Eversince that time, Chinese New Year meant nothing to me. Really. But I don’t loom in sadness. Whatever that happens, has happened. Society’s mishap. Kindness is a good trait that does not yield reciprocal affection. And sob stories are often designed not out of desperate needs, but to milk you before others does. It just hardens my spirit. Just to put it on record. I am the only archiver in my extended family.

Kris Lee 2026.

God

Posted by fiveloaf on January 20, 2026

If God is so magnificent, all knowing, and powerful
and we lowly humans are not, why then when we were made in his image and likeness, weren’t we gifted his magnificence, his all knowing ability and power, that we have to be born a helpless tiny tot through a grimacing mother in anguish, then grow up to toil under the scorching sun, armed with the littlest that we know of, sieving through dirt and mud, scouring through the forest and mountains, sailing through the rugged seas, to find ourselves classified into different tribes according to trades, birthplace and surnames, and have feuds against other tribes, spilling blood along the way as we explore, discover, and develop through our own initiative, effort and imagination, inventions and methods that could gradually transform this blue planet into a better place to live in, only to cease living within a fraction of time?

Like leaves on the tree, we wilt, being replaced by younger leaves, generation after generation, and consciously exposed to a variety of religions, not just one. Why did God allow so many religions to co-exist just like the variety of flora and fauna found around us? To confuse? Or that God washes his hands off us the minute we were created, and let us live by free will? But the trees and ferns lives in unison, each minding its own, sharing the same sun and rain, yet they don’t fight unlike creatures and men. It must be because they don’t go in search of food nor are they endowed with legs.

Hence, is God by chance, a man made? Just who separates geniuses and blockheads? God or schools for learning? Because we are altogether sprouting and toiling together under one big umbrella called Mother Earth. Why weren’t we made like trees and ferns? The pretty and the ugly, the good and the bad, the smart and the stupid, the rich and the poor, the responsible and the lackadaisical, the ambitious and the laidback, the orderly and the chaotic, why weren’t we lumped together? And why do God promote the mix between different beliefs, cultures, lifestyles, languages and watch the discordances happening right in front of our eyes instead of encouraging unity? What is Gods mission and vision then? And where do we go from here? To a life ever after within a span of a hundred years or so for each humanoid?

With his magnificence and greatness, he could surely allow only geniuses, stop accidents and war, promote peace, vanishes diseases, and rescue poverty. God can allow only the good to thrive, so why didn’t God make that happen? For what good is the bad? Was it an oversight? Or did we fall from grace? Where was God when we disobeyed? So is God for real or just a myth? We will never know for sure.

Religion divides us. But does all religions point to one God alone? This is another question mark.

We will never know for sure. Because the theologians and religious scholars hardly if ever questions the research about God. Is it because they know the truth? Or that we as lowly humans weren’t endowed with his magnificence, power and knowledge to grasp and accept the truth. Or that the truth is too overwhelming for our simple minds to decipher and heed. So most of us just live and let live, ludicrously falling in line with the system calibrated by governments which were created to ensure order and keep liberal market trends alive to reap us. Again, where was God when weapons, drugs and the love of money began?

Our life is filled with mysteries. Plenty of it. Many claim that it is our soul that gives us life. Without a soul, we are just a lifeless block of meat. And thus our soul activates our body. Thus, is our soul giventh by God? How about our body then? Because when the soul leaves, our body rot. So where does our soul go to? Cleansed and recycled to be flown to another infant? Or back to God? And what does God do with each and every soul thereafter unless there’s a place so huge, it could accommodate generations of dead earthlings, not forgetting there are geniuses as well as gobloks. Do God discards the bad into the fire and saves only the good? Why didn’t God make only the good so that God doesn’t need to build a giant incinerator? Or that he saves all beit good or bad? Which means God collects souls. Then transport them to another world? Are there other life forms that God has planted if we sieve though the billions of stars? Where does God live? Where is heaven and where is hell as most of us are made to believe? Does he have a mission for us or are we to live with eternal uncertainty? Why doesn’t God allow us his magnificence, his knowledge, his power?

As usual, God doesn’t speak back. As we are left to toil on our own.

One possible hypothesis is that the minute we men has achieved through science an acceptable degree of living, God will transport us up like crops in the farm, and had us planted to pollute our universe to start other life forms. And in the end, we would become masters of the universe. Do our souls need oxygen? But why does he want us to evolve when he could have made us a full grown like him right from the beginning? He could have filled the universe up with our kind who looks like him and behaves like him right from the beginning. So why didn’t God? Or could it be that God doesn’t want us to be like him? Therefore the absence of magnificence, knowledge and power. But why? God only wanted to build an army of followers? Who could turn to him and defend him in times of calamity? Do God have enemies? But if we were to be made like God, suffering would not have happened right? So what is our purpose then? God granted us a piece of land to do at will? Like we humans won a special prize or something?
Or that this world is just an illusion and multifaceted which explains how we can be transported into our dreams and back to our sleeping body in split seconds?
Or that we are just an experiment to him?

And the reason why God hides the truth about human existence and our mission is too complex for us to grasp and comprehend let alone decipher. And so, to simplify things, religion had us to believe that there is only heaven and hell, and heaven means being besides God after death and enjoy his glory, and hell means entering the incinerator and be banished forever.

Or that in the end, after humankind has built this world into an acceptable kind that pleases God, maybe our world is up for grabs by the highest bidder? Again, who are the bidders?

Who knows..

⁃ Kris Lee 2026.

Punters

Posted by fiveloaf on January 30, 2025

Chinese are punters. Our uncanny fetish for betting is legendary. If gambling is a sport in the Olympics, we are the undisputed gold medalist. Gambling is not inside our DNA. Gambling is our DNA. We can bet on anything and we love a good challenge over anything. During the yesteryears , the locals bet on strange things like the time the rain supposedly falls. But rather than counting on the winnings, the majority of punters bet for the sake of mingling with friends, for fun, thrill and excitement or to pass their time away. To some, this habit progresses into a serious addiction. We Chinese can bend or create rules to suit our convenience so sometimes in sports betting, a losing team can also deliver winnings depending on the handicaps allowed because it is one of the many ways to instigate a challenge.

Truth be said , the Chinese will believe and worship anything which could usher in that extra luck to help them line their pockets. In the plethora of things, we even have a money god which many worship. And so, for many a serious gambler, they depended heavily on divine intervention. And so they flock temples and shrines hoping that the gods, deities and mediums in trance could predict the lucky numbers for them to bet on. When the joss sticks are raised, the mouth automatically chants in unison their silent pleas. But these appeals usually float to the surface right after the spirits had been appeased with offerings of traditional cakes, dishes, sweets, and prayer paraphernalia. And if a particular temple, shrine or medium is more popular, chances are the gods, deities and mediums have blessed many of their followers.

Many also believed in ditties and sayings associated with their offerings, and alongside, all kinds of superstitions to ward off bad luck. These would include refraining oneself from swearing, washing hair, and anything considered taboo for the entire duration of Chinese New Year such as hiding the broom and anything pointy and sharp that could cut for the entire duration, usually fifteen days.

Our forefathers once kept pocket-sized booklets that contains four digit references of every object, occasion, moment, or actions we encounter daily, just so that we could bet. And these booklets are usually kept on or below the altar table. The betting shops love us, the casinos love us, even the race course loves us. Everything has a number assigned to it. And that includes accidents, coffin, or a bloke who was bitten by a snake.

During Chinese New Year which by tradition is the ushering in of the Spring Festival, an event that colluded thanksgiving with bountiful harvest, the locals became obsessed with homophones, objects that in our local lingua, sounded like plentiful money is coming in, and the believe that everything new and clean, and everything with the colours red and gold will bring luck. The walls of every home becomes a target for red paper cuttings, calligraphic greetings, faux fire crackers and smiling deities. Even the altar offerings of meat and fruits is not spared from these sprouts of paper blooms and faux gold nuggets. Come Chinese New Year, the colour red in all its shades and tints dominates the clothing stores. Anything red and gold flies of the shelf first, followed by yellow which is the colour reserved exclusively for the emperors. Such beliefs became a practice and gradually became a tradition after many years of laity observances one wonders if it is simpler to paint their houses red instead and wear red all year round?

On the reunion table, abundance is the key word. And anything that tasted sour or bitter is taboo. Thus, many families cramped their dining tables with assorted meats, vegetables, fruits and dairy. And hot pots takes prominence over cooked dishes. It is as if the world’s biggest scam is happening offline concocted by these wholesalers rooted by symbolism coupled with homophones, sayings and ditties. A month approaching Chinese New Year, these foodstuff traders, shopkeepers, merchants and wet markets makes a fortune out of gullible followers. The question that comes to mind is how many of these punters got lucky by following these observances, rituals and believes year in year out? How many?

Midnight Flowers

Posted by fiveloaf on March 18, 2024

There are clans existing in night spaces. Sworn sisters united often by lingo and by country of origin~ bonded by ties of kinship, and rooted by familiarity with culture and lifestyle. Sisterhood intrinsically offers basic benefits of security, and belonging. Living in a country not of one’s own, threats from bullies and unruly guests cannot be discounted; thus, having each other for consultation is a plus. What more, off days are earmarked by echoes of laughter and gossips, fun activities, temple visits, and home entertainment. In other ways, sisterhood offers fresh leads.

In the moonlight industry, there are also, the loners. Those who prefer to distance themselves from any group, class or caste. They toil alone, are resilient and they captain their own ship. They do not answer to anyone nor do they fancy forming bonds of kinship. Strong individuals who segregate themselves, only to be absorbed into their own humdrum life, lost in their own reverie, and wades through difficulties without a whimper or alarm.

There are obvious cultural differences that exist between clans from different countries, each having their own peculiar taste of fashion sensibility, and their own morale of what the service industry is about. And each clan caters to the degree of conduct deemed acceptable by their guests. Nevertheless, each clan offers different moods, colours, variety and fun. Between clans, there is friendly rivalry, yet sometimes, envy and enmity. Rules of conduct were never regulated. Thus, some pushes the limit and displays suggestive behaviour, amid scorns from those who find their conduct unacceptable. Whilst others puts on a brave smile, despite inside their hearts and thoughts, rains rivers of tears.

But day in, day out, these social workers, beit with or without clans or those belonging to different clans, scout in between tables looking for prospects who enjoys a little banter, their presence and their company. Sometimes they win, at other times, they lose. But many are brilliant face readers who could read through the pockets of strangers. When there are little or no guests, these social workers creates opportunities for themselves~ moonlighting outside familiar surroundings, luring their clients with them. Still, most return home to their abode once they feel intoxicated, while others enjoy comfort elsewhere, being pacified while sedated by promiscuous guests. There are those whose drinks were tampered with, and rights infringed upon, because they miscalculated the intentions of their guests. Whilst others had ridden safely home through trusted familiar associates, some had lewd images taken of them, and tips stolen.

Morning is a time to knock off remnants of hung over leftover from the night before. Most social workers spends their entire wake up period rolling on their bed communicating with ardent admirers, whereas others spends time watching video clips, wardrobe upkeep, personal grooming and workout routines. Despite it all, there are those who tend to their family needs both home and abroad, and entertaining lunch and dinner invites. Whereas the adventurous gamble, hoping to double their income. Many others took on other jobs to keep themselves afloat.

There is no right or wrong in the routes each of these women takes. But travelling thousands of miles for the sake of livelihood and survival, there must be stories these bravehearts carries. Still, they trod, amazingly resilient to all the risks, culture shock, immigration complications, alcohol burnout, and sexual harassment to name but a few. Many of them are single moms, both abroad and locally, when their hearts were fluttered with false promises of a good future. Their experiences taught some to be more vigilant but some still does fall for the charm of guests though their hearts told them not to do so. There are too many accounts of sob stories best known to themselves. But it still boils to a better life which everyone desires. But for the sake of their family, society should not be too quick to judge, and mean to deny them a good life, we ourselves want.

Such is their story.

Midnight flowers they are, clan, or no clan. When their luminosity fades during daylight, come twilight, again they will glow and sing inside the hearts of sick, desperate, and lonely men, in search of company.

Such is their story.

Multiple Worlds

Posted by fiveloaf on August 28, 2023

There are multiple worlds co-existing within our existence at the same time. Past, present and future worlds all hovering within, and possibly beyond our breathable air, and the day we as individual earthlings expire from this world would only mean that our soul would be teleported to another world and assume characters better equated to our understanding of what life is, without discounting heaven and hell as the two overtly emphasised extremities.

This hypothesis puts to rest the many mysteries surrounding sightings and events that went beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding, like how dreams appear when we’re in sleep mode, then dissipates the minute we open our eyes. It also explains how some people whom have passed off from this world eventually reappears, getting another chance at life inside a new womb years or decades later, after having spent some time exploring another world what is commonly termed as ‘reincarnation’ very much revered in Tibetan Buddhism.

Have you ever personally encounter writing objects mysteriously disappear from your own study table even though you could swear that was where you left it, and sometimes, reappears again years later? Can that be considered a form of reincarnation? Have you personally ever witness things that are not there like objects, shapes, people or light, feel movements on your body that is not real like bugs crawling on your skin or your internal organs are moving around, or smell things that do not exist, and hearing voices and sounds that no one else hears? These are medically termed as hallucinations as experienced by schizophrenia and bi polar disorder sufferers. But unlike hallucinations, have you ever heard of encounters with supernatural beings, some of disturbing form we termed as ghosts, others as gods and good spirits from another era even though you are of sound mind, is not on drugs of some kind and in perfectly good health? Have you ever wondered about fables and ancient stories of giants, gods and mythical creatures who lived amongst us now is no longer to be found? Have you ever watched documentaries of bizarre discoveries of objects so futuristic we have no explanation of its existence inside rubbles? How did they appear, then disappear like ships getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle? And the recent sightings of UFOs that appears and vanishes from behind clouds?

We were taught that a dot represents one dimension and a line is two. And objects that has form that could casts shadow as three. We then conveniently classify and group all ghosts and apparitions as fourth. But is there a possibility that there are more dimensions than those we are familiar with beside heaven and hell that we were taught about? Fifth dimension? Sixth? Are they countable? Where do they end?

Parallel universe is not a new hypothesis but has limited following. It is a theory denounced and kept away by the religious who repeatedly stress on the two extremities, believing only in heaven or hell, and to Catholics, keeping all the souls of unbaptised infants and the just who passed off before the coming of Christ into a place called ‘limbo’ ~ without wanting us to take comfort for the fact that there are many other plains of existence co-existing amongst us at the same time.

To be teleported from one existence to another, we needed to die or sleep, and with it, opens an escape window or a door which routes us to another space and time, depending on where we fit in (and not only the good to heaven and the bad to hell as we are conditioned to believe) ~ very much like the apps on our phones or channels on our television where with just a click, we are teleported and transported to another plane of activity. The movie ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’, offers a glimpse of what multi verse means similar to what is stressed here.

Science has taught us to believe that all it takes is to build faster spaceships to frontier our universe in search of intelligent life which might take millions of light years to reach and perhaps another thousand years of advancement in technology. To them, it is an inter-galactic thing. That other existence is found in other galaxies. But is it possible that these different existence coexist in the same plane in this lifetime in this universe, much like frequencies of a radio? Doesn’t that explain the age old Chinese believe that when our spirits are low, we’d encounter ghosts? Still, to enter or exit one frequency, we needed an opening. That door or window which hovers amongst us but is invisible to us, but through that opening or openings in the sky or sea or land or in the back of our mind, is where the UFOs and apparitions say hello to us, and sometimes vanishes, not only our pens and eraser, but cars, and ships as well. And that door or window that hovers in the atmosphere acts as the app to these different planes of existence? So where is that door or window located? Could there only be one door? Or multiple doors? Do they have a fixed location just like the Bermuda Triangle or are they always hovering but scattered around the globe? Is there a time they appear or disappear? Or are they found in the back of the minds of every living being? Which is how that period of inactivity as we sleep is when we’re entering an unknown frequency which allows us to dream? And a deeper slumber known as death is when we enter a new plane of existence never to return? If it is an inter-galactic thing, we would be able to dream, traverse to that space, play our episode and then escape from it all in a night’s of sleep, wouldn’t we?

Although it isn’t wrong to belief in heaven and hell, and the believe in God as the creator of all life and the world, it is not plausible enough to explain all the paranormal facets and mysteries of life that leaves us boggled till today not unless we keep an open mind.

Because one day after death, you might just be a shepherd thriving in the desert, and I might be one of those heroic characters reliving the historical novel ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’.

Again there is yet another unexplained mystery and sightings, mostly horrible and ghostly, of spirits living amongst us, scaring many out of their wits in dark alleys and abandoned abodes in the darkest of nights, of those who succumbed to tragic accidents and deaths where the souls of victims did not deport. The Catholics has a term for it when describing the killing of Cain and the ‘Massacre of the Innocents’. What is commonly known as ‘souls that cries out to heaven’. And many Asian families vehemently perform rites of vengeance through mediums, summoning these tragic souls to seek revenge and relief against the unknown perpetrators which they believe is the rightful thing to do before these unfortunate souls can be teleported to the rightful new world. The Chinese on the other hand has rites in ode of these tragic souls where offerings were left at the roadsides in particular nights and the Gates of Hell is opened. It is on the seventh month of the lunar calendar what is known as the ‘Hungry Ghosts Festival’. The question to ask is why can’t tragic souls find the window or door out to another world? Or have they and this is just a belief? And are all their perpetrators lined up straight towards hell?

As a footnote, science has uncovered that the structural and functional unit of all living beings are made up of cells. These cells consist of proteins, which are a type of molecule, together with water, which is another molecule, and other elements which all made up different molecules. And molecules are really a collection of atoms. Water is composed of Oxygen and Hydrogen atoms, and proteins are made of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, as well as other different component parts. Therefore, the molecules that makes up the cells of the body are really vibrating atoms which when collided or dispersed could shape-shift as we assume the life of another being we are destined to.

Just my two cents.

Truths All Good Christians Must Know (and its many myths that should be addressed)

Posted by fiveloaf on May 19, 2022

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( FOR CHRISTIANS ONLY )

It is almost two decades now I have distanced myself from church. And I have my reasons. I don’t easily fall in line, I can’t conform to rites and rituals, and I have always been an individualist. I am in direct contrast to what others regard as a faithful follower. And I did not know God through the church. Thus, with or without church, my faith did not wane. And my ember did not diminish like an isolated coal they told me it would. But one thing did happen though. After I have turned away from church , not even a single soul from church has ever called me, nor say hello. And it’s been twenty years since. I won’t second guess their erratic behaviour not that I am bothered. But I was given the impression that there’s a line that segregates believers who goes to church, and those who don’t, or have left. They use a term for out-standing characters like me. I’m known as a ‘lapsed Catholic’. For whatever that means. And I think they feel better to be able to classify me so as to tell me that I am not one of them. Also, don’t go to them if I needed any favours. If it is a science lab, they would have placed me inside a jar and labelled ‘heretic specimen.’
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind…” (Romans 14:1-23)

Personally, I believe that faith is a journey. And to each, our own. This journey of mine had me hover over and under the pews- where once I was inside the church looking out, now, I’m on aerial view, looking in. I am particularly appalled by those who easily succumb to authority and be led by the nose, and others who tacitly sandwiched fear in-between the bread of life. These are the majority which makes up the congregation- an adulterated version of the ‘Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ’ and of the ‘Temple of Solomon’, also known as the ‘Order of Solomon’s Temple’, or the ‘Knights Templar’ – defenders of faith who would fight tooth and grit with anyone who doubts that their God is the greatest. How ironical. But if their God is the greatest, why then do they fear?
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7)

For out-standing souls like me, please be enlightened. It’s a privilege to recce God’s garden and circumambulate one full circle while others are still caught up inside. Without being given the ladder to scale over, one may not understand what the opposing scenery looks like, to make informed opinions. Unlike me who have a full macro view uninterrupted. I’d rather enjoy the fresh air and be caught trespassing, than paying blind obeisance to what the church wanted us to believe in.

The Words of God are simple and straightforward. Yet many lack depth to scour its grace and wisdom. And true discipleship calls for individuals to give up everything and follow him. Yet I wonder how many denominations still observe this faithfully?
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:23-24)
“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple”. (Luke 14:33)
“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”(Mark 10:21).
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” (1 John 2:15)

Throughout those years in church, I have encountered the most obstinate of believers. Those in true hypocrisy who worships the strangest, those who pray to prey, and those who gossips the fiercest. And to those lost sheeps forever looking for signs and wonders to affirm their faith, I now have the unfortunate unpleasant chore to respond to, their myopic perception of God. I am no biblical scholar, a behavioural scientist nor a theologian. But if everyone were to take a step backwards tying everything we know to the basics of love, we could be seeing happier days ahead, than feeling somber, anticipating the final hours of God’s arrival any sooner. Like everybody else, I dread to be misled. Because one day, those misled may be preaching on the pulpit.
“I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I do not have love, I will sound like noisy brass. If I have the gift of speaking God’s Word and if I understand all secrets, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I know all things and if I have the gift of faith so I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give everything I have to feed poor people and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it will not help me.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
“Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Inside every church are always some delusional Jim Jones in the making. Hallucinators who beckoned they have earned wings- believing themselves to be God’s chosen gate-keeper or messenger of some kind. All because they have managed to garner some followers. Indeed they have. Retirees, pensioners, the golden age club and sinners whom resorted to the church hoping for some form of redemption or free entertainment to kill time. And so these hallucinators seek God inside the pages of the Old Testament without knowing it’s relevance, reviving worship and dance like David did without knowing its significance, arrived at the gates of the New Testament without mastering the Beatitudes, and back they went again to the drama of the Old Testament, preferring the authoritarian and punitive God than the forgiving one. And that is how, like a warrant officer, they stick their noses into every cadets butt, faulting everyone else’s conduct and private business thus giving unconditional love a brand new meaning by inserting them with multitudes of decree. Didn’t they know any better? That the veil had been broken?
“And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38)
“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God…” (Hebrews 10:19-22)

The most unfortunate amongst these characters may I emphasise again, are these ‘fault finders’- backdoor Warrant Officers who could uncover sin everywhere, under every stone and carpet, except for their own backyard. These characters could see no wrong in themselves, and shows no contrite- comfortably forgetting the speck in their own eyes and forgetting that the Lord is first and foremost, “an all forgiving God”.
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:4)
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
“But if you do not forgive others their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6: 15)

Next are the ‘fence builders’ – those who thought that God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit belongs exclusively to believers only and no one else, thus disassociating themselves from the marginalised, the destitute, the underprivileged and the non-believers. They too tasked themselves to build wedges between believers and their loved ones of different faiths, urging them to stay away from customs, traditions, conjugal and funeral rites because they believe it is better not offend their jealous God than to embrace love for their own family. Doesn’t these individuals understand that “the greatest is love”? (1 Corinthians 13:13). How then are they “to go forth and multiply” (Genesis 9:1) and “make disciples of all generations” (Matthew 28:18-20), having decided that building boundaries, fences, wedges, and cages is amiable?
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)

Then, there are the ‘fear mongers’. Individuals whom instead of believing and emphasising the glory and majesty of the almighty God whom created the world, believed more in abominations and the harsh punishment meted by God, thus allowing evil to manifest. These individuals spread fear and are scared of everything under the sun, maybe their own shadows even. Imagine the damage they could cause up on the pulpit, spinning confusion in the minds of catechumens at a time when they were taught forgiveness, more so when their faith journey is still at it’s infancy? The fear of the darkness, death, other gods, mythological creatures, traditions and customs, is unnecessary because they are but little elements that makes up the colourful world, if you believe in the all powerful God that is.
“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” (1 John 4:18)
One should thus, not shift one’s focus from the God of kindness and compassion, towards darkness, garbage and filth, thereby reducing God’s brilliance, radiance, magnificence and significance whom they will ironically fight tooth and nail to claim that He is the most coveted of all Gods when ridiculed. The Crusaders did severe damage to the Christian world. They went on to wage war using Jesus’s mighty name not knowing our God is all for peace? And whatever happened to the God “whom created the world and everything inside it?” (Genesis 1 & 2) which means everything good or bad belongs to the kingdom of God?

And then, there are in our midst the ‘divine hallucinators’- preachers whose madness grew in tandem with their hallucination. These are the individuals who claim to have seen god, raised the dead and boasts of converting tens of thousands of people into the faith within a few years. Oh really?!
“Some could not resist “letting their right hand know what their left hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3-4)
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
It is obvious error if these divine preachers doesn’t realise that those who stood inside rallies are in some ways or another, have been touched by the Holy Spirit? And if these hallucinators could raise the dead, they would have made headlines by now and kidnapped by the intelligence to do just that. Raise the dead!
In the bible, except for Moses and Isaiah, no one could have claimed to have seen God.
“No man hath seen God” (John 1:18) (1 John 4:12)
“God is spirit, a form of life which is invisible to the naked eye” (1 John 1:17), (John 4:24).
“God can be seen directly by angels because they are spirit creatures” (Matthew 18:10)
“No one can see me and stay alive” (Exodus 33:20)
And it was written that Moses had once saw the “angel of God as a flame” (Exodus 3:1-10), and besides this, God’s back, because God allows him to.
“Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back but not my face” (Exodus 33:23). Isaiah on the other hand, has physically seen God.
“I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole temple.” (Isaiah 6:1)
“And yet with my own eyes, I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty“ (Isaiah 6:5).
In the Book of 2 Enoch (rejected by the Jewish and withdrawn from the Christian bible), Enoch at age 365, was taken to heaven, and managed to see God in the seventh and tenth heaven. The seventh, was from a distance, the tenth, face to face.
In (1 Kings 19:11-23), Elijah who was transported to heaven in a flaming chariot has not seen God but has spoken with God. Many prophets like Elijah has also had visions of God including Ezekiel, and many have engaged in conversations with Him.
One may argue that everyone who had seen Jesus during his thirty-three years on earth hath seen God, since the bible has surmised that God, the Son and Holy Spirit are infinitely one, while we as mortals are also “made in his own image and likeness” (Genesis 1:26-27), but then again, no one has ever seen God “in all His divine glory and holiness except in his human condition”, where he veils himself to be amongst us, appearing in the form of Jesus. The question is, do we really need to see God to believe he existed?
“Blessed are those who has not seen me, and yet had believed’”? (John 20:29)

There is clearly a distinction between God’s kingdom and the kingdom we lived in as Jesus himself clearly stated in front of Pontius Pilate. And because his kingdom is not of this world, so are his blessings and gifts of the spiritual kind.
“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)
But with these seven gifts- wisdom, understanding, right judgement, courage, knowledge, reverence, wonder in awe of God’s presence (Isaiah 11:2-3), doth every believer, some with more gifts than others, were giventh unwarranted blessings which serves as a springboard for discipleship. Inside the scriptures, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are the roots of the tree, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit are, the fruits of that tree. And if we are led by the Spirit and open to God’s gifts, the fruits of the Holy Spirit will be evident in our lives- the virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) And the harvest would be aplenty.
Where blessings are concern, God has generously reminded believers to
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and it’s righteousness, and all things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33)
“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” (Psalm 20:4)
“The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.” (Proverbs 10:22)
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Romans 12:14)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
The reason why I broach this subject is because of the numerous request for intercession of the greedy kind. Healing from certain sicknesses, illnesses or diseases is understandable but praying for bigger houses? reveals a lack of understanding of the kind of blessings God has in store for us because God has never specifically mentioned wealth as a guarantee for our unceasing faith except to Solomon. And God too specifically asked of us to bless those who persecute us. Can you?
So, it is indeed a misnomer to assume that when a person is endowed with good looks, power, fame or fortune, or born with it, that means God is well pleased with him- therefore blessing him with direct tangible advantage, greatness, influence, and wealth over others. And those who don’t is not in God’s favour. From the scriptures, it is very clear that God shows no impartiality. Moreover, Jesus himself was born poor. Rather, there are many instances where God expresses his concerns about material gain particularly the means in which wealth is gained, and how the love for money could easily distract the rich from entering the kingdom of god. That is one of the mortal sins which could not be pardoned . Mortal sins identified by the church includes homicide, abortion, infanticide, fratricide, patricide, and matricide, sodomy, oppression of the poor and injustice to the wage earner.
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24)
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)
“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to give to God what belongs to God”(Mark 12:17).
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-12)

The perception of Idolatry also needs to be addressed. It is one of the primary divides between the Protestants and Catholics. Idolatry in primeval times has everything to do with animism and pagan worshipping. Animism encompasses the beliefs that all material phenomena have agency, that there exists no categorical distinction between the spiritual and physical world, and that soul, spirit exists not only in humans, but also in animals, plants, rocks, geographic features or other entities of the natural environment- water sprites, vegetation deities, tree spirits etc. In the early days, pointing to the empty sky is not enough. Understanding the concept of God requires objectification and thus, megaliths, trees as gods and statues were commonplace. Even in the medieval era, objectification was needed to completely understand the concept of God, hence the many icons, statues and frescoes in temple and home surrounds created for adoration, as commemoration or plain hero worshipping the almighty, just like the many coins minted in Byzantium (395CE -1453AD) which depicts the image of Jesus.
In biblical days, idolatry arises from a personal disdain of the jealous god, Yahweh who was worshipped alongside a female deity, Mother Goddess known as Asherah. Asherah was hypothetically Yahweh’s wife (and the wife of other Gods as well). But Asherah’s shrines were everywhere, more popular than Yahweh’s. And they were also found besides Yahweh’s shrines. Yahweh found that upsetting, calls every child who worships him and her together, a whore, and called for its destruction.
“You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make.” (Deuteronomy 16:21)
“When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.” (Judges 6:28)
“And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.” (2Kings 17:16)
“And I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities.” (Micah 5:14)
In today’s context, idolatry is something one indulges in, does excessively out of habit or an obsession which affects one’s duty and obligation towards God and family. And for as long as the fetishism, obsession and habit does not interfere with one’s duty and belief, it is not considered abomination. Therefore, the display and collection of statues, figurines, religious paraphernalia, relics, including prayer verses hung at home. How so ?
Because reverence or piety happens to be one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And piety brings one back to one’s own origin. Piety has everything to do with obedience, respect and paying homage to one’s ascendant, with ‘God as head of the family’, therefore, not unless one prays to a different God, or neglects his own God, is his actions considered idolatry.

There exists a great disparity of opinions concerning other matters. And I for one do not succumb to makeshift authority, with each fraternity forming their own doctrine and preference, especially those who curtail our good sense and empathy towards others in need. As God’s children, good sense must always prevail. The gift of wisdom is imbued within us to discern and surmise each opinion, not forgetting the gift of courage to correct the wrong, no matter how little or many followers the other party has. We should be glad indeed for the gift of knowledge and the larger brains we, as earthlings, are endowed with. For if not, we could not have reigned dominion over all the other creatures on the earth. Each of us should be bright enough to discern between right from wrong, good from bad, godly from evil, shallow from deep, clean from dirty, and healthy from the sickly. And to process every bit of information thrown at us- whether they are relevant and applicable in today’s context, measured against the values of love, forgiveness and kindness.
But humans are born sinners and our fallibility began with the ‘Original Sin’ as was committed by Adam, and because by that one incident, as expressed by St Augustine, no one is spared from falling into the abyss of doom.
The church has clearly defined three types of sin- Mortal sins, Venial sins and Cardinal sins. But sin is what you do which inconvenience or causes harm to others. One can arrive at what kind of sin was committed, by asking the following three questions:
1. Did the act involve a grave matter?
2. Was the act committed with full knowledge of the wrongdoing that had been done in the act?
3. Was the act done with full consent of the will?
If all three questions are answered in the affirmative, the criteria for a mortal sin have been met. If any one of the three questions is answered in the negative, only the criteria for a venial sin have been met. And Venial Sins is easily forgivable unlike mortal sins. Mortal sins are unforgivable and may I repeat that which includes homicide, abortion, infanticide, fratricide, patricide, and matricide, sodomy, oppression of the poor and injustice to the wage earner. In the Catholic context, forgiveness would entail:
1. Acts of Contrition – feeling sorrowful
2. Disclosure – confide to God
3. Penance – doing something eg. reciting of prayers to make amends for it.
St Paul mentions that when we sin, we need not fear that we are condemned by God and that there is no more justification and grace we deserve. God’s relationship with us is not broken unless or until we deliberately and irrevocably sever it by ‘moving away’ from God. There is also no such thing as flipping between grace and penalty. Believers ‘have and always been’ in the state of grace.
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12)
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
“And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21)
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5)
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
“But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7)
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)
There are seven types of cardinal sin. Lust, greed, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. Most of these sins with the sole exception of sloth, are perverse or corrupt versions of love for something or another: lust, gluttony, and greed are all excessive or disordered love of good things; sloth is a deficiency of love; wrath, envy, and pride are perverted love directed toward other’s harm. Sins from lust to envy are generally associated with pride, which has been labeled as the ‘Father of all sins.’
I will not dwell in detail all the cardinal sins except for one which is lust, which in general, is the least understood but the one believers are most interested in which explains the increase in popularity of porn sites. This deserves some attention because most preachers direct them to sexual innuendos. However, it is not so. Lust, or ‘lechery’ is intense longing, and is ‘usually’ thought of as intense or unbridled sexual desire which ‘may’ lead to fortification including adultery, rape, bestiality and other sinful sexual acts. However, lust also means unbridled desire in general; the lust for money, power, and other things are equally as sinful.
Lust is also thought to be of the least serious of cardinal sins as it is an abuse of a faculty that humans share with animals, and sins of the flesh are ‘less grievous’ than spiritual sins eg. turning away from God.
*But do not despair for there exists restitution for sins. For no sin is unpardonable, except for mortal sins and that is the promise of God.
“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)
“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” (Micah 7:18)
“And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Matthew 12:31)

So spare me! But prohibitions from drinking, smoking, cohabiting and generously offering lifts to members of the opposite sex are but menial and should not be amplified if they happen in moderation, is consensual, and done with pure intentions. Again, sin is what you do which inconveniences or cause harm to others. Believers always like to stress that our body is the temple of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 6:19) Yes, I don’t disagree nor doubt that a temple is not a sacred place. Therefore for health reasons, we need to safeguard it from abuse. And a healthy body broods a healthy mindset. This has everything to do with the boundaries we set for ourselves but not an ultimatum or imposition which comes with disparaging penalty only the jealous heart that lobbies for punitive sentencing hopes for.
“I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12)
Remember, Jesus himself turned water into wine, the first of his first miracle.
“The Wedding at Cana” (John 2:1-11)
Thus I am certain the entire community or country need not be penalised- putting the brakes on taxi services, school-buses and co-ed schooling since every good person is assumed to have the tendency to let their throbbing manhood rule over faith, decency, integrity and good judgement.
And who are we to deprive singles or separated couples no longer in love the probity of happiness in cohabiting?
As Christians, we must believe that everything comes from God who made the day as well as nights, and rain as well as sunshine (Genesis 1 & 2). And as Christians, we should not be paranoid and prohibit everything, frightening ourselves and disassociating ourselves from unpleasant situations, when caring for our community is part of our social responsibility.

So, do not simply believe in what others say or do blindly, for fear of being chastised, worse, made unpopular because we happened to be more inquisitive than others. The gift of courage, one of the seven gifts of the holy spirit, encourages us to be bold and stand our ground.
“And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely; for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8)
Likewise, it is not about how many times we have read the bible from beginning till end, but about our contrite heart and how much we understand about charity and learnt from it. And to all the ‘doubting Thomases’ whose glory rests on tangible proofs and miracles they witness during faith healing, my concern is what if one day God decided to take away everything and there is no longer any miracles to perform that you can see with your own eyes, would they be as faithful to God, or would they moved on to other faiths? Seriously, I want to know.
“Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe… “ (John 20:24-29)

Maybe God doesn’t deserve me or I don’t deserve God so likewise I can’t blame the congregation for being self-absorbed. For they are the fruits of what the church teaches.
My desert experience wasn’t only forty days as Jesus had experience, but more like years cowering in fear of being stalked by the evil one whom I was told hides under the cloak of Jesus. Fact is it is just a figment of an over imaginative mind given the opportunity to lead catechumens such as me. The implications was severe and I suffered because of misinformation. No one deserves to walk that road I did long ago. And it could be prevented by addressing the misconceptions I am doing now. Thus I felt it timely to say something. Of course I can’t address all. Except those within my ability to grasp.
My concern is this . What good can a brilliant God do, armed with an army of blind, paranoid, conceited, uninformed followers whom were all assigned to stand up and fight against demons and wrongdoings?
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43-45)

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

Chinese Observances

Posted by fiveloaf on February 2, 2022

“In the old days, the Southeast Asian migrant Chinese were inundated with many beliefs. Beliefs that’ll bring them luck, prosperity and happiness. With beliefs, sprang the many superstitions observed. More so when affirmations were rhymed into ditties and sayings that tickles the fancy of the larger crowd. For those who doesn’t attend schools, these ditties acted as guides in the school of life, for they held many truths. Whereas others, especially when related to food, sounds more like marketing 101.

The Chinese of Southeast Asia practices a strange mix of religion which falls into a larger cauldron they identify as Buddhism, which again lives below an infinite space known as the Sky God, or ‘Thni Kong”. Though many are now baptised, Buddhism was and still is, the supreme god to these believers, Taoism and it’s many practices and deities, as the guide to rites and rituals to attain Nirvana, and Confucianism, as their gospel to communal living.

Especially during auspicious occasions, birth, marriage, full moon, or new year, these curious concoction of three-in-one cocktail comes into play. Elements that does not conform to their practices were silently removed, and others desecrated with red paper. Even food was not spared.

On the table during reunion dinner, which is usually held during the eve to usher in the first day of Chinese New Year (or the coming of Spring), all kinds of meats, vegetables and condiments is a must. That to the Chinese signifies abundance as it harnesses positive energy. (For as long as you can tolerate the tediousness that goes into it’s preparation.) Before the clock struck midnight, one would have assumed that their abode has been spring-cleaned and decorated with auspicious objects, including their cars and compound, and elements that suggest bad luck or ‘suay’ are hidden inside storerooms, especially brooms and sharp objects including kitchen knives, never to be seen till the 15 days of Chinese New Year ends. This covers plants with leaves that shapes like daggers as well. And they even have preferred colours. Red sits on top of the list, followed by yellow.

Throughout Chinese New Year, the sounds of fire crackers are heard, in the belief that the noise would ward off evil spirits. Charity is encouraged, sworn words refrained, new clothes worn, animosity discouraged, sweets served, and the most menial of work especially the sweeping of homes, were halted. Such are the ways of the Chinese.

Throughout history, these observations became habitual and that in turn manifest as traditions attached to their beliefs. To identify one as a Chinese is to observe these traditions and beliefs which are related to Buddhism. As they serve themselves with a wide array of food and dishes, so too did they bedeck the altars of their Gods with abundance, with a few exceptions or add ons. Prayers, paper effigies, and joss sticks, as the intermediary or points of transfer between heaven and earth. All for the sake of prosperity, luck and happiness.

But how many of these believers actually attain prosperity, happiness and blessed with good luck throughout the year, one ponders? Can we be certain that in a famine stricken country, and the many whose cars succumbed the flood, families who were forced to bunk inside stadiums because their apartments caved in, and every passenger inside a plane that crashes, lax observances?”

Chinese Medicine Made Simple.

Posted by fiveloaf on April 15, 2021

“Western medicine is complicated whereas Chinese medicine is simple. To the Chinese sinseh, every single bodily malfunction boils down to heatiness, boils down to your liver. To heal your liver, they’d prescribe you bitter herbs to boil and drink. To speed up healing, you sleep. Under multifold layers of blanket.”

Kuih Bangkit

Posted by fiveloaf on February 17, 2021

‘Kuih Bangkit’ my personal favourite Chinese New Year cookie, enjoys the same popularity with the Malay communities during Hari Raya, and particularly those from Riau in Indonesia, and the Baba Nyonya communities of Malacca, Penang and Singapore. Bangkit which means “rise” in Bahasa, traditionally has a little red dot tipped on the body (which turns pink when mixed with the flour), on each piece of the Nyonya version. And these pieces were usually of animal form — Goldfishes, Chickens, etc. casted from wooden moulds then baked.

This peculiarity of consecrating objects with red dots, is ceremonial, and has its belief rooted in Taoism. For it was believed that these red dots would bring man-made objects to life, hence it is with the annual initiation of the Lion and Dragon Dance by their troupes, and the paper effigies burnt for the deceased during funerals. Taoist mediums also dispenses yellow paper blessings written with red ink, or blood splatterings from their tongues, when in trance-like state. Believers would then burnt them, throw them into a glass of water, and drink from it, as divine panacea.

This shared delicacy probably has its roots all over the archipelago, the result of harmonious communal living, and the intermarriages between the two races, the Chinese with the Malay in the Straits, from whence resulted the Baba and Nyonya community.

Overcoming Grief

Posted by fiveloaf on November 15, 2020

Grief is a state of loss. An emotional upheaval that one feels beit over a divorce, loss of job, death of a loved one. It manifests in 7 stages, some experts argued 5- but it all depends on our equilibrium, our attachment to that party, the circumstances that brought about the loss, and the severity inflicted by the tragedy. The various stages are sequential but rubbery, with no affixed period, and an aggrieved party may sail across, mixing up or skipping some stages in between, and recover in no time at all. The 7 stages are: shock and denial, pain and guilt, anger and bargaining, depression, upward turn, reconstruction and working through, and finally, acceptance. But to ride through grief, one must know firstly how grief happens.

Religion has been the pinnacle of mankind. It is responsible for our lifestyle, the constant unrest between nations, civic consciousness, moral conduct and governance. It shapes us to become who and what we are today. However, what most people overlooked is the well known mantra of ‘Giving more so that one could receive.’ An extreme example would be “If anyone slaps you on your right cheek, offer him your left also.” Deep, mysterious parable that is. But a powerful one. That is another topic of discussion altogether.

Giving is an act of love, and giving begins with one being emphatic, generous, happy, caring, or simply, being dutiful. No one will give to their enemies where love doesn’t co-exist. And the more you love someone, the more you will give.

But taking or receiving is inevitable. Taking begins with the suckling of our mothers breasts, till one receives education, and finally when one is fit to take on the world. That dependence comes from one’s natural parents, guardians or sponsors. It is this constant state of receiving that one can mistakenly inherit the dogma of entitlement, thus quite often, a receiver will never know when to give back. Even after they grow into successful adults. Sometimes they defer their plans, others went chasing after rainbows. As a result, their caregivers are neglected because giving is not reciprocated. Until that fateful moment of loss arrives.

The receiver is then confronted with guilt, regret, denial , blaming oneself, the “ifs” I were to do this and that, the longing to do more which they did not initiate when their loved ones is still alive, because there exists an imbalance between giving and receiving. If one would have given enough or more than one receives, grief is short lived. But that is a natural frailty of man. To put off affirmations, praises, visits, giving of gifts. All these can be taught, but never will they ever be fully executed.

But managing grief is entirely different. The rites encountered in certain religions helps the aggrieved to let go. They are the hidden gems subtly designed with human emotions in mind. This if one could afford to, a full rite is better than half-baked ones. The action of burning incense is letting go, the serving of meals and drinks and the giving away of sweets to well wishers is letting go, the throwing of gluttonous rice, the offering of candles, the placing of wreathes and flowers on the casket, the singing of hymns, the shouting of mantras, the placing of bones into urns, throwing flowers into the pit, these rituals were all designed with giving in mind. If one couldn’t afford to, the giving away of the deceased possessions to the poor and underprivileged is another way of letting go. And when one gives, one will gradually let go. And the more one let go, the natural progression lightens our heart to recovery.

So it is right to say that hidden beneath all religions, beit right or wrong, our forefathers whom has designed all these sacred rites and mantras had us in mind. To help us heal.

Casting out Charm

Posted by fiveloaf on November 11, 2020

To know if a person is charmed (In Hokkien’Tiok Kong Thau’), experienced mediums or deliverers will look into the victims pupil and observe its dilation and sheen.

To confirm his suspicion , he will make the suspect crawl under fishing nets left basking at the beach during sunrise or make him cross a river. For it was said that evil spirits wouldn’t cross a river or sea, and so are charms.

For if a person can do that with ease, that means he/she is not suffering from some kind of charm or possession. Evil spirits will also get themselves trapped in the net and so are charms, therefore the possessed will refuse to crawl beneath them. That is the reason why fishing nets has always been part of the accoutrement found above door entrances in shophouses, besides the more popular pakua ‘Eight trigrams’ used in Taoist rituals that has a curve mirror smacked in the centre of it.

If a person is found charmed, the medium or bomoh will first search for the ‘opening’, a gateway where the charm enters from, and then determine the origin of the charm inflicting him. That opening is usually an object left in the garden or main door of the home of that person charmed. Without that gateway, the charm cannot enter the home and attack the person. Evil spirits can also enter homes through other means, like sneaking under umbrellas for instance, which is also another reason why locals shun carrying open umbrellas when they enter into their own houses at night, whilst our fellow Malay friends washes their feet before entering.

The openings or gateway are usually claypots wrapped in cloth left perched in between branches of a tree. Inside the pot, depending on the severity of the infliction, were found rusty nails, amongst other things. The colour of the cloth will also determine where the charm originates from. That will direct the medium to the source if he needs to seek aid, if the charm is too powerful hence refuses to leave that person. A yellow cloth is left by a Chinese shaman, the red, by the Thais, and the black, the Malays. So it was believed that the most fearful charms comes from the Thais.

When they are found, the medium will then perform some incantations, climb up the tree, and dislodge it by the kick of his feet. The act of kicking or knocking it down with the feet is sacred, for if hands were used, the charm will also enter the medium when he picks it up. Other than football, our feet cannot pick up things.

Hence the old wives tale of shunning the idea of picking up things left on the roadside not meant for you.

Game of Kalituay

Posted by fiveloaf on October 31, 2020

Kalituay is a home grown game, fun and lively, played between two opposing teams. Its origin can be disputed, but it has been played both in the kampongs, as well as the city.

The game demands the players to be alert and agile, both with their eyes and limbs, and to win, the running team must not be touched by the catching team.

Each runner from the running team will find themselves compromising through compartments beginning from line 1 till line 4 and back, without being touched, caught, hit or slapped by anyone from the catching team.

A perfect run through scores 4 points for the running team. Each point garnered by one runner , and deducted accordingly if one or more members are caught.

There are three sets each for the opposing teams, each team taking turns to be the runner as well as the catcher, and the team with the highest scores wins the game.

Usually the court size will determine the number of people needed on one team and on a normal scale, a badminton court is ideal with each player from the catching side, guarding lines 1,2,3 and 4. Only the player guarding line 1 is allowed to run up and down the spine and catch, touch, hit, trap or slap any unsuspecting runner that lingers on its spine.

When everyone is ready, the game begins with the first runner slapping his palm with the first catcher.

A referee can be appointed to dispute a hit.

(Image outsourced without permission)

Tiandihui in Malaya

Posted by fiveloaf on October 9, 2020

The triads were very much the make-up of overseas Chinese in Malaya back in the 1800s, with 7 out of 10 persons either belonging to one brotherhood or the other, depending on which side bullies them. It is an olden day form of a trade union, and it propagated mutual aid and a sense of security to individuals indeed, if one works in the mining field. And a strong cluster cannot be overstated in the wake of problems encountered in a land alien to them. Every member undergoes induction rites and their rituals took on the version of their Chinese counterpart, the ‘Tiandihui’ , otherwise known as the ‘Heaven Earth Sect’ – a Ming loyalists secret society that originates to resist the invasion of Manchus during the Qing Dynasty.

In Malaya, their sworn brotherhood and protectionist policy instinctively appeals to many, especially when succumbed to duress or bully. Their brotherhood ensures peace, and a stable income for all. And so it was, that the British had a hard time flushing them out that gradually, a triad member named Yap Ah Loy had to be deployed to mediate and ensure peace on behalf of their rule.

Gang wars was a natural occurrence then, when differences cannot be reconciled, and some went full blown, making its way into our annals of history. Every initiated member were issued weapons, many self made, the most popular being the Malay parang once used for clearing lands is now used for butchering, the trident-like spears, wooden poles, and of course, knuckle dusters (a recent find shown below) which delivers excruciating pain when a blow is received.

Gradually, the British, in dire straits and concern over their strength, devised a way to outlaw these secret societies, by encouraging them to register their societies legally, so that every member is a statistic, on the pretext of being philomantic to their cause, grouping themselves by the district that one originates, by dialect spoken, by common surname, and by the trade one belongs to. Of course many remained undercover to work their so called secret activities.

(Below: a zoomorphic shaped bronze knuckle duster)

Jit Si Bay Liam Lang

Posted by fiveloaf on September 2, 2020

(Version in Hokkien)

Jit Si, Bay Sai Liam Lang

Arm Meh, Bay Sai Liam Kwee

(Version in English)

In the day, do not gossip about others

In the evening, do not talk about ghosts.

About this rhyme/ditty:~

This rhyme/ditty seeks to remind the listener never to gossip about others because bad luck might befall them if the gossip falls into the wrong ears. Hence the metaphor, people and ghosts. In the early days, it is also believed that whatever is discussed at night might fall into the ears of ‘cheeky’ spirits whom may disrupt your entire plan, or in extreme cases, appear disguised as you, in your appointments. Imagine you are going out with someone else that appears to take the from of the person you are dating? In another instance this ditty is meant to be a saying said in jest, that when you are missing someone and that person suddenly appear right at that instance, in front of you.

The author/owner has compiled for record, a collection of early Hokkien sayings, proverbs, rhymes and ditties to capture the essence and spirit of his hoi polloi, a community originating from the southern province of Fujian, China where individuals climbed aboard bum boats, crossing the South China Sea to settle in faraway lands to escape the brewing civil unrest and a way out from hardship carrying along with them in their journey, nothing except their trademark ponytails and their beliefs, very much rooted in Confucianism. These ditties retell their story and their lifestyle way back then so that the younger generation can gain an insight and foothold to their origin..

Mom was a Socialite

Posted by fiveloaf on April 24, 2020

Mom was a socialite, but dad always insisted that meal time is when everybody sits together at the dining table. The irony was mom seldom sits at home lest to watch us eat our meals. She adores outside food and thus with all her ‘Tai Tai’ friends, they’d cluster together over meals in the most popular of Chinese Restaurants. And because we have lived-in maids, the maids are the ones who cook for us. They are simple dishes. Tau Eu Kay or Bak Cho, and Chai Tau Char. But we enjoyed it. Since young we relish what’s served to us. But she does however prepares herbal soups needed for us to grow. Our breakfast was usually liver with fresh ginger and soy sauce basked in hot water . Sometimes bread and butter with sugar sprinkles, fresh milk from the milkman, sometimes outside food and at times, boiled eggs with Milo. Except for my brother who is quite picky, otherwise we have no trouble adjusting ourselves, my sis and I. We too enjoyed the lavish dinners combing functions, celebrations and dinners my dad is required to attend. As children, we tagged along everywhere they go. That’s executive privilege. When dad goes to work, we usually remind him in sync with this daily recital “to be good, make a lot of money and come back soon.”

Mom was close to her three sisters too. Especially my Jee Ee (2nd aunty) who is somehow always around. My 2nd aunty hos a company which organises variety shows and events in Penang. Inside her stable were Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore film stars and singers. I think she is quite successful in what she does because most of her stars are the very famous ones of that era. So are the band boys she manages. And together with my mom, both of them comb night clubs and bars sought of after dinner ritual if ever they are obligated to attend. Their favourite sport, drink, dance and chat till they drop.

Thus in every aspect, our school life is inundated with our parents social preoccupations so much so that we hardly have evenings of quietness. My dad had his name inscribed on the plague in his alumni , attributed to the largest donor of his ex pupils association. He was also wearing many other social hats. That shophouse in Presgrave Street is our usual haunting ground. There, we played table tennis, mahjong games or simply scribble onto the blackboards. As children, we accompany them and we had our fun. Mom’s favorite sport is talking and there, she is at utmost ease, as she acquaints herself with members of dad’s club. She has her own alumni too. In that era, there wasn’t plenty of fun places to go to. And so I guess, that’s how our parents enjoyment is integrated with ours.A one stop fun club for families. Inside this association are also a full set of musical instruments my dad had donated. They have a band of their own which were regularly invited to perform at functions or religious ceremonies such as Ko Tai’s.

Back in those days, beit at Great World Park or New World, where my dad’s association band sometimes perform, there are amusement games, merry go rounds, ferris wheel, open air cinemas and ad hoc stage. And there are in the midst, candy peddlers, kacang putih sellers. The grounds are usually sandy and wet on rainy days. Where the bands play, they usually have a sort of battle where the best of bands is judged by the crowd they could garner and thus, in between Chinese Pop songs. they will also belt out Western numbers by the spurts.

My maternal grandma’s house was smacked right in the middle of town at Aboo Sittee Lane. And her tyre shop was in Prangin Road (now Lim Chwee Leong Road). Grandma was shrew. It could have been that after the war, she took over the business left by her deceased husband (my maternal grandfather) who was tortured and died in the hands of the Japanese. Or it could have been she managed that tyre shop for there were cousins and in laws in the business registration. Grandma used to ride on human powered trishaws, her grand Mercedes on three wheels, to and from work. Because of her, we had fun riding on these trishaws , to arrive at Goh Phar Teng where we’d have the best Koay Teow Thng, Hokkien Mee and Char Koay Teow. My grandma loves to cook Kiam Chye Ark, a salted vegetable soup broiled with shitake mushrooms and duck or chicken meat. That was my sister’s favourite soup. And from Kiam Chye Ark, the soup will transform into Chai Boey which from the same soup, leftover dishes were thrown in for the extra flavour and they’d relish and relish as they keep on adding the salted vegetables and soup in. Sometimes it takes them weeks to finish just this one dish. My sister is very close to my maternal grandma so, during those days, she sometimes stays with her. And together they’d go watch those Taiwan love movies and have a good cry. I really shook my head at this ‘paying to cry” movies. That is beyond my understanding because if dad brings us to movies or makan-makan (eat out), he’d usually order more than enough beit a Sunday at the Seafood restaurant at Tj Tokong or the cafe besides Cathay Cinema.

On weekends, dad sometimes play hosts to his foreign friends and relatives who visits. He usually brought them sight seeing beit to Batu Maung, the aquarium, Batu Feringghi beaches, seafood restaurants, Snake Temple, Kek Lok Si temple or the Reclining Buddha. As children, we follow where they go to, with our Singapore cousins (mom’s side) , if and when they are are down on holiday. That is because both my Ee’s had their homes in Singapore.

At home, we too had fun. When none of the relatives are around, we will play with our Lego set, Chinese or English chess, Happy Family, Ludo, Scrabble, you named it, we have it. Outside of the semi detached house, we’d cycle, roller skate ar play basketball all day. Dad had a net fixed at the balcony corner and we too have our own personal pond. It was a landscaped feature pool, but with a bit of imagination, it became our private wading pool. Actually it started as a fish pond where dad rears his Japanese carp. Later it became a tortoise pond after the hoards of tortoises we brought home found at the land in Jln Tengah. But we had them donated to Ket Lok Is temple years after because no one likes to regularly clean the pond. We also played kites, because our neighbours kids all play kites. One minute “s”, the next minute stamps. My sis, she reads fiction. Love fiction in particular. We also have a pet dog named ‘Poppy’. Such a lovable watch dog he was. The rest, dad rears following Poppy’s demise was just that, another dog. And everyday, the Indian Mee seller staying next door to our house will bring out his pushcart. There at the corner of our house entrance he ply his trade. And we had plates and plates of his mee because it was so delicious and tasty. At night, opposite our house at the corner of Jones Close, was a ‘Chai Diam Ma’ sort of s grocery cum provision shop. In front is a Rojak Seller (a kind of salad with fruits and condiments eaten with a sticky paste made of prawn). Behind our home, dad built a badminton court in no man’s land. There we had bouts of fun games and dad will invite all his friends to have a game or two. Dad was a sports freak. My brother and I followed him to watch football at the City stadium every time the Penang team plays. Dad himself excels in table tennis winning many times in inter-school alumni competitions and my sis herself was a hurdler also having strings of medals to take home. They are the only two in the family appearing in the trophy corner. And because our house was just a footwalk to Gurney Drive, we often spent our days and evenings there collecting seashells or had fun at the beach. Or just sit there by the pedestrian walkway to wile our time away. The best thing about our Jones Road house was, then, there weren’t much cars. We can literally follow the back path towards Pulau Tikus market and back. Pulau Tikus market is where everyone living in that vicinity buys their fresh produce from and also breakfast.

But there is this place which I was literally fond of. My dad’s estate in Jln Tengah. It’s actually a pig farm he literally built himself out from scratch with the help of some sub contractors but he bought the materials himself and built his first few sheds I guess to cost save. He does that on his own by just by following the guides he gain from books. My daddy is my hero. And I can safely say I inherited his talents.

The pig farm has only one access, with three water convolvulus and hyacinth ponds to reckon with beside two streams that ran across it. And in between these ponds are rows of rambutan and durian trees not to mention banana and pink fleshy guavas. The farm flanked a paddy field. Both rivers sprang a lot of surprises. From monitor lizards as huge as goats to the Malay farmer batting fresh water prawns with their bare fingers, it’s the kind of adventure every child needs. Because every farm owner is entitled a shotgun, dad does his hunting for pests that would invade the fruit trees or the chickens living inside the estate. Sometimes to get us excited, he’d plan for evening hunts which two, or three of my paternal cousins will follow, one was my 3rd Kor’s son who later worked with my dad in the motorcycle shop then the gas shop, and the other two was my 2nd Kor’s sons, whom after school just did some odd jobs with my dad, who in a way feeds them. The farm was minded by my Tua Kor (eldest sis of my dad) and her family. My Tua Kor Tniau literally works for my dad. He was entrusted to look after the pigs. They have a VERY big family of their own and most of them resided there under my dad’s expense. Sometimes in the evenings. the lorries from the wholesalers would arrive, ready to pick the pigs to the slaughter house. And they pay their dues in cash. It is one of the most lucrative business my dad has ever been in, but because labour was scarce, dad was also half hearted. Then came the government who uses the land acquisition act to acquire the land, on the pretext of building low cost houses. The never did. Forty years later, it was sold to Suiwah for RM40 per square feet. Chong Eu, then Chief Minister was made their group Chairman. Dad was aggrieved and seek them out for a compromise where we would build the low cost houses and sell it to the government. They refused so dad brought them to court. Nevertheless, we lost. But not without a fight. Thence, we sold the land to them at RM1.38.

Inside the farm was a tool shed dad built. There, we had fun making our own imaginary space-aged gadgets or toy guns we as children played with. We even attempted at making kites. And many a time, there was the encounters with cobras who loves to hibernate inside bathrooms. Even pythons. Back in those days the new road was practically non existent, so we use the old road bypassing Sungei Ara and there at the crossroads, dad will stop to buy Cucuk Kodoks and Ham Chin Peng (Teatime Sweets). My brother and I will always sit at the river bank fishing, making our fishing rods out of bamboo sticks. They may be small cat fishes but there we were, having a great time exploring. But those were the Sundays without mom. or sis who was with my maternal grandma on most weekends. It’s like a boys club, with wildlife as friends. We did not have much luck with the durians, mangosteens or rambutans because that wasn’t our core business. The whole place is like a fruit orchard, only that gnarls of pigs is what one hears from a distance. But when they do grow, there we are perching ourselves on the trunks relishing the fruits send from heaven. Of course there were some chickens, ducks and goose. Goose acts as deterrent to snakes.

With so much happening, I felt that as children, we are very blessed because then, there was a sense of family bonding. Until life took a turn when I was about 17 years of age. The misfortune taught me alot about face value and how most of daddy’s and mommy’s friends were literally just suckers. They suck the sweetness out of you like chewing gums, then spit you out once there is no more sweet left in you. And that is how I described their friends, even relatives for the matter. Because when my parents were left to borrow, only a handful came to the fore. And got thrashed by the rest. When news spread that we are no longer doing that fine, my sis was in England. Our Chinese New Year celebration, once a festive gala crowded with scores of people, even strangers are now empty spaces filled only with faint echoes of our once booming life. Back in those days, Chinese New Year was a grand affair. We had hoards of visitors, cards from minsters, and five lion dances to reckon with, from the societies that dad and mom are active in. My dad and mom was also politically active, both serves as chairman of the parties in the districts they were involved in. I was in my teens then but I was sensitive enough to understand what was happening. All the food and drinks that mom prepares were literally wasted. It was a traumatic experience for me. One that would remain etched inside my cerebral till this day because on every CNY, these memories will creep back. Unlike most Chinese, I may be the only one who will never enjoy Chinese New Year because it was a bit too traumatic for me.

((To be continued)).

Chinese Elegance

Posted by fiveloaf on January 26, 2020

The Chinese could not have been more elegant, unless we hark back to the era of the glitzy twenties, with pompadour hairstyles and sequined dresses bedecked with fineries et al, the way we are supposed to be, all dressed up to roar!

Sacred

Posted by fiveloaf on December 10, 2019

“A statue or figurine is only considered sacred after it has been consecrated by a religious or priest beit in a rite or proper religious ceremony thus to determine if a statue is sacred or not, will never be known because the action of consecration may only involve the laying of hands and the recitation of certain appropriate text whilst others may involve stippling the statue/figurine with ink, the adornment with a chasuble, stole or a garment of some kind including fresh flowers or in other cases, the insertion of certain pulverized ashes inside a carved hole which was then plugged in. Thus without such obvious evidence present on a statue or figurine, one can only guess if a statue or figurine is sacred. Herein provenance becomes an important criteria because if that particular statue was proven to have sat inside a temple before, one can almost be certain that the figurine mentioned is indeed sacred. Anyhow in a way, it does enhance the value but put you into trouble if the origin is an important sacred site, if that is what you are interested in.”

Not Imbued

Posted by fiveloaf on November 26, 2019

We are not imbued with the culture to culture

our own culture.

Hidden Rules

Posted by fiveloaf on March 29, 2019

“It is alarming that Chinese has many hidden rules that even I am not aware of. Until I was recently made aware that the paint color used on tombstones, if it is gold, represents dead relatives and red, signifies the living. Thus on the grave of my grandparents, upon my discovery, my beloved cousins, siblings and I, have been dead for more than half a century already . Cant get more incredible than this years Cheng Beng. Drown me please somebody !”

Chneh Meh Kay

Posted by fiveloaf on February 26, 2019

(Version in Hokkien)

Chneh Meh Kay

Tok Tiok Tharng

(Version in English)

A blind chicken

Pecks a worm!

About this saying:~

This phrase/saying is commonly used to describe how luck could strike undeserving people the same way a chicken , though blind, could peck worms.

Reunion table

Posted by fiveloaf on February 5, 2019

Reunion is held on the first day of Chinese New Year. The servings on a reunion table according to Chinese tradition signifies abundance. Hence it is customary to have as wide an array of food available on this night. In contemporary society, fad and convenience has taken over tradition. Rarely does one still find whole chickens, suckling pigs, sharks fin, abalones, sea cucumbers, and all kinds of mushrooms and fishes being served except on important occasions as appeasing deities on the altar tables.

Ang Pow Giving

Posted by fiveloaf on January 31, 2019

On the first day of Chinese New Year as Confucianist practice dictates, the entire household of an extended family would tidy themselves up, all nicely coiffured before presenting themselves to the head of the household, (generally the matriarch) to receive special blessings and ang pows (red colored packets containing money symbolizing good luck, prosperity, great health and joy). As receiving ang pows is hierarchical, so it is with the givers, each taking turns distributing whilst juniors kow tow and wish ‘Keong Hee Huat Chye’ as a mark of respect to the givers. In our family we went a step further by serving tea to the elders. It is also customary that once a child got married, they are obligated to give ang pows to their parents. The unmarried are exempted from ang pow giving because to the Chinese, they are still rated a child. Thus, any family members can receive ang pows for as long as they remained single. In our Hokkien tradition, only the womenfolk gives away ang pows. Reason is that the menfolk are supposedly the breadwinners of the family whilst the womenfolk are in charge of household affairs.

This is my extended family.

1st pic- my grandma Gek Kee, receiving blessings from my great grandma, matriarch Saw Kit, at Boon Siew Mansion. Generally as a senior in the family herself, my grandma is no longer entitled to ang pows but I guess that also depends on the generosity of individuals and the wealth of each family.. Matriarch Saw Kit’s life sized bronze statue still graces the Home of the Infirmary, Penang.

2nd pic- Aunt Guat Eng, Aunt Gim Ean (deceased), Aunt Guat Hong, Aunt Loh Ean, Uncle Kah Poh (deceased), unidentified Aunt and my mom (deceased). Aunt Guat Hong and 2nd Tniau Seng Leong kow towed.

3rd pic- Tiny tots group pic with matriarch. Kah Heng (deceased), Kah Bee, and Kah Kheng (deceased).

An extended family has added advantages except for privacy and at least three generations of one household lives and stays together. That was the in -thing of that period for well to do family’s with big houses.

Images copyrighted. Circa 50s.

Exceeded Excrete Life

Posted by fiveloaf on September 22, 2018

“I’m at an age where I’m supposedly marked ‘safe’. There’re no urges I cannot explain, I don’t ogle at freshly baked muffs, and I walked around gleefully, pretending to look young but inimitably, all my good ol’ features kept wasting away and cranking at the joints. In a few years time, I will be entitled to benefits accorded my age. Civil society had it all thought out already- designated foot paths, regular health checks, cinema and travel concessions, stuffs which are ironically more useful to me when I was younger. All except for that which I grimace and longed to have, but quite incapable of performing.
Age does strange things to one’s eyesight really. Wrinkles vanished completely from everyone you gaze at and older women suddenly looks sweet and desirable. At times, you see multiples of them instead of one.
Alas! and after I have exceeded excrete life and my opinions no longer reverberates the eardrums of my dear shadow cabinet congregating at the regular coffee shops, the only muscle flex I’d be left with would be the drool flowing down the corner of my mouth each time a temptress straddles by. It’s so surreal really.
And what do you know? My whole person is already stammering but my beloved bloke snugging in between my crotch still thinks he is the next superhero!
Come to think of it, getting older could be fun. When you’re asked to do something that you’re lazy about? and you point to your neck or wherever while cringing your face..
Anyway, the rest of my time I guess would be spent monologuing and bumping onto furniture corners.. Then wait for the day when they tagged me with a champagne glass’ and an ‘umbrella’ symbol followed by ‘This Side Up’. “

The ‘I’ Syndrome

Posted by fiveloaf on August 17, 2018

“Everyone does what is good for themselves. No one ever questions if what they do good for themselves is good for the country. Thus, the country is always left behind. That is the missing link for a good closure. That is the reason why familiar leaders so called the old guards who has been around in every fraternity MUST GO! They lack foresight and vision. They are self centered. They can’t bring change. Because they themselves won’t change for the good of the country. They can’t forsake that ‘I’ syndrome for ‘US’. They are divisive. They move their pawns to benefit themselves. And still think they are clever. Yes they are clever. In manipulating the naive. Sham these people without conscience. They are the weeds in our garden! When we uproot them, we must also uproot what they have put in place beit the system, the standard operating procedures and their policies.

Stop Policing Others

Posted by fiveloaf on July 22, 2018

Malaysians are too rich. It’s only people who does not need to worry about their pocket could they find time to play God or be God’s gatekeeper. Complaining about the dirt in other people’s backyard does not absolve you from your own. Look inward. There you will find a lot of filth staining your own morality. Clean them up since you are too free. Stop policing others….

Convenient Stigma

Posted by fiveloaf on June 27, 2018

Statistics doesn’t lie. Proclaiming that Chinese are richer is a convenient stigma to deny them aid, on the pretext of defending bumi rights, designed by ultra-politicians and their sidekicks, so they can like jib, live like kings, while the majority of simpletons got cheated by their lies.

Bedak Sejuk

Posted by fiveloaf on May 2, 2018

“The making of ‘Bedak Sejuk’.

My mother’s concoction of rice powder for teenagers was quiet well known. It was supposed to give u a nice complexion and keep ugly pimples away. Her concoction was to soak rice grains for 24 hours and the decanter the smelly water every night b4 bedtime. This would go on for a couple of nights until there was no unwanted smell and the rice grains fermented completely.

To make them smoother she would have them put between the grinding stones and the substance came out smooth. Then she wld mix the paste with grounded sandal wood, maram grass roots and nutmeg seed also grounded.

When she got it to the right consistency everyone was invited to fill up their cones and drip the the drops on to a heshian cloth. Then dried out in the sun.

A cone would sell for 20 sen and a smaller one for half the price. Everybody swore to the efficacy of her ,Bedak Sejuk’. No pimples and claimed a smoother complexion.”

– Reposting an article shared by the late Tan Sri Ani Arope 5th Mar 2014.

Fear of Government?

Posted by fiveloaf on April 10, 2018

If you live in fear of the government, then there is something wrong with the government. And there is also something wrong with you. For choosing that government you fear.

Animosity

Posted by fiveloaf on February 18, 2018

“It’s that awkward time of the year again where animosity between siblings and relatives meets at the reunion table. That to the Chinese marks their new year. For whatever that Spring Festival means.”

fiveloaf

Monologs of a Water Tiger

Tag Archives: Culture

8the day of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

God

Punters

Midnight Flowers

Multiple Worlds

Truths All Good Christians Must Know (and its many myths that should be addressed)

Chinese Observances

Chinese Medicine Made Simple.

Kuih Bangkit

Overcoming Grief

Casting out Charm

Game of Kalituay

Tiandihui in Malaya

Jit Si Bay Liam Lang

Mom was a Socialite

Chinese Elegance

Sacred

Not Imbued

Hidden Rules

Chneh Meh Kay

(Version in Hokkien)

Reunion table

Ang Pow Giving

Exceeded Excrete Life

The ‘I’ Syndrome

Stop Policing Others

Convenient Stigma

Bedak Sejuk

Fear of Government?

Animosity