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CANNIBALISM, the act or practice of eating human flesh by mankind. In his acci dental discovery of the West Indies Columbus heard of, if he did not himself see, the Carib Islands, the inhabitants of which were spoken of as Caribales, or, owing to the customary dialectical interchange of 1, n and r, Canibales. These Canibales or Caribales were reported to be man-eaters. This terrible association of Canibales with the practice of eating human flesh naturally enough led straightway to the transfer of the name of the people to their horrid custom. The Greek word, anthro coming down from pre-Christian times, indicates that the practice, though unknown to Columbus, was ancient and well enough known to be in the literature of the older peoples. The story of Polyphemus devouring human flesh as told in the 'Odyssey) and other legends of semi-divine man-eaters is evidence enough that the ancient authors knew, by hearsay at least, of this practice. It is a well-established fact that all races of men have at some time, in a greater or less degree, been guilty of the practice of eating human flesh for one purpose or another. It is very generally believed, and with a good show of reason, that there never has been a time, since man first appeared, down to and including our own, when the world has been free from canni balism. It is nearer being free from it now than it has been perhaps in all past time. To-day it exists among isolated South American tribes; in West Equatorial and Central Africa; in the Malay Archipelago, some of the South Sea Islands (mainly in Melanesia) and in parts of Australia. Excluding Australia cannibalism may be said to be confined to a belt of land extending to a little more than 10 degrees north and south of the equator. How far back the practice goes it is not possible to tell. So far as is known there is nothing to warrant the belief that the ancestors of the human species or the first of the human species ate one another. There is little if any evidence to indicate that down to as late a period as the close of the Old Stone Age the several races of men which had successively inhabited Euro-Asia and northern Africa prac tised cannibalism. Cannibalism is not univer sally characteristic of the savage state. A few charred and broken and scraped human bones from the cave-dwelling period are substantially all that has been found which can by any stretch of the imagination be supposed to hint at this practice. Tylor goes as far as the facts seem to warrant when he says that this evidence may "perhaps be taken to show that prehistoric savages were in this respect like those of modern times neither free from cannibalism nor universally practising it..) Cannibalism originates in and is carried on from widely different motives, ranging all the way from eating human flesh as a regular part of daily subsistence to the eating of it for purely magical or ritualistic reasons. It is not possible to draw a dividing line between the several kinds because all or nearly all forms are more or less interrelated. This may arise from the fact that usually the practice does not begin in a single motive., As a Means of Subsistence.— The most repulsive and degrading form of cannibalism is that of eating human flesh as a part, the main part, of the regular diet. The negro tribes along the Guinea Coast southwards into the Kongo and for some distance eastward eat human flesh as food. It is treated just as other races treat animal flesh. Raids are made to capture prisoners and they are herded and kept till wanted. Sometimes they are fattened just as other races fatten animals for the slaughter. Under great stress of hunger occasioned by shipwrecks, sieges and famines civilized persons have been driven to the eating of human flesh. The siege of Samaria about the middle of the 8th century B.C. (II Kings vi, 24ff); the siege of Paris in 1590; and the famine in Algiers in 1868 furnish instances of this. What civ ilized people are driven to do by the pressure of hunger it is not surprising that the savage should do with even greater readiness under similar circumstances. Many savage races have resorted to cannibalism onlyin times of famine. The Mungerra tribe in Queensland in times of severe famine *kill an eat some of their female children.) The natives of Tierra del Fuego, when starving in winter, *throttle and devour the oldest woman of the party. When asked why they did not kill and eat the dogs, they reply 'Dogs catch otters.' ° As Manifestation of Affection.— In credible as it may seem cannibalism in some instances seems to be prompted by affection. The Binderwurs of Central India killed and ate the sick and aged, °thinking this an act of kindness and acceptable to the goddess Kali.* The aborigines of southwest Victoria practise eating human flesh in a solemn service of mourning for the dead, particularly for those killed by accident. °The Tangara carry their dead about with them, and whenever they feel sorry for their death, they eat some of the flesh till nothing remains but the bones.) Among still other peoples parents partake of the flesh of their dead children las a token of grief and affection for the The practice of eating flesh for the purpose of honoring dead kinsmen is of a similar charac ter. Herodotus, writing of the Massagetie, a Scythian people living in the northeast of the Caspian, relates that when a man has attained a great age among these people it is the custom for his kinsmen to sacrifice him, boil his flesh with the flesh of cattle and eat it. This is accounted an exceedingly happy ending. Lyden describes a cannibalistic custom which has the appearance of a very pious ceremony. The aged and infirm invite their descendants to eat them. The victim ascends a tree around which the others assemble singing a funeral dirge: °The season is come, the fruit is ripe, and it must descend.) He then descends, and is put to death and eaten in a solemn banquet. As a Ritualistic Practice.— Cannibalism as a religious institution is one of the most widespread and persistent forms of the practice and it ranges all the way from almost a pass able refinement to the most revolting orgies. The religious purpose is not always the same. In some instances it is due to a desire, as among some Australian tribes, who make a practice of eating their totems, to become identified with the totem or god. In other cases the desire is simply to establish a close bond of friendship between the flesh-eating god and themselves. The peoples who offer human sacrifices to the vd eat of these sacrifices, believing that by so doing they directly and surely become possessed of the divine virtues supposed to proceed from such sacrifices. With the Khonds it was the custom for a girl representing the goddess Tari to be sacrificed and torn limb from limb by the worshippers eager to obtain a piece of the deified victim. Cannibalism as a purely re ligious exercise among people possessing a high degree of culture is best and most notoriously illustrated by the Mexican custom of offering human sacrifices to the god Huitzilopochtli. "The victims were enemies or slaves and were offered before the images of the gods. The priest cut open the breast with an obsidian knife, tore out the heart and offered it to the gods; then he sprinkled his assistant and the offerers with the blood. After this a cannibal feast on the body took place, priest and offerers partaking.) Early writers say these cannibalis tic sacrifices reached yearly into the thousands. To obtain rain from the rain-god Quiateot, children and adults were sacrificed to him and his images were sprinkled with their blood. As Magic and of the most varied forms of cannibalism is that orig. inating in the belief that by eating human flesh or certain parts of the human body very im portant advantages would be gained. Dead rel atives in some instances are eaten in the belief that the soul of the deceased will thus pass into the eater, and he thereby become possessed of all the desirable qualities of the dead man. In other instances the body of an enemy was eaten because that was the way to destroy the soul and thus put an end to further menace. Landor reports that in Tibet the dead is eaten partly by the Lamas and in part by the relatives, it being believed that the spirit whose flesh has been eaten will always remain friendly. The Boto cudos ate an enemy to render themselves invul nerable against the arrows of the hostile tribe. Among some peoples at the founding of a new town a human victim was slain and the heart and liver eaten by all present so that they might not die within the year. In I Kings xvi, 34, is reflected a survival of a similar custom. The idea that the eating of human flesh endows the eater with distinctly magical or supernatural powers is frequently met with in the savage world. In East Central Africa it is quite gen erally believed that the uncanny powers sup posed to be possessed by witches and wizards are obtained by the feeding of the latter upon human corpses. From this comes, naturally enough, the belief that whoever feeds on human flesh will have the power of witches and wizards. Not infrequently cannibalism has arisen from an almost uncontrollable passion for re venge, and a savage belief that eating an enemy is the surest way of bringing about his lasting disgrace. The ferocious natives of New Cale donia do not consider that revenge is complete until they have devoured the slain. The can nibal practices in Samoa seem to have had hatred and revenge as the motive. aI will roast was the greatest insult that could be offered a Samoan. For a long time after the practice was abandoned, captives, in token of submission, would offer burning wood and say •Kill and cook us when it seems good to The Tupis of South America ate their dead enemies, and the children were brought home captive and cared for till the age of 14 when they were slain and eaten. Instances have been met with where the criminal enemies within the tribe are slain and eaten. Where this is the custom it is usually the chief alone who has the privilege of eating the offending tribesmen. In some cases it is not easy to distinguish between this custom and that of mere glut tonous cannibalism. The chief goes so far as to cause a tumult to be raised. As a punishment the offender is slain and the chief invites guests to share in the meal of human flesh. So power ful an incitement to cannibalism is this passion for revenge that quite civilized peoples have been guilty of it. Other are several other motives leading to cannibalism more or less dis tinct from those mentioned. Among some peo ples the flesh of a fallen enemy was eaten after the fight by both contending parties as a token of entering into a binding' covenant of peace. At the coronation of a king in the Sandwich Islands it was the custom for the new king to swallow the left eye of a human victim that he might thus receive an accession of strength. Among the Indian tribes of the Northwest of America cannibalism took the form of initia tion into certain secret societies—a sort of ritualism. At the beginning of the initiation into the cannibal society the person is supposed to become possessed of the cannibal spirit, and so of a violent desire to eat human flesh. In olden times, when the cannibal was in a state of ecstasy, slaves were killed for him and he devoured them raw. Cannibal practices are of almost infinite variety, and perhaps all, except where human flesh is eaten simply as food, have their root in a superstitious view of life and the world. Naturally the practice has been disap pearing before the progressive enlightenment of the world, and even the tribes who are still guilty of eating human flesh as food are in creasingly ashamed of it, very often carrying on the practice in closely guarded secrecy. The bibliography of the subject covers a multitude of publications. Articles on an thropology and ethnology in journals devoted to such subjects will yield much information; also the narratives of travel and adventure by well-known explorers of early and later times. A few might be mentioned simply as sugges tions: Weeks, 'Among Congo Cannibals' ; Frazer, J. K., (Totemism and Exogamy); Stan ley, H. M., In Darkest Africa) ; Landor, W. S., 'In the Forbidden Land); Rannie, 'My Ad ventures South Sea ; Dennys, 'Folklore of China.>

Female 'ghost' appears during filming of Taiwanese drama Posted on 23 Sep 2011 A female 'ghost' has apparently been caught on photo during the shooting of Taiwanese idol drama Love Recipe. STOMPer Casper, who shared the story, said: "A set was of photographs were released to promote the drama, but one of the photos shows lead actor Kenji Wu leaning against a van, with the face of a woman appearing from inside the vehicle. "The crew insisted that there was no one in the van when the photo was taken. "According to a magazine report, Kenji Wu said he felt sick after shooting a scene in the van, and had to go on a three-day medical leave. He also said that he felt like someone had patted him on the back, but he couldn't find anyone when he turned around. "Perhaps the drama is so good, even spirits want to watch it."

Making soul connections Cheow Xin Yi Sep 21 We're more aware of mental illness - but not enough to recognise the signs in ourselves or friends, says author A veteran in the charity sector with more than 20 years of youth development and counselling experience under his belt, Mr Chua Seng Lee, 46, could not understand how he could miss the warning signs of depression. The young man he had been mentoring committed suicide last year, at the tender age of 23. Shocked at how little he knew about the "destructive powers" of depression and determined to turn his grief for a friend into a "blessing for others", the former director of the youth arm of Touch Community Services embarked on a personal mission to shed light on the subject. After interviews with psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health caregivers, as well as more than 20 sufferers of various mental health afflictions, his 19-month research effort finally culminated in a book featuring their stories on coping with and recovering from their illnesses. Speaking to Today, Mr Chua - who runs a training company and a charity - cited medical statistics he uncovered during his interviews with the professionals, such as how 35 per cent of depression cases are genetically influenced while the rest are caused purely by environmental factors. He stressed the need for society to "slow down" and be more sensitive to those more pre-disposed to depression, even as he warned about the increasing prevalence of mental illness in tandem with the rise of life stresses related to work, relationships and physical ailments. Thanks to education and social campaigns like Silver Ribbon (Singapore), Mr Chua reckons Singapore has moved towards greater awareness of mental health issues. "Everybody knows the word depression. Youths use it like part of their vocabulary and will say "I'm depressed". But we need to move beyond just describing what depression is to go into the causes, helping people to understand the signs and symptoms and refer people to get help," he said. In the case of his mentee, Colin (not his real name), Mr Chua said he had exhibited signs of clinical depression since his junior college days - when the student would lock himself up and cut off contact with everyone - but neither his friends nor Mr Chua himself "took (the symptoms) seriously". "We may be very well connected, but we may not be well-connected heart to heart. I may know you as a friend, we can go for a drink together, but I may not know what's going through in your heart," said Mr Chua. This is why his book, titled My Voice: Overcoming, includes a list of typical symptoms for clinical depression, such as being restless and irritable, having difficulty in concentrating and feeling emotional and often crying. "One very distinct sign is a difference in behaviour, for example, if you notice a drop in energy level or appetite, or if someone stopped doing what he or she used to enjoy doing," he said. According to him, two weeks of prolonged sadness will cause the brain to start producing excess cortisol, a stress hormone linked to clinical depression. Mr Chua sought to present stories from survivors whose mental conditions were sparked by a wide spectrum of external causes, from divorce and, work stresses to post-natal blues. In the case of former actress and businesswoman Jacelyn Tay - one of those featured in the book - the trigger was financial failure after she lost S$500,000 in an investment. Despite the stigma of mental illness, Mr Chua said it was not difficult for him to find mental health patients, in different stages of recovery, to share their experiences with him. In fact, of the seven featured in his book, four - including Jacelyn - used their real names. "The people who are willing to offer their story are those who have experienced some level of breakthrough. Depressed people at different stages of their sickness - not all are able to talk about it. I'm sure if I interviewed Jacelyn when she was in the pits, she wouldn't want to see or entertain me - she said she didn't bathe for two weeks." Still, Mr Chua says that stigmatisation is very much a real issue in Singapore. He has known cases where both sufferers of mental health conditions and their family members vehemently refuse treatment at the Institute of Mental Health despite the former already exhibiting violent tendencies. "This is something society must change ... A person with cancer - you'll just say the person is sick. But a person with a mental illness, we call him a mad person, we tie it to his identity when they are just normal people with a sickness." SOUL CONNECTORS Beyond publishing the book, which Mr Chua admits is very much about his desire to "find closure" after Colin's death, he has also kick-started a new programme called "SoulCare" through his charity Life! Community Development. Aimed at developing emotional resilience among youth, the idea is to train "soul connectors" to develop healthy "thinking, feeling and relating habits" through a series of lessons and activities. The programme, developed jointly with psychologists and psychiatrists, is at a pilot stage with Mr Chua leading training sessions with 20 students at the Singapore Institute of Management. "We hope to achieve two things through the process: Help them to discover more about themselves so that if they have symptoms (of mental illness), we can create this community where they can ask for help. Then they will also be the 'eyes and ears' for the people around them." Citing a lecture by United States clinical psychologist and author, Dr Archibald Hart, who said everyone will experience some form of depression at least once in their lifetime, Mr Chua said it is important that the youth equip themselves now with the tools to deal with the vicissitudes of life - especially when depression is expected to be the second-leading cause of disability by 2020, according to World Health Organization estimates. Through SoulCare, Mr Chua aims to reach out to 2,000 young adults aged 18 and above over the next two years, by collaborating with other tertiary learning institutes and workplaces. Chua Seng Lee's "My Voice: Overcoming" is published by Write Editions.

Rate This Article: (No Ratings Yet) Qing Ming Spring Festival In Singapore – Continuing A Long Tradition Of Filial Veneration Built by pushpitha on Friday, March 18th, 2011 The Festival of Qing Ming is a Chinese traditional holiday observed in Singapore for single day of each calendar year. The Festival is known by several names, such as Clear and Bright Festival and the Chinese version of All Souls Day. Falling upon the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, this celebration usually falls around early April according to the Gregorian calendar. The Chinese celebrates the newborn joy of spring on this day by honouring their ancestors and dearly departed in an outdoor ceremony. Boasting a history that stretches back over two and a half millennia, the festival is thought to have originated during the rime of Emperor Xuangzong. In a bid to curtail the extravagant displays held by the wealthy citizens of his kingdom in honour of their illustrious ancestors, the Emperor declared that such respects should thenceforth only be paid in the day of Qing Ming. The festival found a firm niche in Chinese culture and continued unbroken for generation until the Communist Revolution, which repealed the holiday. It was only reinstated by the Chinese government in 2008. In Singapore, however, Chinese expatriates were able to continue their cultural practices uninterrupted, and so the rites and rituals of Qing Ming became one of the many Chinese-influences permanent fixtures of the Singaporean yearly roster of pageantry. Although the festival is not officially recognized as a holiday by the Singapore government, the Lion City is one of the two places outside of China that most prominently hosts the ancient rites of veneration. It is thought that Qing Ming has been celebrated in Singapore by expatriate Chinese living in the Malaysian peninsula since the days of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Singaporeans rise early on the day of the festival and pays homage to their dead family members both at their household shrines and the graves of their relatives. Thus, the cemeteries, crematoriums and temples all become nexuses of family gathering on this day, by throngs of extended family members bearing incense, candles and food offerings. The Kong Meng San Phor Khark See Temple on Bright Hill Road is one of the most popular convening points for these rituals in the Lion City. Other expatriates go as far as visiting their family gravesites all the way in mainland China. Other than tending to the gravesites and offerings of illumination and incense, families also burn paper replicas of material possessions and “spirit money”. This harks back the ancient belief that the dead will need to carry these things to their journey in the afterlife. The family members then kowtow to the ancestral tombs several times in a show of filial piety. This ritual is performed usually according to the order of seniority, with the family patriarch commencing. After these proceedings of honouring the dead, the family then assembles a feast at a nearby memorial park and sits down to appreciate and reconnect with the living in a large and joyous family reunion. Those visiting Singapore in the springtime should not overlook this comparatively muted yet charming cultural spectacle. Visitors staying at a Singapore hotel right at the heart of the city, near Chinatown will enjoy an enviable vantage point when it comes to festival sightseeing. Raffles Hotel Singapore is the premier choice of accommodation in this area, being a legendary five star hotel in Singapore with a global reputation for hospitality and service excellence.  Report Article Tags: five star hotel in singapore, qing ming festival, raffles hotel singapore, singapore hotel Category: Recreation, Recreation, Travel Leave a Reply Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Verify your real existence, Drag the flower to the bouquet Reset Notify me of followup comments!

The Indonesian island of Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world. Sadly it has lost half its rainforest in the past 35 years, erased by the chainsaw to make way for palm oil and coffee plantations. Despite this, in the west of the island there are still vast tracts of forest standing, among them Kerinci Seblat National Park which covers 13,791 square kilometres – about the size of Montenegro. It is from these forests that reports of a species of ape that walks upright and is unknown to science have been emerging for almost 100 years. The orang pendek, "short man" in Malay, is said to be 4-5 feet tall but powerfully built with broad shoulders and long muscular arms. Sightings suggest it walks upright like a human, its body is covered with black or honey-coloured hair, and it may have a long mane of hair from its head down its back. It appears to live on the forest floor, unlike the arboreal Sumatran orang-utan which is confined to the north of the island. The orang pendek's diet is said to be mostly fruits, vegetables and tubers, but some witnesses say they have seen it ripping open logs to get at insect larvae. Rare reports describe it eating fish and freshwater molluscs, and some early reports even have it consuming the flesh of dead rhinoceros that had fallen into pit traps. Native people in Sumatra, including the modern Sumatrans of Malayan descent and the Orang Rimba or Kubu – the aboriginal people of Sumatra – ascribe no supernatural powers to the creature, unlike tigers, pythons and other naneks: spirit or tribal totem animals. Nevertheless, many jungle people fear the orang pendek because of its strength, even though it is not considered aggressive and will usually move away from any human it sees. It is said occasionally to use rocks and sticks as crude weapons, hurling them when it feels threatened. Native knowledge of the creature goes back into the mists of history and there are a number of local names for it. In the south-eastern lowlands it is called sedapa or sedapak. Gugu is the name in southern Sumatra while in the Rawas district it is atu rimbu. In Bengkulu it is known as sebaba. These days the creature is reported only in the west of the island, specifically in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park. News of the creature first reached the west in the early 20th century via Dutch colonists. In 1918, the Sumatran governor, LC Westenenk, recorded an event that took place in 1910: A boy from Padang employed as an overseer by Mr van H– had to stake the boundaries of a piece of land for which a long lease had been applied. One day he took several coolies into the virgin forest on the Barissan Mountains near Loeboek Salasik. Suddenly he saw, some 15 metres away, a large creature, low on its feet, which ran like a man … it was very hairy and was not an orang-utan; but its face was not like an ordinary man's … " Westenenk recorded another encounter. In 1917 a Mr Oostingh, owner of a coffee plantation at Dataran, was in the forests at the base of Boekit Kaba when he saw a figure sitting on the ground about 30 feet away. According to Oostingh: His body was as large as a medium-sized native's and he had thick square shoulders, not sloping at all. The colour was not brown, but looked like black earth, a sort of dusty black, more grey than black. "He clearly noticed my presence. He did not so much as turn his head, but stood up on his feet: he seemed quite as tall as I (about 1.75m). Then I saw that it was not a man, and I started back, for I was not armed. The creature took several paces, without the least haste, and then, with his ludicrously long arm, grasped a sapling, which threatened to break under his weight, and quietly sprang into a tree, swinging in great leaps alternately to right and to left." The sightings continued into the 1920s, some of them at very close range. In May 1927, a Dutch plantation worker called AHW Cramer who lived in Kerinci reported seeing an orang pendek from a distance of only 10 metres. It had long hair and black skin. The beast ran away leaving small, human-like footprints. Also in 1927 an orang pendek was said to have been caught in a tiger trap but broke free. The traces of blood it left were examined by zoologist KW Damerman who concluded that it was not from a bear, gibbon or human. In the 1930s interest in the creature waned, perhaps due in part to the outbreak of the second world war and the Indonesian struggle for independence that followed. It was not thrust into the public gaze again until an Englishwoman, Debbie Martyr, began her research in the late 1980s. Martyr first visited Sumatra in July of 1989 as a travel writer, and while camped on the slopes of Mount Kerinci her guide Jamruddin pointed out areas were Sumatran rhinoceros and tiger could be seen. Then, casually, he commented that in the forested mountains east of Gunung Tujuh orang pendeks were sometimes seen. When Debbie made a sceptical comment Jamruddin told her that he had seen the orang pendek twice. He told her it was still common, but getting rarer due to the incursions of farmers. Martyr stayed on in Sumatra and began to collect eyewitness accounts that would eventually fill several volumes. She had her own sighting in 1990. I saw it in the middle of September; I had been out here four months. At that time I was 90% certain that there was something here, that it was not just traditional stories ... When I saw it I saw an animal that didn't look like anything in any of the books I had read, films I had seen, or zoos I had seen. It did indeed walk rather like a person and that was a shock. "It was a relatively small, immensely strong, non-human primate. But it was very gracile, that was the odd thing. So if you looked at the animal you might say that it resembled a siamang or an agile gibbon on steroids! It doesn't look like an orang-utan. Their proportions are very different. It is built like a boxer, with immense upper body strength … It was a gorgeous colour, moving bipedally and trying to avoid being seen." Martyr, together with photographer Jeremy Holden, began a 15-year search funded by Fauna and Flora International. Jeremy used camera traps set up in remote jungles but failed to capture orang pendek on film. However, he did catch a glimpse of it as he climbed over a ridge in the jungle, but the creature swiftly moved away. He only saw it from the back but noted it walked upright like a man. My good friend Adam Davies, together with Andrew Sanderson and Keith Townley, have found and cast orang pendek footprints, and collected hair in the Kerinci area. Primate biologist Dr David Chivers of the University of Cambridge compared the cast with those from other known primates and local animals and concluded that it was definitely an ape with a unique blend of features from gibbon, orang-utan, chimpanzee and human. "From further examination the print did not match any known primate species and I can conclude that this points towards there being a large unknown primate in the forests of Sumatra," he reported. Anthropologist Dr Jeffrey Meldrum at Idaho State University said the cast was probably a primate print, but suggested it might be a handprint. Having seen orang pendek tracks in the field, however, I believe Davies's track is a footprint rather than a handprint, and from my experience of the great apes I can say that the tracks of the orang pendek are quite distinct from any known species of ape. Dr Hans Brunner, an expert on mammal hair, compared the hairs with those of other primates and local animals and concluded that they originated from a previously undocumented species of primate. On Friday I will describe my own three expeditions to Sumatra, during which we interviewed witnesses, set camera traps and examined footprints. On the latest of these expeditions, in 2009, one of the group saw the creature. I believe the orang pendek is a great ape closely related to the orang-utan – in other words an undiscovered species of ponginae. In all the interviews I have conducted with eyewitnesses, they describe what sounds like an ape rather than a hominin: long arms, massive shoulders, little neck, much body hair, short legs. But why, in a jungle full of trees, does the orang pendek walk upright and live on the ground? Martyr suggested that the creature became bipedal in the wake of the eruption of the Toba supervolcano around 75,000 years ago that would have stripped the island of its trees. However, this does not explain how the Sumatran orang-utan survived. I believe the orang pendek's distinct evolutionary origins are older than this. When they come to the forest floor, male Sumatran orang-utan walk on two legs, but up in the trees they will also walk erect along branches. Bipedalism was once thought to have developed on the plains of East Africa when hominids first left the jungles to exploit new food sources around 5 million years ago. Standing erect, according to the theory, gave them a better view of potential predators. The vervet monkey demonstrates this kind of behaviour, rearing up to look about it for danger. But now it seems that bipedalism may have begun to evolve in the jungles. During a year-long study of the Sumatran orang-utans of Gunung Leuser National Park, palaeoanthropologist Susannah Thorpe of the University of Birmingham spotted apes in the trees on almost 3,000 occasions, including numerous instances were they walked erect. In 75% of these cases they maintained balance with their hands, and for over 90% of the time their legs were stiff, unlike the bent-knee, bent-hip shuffle of chimps and gorillas, which also sometimes stand upright in trees. The apes stood erect mainly to reach for fruit while on fairly narrow branches. Thorpe postulated that the straight-legged posture helped them balance in the same way as a gymnast on a trampoline. Palaeoanthropologist Bernard Wood of George Washington University in Washington DC commented on the findings: "Most of us had assumed that the only place where it's sensible to be bipedal is on the ground. A handful of fossil species dating from 5 million to 28 million years old, mostly before chimpanzees split from hominins, showed signs of upright posture and bipedalism, but the evidence has been pretty flakey." Wood thinks Thorpe's findings put these fossil apes in a new light and that they may have been true bipeds that evolved bipedalism to reach for fruit. As the jungles shrank they took up bipedal walking on the ground while the gorillas and chimpanzees took up knuckle walking. The fossils in question were of course African, but could something similar have occurred in the jungles of Asia, ultimately giving rise to a number of bipedal ape species? Sunda was a large land mass that once incorporated Sumatra, Borneo, Java, the surrounding islands and the Malayan peninsula and connected them all to mainland Asia. As melting glaciers flooded the oceans 19,000 years ago, sea levels rose and the huge land mass became the islands we know today. As I have mentioned, the two known orang-utan species had already speciated some 400,000 years ago. We do not know why this occurred but the more gracile Sumatran form, and the robust Bornean, separated. The robust form populated the eastern island of Borneo and the gracile the western island of Sumatra. A larger form, Pongo hooijeri, the size of a modern gorilla and presumably a ground dweller, existed further north in what is now mainland Asia. Closely related and known only from its teeth and jaws was the huge Gigantopithecus blacki. This latter species has left fossils in India, Vietnam and China – some dating as recently as 300,000 years ago. Due to the wide shape of the jawbone it has been postulated that Gigantopithecus was a biped, with the neck placed directly under the skull. If this is correct, and if the rest of the animal was built on the same scale, then Gigantopithecus would have stood 10 feet tall. Some believe that the creature is not extinct but survives in parts of India, Tibet, China, the Himalayas and elsewhere, known as the larger type of yeti. All of the above, including modern orang-utans, seem to have descended from a genus of ancient apes known as Sivapithecus. They flourished 12.5 to 8.5 million years ago and had bodies shaped like chimpanzees, but heads more like those of modern orang-utans. Another genus Lufengpithecus arose around 10 million years ago. These may have descended from an earlier form of Sivapithecus. Morphologically they seem to fall between Sivapithecus and modern orang-utans. It is from Lufengpithecus that modern orangs may have evolved. I think that when the speciation of the modern orangs began, they split not into two but three species. The robust P. pygmaeus, the more gracile and more upright P. abelii and a third, smaller terrestrial species that we today know as the orang pendek. If we can prove this creature exists, not only will it be an astounding zoological discovery but it may give us more clues to how bipedalism evolved in our own species. Richard Freeman is zoological director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology. On Friday, as his latest expedition begins in Sumatra, he describes his own quest for the orang pendek

  0 0 Lonesome women seek lust-ing relationships Mon, Sep 12, 2011 | The Star/Asia News Network By Wong Pek Mei, Ng Si Hooi and A. Raman MALAYSIA - Many women are willing to seek new partners to fulfil their sexual desires despite having good looks and a rich husband, Metro Ahad reported. They look for single or even married men to fulfil their lust, but at home, they are still the housewives and the mothers to their children. The daily's reporters, who went undercover, tracked a group of such women in their 30s, who lamented that felt lonely without their husbands, who are usually busy businessmen. One of them, Linda, 31, said she has had relationships with five men during the past seven years. However, she would not leave her husband and family, although she claimed that her husband was more committed to his work than to her. "I realise that my behaviour is wrong. I know what I am doing and I'm now happy with the path that I chose," she said. Linda said her husband only looked for her when he wants sex. "Even that comes once a month," she added. Shima, 34, said she has been having a difficult relationship with her husband's family even after eight years of marriage. What was even worse was that her husband preferred to communicate with his own family than with her. That was why she decided to find other partners. "I was worried at first that my husband and family would find out. But now I know how to handle the situation," she said. Shima justified her act, claiming that she suspected that her husband was doing the same thin

  4 6 Man exposes self in front of girlfriend's house Mon, Sep 12, 2011 | The Star/Asia News Network A man caused a scene in front of his girlfriend's house after he claimed the woman's husband had assaulted him, Guang Ming Daily reported. The man, in his 40s, started shouting in front of a three-storey bungalow on Friday night and ranted that he was having an affair with the woman. When neighbours approached him, he told them that he had been having sex with the woman and that her husband was impotent. The paper reported that the man even exposed his private part, which he claimed had been injured in an acid attack. The man left after the woman, in her 30s, came out and threatened to call the police. The man had gone to confront his supposed girlfriend at her three-storey house in Bukit Timah. The man looked injured as he limped when he walked. His left arm was bandaged and injuries were seen on his limbs, back and neck, according to Singapore's Chinese newspapers. He was heard claiming that he has an affair with the woman, and went on to loudly declare details of their sex life. He also declared that the affair was a result of her husband's impotence. The woman, married and in her 30s, was seen standing behind a metal gate and asking the man to drop the matter. The agitated man ignored her pleas and shouted for her husband to come out of the house and face him. But the woman's husband did not appear throughout the confrontation. The extremely agitated man continued shouting, "Who did this? Only you and I know about it, so why was I beaten up?" At one point, he even sat down before the front gate and started wailing and crying. His ruckus attracted the attention of many neighbours in the vicinity and went on for more than an hour until about 9pm. When confronting the woman, he even pulled up his shirt and pulled down his pants, supposedly to show her his injuries. He could be seen wearing adult diapers due to his injuries. He then went further and dropped his diapers as well, eliciting screams from the woman's children. A neighbour saw the act and said the man's private parts looked blistered, swollen and blackish. The man's private parts were supposedly scalded by acid. When approached by reporters, the woman declined to elaborate on the matter and denies being in a relationship with the man. According to the Chinese press, neighbours say that the man is a familiar sight as he comes to the house about twice a week and is known to the woman's children. The man eventually left only after the police arrived. His side of the story In the latest development of this story, the man, Charlie (not his real name), spoke to reporters to give his side of the story. Charlie is a sales executive in his 30s to 40s and a married man. He told reporters that he had been trying to break off his affair with the married woman but she continued to pester him and harass not just him, but also his wife and even his colleagues. He said, "She refused to break up the relationship and kept pestering me. I think she got people to ambush me to teach me a lesson!" Charlie recalled that he was attacked at about 11.30am on September 3, at Upper Bukit Timah Road. "She asked to meet me there for lunch to resolve the matter but I was attacked the moment I came out from my car. Three armed men appeared and without a word, began to hit me with clubs and pipes. They even threw acid at me!" Charlie reasons that the woman or her husband must have been responsible for the attack as no one else could have known of their secret rendezvous. After the attack, which lasted three to five minutes, Charlie drove home to wash his wounds. On the way home, he described feeling the acid eating away at his skin. While he tended his wounds at home, he realised that the injuries were quite severe so he went to the hospital. Doctors found that he had two fractures and a number of cuts and burns all over his body. He was advised to be hospitalised for three weeks. Worried that the attackers might turn on his wife and children, he discharged himself from the hospital after three days. Charlie explained that he had met the married woman at his children's school. They had known each other for only a week before the woman asked him for sex. According to him, the woman lamented about her poor sex life with her husband and would often ask to meet Charlie for sex. Charlie believes that the woman has a very high sex drive and recalls that she had even brought him to have sex at the clinic where she works, according to Lianhe Wanbao. He blames himself for being unable to resist the woman's advances and now regrets the extra-marital affair.

  1 1 Get married on the hottest date of the year - 20/11/2011 Mon, Sep 12, 2011 | AsiaOne A mass wedding will be held at Marina Waterfront - one of Singapore's most iconic places. The event takes places on the hottest date of this year - November 20. Couples who want to renew their marriage vows can also participate in this event. The event is organised by the Family Life (FL) Section of the People's Association and Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao, and will be held from mid afternoon till night. Couples can look forward to photography sessions amid the backdrop of the waterfront. Services offered include the solemnisation, on-site photography, buffet high tea reception, and marriage seminars. Interested couples can email cipevent@sph.com.sg or call 6319-5864 to get a copy of the registration form. The package costs $368 for PAssion card members and $388 for Non-PAssion card members.

  1 0 Beijing blasts Mexico for Dalai Lama meeting Sat, Sep 10, 2011 | AFP BEIJING - Beijing on Saturday voiced its anger over a meeting between Mexican President Felipe Calderon and the Dalai Lama. "This grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and hurts the feelings of the Chinese people," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement. In line with normal practice, the foreign ministry and the Chinese ambassador to Mexico have made a formal complaint over the meeting. During the private talks however, the Mexican leader reiterated his country's adherence to the "one-China principle" and its recognition of China's full sovereignty over Tibet. Beijing regards Tibet as an "inseparable" part of China and the Dalai Lama - who lives in exile in India - as a "splittist" bent on dividing the country. It regularly protests over his meetings overseas. In July, China said US President Barack Obama's talks with the Buddhist monk had damaged relations between the two countries. The Dalai Lama says he is peacefully seeking greater rights in Tibet and accepts Chinese rule. The Nobel Peace Prize winner fled Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. He later founded Tibet's government in exile in Dharamshala, northern India, but gave up his political leadership role in May.

  5 1 World's hairiest man looking for a wife Sat, Sep 10, 2011 | The Daily Chilli/Asia News Network Yu Zhenhuan, the world's hairiest man from China, is looking for a wife. The 33-year-old actor had a girlfriend of over two years, but they were forced to break up around February after the woman's family objected to the relationship due to his appearance. On Thursday, Yu's agent arranged for him to meet with single nurses at a hospital in Changsha of Hunan province. "I'll be very lucky if I can marry a nurse," he said, adding he was looking for a woman with a good personality. The humorous and sincere Yu immediately attracted the attention of the white angels. Some 10 nurses attended the 'blind date'. "He is straightforward. I like it," said one of the candidates. Yu was officially named the world's hairiest man by the Guinness Book of Records in 2002. He suffers from a rare condition with hair covering 96 per cent of his body. Yu made his debut in a film The adventure of Little Hairy when he was seven. The script was specially created for him. He also participated in other dramas including the popular Journey to the West, produced by the Chinese. Yu said he had good impression of the nurses and one or two of them met his criteria. But he said distance would be a big problem if he was to date the potential wife as he is currently residing in Beijing, about 1,665km from Changsha.

  0 0 Death industry reaps grim profit as Japan dies Mon, Sep 12, 2011 | Reuters TOKYO - Across from a noodle shop in a Yokohama suburb, Hisayoshi Teramura's inn looks much like any other small lodging that dots the port city. Occasionally, it's even mistaken for a love hotel by couples hankering for some time beneath the sheets. But Teramura's place is neither a love nest nor a pit stop for tired travellers. The white and grey tiled building is a corpse hotel, its 18 deceased guests tucked up in refrigerated coffins. "We tell them we only have cold rooms," Teramura quips when asked how his staff respond to unwary lovers looking for a room. The daily rate at Lastel, as it is known, is 12,000 yen (S$188). For that fee, bereaved families can check in their dead while they wait their turn in the queue for one of the city's overworked crematoriums. Death is a rare booming market in stagnant Japan and Teramura's new venture is just one example of how businessmen are trying to tap it. In 2010, according to government records, 1.2 million people passed away, giving the country and annual death rate of 0.95 per cent versus 0.84 per cent in the United States, which is also the global average. The rate of deaths is on the increase. Last year, there were an extra 55,000 dead and over the past decade, an average of 23,000 more people have died each year in Japan. Annual deaths are expected to peak at 1.66 million in 2040 as the bulk of the nation's baby boomer generation expires. By then, Japan's population will have shrunk by around 20 million people, an unprecedented die off for a nation neither at war or blighted by famine. Although two decades of economic malaise has weighed on incomes, a tradition on splashing out on ceremonies means the Japanese still pay an average of 1.2 million yen on flowers, urns, coffins and other funeral expenses. It adds up to a market worth a whopping $21 billion (S$25.6 billion) a year, or twice what Americans spend annually on funerals. "There's been a rush into the market," says Teramura, who founded cemetery developer company Nichiryoku 45 years ago. Even Japan's second biggest retail chain, Aeon , rail companies and the nation's biggest farmers association, Japan Agriculture are getting into the business, he notes. Crematorium queue Teramura, 71, decided a decade ago to widen his business beyond graves to funerals and he opened Lastel last year. Behind its flower box framed windows, hidden away from mourners, is an automated storage system. It stores and chills encoffined corpses, delivering them through hatches and into a viewing room, day or night, whenever friends and family come to pay their respects. Building new urban crematoriums to deal with the surge in bodies is near to impossible because nobody wants the furnaces in their back yard, explains Teramura. That not-in-my-backyard crowd is forcing cities to make do with the facilities they have, even as the body count mounts. In Yokohama, the average wait for an oven is more than four days, driving up demand for half-way morgues such as Lastel. "Otherwise people have to keep the bodies at home where there isn't much space," says Teramura. It also provides a captive audience to which he can market his other funeral services and wares. Free for all Joining Teramura in the funeral rush are a slew of new entrants, some of them refugees from a shrinking wedding industry. Entry to the industry is easy. There are no licenses or mandatory qualifications. All any wannabe funeral director needs is an office and a telephone. Flowers or coffins are easy to order and ceremonial halls, hearses and monks are all for hire. In the United States, by comparison, most funeral entrepreneurs need to study for three years, including a stint as an apprentice before regulators consider handing out a licence. In a recent poll of 2,796 funeral industry related firms, Japan's Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) found that a third have been in business for a decade or less. It's becoming a wild west market in some ways, attracting the honest operators and the not so reputable too. "People tend to leave things to the funeral director and some people take advantage of that. So instead of a 100,000 yen coffin you may end up with a 1 million yen cask," Teramura says. A lack of official oversight and a wealth of cash transactions also makes it a magnet for full fledged mobsters, or yakuza, say some industry players. A niche that the yakuza have slipped into is as brokers who introduce funeral homes to hospitals, said one funeral director, who declined to be identified. That role alone can pull in millions of dollars in commissions. Just how fast the industry is growing is hard to ascertain. METI in 2005 said there were 4,107 companies employing 49,079 people. Across the street at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, officials say there were 6,606 firms in 2006, supporting a workforce of 72,046. Yoshiatsu Mitsuhashi, who is in charge of compiling the METI survey, said that growth may even understate the pace, because the ministry changed the way it gathered data. "It probably does indicate that the number of operators is rising, but we don't really know," he admits. Tokyo-based Yano Research Institute said companies positioned to succeed may be former wedding organizers able to respond to growing demand for personalized services on a tighter budget - changes that have roiled the bridal industry already. Yano predicts the funeral market will be worth 1.96 trillion yen by 2015. Bridal refugee One former wedding organizer trying his hand at the death industry is Takayuki Nakagawa. In 2002, he founded Urban Funes, which offers customized theme funerals from a converted wedding chapel in a Tokyo suburb. For recent events, Nakagawa has asked his staff to collect discarded fruit and vegetable boxes for the funeral of a greengrocer. For another, he asked them to come up with a fitting send off for father and husband who for four decades had blown half his salary on booze and gambling. "People are less bothered about following customs," says Nakagawa in his offices above the hall where workers were arranging flutes and other memorabilia as part of a final farewell for a middle-aged woman. To make money Nakagawa, who has no qualifications as a funeral director, says he keeps his operation lean, outsourcing whatever he can. Within five years he wants to do 3,000 funerals a year, compared with 900 in the last 12 months. "The places that are struggling are those with a lot of facilities," says Nakagawa. Those include mutual associations known as gojokai, set up to collect monthly fees from members, meant to pay a chunk of funeral expenses when they pass on. Those funds combined amount to more than 1.7 trillion yen, according to the industry association that most are members of. Over-exuberance during Japan's Shangri-La bubble years meant they invested much of that money poorly in golf memberships, event halls and real estate, leaving many teetering on the brink of failure two decades on. The Japanese government is pushing for the industry to consolidate, cajoling stronger operators to absorb weaker ones. A round of funeral fund failures will allow investors to make at least some money for their distressed assets, Nakagawa reckons. "We aren't ordering them to combine, but encouraging them to act in order to avoid problems for consumers," explains an METI official in charge of overseeing the associations. "It's difficult to give a timeline for when this issue will be resolved," he adds. As for Lastel's Teramura, he's pushing ahead with expansion plans. He pulls out his mobile phone and shows a picture of an office building he just bought in another Yokohama neighborhood.

  0 0 Photographer captures another side of N. Korea Mon, Sep 12, 2011 | Reuters By Carlos Barria N. Korea - I never imagined that a simple image on a piece of paper could have the power to transform someone's suspicious look into an expression of surprise - the kind of surprise you might see on a child's face as they watch their first magic trick. But I saw this transformation a week ago, when I joined a group of journalists on a trip to North Korea. I brought a Polaroid camera along with the idea of taking a few portraits. I wanted to be able to offer these portraits to the subjects themselves. I've always liked the idea of trading something with the subject of a photograph. I take his or her picture, or image, and in some circumstances, it seems appropriate to give something back. I can't pay them, so ideally I send them a copy of the picture by email. Knowing North Koreans have little access to the Internet, I brought a Polaroid camera instead. When I used it to take portrait pictures, I took two snaps. Then I gave one Polaroid to the person in the picture, and I kept the second for myself; one copy for them, one copy for me. But, I didn't count on the incredible expressions that would come over North Koreans' faces as they watched the Polaroids slowly emerge. In a port where we boarded a cruise ship, I saw a group of local workers taking a break. I walked over to them with my cameras and they looked at me as if I were an alien. I took two Polaroids of the group of workers; one for them and one for me. I gave them the Polaroid but they couldn't figure out what it was right away. Then I took it back and pretended to do a little magic on the paper. The image started to emerge. All their faces cracked into astonished smiles. Before I could get their names, their boss waved all the workers away. He apparently didn't want me to talk to them. Walking out of a restaurant, I saw 28-year-old Pakn Okn Hai, standing in silence behind the counter of a sparse gift shop. With very primitive gestures (I don't speak Korean) I asked her if it would be possible to shoot a picture of her and she accepted. I gave her the Polaroid, which usually takes 20 seconds to reveal an image. As her portrait was appearing she opened her mouth in surprise and then she gave me a big smile. Later, when I asked through an interpreter if she'd ever had a picture of herself, she said, "No, I have never had a picture of myself". Ko Un Byol, 22-years-old, worked as a hostess at the local auditorium in Rason City. She wore a beautiful, traditional red dress and I photographed her in front of a painting of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. When I asked her through a translator if she had ever had a picture of herself she answered, "Visitors take pictures of me all the time, but I have never had a picture of myself". When I was shooting this portrait a government minder approached and told me that if I wanted to photograph the Great Leader, I would have to shoot it from further away, since it is "disrespectful" to take a picture of him without fitting his full image in the frame. He didn't mention the woman I was actually photographing. I was photographing a portrait of Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il when a hotel porter approached to correct me about taking a proper picture of North Korean leaders. He said I had to shoot the picture from directly in front of the portrait; another rule, I suppose, that governs how North Koreans should behave around images of their leader. Then he offered to take a picture of me. I accepted, and I asked if I could take his portrait picture. He said yes, and I gave him a copy. Two cleaning ladies at the hotel in Kumgang were very curious about my colleague Ng Han Guan, from the Associated Press, as he edited pictures on his laptop in the lobby. I rushed to my room to get my camera and capture them. I shot their portrait three times; one Polaroid for each of them and one for me. They posed standing, and then they asked me for another shot, so I took another. This time they were more relaxed and more natural. I felt they were enjoying the moment. They were happy to have the photographs, in the same way photography makes me happy. Before boarding our cruise ship, I photographed a group of young residents who were brought by local authorities for a departure ceremony. I photographed the group and gave a Polaroid to someone in the front row. As the ship left the port, I saw them circulating the picture among themselves, so everyone could see it at least once.

 

0
3


Woman stabbed to death while protecting husband
Fri, Sep 09, 2011 | AsiaOne
A woman was stabbed to death in Johor Baru while protecting her husband during a fight.

Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported that the couple were in a nightclub at Jalan Abdullah Tahir with a relative when two men armed with knives entered the room.

It is believed that the two men turned up to confront them about gambling debts they had run up at the club earlier.

The quarrel escalated into a fight outside the establishment.

During the course of the fight, the 42-year-old hawker, Loh Kwai Lan, was stabbed multiple times while defending her husband.

She suffered injuries in the front and back of her body. Her liver was also punctured.

Her husband, Wong Wee Ping, suffered minor injuries.

The incident occurred at approximately 1.40pm in the afternoon. The victim passed away while receiving treatment in a hospital.

The couple's only son, Wong Chun Kiat, 19, told the media he found out about his mother's death after Malaysian police contacted him. His father had only told him that there was an "accident" in Johor Baru.

The Malaysian police have classified this as murder.

According to the son, the couple frequented Johor Baru because the food and petrol there were cheaper.

It is believed that the victim, who is Malaysian, visited her relatives whenever she went to Johor Baru.

paullim@sph.com.sg

Best of Singapore
Culture l Religion
Religion

Religious tolerance is essential in Singapore. In fact, religions often cross racial boundaries and some even merge in unusual ways in this modern country. Younger Singaporeans tend to combine a little of the mysteries of the older generation with the realistic world that they know of today.

Religion is still an integral part of the cosmopolitan Singapore. Many of its most interesting buildings are religious, be it old temples, modern churches, or exotic mosques. An understanding of these buildings do play a part in contributing to the appreciation of their art.

Chinese Temples

Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and ancestral worship are combined into a versatile mix in Chinese temples.

Followers of the Tao (The Way) adhere to the teachings of the ancient Chinese legend, Lao Tzu. They are concerned with the balance of the Yin and Yang, which are opposite forces of heaven and earth, male and female. Feng Shui, literally translated as wind and water, also originated from Yin and Yang. Ancestral worship is common and the spirits of the dead, like the gods themselves, are appeased with offerings.

Most Buddhists are of the Mahayana school although there are some from the Theravada school. In Singapore, the Buddhist faith is linked with Taoism and the practical doctrine of Confucianism.

Islam

The Malays in Singapore are Muslims. A few of the Indians are also Muslims, but even more uncommon are the Chinese Muslims.

Islam has a fundamental influence in the lives of those who follow the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad. The religion involves praying five times a day, eating only "halal" food, fasting during Ramadan, and going to Mecca on the Haj (pilgrimage). Halal food means food that has been specially prepared as according to the religion's dietary requirements.

Hinduism

As the Indian immigrants fled to Singapore, they brought with them Hinduism. The early temples are still the central points of rituals and festivals, which are held throughout the year.

Christianity

One will be able to find Christian churches of all denominations in Singapore. They were actually established with the arrival of various missionaries after the coming of Sir Stamford Raffles. Together with Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism, Christianity is considered one of the four main religions today. There is quite a large number of Christians on the island.

Others

Minority faiths are not forgotten. There are at least two synagogues for the Jews and Sikhs. The Zoroastrians and Jains are also represented in Singapore.

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Home > Stories > Nightmare > Changi Village Shop
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Changi Village Shop
Building, Changi, Nightmare
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Hi, don’t know if you had read my story in stomp or razor TV.  However, I would like to share my true experience with IT….

It all started whilst my hubby & his partner were scouting for a cafe unit because the previous unit in Temasek Tower had been torn down.  They were indeed unlucky to find this unit in Changi Village….

If I put in bits & pieces, I realised it did not welcome us….First, when they were supposed to move in to this unit in the afternoon, the movers broke down, called them that they can only make it in the evening…by the time they went to Temasek Tower to load and unload, it was already past midnight….

Hence the next morning, my hubby went to Changi to do all the unpacking….only half a day there, a fire broke out near the pantry area…..

I did not join my husband till their 3rd month because my ex-boss was retrenched and returned to Germany.  Since I love to bake, I supply the cafe desserts (home made cakes & pastries).

Nothing really much happened till the 6th month in this unit.  First, I began to see flashes….then I told my hubby and he was surprised because he experienced it several times but did not confide in me…..I just had this gut feeling something was there…I can’t see but something told me ITs there….

The next day, I brought my digital camera…didnt bother to review it and only saw it only on our way back…it appeared as an orange orb on the table top…I realised my instinct was right…I began to research something about this thingy called “orbs”.

As days passed, I think IT realised I spotted IT….here were some exerpts:
-  stray cats started to flock into our cafe entrances, looking as if something was jumping from one end to another
-  the mustard that my hubby frequently used went missing
-  the service staff saw flashes like we do
-  bees swamped to our speakers on one afternoon
-  roast chicken left on the altar, less than 20 mins were maggots infested
-  water tap & radio were turned on

Oh, this unit had been blessed by a Catholic priest when they first moved in…Because of this incident, we also consulted a Thai geomancer who told us that there was a little boy & an old man in this unit…we were told to get an old toy, something which is obsolete, the small drum that could be heard when u turn the beads…..

Despite all these and further pictures taken (the orbs got more and some kind of appariations can be seen in the photos).  I had consulted the SPI and they were unable to tell me the findings.

During our last lag here, we were terribly drained with many other freaky incidents and bad business that we decided to give the shop up….

Although 2.5 years had passed, I had not given up my research…..recently, believe it or not, this pyschic from Canada contacted me after looking at my photos…..

She told me through the pictures, this unit was cursed, something happened in the 60’s, a massive fire started and killed many lives there….she seemed to be able to connect to some souls, it seemed they were trapped unable to head heaven….

There was also this eerie photo which I took for my hubby as a memento…a blade like object appeared….in this, she conveyed that it was “old blood”, a male figure which will always be around …..

It makes me wonder now why none of its tenant including ourselves never stayed in this unit for more than a year…..

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the festival. For the solar term, see Qingming.
Qingming
Official name Qingming Jie
(TC: 清明節, SC:清明节)
Also called Tomb Sweeping Day
All Souls Day
Observed by Chinese, Buddhist
Significance Remembering past ancestors
Date 15th day from the Spring Equinox
Apr. 4, 5 or 6
2010 date April 4
2011 date April 5
2012 date April 5
Observances Cleaning and sweeping of graves, Ancestor worship, offering food to deceased, burning joss paper


Burning paper gifts for the departed.
The Qingming Festival (simplified Chinese: 清明节; traditional Chinese: 清明節; pinyin: Qīngmíng Jié; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chheng-bêng-cheh or Chhiⁿ-miâ-choeh, Ching Ming Festival in Hong Kong, Vietnamese: Tết Thanh Minh), Pure Brightness Festival or Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar). Astronomically it is also a solar term (See Qingming). The Qingming festival falls on the first day of the fifth solar term, named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (踏青 Tàqīng, "treading on the greenery") and tend to the graves of departed ones.
Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in Taiwan and in the Chinese jurisdictions of Hong Kong and Macau. Its observance was reinstated as a nation wide public holiday in mainland China in 2008, after having been previously suppressed by the ruling Communist Party in 1949.[1][2]
The transcription of the term Qingming may appear in a number of different forms, some of which are Qingming, Qing Ming, Qing Ming Jie, Ching Ming (official in Hong Kong[3]) and Ching Ming Chieh.
Contents [hide]
1 Introduction
2 Origin
3 Celebration
4 In Chinese Tea Culture
5 In painting
6 In literature
7 See also
8 External links
9 References
[edit]Introduction

The holiday is known by a number of names in the English language:
All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, of the same name)
Clear Bright Festival
Ancestors Day
Festival for Tending Graves
Grave Sweeping Day
Chinese Memorial Day
Tomb Sweeping Day
Spring Remembrance
Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear Bright Festival are the most common English translations of Qingming Festival. Tomb Sweeping Day is used in several English language newspapers published in Taiwan.
[edit]Origin

Qingming Festival is when Chinese people visit the graves or burial grounds of their ancestors. Traditionally, people brought a whole rooster with them to the graves visited but the occasion has become less formal over time. The festival originated from Hanshi Day (寒食节, literally, Day with cold food only), a memorial day for Jie Zitui (介子推, or Jie Zhitui, 介子推). Jie Zitui died in 636 BC in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was one of many followers of Duke Wen of Jin before he became a duke. Once, during Wen's 19 years of exile, they had no food and Jie prepared some meat soup for Wen. Wen enjoyed it a lot and wondered where Jie had obtained the soup. It turned out Jie had cut a piece of meat from his own thigh to make the soup. Wen was so moved he promised to reward him one day. However, Jie was not the type of person who sought rewards. Instead, he just wanted to help Wen to return to Jin to become king. Once Wen became duke, Jie resigned and stayed away from him. Duke Wen rewarded the people who helped him in the decades, but for some reason he forgot to reward Jie, who by then had moved into the forest with his mother. Duke Wen went to the forest, but could not find Jie. Heeding suggestions from his officials, Duke Wen ordered men to set the forest on fire to force out Jie. However, Jie died in the fire. Feeling remorseful, Duke Wen ordered three days without fire to honour Jie's memory. The county where Jie died is still called Jiexiu (介休, literally "the place Jie rests forever").
Qingming has a tradition stretching back more than 2,500 years.[4] Its origin is credited to the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. Wealthy citizens in China were reportedly holding too many extravagant and ostentatiously expensive ceremonies in honour of their ancestors. Emperor Xuanzong, seeking to curb this practice, declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestors' graves only on Qingming.[5] The observance of Qingming found a firm place in Chinese culture and continued since Ancient China
[edit]Celebration

The Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honour their ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper accessories, and/or libations to the ancestors. The rites have a long tradition in Asia, especially among farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming, or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They believe that willow branches help ward off the evil spirit that wanders on Qingming.
On Qingming people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, dance. Qingming is also the time when young couples start courting. Another popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or characters from Chinese opera.[5] Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense or firecrackers.[4]
The holiday is often marked by people paying respects to those who died in events considered sensitive in China. The April Fifth Movement and the Tiananmen Incident were major events on Qingming that took place in the history of the People's Republic of China. When Premier Zhou Enlai died in 1976, thousands visited him during the festival to pay their respects. Many also pay respects to victims of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and the graves of Zhao Ziyang and Yang Jia in areas where the right of free expression is generally recognized, as in Hong Kong. In most areas of China observance of sensitive events are suppressed and all public mention of such events is taboo.[4] In Taiwan this national holiday is observed on April 5 because the ruling Kuomintang moved it to that date in commemoration of the death of Chiang Kai-shek on April 5.
Despite having no holiday status, the overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asian nations, such as those in Singapore and Malaysia, take this festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. Some Qingming rituals and ancestral veneration decorum observed by the oversea Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore can be dated back to Ming and Qing dynasties, as the oversea communities were not affected by the Cultural Revolution in Mainland China. Qingming in Malaysia is an elaborate family function or a clan feast (usually organized by the respective clan association) to commemorate and honour recently deceased relatives at their grave sites and distant ancestors from China at home altars, clan temples or makeshift altars in Buddhist or Taoist temples. For the oversea Chinese community, the Qingming festival is very much a family celebration and at the same time, a family obligation. They see this festival as a time of reflecton and to honour and give thanks to their forefathers. Overseas Chinese normally visit the graves of their recently deceased relatives on the nearest weekend to the actual date. According to the ancient custom, grave site veneration is only feasible ten days before and after the Qingming Festival. If the visit is not on the actual date, normally veneration before Qingming is encouraged. The Qingming Festival in Malaysia and Singapore normally starts early in the morning by paying respect to distant ancestors from China at home altars. This is followed by visiting the graves of close relatives in the country. Some follow the concept of filial piety to the extent of visiting the graves of their ancestors in mainland China. Traditionally, the family will burn spirit money and paper replicas of material goods such as cars, homes and phones and paper servants. In Chinese culture, it is believed that people still need all of those things in the afterlife. Then family members start take turns to kowtow three to nine times (depending on the family adherence to traditional values) before the tomb of the ancestors. The Kowtowing ritual in front of the grave is performed in the order of patriarchal seniority within the family. After the ancestor worship at the grave site, the whole family or the whole clan feast on the food and drink they brought for the worship either at the site or in nearby gardens in the memorial park, signifying family reunion with the ancestors.
Hanshi, the day before Qingming, was created by Chong'er, the Duke Wen of the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period. The festival was established after Chong'er accidentally burned to death his personal friend and servant Jie Zhitui (介之推) (or Jie Zitui) and Jie Zitui's mother. Chong'er ordered the hills in which they were hiding set on fire in the hope that Jie Zitui would return to his service, but the fire killed Jie and his mother. Because of this, people were not allowed to use fires to heat up food and the date became named Hanshi. Eventually, 300 years ago, the Hanshi "celebration" was combined with the Qingming festival, but later abandoned by most people.
[edit]In Chinese Tea Culture

See also: Chinese Tea Culture
The Qingming festival holiday has a significance in the Chinese tea culture since this specific day divides the fresh green teas by their picking dates. Green teas made from leaves picked before this date are given the prestigious 'pre-qingming' (清明前) designation which commands a much higher price tag. These teas are prized for having much lighter and subtler aromas than those picked after the festival.[citation needed]
[edit]In painting

Main article: Along the River During the Qingming Festival
The famous Qingming scroll by Zhang Zeduan is an ancient Chinese painting which portrays the scene of Kaifeng city, the capital of the Song Dynasty during a Qingming festival.


Panorama of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, 12th century original by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145)


Panorama of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, an 18th century remake of the 12th century original
[edit]In literature

Qingming was frequently mentioned in Chinese literature. Among these, the most famous one is probably Du Mu's poem (simply titled "Qingming"):
Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese pinyin English translation
清明時節雨紛紛 清明时节雨纷纷 qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēn A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day;
路上行人欲斷魂 路上行人欲断魂 lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn hún The mourner's heart is breaking on his way.
借問酒家何處有 借问酒家何处有 jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu Where can a winehouse be found to drown his sadness?
牧童遙指杏花村 牧童遥指杏花村 mù tóng yáo zhǐ xìng huā cūn A cowherd points to Almond Flower (Xing Hua) Village in the distance.
Note: (The word: 酒家 can have multiple meanings. 1. Winehouse or restaurant; 2. Hostel, Hotel or Motel. But the most common and most appropriate translation for '酒家' should be 'Inn')
In the Vietnamese epic poem The Tale of Kieu, Qingming is also mentioned as the occasion when the protagonist Kieu meets a ghost of a dead old lady. The lines describing the sceneries during this festival remain some of the most well-known lines in Vietnamese literature:
Vietnamese English translation
Ngày xuân con én đưa thoi
Thiều quang chín chục đã ngoài sáu mươi
Cỏ non xanh tận chân trời
Cành lê trắng điểm một vài bông hoa
Thanh Minh trong tiết tháng ba
Lễ là Tảo mộ, hội là Đạp thanh
Gần xa nô nức yến oanh
Chị em sắm sửa bộ hành chơi xuân
Swift swallows and spring days were shuttling by;
Of ninety radiant ones three score had fled.
Young grass spread all its green to heaven's rim;
Some blossoms marked pear branches with white dots.
Now came the Feast of Light in the third month
With graveyard rites and junkets on the green.
As merry pilgrims flocked from near and far,
The sisters and their brother went for a stroll.
[edit]See also

Traditional Chinese holidays
Cold Food Festival, three consecutive days starting the day before the Qingming Festival
Double Ninth Festival, the other day to visit and clean up the cemeteries in Hong Kong
Ghost Festival
Day of the Dead
Hansik, a related Korean holiday on the same day
Along the River During Ching Ming Festival by Zhang Zeduan
Songkran, South and Southeast Asia equivalents
[edit]External links

Clear Brightness Festival - Qing Ming
[edit]References

^ SCMP. "SCMP." Ching Ming festival, once branded superstition, is revived as holiday. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
^ Xinhuanet.com "Xinhuanet.com." How will people spend China's 1st Qingming Festival holiday?. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
^ Hong Kong Government. "General holidays for 2008." Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
^ a b c China's restless dead on Tomb-Sweeping Day, UPI, April 8, 2009
^ a b The Qingming Festival, Embassy of PRC in Sweden
[hide]v · d · e Public holidays in the People's Republic of China
Golden Weeks
Spring Festival • National Day

Other Holidays
New Year's Day • Lantern Festival • Qingming Festival • Workers' Day • Duanwu Festival • Mid-Autumn Festival
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Categories: Chinese holidays | Public holidays in the Republic of China | Chinese traditional religion | Festivals in China | Holidays in Hong Kong | Death customs | Buddhist festivals | April events
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the festival. For the solar term, see Qingming.
Qingming
Official name Qingming Jie
(TC: 清明節, SC:清明节)
Also called Tomb Sweeping Day
All Souls Day
Observed by Chinese, Buddhist
Significance Remembering past ancestors
Date 15th day from the Spring Equinox
Apr. 4, 5 or 6
2010 date April 4
2011 date April 5
2012 date April 5
Observances Cleaning and sweeping of graves, Ancestor worship, offering food to deceased, burning joss paper


Burning paper gifts for the departed.
The Qingming Festival (simplified Chinese: 清明节; traditional Chinese: 清明節; pinyin: Qīngmíng Jié; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chheng-bêng-cheh or Chhiⁿ-miâ-choeh, Ching Ming Festival in Hong Kong, Vietnamese: Tết Thanh Minh), Pure Brightness Festival or Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar). Astronomically it is also a solar term (See Qingming). The Qingming festival falls on the first day of the fifth solar term, named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (踏青 Tàqīng, "treading on the greenery") and tend to the graves of departed ones.
Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in Taiwan and in the Chinese jurisdictions of Hong Kong and Macau. Its observance was reinstated as a nation wide public holiday in mainland China in 2008, after having been previously suppressed by the ruling Communist Party in 1949.[1][2]
The transcription of the term Qingming may appear in a number of different forms, some of which are Qingming, Qing Ming, Qing Ming Jie, Ching Ming (official in Hong Kong[3]) and Ching Ming Chieh.
Contents [hide]
1 Introduction
2 Origin
3 Celebration
4 In Chinese Tea Culture
5 In painting
6 In literature
7 See also
8 External links
9 References
[edit]Introduction

The holiday is known by a number of names in the English language:
All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, of the same name)
Clear Bright Festival
Ancestors Day
Festival for Tending Graves
Grave Sweeping Day
Chinese Memorial Day
Tomb Sweeping Day
Spring Remembrance
Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear Bright Festival are the most common English translations of Qingming Festival. Tomb Sweeping Day is used in several English language newspapers published in Taiwan.
[edit]Origin

Qingming Festival is when Chinese people visit the graves or burial grounds of their ancestors. Traditionally, people brought a whole rooster with them to the graves visited but the occasion has become less formal over time. The festival originated from Hanshi Day (寒食节, literally, Day with cold food only), a memorial day for Jie Zitui (介子推, or Jie Zhitui, 介子推). Jie Zitui died in 636 BC in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was one of many followers of Duke Wen of Jin before he became a duke. Once, during Wen's 19 years of exile, they had no food and Jie prepared some meat soup for Wen. Wen enjoyed it a lot and wondered where Jie had obtained the soup. It turned out Jie had cut a piece of meat from his own thigh to make the soup. Wen was so moved he promised to reward him one day. However, Jie was not the type of person who sought rewards. Instead, he just wanted to help Wen to return to Jin to become king. Once Wen became duke, Jie resigned and stayed away from him. Duke Wen rewarded the people who helped him in the decades, but for some reason he forgot to reward Jie, who by then had moved into the forest with his mother. Duke Wen went to the forest, but could not find Jie. Heeding suggestions from his officials, Duke Wen ordered men to set the forest on fire to force out Jie. However, Jie died in the fire. Feeling remorseful, Duke Wen ordered three days without fire to honour Jie's memory. The county where Jie died is still called Jiexiu (介休, literally "the place Jie rests forever").
Qingming has a tradition stretching back more than 2,500 years.[4] Its origin is credited to the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. Wealthy citizens in China were reportedly holding too many extravagant and ostentatiously expensive ceremonies in honour of their ancestors. Emperor Xuanzong, seeking to curb this practice, declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestors' graves only on Qingming.[5] The observance of Qingming found a firm place in Chinese culture and continued since Ancient China
[edit]Celebration

The Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honour their ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper accessories, and/or libations to the ancestors. The rites have a long tradition in Asia, especially among farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming, or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They believe that willow branches help ward off the evil spirit that wanders on Qingming.
On Qingming people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, dance. Qingming is also the time when young couples start courting. Another popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or characters from Chinese opera.[5] Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense or firecrackers.[4]
The holiday is often marked by people paying respects to those who died in events considered sensitive in China. The April Fifth Movement and the Tiananmen Incident were major events on Qingming that took place in the history of the People's Republic of China. When Premier Zhou Enlai died in 1976, thousands visited him during the festival to pay their respects. Many also pay respects to victims of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and the graves of Zhao Ziyang and Yang Jia in areas where the right of free expression is generally recognized, as in Hong Kong. In most areas of China observance of sensitive events are suppressed and all public mention of such events is taboo.[4] In Taiwan this national holiday is observed on April 5 because the ruling Kuomintang moved it to that date in commemoration of the death of Chiang Kai-shek on April 5.
Despite having no holiday status, the overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asian nations, such as those in Singapore and Malaysia, take this festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. Some Qingming rituals and ancestral veneration decorum observed by the oversea Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore can be dated back to Ming and Qing dynasties, as the oversea communities were not affected by the Cultural Revolution in Mainland China. Qingming in Malaysia is an elaborate family function or a clan feast (usually organized by the respective clan association) to commemorate and honour recently deceased relatives at their grave sites and distant ancestors from China at home altars, clan temples or makeshift altars in Buddhist or Taoist temples. For the oversea Chinese community, the Qingming festival is very much a family celebration and at the same time, a family obligation. They see this festival as a time of reflecton and to honour and give thanks to their forefathers. Overseas Chinese normally visit the graves of their recently deceased relatives on the nearest weekend to the actual date. According to the ancient custom, grave site veneration is only feasible ten days before and after the Qingming Festival. If the visit is not on the actual date, normally veneration before Qingming is encouraged. The Qingming Festival in Malaysia and Singapore normally starts early in the morning by paying respect to distant ancestors from China at home altars. This is followed by visiting the graves of close relatives in the country. Some follow the concept of filial piety to the extent of visiting the graves of their ancestors in mainland China. Traditionally, the family will burn spirit money and paper replicas of material goods such as cars, homes and phones and paper servants. In Chinese culture, it is believed that people still need all of those things in the afterlife. Then family members start take turns to kowtow three to nine times (depending on the family adherence to traditional values) before the tomb of the ancestors. The Kowtowing ritual in front of the grave is performed in the order of patriarchal seniority within the family. After the ancestor worship at the grave site, the whole family or the whole clan feast on the food and drink they brought for the worship either at the site or in nearby gardens in the memorial park, signifying family reunion with the ancestors.
Hanshi, the day before Qingming, was created by Chong'er, the Duke Wen of the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period. The festival was established after Chong'er accidentally burned to death his personal friend and servant Jie Zhitui (介之推) (or Jie Zitui) and Jie Zitui's mother. Chong'er ordered the hills in which they were hiding set on fire in the hope that Jie Zitui would return to his service, but the fire killed Jie and his mother. Because of this, people were not allowed to use fires to heat up food and the date became named Hanshi. Eventually, 300 years ago, the Hanshi "celebration" was combined with the Qingming festival, but later abandoned by most people.
[edit]In Chinese Tea Culture

See also: Chinese Tea Culture
The Qingming festival holiday has a significance in the Chinese tea culture since this specific day divides the fresh green teas by their picking dates. Green teas made from leaves picked before this date are given the prestigious 'pre-qingming' (清明前) designation which commands a much higher price tag. These teas are prized for having much lighter and subtler aromas than those picked after the festival.[citation needed]
[edit]In painting

Main article: Along the River During the Qingming Festival
The famous Qingming scroll by Zhang Zeduan is an ancient Chinese painting which portrays the scene of Kaifeng city, the capital of the Song Dynasty during a Qingming festival.


Panorama of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, 12th century original by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145)


Panorama of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, an 18th century remake of the 12th century original
[edit]In literature

Qingming was frequently mentioned in Chinese literature. Among these, the most famous one is probably Du Mu's poem (simply titled "Qingming"):
Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese pinyin English translation
清明時節雨紛紛 清明时节雨纷纷 qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēn A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day;
路上行人欲斷魂 路上行人欲断魂 lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn hún The mourner's heart is breaking on his way.
借問酒家何處有 借问酒家何处有 jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu Where can a winehouse be found to drown his sadness?
牧童遙指杏花村 牧童遥指杏花村 mù tóng yáo zhǐ xìng huā cūn A cowherd points to Almond Flower (Xing Hua) Village in the distance.
Note: (The word: 酒家 can have multiple meanings. 1. Winehouse or restaurant; 2. Hostel, Hotel or Motel. But the most common and most appropriate translation for '酒家' should be 'Inn')
In the Vietnamese epic poem The Tale of Kieu, Qingming is also mentioned as the occasion when the protagonist Kieu meets a ghost of a dead old lady. The lines describing the sceneries during this festival remain some of the most well-known lines in Vietnamese literature:
Vietnamese English translation
Ngày xuân con én đưa thoi
Thiều quang chín chục đã ngoài sáu mươi
Cỏ non xanh tận chân trời
Cành lê trắng điểm một vài bông hoa
Thanh Minh trong tiết tháng ba
Lễ là Tảo mộ, hội là Đạp thanh
Gần xa nô nức yến oanh
Chị em sắm sửa bộ hành chơi xuân
Swift swallows and spring days were shuttling by;
Of ninety radiant ones three score had fled.
Young grass spread all its green to heaven's rim;
Some blossoms marked pear branches with white dots.
Now came the Feast of Light in the third month
With graveyard rites and junkets on the green.
As merry pilgrims flocked from near and far,
The sisters and their brother went for a stroll.
[edit]See also

Traditional Chinese holidays
Cold Food Festival, three consecutive days starting the day before the Qingming Festival
Double Ninth Festival, the other day to visit and clean up the cemeteries in Hong Kong
Ghost Festival
Day of the Dead
Hansik, a related Korean holiday on the same day
Along the River During Ching Ming Festival by Zhang Zeduan
Songkran, South and Southeast Asia equivalents
[edit]External links

Clear Brightness Festival - Qing Ming
[edit]References

^ SCMP. "SCMP." Ching Ming festival, once branded superstition, is revived as holiday. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
^ Xinhuanet.com "Xinhuanet.com." How will people spend China's 1st Qingming Festival holiday?. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
^ Hong Kong Government. "General holidays for 2008." Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
^ a b c China's restless dead on Tomb-Sweeping Day, UPI, April 8, 2009
^ a b The Qingming Festival, Embassy of PRC in Sweden
[hide]v · d · e Public holidays in the People's Republic of China
Golden Weeks
Spring Festival • National Day

Other Holidays
New Year's Day • Lantern Festival • Qingming Festival • Workers' Day • Duanwu Festival • Mid-Autumn Festival
View page ratings
Rate this page
What's this?
Trustworthy
Objective
Complete
Well-written
I am highly knowledgeable about this topic (optional)

Submit ratings
Categories: Chinese holidays | Public holidays in the Republic of China | Chinese traditional religion | Festivals in China | Holidays in Hong Kong | Death customs | Buddhist festivals | April events
Log in / create accountArticleDiscussionReadEditView history