Tag Archives: Culture

Susan Cain, the Power of Introverts

Blogging: the quiet voice for an introvert

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An Introvert's Bag of Books

An Introvert’s Bag of Books (Photo credit: jurvetson)

I’m overwhelmed by your responses to my previous post, Am I British enough?, my very first post in 2013 on Jan 1. Thank you all for enlightening me and entertaining me at the same time, and your comments have helped me in dismantling my thoughts and looking at a simple question from fresh perspectives.

This leads me to another thought today. WordPress, especially the English platform, has enabled me to connect to this magical world unknown to me previously. Before blogging in English, it was impossible for me to connect to people in this manner. I’m a strong believer that at the moment and many years to come, English is still the most powerful language for global communication, though it may not be the most spoken language in the world. A strong urge for communication was the main reason I tried writing in English since last spring. I wanted to have a better understanding and to be understood more in an English speaking community.

At lunch with some friends today, I explained that blogging has enabled me to make new ‘friends’, to seek companionship and advice, to inspire and to be inspired, to educate and to be educated. It’s also been fantastic to unearth a wealth of great stories from some brilliant storytellers, to get completely blown away. Of course, in real life, I can still count on a few close friends whose company I cherish tremendously. I haven’t given up real friendship for my new acquaintances and friends I’ve encountered on the cyberspace. I’m not that daft.

Quiet, book by Susan Cain

Quiet, book by Susan Cain

Blogging is the most fitting for an introvert, like me. Janet being an introvert? That’s a revelation, isn’t it? I’m friendly and bubbly, however, fundamentally I’m an introvert. I enjoy solitude. The world is a busy place designed for extroverts. When I need to communicate, I communicate in the most comfortable form that suits my characters well, through the power of words.

This evening I listened to Susan Cain‘s brilliant speech again. It’s about The Power of Introverts. It’s one of the best TED Talks last year. The subtitles cover 38 languages. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.

Text: 

The Power of Introverts, Susan Cain

When I was nine years old I went off to summer camp for the first time. And my mother packed me a suitcase full of books, which to me seemed like a perfectly natural thing to do. Because in my family, reading was the primary group activity. And this might sound antisocial to you, but for us it was really just a different way of being social. You have the animal warmth of your family sitting right next to you, but you are also free to go roaming around the adventure land inside your own mind. And I had this idea that camp was going to be just like this, but better. (Laughter) I had a vision of 10 girls sitting in a cabin cozily reading books in their matching nightgowns. Continue reading →

Friend: the word to honour 2012

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In response to my previous post, Chinese Character of the Year 2012 Revealed: From ‘Tiny’ to ‘Lust’, my friend Vera Poh from To Dad With Love told the world with a warm heart that she would choose the Chinese character 友 (pronounced as yǒu; meaning ‘friend’) to be her character of the year 2012.

Here is the character ‘friend’ in Chinese, as chosen by Vera.

Poh Character of the Year 2012If you have been on WordPress for a while, you might also share Vera’s reflections on this Chinese character. Aren’t we not grateful that we’ve found some genuine friends through blogging, especially on WordPress? The most invaluable experience on WordPress is that many friendships have transcended nation, age and culture. Friendships have flourished and minds are nurtured. Our life has thus been wonderfully enriched.

Character of the Year 2012

Chinese Character of the Year 2012 Revealed: From ‘Tiny’ to ‘Lust’

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What do you think of these characters representing the year?

What do you think of these characters representing the year?

I’ve just read that in China, the character 微 (pronounced: wēi) has been chosen by some media in China as the character of the year 2012. This character means small, micro and insignificant.

In China, the equivalent of Twitter is called 微博（micro-blogging; pronounced ‘wēibó’), which is powerful in breaking firewalls and has allowed the voice of the general public in China to be heard. A few Chinese idioms also carry this character. It may refer to people feeling ‘insignificant’ and powerless. It also refers to the selflessness of many ‘tiny’ people of China with their spirit of sacrifice.

In essence, 微 (pronounced: wēi) represents each tiny particle in the Chinese society and the voices of the people.

Image from sina news

Image from sina news: Tiny, small, insignificant, negligible

Continue reading →

What’s a Brother Coming?

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I got my inspiration for this blog post from this Chinese post by ZHAI Hua.

This post is about MO Yan‘s big hit, the novel Big Breasts & Wide Hips, translated by Howard Goldblatt from Chinese.

In this novel, the youngest and the most precious boy is named 上官金童 shàngguán jīn tóng (Surname: shàngguán. Given name: jīn tóng, literally means golden boy.) has 8 older sisters (including one twin sister.)

丰乳肥臀 (fēng rǔ féi tún) by MO Yan, in English translation.

shàngguán jīn tóng‘s twin sister has a sweet name called 上官玉女 shàngguán yù nǚ (literally means Jade Maiden).

However, his 7 older sisters all carried symbolic names. Their names, in English, according to the translator, are:

来弟——Laidi（Brother Coming） Continue reading →

A Stephen Fry Friday — who would disagree?

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Open Culture proclaimed today as “Stephen Fry Friday”. It presents marvellous Fry clips on this post, from The Joys of Swearing, The Strange New World of Nanoscience and The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive.

I’m thrilled.

(I wouldn’t really mind A Stephen Fry Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday….Sunday.) 

The very talented Matthew Rogers has produced an artistic “kinetic typography animation” of a six minute segment of Fry’s longer talk.

It’s absolutely entertaining. All the dancing letters with Stephen Fry’s soothing voice really make my day.

Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography – Language from Matthew Rogers on Vimeo.

Why ‘Opium Den’ is an offensive name

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I was in Oxford last weekend. I walked past an Opium Den.

Apparently, it’s a cafe, restaurant and a Karaoke bar.

If you’ve a basic knowledge about the Opium Wars between China and the British Empire, you know that the wars were humiliating, millions of lives were wrecked, and to China, unequal treaties (such as Treaty of Nanking) meant losing territories and dignity.

Is Opium Den a good brand?

Therefore, why using Opium Den as a brand name? If you think the name “Opium Den” is funny, it’s not. This name is offensive. It’s in bad taste.

It triggered me to think about branding. When you decide to have a brand name, what’d be on your mind? Continue reading →

Postcard from Singapore: Satay

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We had satay outdoor at a unique Satay market off The Old Market in the business district of Singapore.

The Old Market is affectionately called Lau Pa Sat by the local Chinese. Lao means old, Pa Sat means Pasar, a Malay word for market. Lau Pa Sat’s proper name is Telok Ayer Market.

Eating Satay in Singapore Old Market

Continue reading →

What is the secret of expert tea tasters?

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Have you ever dreamt of becoming a tea taster?

Tasting 600 cups of tea per day. How does it sound to you?

Strong fragrance of tea permeated this large, clinically clean tea-testing room. 100 cups of tea were ready to be tested (some by me! I’m not kidding.) I was quite excited.

Tea Tasting

Continue reading →

5 changes of a Chinese wife in England: on Language

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English is such a fascinating language. It’s common that people do not always say what they mean, or do not mean what they say. Below is a list of 5 things that I’ve learnt:

1) A Cream Tea is not a cup of tea with cream:

On our honeymoon in Jersey back in 1999, my husband asked if I fancied some Cream Tea. I said yes as I was thirsty after a long walk.

He later gave me a plate with a fat, boring looking bun (I later learnt it was called a scone) with jam and cream next to it. I sat and waited patiently for my tea. “Where’s my tea?”  I asked. Hugh pointed at the fat, boring looking bun and said ‘You said you wanted some Cream Tea.’

Cream Tea means a scone.

2) There’s something called a Tea Towel: 

A Tea Towel is a piece of cloth you use to dry dishes and cutlery. Why is it called a Tea Towel? I’m wondering if ‘tea’ means a drink or a meal?

I’ve also learnt that the tea towel is a minor British Institution.

3) What is lunch, tea and dinner really?  Continue reading →

5 changes of a Chinese wife in England: on Culture

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I’ve slowly picked up some survival tips after living in England since 1996. Here are 5 of them on culture:

1) Always starting your greetings with the weather, not food:

Now I say ‘Isn’t it lovely!’ or ‘What a lovely day!’ to greet people, as ‘hello’, as opposed to saying, ‘Have you eaten?’, which is a Chinese way of asking ‘How’re you’.

And, I’ve learnt to agree with people when they praise or moan about the weather, because English people don’t expect you to disagree with them about the English weather. They just don’t.

2) I remember the names of our neighbours’ pets:

My son told me off for referring to his pet lizard as ‘it’, or our neighbours’ pets as ‘they’. Ben said it’s rude to call a pet ‘it’. So now I know all the names of my neighbours’ pets.

Our opposite neighbour’s cat is Bella, another neighbour’s cats are Mary and Poppy, and there is a corn snake called Pyro, a leopard lizard called Airren and a crested lizard called Cody.

3) I make a big fuss about English people’s birthday: Continue reading →