At the beach.

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z

http://wordlesswednesday.blogspot.co.nz/

1. There aren’t many rules for this blog – mostly the usual ones: Every Wednesday, post a photo that speaks for itself (and you are the one to make that judgment!).
2. Post only photos that you have authority to use.
3. Include a link to this blog in your post - http://wordlesswednesdayagain.blogspot.com.
4. Leave the link to your Wordless Wednesday post below on Mr. Linky.
5. Visit other blogs that are posted, being sure to leave a comment.
6. Enjoy!

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http://tinaspicstory.blogspot.de/2013/01/tinas-wordless-wednesday-70.html

Red: Sarawak Music

I am showcasing the music of the land of my birth. I returned to Sarawak recently and in 2009. I went to Mulu  and to long houses in Binatang and Sarikei.

When you visit Sarawak in Borneo, especially the week during the Gawai or harvest festival, which in is 10 days from now. There will be a lot of feasting and dancing. You will hear the music of the indigenous people.

The sape is one of the string instruments from the lute family, which has a short neck.

It is made from soft wood, usually the meranti's. The sape has quite an elongated body which is hollowed out and functions as a resonator. I was entertained by this musician when I went to Mulu Caves. Some one fondly dubbed it as the Sarawak guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGN50vL3OaAT

See a traditional dance from Sarawak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrn_oGiq0DQ&feature=related

This last piece is played by a Kelabit, my brother in law K and Sis in law A are Kelabits from the Bario Highlands in Borneo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0qSPHqV9wU&feature=related

This is a Penan or Punan woman. The Penans are nomadic people in Sarawak,Borneo. Here she is using her nose to play a flute.

My younger brother, Dr Henry Chan, an anthropologist spent a lot of time in the jungle with them.

 These are repeats from the welcoming ceremony  by the Iban longhouse when we The Kai Chung school went to visit. The typical Iban agung ensemble will include a set of 

engkerumungs (small agungs arranged together side by 

side and played like a xylophone)

I asked my hostess if I could try, and she was happy to teach me.

I wasn't synchronized, but my mentor didn't laugh at me.



Here I dance the Nyajat with my brother Henry and his wife Elley.  My mentor Awa would be very proud of me.

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Sunday bridge: Brisbane.

I walked the CBD of Brisbane and crossed many bridges, I crossed over from the Courts where my brother went and walked the 

Kurilpa Bridge (originally known as the Tank Street Bridge) 

is a (A$)$63 million pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the 

Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.^[1][2] The 

bridge connects Kurilpa Point in South Brisbane to Tank 

Street in the Brisbane central business district. In 2011, the 

bridge was judged World Transport Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival.^[3]

I walked the whole morning, cross back to the city where the Casino was. I walked and walked and overshot.I realised I had gone to far, I went to a news agent. She was wonderful and gave me a map. Just before me, a group of young girls had asked the same thing. 

I asked 5 people including a good looking lawyer and a policeman. When I went to the court the police showed me, I went to the wrong court.  Joseph told me I needed to take a photo for my escapade. I told him, I pretend to be a lawyer like him.

Father had ambition of becoming a lawyer. He always told us, if he had the money, and if he didn't get the scholarship to study Education in England, he would have been a lawyer. He shared with us news of court cases he read in the newspaper.

One day when I was teaching in Kuching, he came for work in Kuching. he took me to the court and watch a murder trial take place. I knew he really wanted to be a lawyer.

Law is in our blood, there are 5 lawyers in the Chan Clan.


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Friday Sky/ Pink shirt Day: showing our support against bullying

The sky was thick with grey clouds, then in the afternoon, the clouds turned black, and it poured. I couldn't walk home in the damp. Eventually after one hour, I wore this summer hat and walked home.

I post my original post on this topic I did in 2009. Today is Pink shirt day and I spent this week talking with my kids about bullying.

This is a great opportunity to talk about bullying and to show our support.

All decked in pink for a good cause. This is what I will be wearing on Wednesday. As I work in a Primary school, it is my stand against bullying. I have had students bullied because of the colour of their skin, their religion, minority group and so on.

My school is encouraging children and staff to wear pink.

We have a serious problem with bullying in NZ schools. In December last year a major international report ranked New Zealand second worst among 37 countries when it comes to bullying in primary schools.

Last year an escalation of physical violence and emotional bullying in schools sparked a major investigation by the children's commissioner, Cindy Kiro, amid increasing concerns about pupil safety.

This year a number of educational groups will highlight the fact that bullying is something we cannot ignore, by taking part in New Zealand's first Pink Shirt Day.

Pink Shirt Day is a way for the community to stand up and show that bullying is not okay.

SS4Q* and teacher unions NZEI Te Riu Roa and PPTA Te Wehengarua are joining forces to make our schools safe for ALL students, by romoting February 25 as Pink Shirt Day.

The first Pink Shirt Day took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when two 17 year old high school students decided to stand up for a friend who had been harassed for wearing a pink shirt to school.

The boys, David Shepherd and Travis Price, decided that the bullying had to stop. They went to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops, sent out the message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning handed them to students to wear. When the bullied boy walked in, according to Travis Price, "It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. The bullies were never heard from again."

Bullying is a serious issue in New Zealand schools that will only grow if it is ignored.

Recent events reported in our papers have ranged from students being beaten unconscious, students suffering injuries requiring hospitalisation, students being humiliated on the internet and bullied via text message, to sudden and tragic deaths of victims.

These are just the incidents that have reached the press – the 1/10th of the iceberg that is visible above the water.

More must be done to stop this physical and emotional violence and make our schools safe for all of our young people to learn in. One way we can do this is for the community to stand up and show that bullying is not OK. Schools cannot solve these problems alone.

You can help make Pink Shirt day a success. Wear something PINK on 25
February .

The pink shirt day slogan is BULLYING STOPS HERE

SS4Q is a national network working towards making schools safer for queer young people. It consists of representatives from a range of organisations, and a number of individuals from the
GLBTI communities, academics and other interested people.
More about Pink Shirt Day:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2007/09/18/pink-tshirts-students.html
http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/

I posted this article to another writers' website and here are some comments.

Here are the messages that had just been posted:
***************
That's a good cause. I hope more people hear about it and follow NZs lead. G
***************
If I had a pink shirt, I would be wearing it tomorrow 
A very worthy cause indeed, and perhaps a good way to single out the bullies and subject them to a little of their own discomfort. Personally I'm in favour of smacking down all bullies, and would have few qualms about doing it myself if opportunity arose. But pink shirts are a nice, nonviolent alternative

Writingwise, very neat! Can't fault you a bit for style or grammar. W
***************
In an article I recently read about color therapy, a clinical psychologist advocates using pink to quiet agression.
The article indicated the color pink (Baker-Miller pink) physically reduces aggressive behavior within minutes. And because of this find, many jails and prisons now have pink holding cells. The color pink decreases the need to restrain inmates with force or sedative medication.

Whoever came up with the idea about "Pink Shirt Day" must have known a thing or two about color therapy. Cheers to that person. S

Thank you all, Thanks Shelly about the Pink resreach.
I just remembered, 24 years ago, I delivered my first child at National Women's hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. They just renovated a Pink Room for mums who already had babies. There was no theatre atmosphere. I didn't qualify because it was my first birth.

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http://skyley.blogspot.com/

watery/outdoor/wordless Wednesday in Australia.

http://nfmemes.blogspot.co.nz

z

http://wordlesswednesday.blogspot.co.nz/

1. There aren’t many rules for this blog – mostly the usual ones: Every Wednesday, post a photo that speaks for itself (and you are the one to make that judgment!).
2. Post only photos that you have authority to use.
3. Include a link to this blog in your post - http://wordlesswednesdayagain.blogspot.com.
4. Leave the link to your Wordless Wednesday post below on Mr. Linky.
5. Visit other blogs that are posted, being sure to leave a comment.
6. Enjoy!

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com

http://tinaspicstory.blogspot.de/2013/01/tinas-wordless-wednesday-70.html

Red: Kai Chung students, my class

In 1975, I was the form teacher of Form 2A Kai Chung School. These students have grown to be fine young men and women of the society.

Today is Teachers' Day in Malaysia. I recall that Teachers' Day . The students insisted on cooking Laksa for their class and the teachers. Back then, not many people there ate spicy food. They cooked 2 batches using the care takers big pot. It too much longer to cook and the care taker wasn't too pleased.

Wonder if any of them remembered? Ing Bing, Hie Ding? And I wonder where they all are.

http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.co.nz

http://www.suelovescherries.blogspot.com/

Traditional Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony

Traditional Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony - a precious moment honouring our elders

My niece delighted us by choosing a Traditional Chinese Wedding Ceremony. Katie and Mathew even knelt in front of her relatives. When It came to Joseph, Rose reminded us that those of us who are younger than Charles, her Dad should refrain from letting them kneel before us. We sat on the chair. In the past, we even had to stand.

The Australians were very curious about these. Katie is half Chinese and half Australian and her husband is Australian. After serving the tea, the elders gave them an Ang Pow aka Hong Bao , a love gift, usually in cash and gold jewellery. 

I was very honoured that Katie chose me to help her pour the special auspicious sweet tea. When it was my turn to be serve, Elley took over my job.

http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.co.nz

http://www.suelovescherries.blogspot.com/