Year of the Snake

2013 is the Year of the Snake, Chinese Lunar Year 4711.  The most powerful yang year of the Dragon is over and the calendar turns to balance it with a yin one. Make no mistake. The Snake has strength - fire energy. If past Snake years are any indication, 2013 is going to be full of venomous days!

Yin and Yang are not opposing forces they’re complementary.   For example, grapes are grown and, when ripe, plucked from their branches.  They are aged and bottled as wine. Branches need to be bare so new grapes can grow to refill empty bottles.  Since the 2012 yang fruits have been picked dry, 2013 will be a yin year of cultivation.  Adding the Snake to the balance makes it all the more challenging.  It is one of the most enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined, and collected of the 12 animal signs in the Chinese Zodiac. Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve.  We’re going to need a full belly to stomach what may be in store for us this year.

According to my thoroughly unpracticed Feng Shui study, 2013 is said to be a yin water Snake year.  Water is the element of transport and communication, so it’ll bring intelligence and innovation to the fire of uprising or hidden conflict. 1953 was a yin water Snake year.   The Korean War ended, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, and Josef Stalin died of a heart attack.  Peace and pageantry during the super powers’ cold war arms buildup.

Not all past Snake years were water Snakes.   In general, though, all appeared equally unsettling.   1929 was the year of Al Capone’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Pearl Harbor was on December 7, 1941 and Hitler declared war on the U.S. days later.  In 1965 the Vietnam War escalated.  The killings at Tiananmen Square happened in 1989, and the World Trade Center terrorist attack was in 2001. Yet peace was found in the Snake year of 1977 when newly sworn-in President Jimmy Carter signed The Panama Canal Treaty.

It’s not all doom and gloom during Snake years.  1977 was a stellar one. My brother, Jimmy, graduated from Bexley High School and the 1^st U.S. space shuttle was launched.   Disco came alive with the release of the movie and soundtrack Saturday Night Fever.  Cinemas also debuted Anne Hall, Star Wars, and Close Encounters of a Third Kind.  Fleetwood Mac released the album Rumors. Atari was born, the Neutron Bomb was developed, and Nickelodeon was introduced on QUBE in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. It was also that same Snake year when Steve Jobs created Apple requesting: “don’t make the logo cute.”

History and timelines offer us an opportunity to examine past events so we may have a better understanding of the present.  They also let us see if history is repeating itself.  It’s the beginning of 2013 and past Snake years are already shedding their skin.  The winter weather is a record-breaking ditto.  The Blizzard of 1941 was said to be the worst of its time and the one in 1977 brought snow from New England to Miami and claimed 100 lives.  The winter of our discontent doesn’t end with the weather.  King Richard’s bones were unearthed while North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un rattled Seouls.  He conducted an underground nuclear weapon test in defiance of the U.S. and China.  His neighbors in the south believe the fall out is war.  Another echo from Asia’s past is the escalation of tension between China and Japan.  Both nations claim ownership of a chain of islands in the East China Sea  (Diaoyu Islands in China and Senkaku Islands in Japan).  Oddly enough, Mr. Xi Jin Ping, China’s new leader of the Communist Party, was born in the yin water Snake year 1953.

Wasn’t the world supposed to have ended last December?  I surrender!  Mark Twain said, “The world doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”  So I'll wait for the white smoke of a new Pope to clear and hold for hope that we’ll cope in the celestial globe this year.

Groundhogs and Englishmen

While I’m settling in Hong Kong and figuring out who the best butcher, baker, and martini maker are, I’m also playing the tourist.  My first taste as sightseer came while running errands in Causeway Bay.  I went to see the firing of the Noonday Gun.  The tradition has lasted in roughly the same spot since the Opium Wars and I was aiming to find out why.

Even though Hong Kong is now a special territory of the People’s Republic of China, the city still fires a daily report. The midday blast was made famous when The Queen of England, Noel Coward, wrote about it in the song Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

In Hong Kong

They strike a gong

And fire off a noonday gun

To reprimand each inmate

Who’s in late

As poetic as it sounds, the purpose was for punishment and not as a warning for tardy soldiers.  In 1832 two Scots, William Jardine and James Matheson, founded the trading house Jardine Matheson. Jardines, as it was referred, imported opium to the Chinese and exported cotton to the British.  Their offices were located at East Point in Victoria Harbor.  To announce visiting business leaders or company big wigs (tai pans), Jardines’ private militia would fire a cannon. In 1860 things got out of hand when a business executive was announced with a 21-gun salute.  Fresh from the Opium Wars, the British navy remained in full force.  A naval officer didn’t appreciate a businessman receiving the same honor normally reserved for senior officers or government dignitaries.  Jardines’ punishment for this breech of colonial etiquette was to fire a cannon every day at the stroke of noon. 

Given the Noonday Gun’s history and its listings in tourist guides, I decided to go early to get a good seat.  When I arrived I was the only one there and there were no seats.  As the hour approached people began to trickle in and stand with me behind locked gates: a few construction workers from a nearby site, a Mainland couple on holiday, a family of 3, and a pack of 5 teens who seemed to me to be on a school assignment with their pens and notebooks in hand.  A small man in a naval-inspired uniform came striding in.  He rang a bell three times and then walked up on the cannon platform.  He stood tall and proud, extended his left arm in the air, and lowered it as he fired The Hotchkiss Mark I three-pound cannon with his right hand.  The report gave us all a jolt and we gasped like we were watching fireworks.  It was louder than anticipated – two busy construction sites and honking 6-lane traffic surrounded us.  The guard walked off the platform, rang the bell again, and then opened the gates.  For thirty minutes we were allowed inside the grounds.  He shouted something I didn’t understand and we all exited the yard.  The experience left me wondering why it inspired song.

Except for the Japanese occupation during World War II, the Noonday Gun has been signaling high noon everyday for over a hundred years.  Hong Kong isn’t the only city calmly carrying on with colonial British tradition. Cape of Good Hope has a Noon Gun. The British captured the Dutch colony in 1795 and Signal Hill has been blasting since 1806.  The city began firing a cannon to announce incoming ships.  As time progressed, it was reduced to once a day. Cape of Good Hope remained a colony until 1910, but the tradition continues today.

In this day in age, why continue firing a cannon at noon? I don’t know about Cape of Good Hope, but in Hong Kong land is at a premium. The Jardines property remains with its patch of grass and a few cannons. Why blast midday when it isn’t loud enough to hear island-wide?  It makes sense if people need to set watches, but a majority of the population use their phones to tell time and a satellite in space sets those. Maybe if more people attended the ceremony I’d "get" it, but I'm at a loss at this point.

Then again, who am I to question other countries’ traditions?   Back home in America we gage the length of winter from a hedgehog named Punxsutawney Phil.

Hong Kong in 3 Acts

A brief history of Hong Kong in 500 words or less.  My sister, Valerie, an adjunct professor of English, gave me that assignment. “And don’t forget to make me laugh,” she directed. What’s funny about Opium Wars and flags? If anyone knows Valerie, they know she can find the humor in history. Me? Not so much, but I’m handing it in anyway, as it counts for half my grade this semester.

The Chinese consider the Opium Wars to be the beginning of their modern history. Therefore, my three-act history of Hong Kong Island will skip the B.C. building years of the Great Wall and pass over the years of the Silk Road to begin with the end of the last dynasty of China: Qing.

Here’s the dope on Hong Kong:

Act I: Lotus Eaters

1800s England-China trade relations were unbalanced. England bought more from the Qing Dynasty of China than it sold to it. To correct the imbalance, the Brits started selling opium to their masses. In order to control the spread of tar, the Chinese confiscated (read: stole) the British imports. The Brits didn’t care so much that the Chinese wanted to control the dream stick, what they did object to was the seizure of their ships. War erupted in 1839 and lasted until 1842. The Opium War was a violent conflict fought for better diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice. The dynasty lost. It signed the Treaty of Nanking and ceded Hong Kong Island to the Union Jack.

John Quincy Adams had this to say about the Opium War: The cause of the war is the kowtow - the arrogant and insupportable pretensions of China that she will hold commercial intercourse with the rest of mankind not upon terms of equal reciprocity, but upon the insulting and degrading forms of the relations between lord and vassal.

Like Hollywood blockbusters, wars seem to come in pairs. A second Opium War ran from 1856 to1860. The previous treaty failed to meet England’s objective. After, Hong Kong remained under the Khakis’ rule. In 1898, the Brits leased the island from the Chinese for 99 years. When the WWII broke out, the Japanese occupied the island. In China, the prequel to WWII was in the 1930s, when a conflict with the Land of the Rising Sun had thousands fleeing the mainland for protection on the island. By the end of WWII the population of nearly two million Hong Kong citizens had dwindled to just 600,000.

In 1946, the Union Jack once again rose over the island. Hong Kong began its rise. Population, production, and prosperity grew. So, too, did the number of refugees from the mainland escaping the civil war between the Nationals and the Communists.

Act II: The Good Earth

History is lousy with civil wars and conflicts. With international battles behind them, Hong Kongers under British leadership focused their attention on peace and prosperity. The 1950s were a time of growth. Textiles, printing, and light industry on the island put people to work, money in pockets, and babes in arms. Through the years, there was some civil discord and workers’ demands for better pay and conditions. Riots broke out in the late 1960s fueled by China’s Cultural Revolution, but by the 1970s, living conditions improved and unrest subsided. Hong Kong became a powerhouse in the region and established itself as the “Asian Tiger.”

As the island developed, Sino-British talks of the future of Hong Kong increased. The 99-year lease would expire in 1997. A Joint Declaration was signed, stating that Hong Kong would be part of the communist-led country but retain its capitalist economic system and keep its somewhat democratic political system for 50 years after the handover.

Then, in 1989, pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square were massacred. Talks of democratic safeguards for Hong Kongers took urgency.

Act III: Joy Luck Club

In July 1997, after 150 years under British rule, the Union Jack was lowered and the island fell under Beijing’s control. In a ceremony marking the handover, the new Bauhinia Orchid flag was raised with the help of a fan to blow it so it so it would fully unfurl and majestically wave. With the British governor out and its new director, or Chief Executive, in, Hong Kong was open for business.

Under the “one country, two-system rule,” Hong Kong was declared a Special Administrative Region (SAR). Although the 1st Chief Executive was hand-picked by Beijing, elections were held for a new Legislative Council (LegCo). Pro-democracy candidates took the majority of seats and still hold the majority today.

As with any fledgling government, breakouts occur. Citizens take to the streets every July to mark the anniversary of the handover and there’s a separate date on which citizens remember the slaughter in Tiananmen Square. Mass protests erupted after Beijing introduced an anti-subversion law, Article 23, in response to the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Pope Benedict XVI appointed an outspoken advocate of democracy as cardinal to Hong Kong’s Catholics, and Beijing issued a strong warning for the leader to stay out of politics, which sparked a rally for full democracy. Last month, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched against a Beijing-backed moral and national education curriculum.

Protests and pro-democracy demonstrations can only last for so many years. According to the Joint Declaration, 50 years after the 1997 handover, Hong Kong will lose its SAR status and become just another city in Communist China. Rallies and sit-ins are sure to continue until 2047, when a new flag will fly over the island.

S'poretopia

Scorching headlines from around the world read of crises, violence and nuclear threat. It’s all so gloomy I’ve been switching to other channels and brushing past newsstands without even a glance at the latest Hello! cover. But just the other day I froze in my tracks when I saw Singapore’s banner news.

The tiny island nation figures big on a global scale. By the estimates of Citibank Private Wealth and Knight Frank, an international property management company, Singapore’s GDP per capita is the highest in the world. That makes it the world's wealthiest country! It is banking on that status through to 2050.

Wealth isn’t the only nugget of news from the city-state. According to the Happy Planet Index, Singapore pays dearly for their prosperity. The HPI ranks the Lion City a lowly 90th out of 151 counties in the world.

I think Gunter Grass said it best: Melancholy and utopia are heads and tails of the same coin.

Or was it Albert Camus when he wrote, “Utopia is that which is in contradiction with reality.”

This is my final blog posting from Singapore. I’ll be leaving the Strait Life in Singapore for the Mid-Level Life in Hong Kong. Stay tuned for a brief history of the Fragrant Harbor.

Raemarks Index

9 August 2012 marked Singapore’s 47th year of independence. To celebrate the nation’s birthday, the government hosted its annual National Day Parade. The military marched, dance groups performed, and songs about Singapore were sung.

Number of National Day Parade participants: 2,000

Number of National Day Parade grandstand spectators: 30,000

Estimated amount spent on fireworks display: $1,000,000

Total population of Singapore: 5,183,000

Singapore citizen population: 3,257,000

Cash bonus the government gives a family for giving birth to a
1st or 2nd child: $4,000

Cash bonus the government gives a family for giving birth to a
3rd or 4th child: $6,000

Approximate number of private cars on the road: 570,240

Cost of a government-issued certificate that entitles a driver to own a car below 1600cc: $73,501

Cost of a government-issued certificate that entitles a driver to own a car above1600cc: $94,502

Number of athletes who competed in nine different sports in the 2012 Summer Olympics: 23

Singapore’s total medal count at the 2012 Summer Olympics:
2 Bronze

For each National Day Parade, the government issues a new theme and commissions an official song.  This year's theme was Loving Singapore, Our Home, and the offical NDP song was "Love at First Light". On National Day, Singaporeans from all walks of life were “to reflect on what it means to love our country, what we appreciate about Singapore, and how each individual can express their love for the nation.”

Some creative citizens did just that. They expressed their love for the nation through song. "National Night" raps that citizens should go all the way. For years the city-state has had a negative birthrate. The Mentos-sponsored tune sings for citizens to do their civic duty by performing in the bedroom - no brith control, please!  The unofficial NDP song is officially popular.

Number of "National Night" YouTube video hits: 339,890

Hereafter Today, Gone Tomorrow

Confucius says: We should keep the dead before our eyes, and honor them as though still living. The Chinese do just that every April during Qingming, Tomb-Sweeping Day. It is an occasion for the living to remember the dead. Families gather in cemeteries to tidy the tombs of their ancestors. Descendants provide support and comfort to their dead relatives in the afterlife by offering them food and drink and by burning incense. They also burn paper play money and other items made from paper such as clothing, jewelry, houses, cars, appliances – even iPads! It is believed that the family will have a prosperous year if they follow this custom. Qingming is an ancient tradition that dates back to 770-476 B.C. This year, the tradition will die for many Singaporeans.

Dental Stuff

   

Thermoses

Paper Money

Watches

Purses

  

Scooter

iPad and iPhones

Fan

Haunting news in the city-state is the government’s plan to pave over another cemetery. Bukit Brown cemetery, one of the world’s oldest and largest Chinese graveyards outside of China, is slated for destruction. I first mentioned Bukit Brown in my blog entry, Rent in Peace. It is more than a cemetery. It is a nature preserve where gigantic, mature trees provide homes for a variety of birds and shade for nature lovers and joggers. It is an enchanting heritage site where the jungle entangles elaborate graves - some dating back to the1830s. The

government will move this heavenly earth to make way for an 8-lane highway and public housing.

Brave souls have signed a petition to save Bukit Brown. In a country where it isn’t customary to lobby the government or speak out against the word of law, it is unlikely there will be enough signatures to bury the project. Earlier this month I returned to the cemetery as the sun was rising. A rooster was standing on a tomb heralding the new day. The agency in charge of the 5,000+ exhumation, the Land Transport Authority (LTA), had a banner stretching across the entrance with an office trailer underneath. The LTA will cover the cost of the removal, the cremation, and the columbarium at the only cemetery still in operation: Choa Chu Kang. Or, if the family prefers, the LTA will scatter the ashes at sea when it is convenient for the agency. If the living isn’t happy with the government options for the dead, then the family is expected to pay for the removal and all costs that arise from it.

My recent outing to Bukit Brown coincided with Qingming. It is inspiring to watch families celebrating on the tombs of their ancestors. After they weed and scrub clean the gravesite, they layout the food: chicken, oranges, rice, coffee, etc. To entice their ancestral ghosts to the feast, they burn joss stick (incense). One-by-one the relatives kneel before the headstone and pray. Next to the tomb sits the stack of paper joss (paper offerings) with the paper play money fanned throughout the pile. It is set aflame. Once the flame dies down, the family gathers around it and throws paper strips in the air while shouting “Huat! Huat! Huat!” Prosper! Prosper! Prosper!

The colorful paper mound turns to ash in seconds, but one color in Bukit Brown cemetery remains. Red-tipped sticks marking the graves slated for removal and red-slashed tree trunks marking the fall.

People Eating in Singapore

What is Singapore’s favorite pastime? Shopping? Soccer? Chewing gum? One day in the city-state is all it takes to discover that the favorite pastime is eating. From high-end restaurants to common hawker centers, exotic foods are served – turtle soup, chicken feet, and the politically incorrect shark fin soup. Out of all the strange and wonderful concoctions I’ve tried, Soylent Green is my favorite.

The island nation is hot and crowded. Every day the temperature promises to reach beyond 80-degrees with 100% humidity. 4 million people live in an area roughly three times the size of Washington DC and the population is growing. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. Thank goodness Soylent Industries has created a delicious and nutritious cuisine. It is a real people pleaser here and is almost as popular as the country's signature dish, chicken rice.

Soylent Green is best compared with tofu. It comes packaged in a block, but is green and stiff. People prepare it in all the same ways as tofu. But where tofu lacks backbone, Soylent Green has a full-bodied flavor which is head and shoulders above its distant cousin.

I will miss Soylent Green when I leave Singapore. But who knows on what distant shores it will one day appear. Soylent Industries’ officials boast they have an endless supply to feed the world. As long as the population grows, so will its product. Soylent Green is people.