A time of remembrance

Cheng Beng (清明) is over for us this year. We finished it last week, spread over two visits. The first was on Monday at Sungai Lembu on the mainland, the second on Friday on the island. The mainland trip was for my father-in-law, who died four years ago. That Nirvana site, I must say, is very well kept. Clean, orderly, almost too neat in a way. There were attendants arranging tables, making sure everything was in place. Very convenient.

A few days later we went to the older graves, my two sets of grandparents at Batu Lanchang and Wat Pimbang On. These are out in the open, exposed to sun and rain, so timing mattered a lot. There was a time we used to leave at six in the morning, reaching Batu Lanchang around 6.45am, the cemetery cloaked in darkness but other people were already out and about to perform their own Cheng Beng obligations. In the past decade we eased that a bit, leaving at 6.30am and arriving around 7.15am, just as the sun nudged above the trees. This year we went even later. Left the house at seven, got there about 7.45am. The morning helped us out: a bit overcast, so the heat didn’t come down too hard.

From Batu Lanchang we crossed over to Wat Pimbang On, a Siamese cemetery that looked more chaotic and less organised. Somehow, I felt that many people have already abandoned the place. Untidy and unkempt with overgrown grass, vegetation all around. Even under the canopy of trees, we could feel the day catching up with us. The sun's rays were cutting through the humidity. After that, our final stop was the Triple Wisdom Temple, where we paid respects to the memorial tablets of my parents and aunt. A quieter ending, it was indoors but no less meaningful.

I remember as a child in the late 1950s or early 1960s, when we were still living at Seang Tek Road, Cheng Beng meant booking a trishaw pedlar from down the road to take my grandmother, my mother and me to the Batu Gantong cemetery. At six o’clock sharp, the trishaw would arrive and wait for us. Then came the slow, unhurried ride through York Road and Batu Gantong Road. Along the way we passed huge angsana trees, their small yellow flowers falling constantly around us and carpeting the road. After all these years, I can still remember the cool morning breeze and that feeling of calm and serenity.

Every year going through this Cheng Beng process, I find myself thinking about the alternate name people like to use, Tomb-Sweeping Day. It’s not wrong, but it never quite right either. Yes, we clear the lallang, clean the headstones and tidy up the place. That part is visible and easy to describe. But there's more to Cheng Beng because the sweeping is only incidental. It’s just something that needs to be done before anything else can happen. To call the whole day by that one act feels like missing the point. It turns something that has taken shape over centuries into a simple task, almost like a chore to be checked off.

Cheng Beng itself means “clear and bright”. It began as a marker in the yearly Chinese lunisolar cycle. As far back as the Zhōu Dynasty 周朝 (1046–256 BC), people were already observing the seasons through solar terms, paying attention to the small changes in light, air, growth and renewal. Cheng Beng marked the time when the sky cleared, the air sharpened and the earth began to stir again after the stillness of winter. It wasn’t a festival in the beginning, just a moment in nature.

But alongside that, there was always this deep-rooted practice of remembering those who came before. In the Zhōu world, burial grounds were under official care. Remembering wasn’t optional, it was part of maintaining continuity. By the Warring States period 戰國時代 (475–221 BC), these practices had been adopted by ordinary families. People began visiting graves, bringing offerings, acknowledging that their lives were part of something longer, something that didn’t begin or end with them. By the time of the Táng Dynasty 唐朝 (618–907 AD), with Confucian values firmly in place, filial piety became something the state actively encouraged. Cheng Beng became the natural time for these acts of remembrance.

So when we reduce it to “tomb sweeping”, something feels out of place. The clearing of grass and the washing of stone are just preparations. What's more important are the quieter moments that come after. The offer of food and fruits, the lighting of the joss sticks, calling the names of the forefathers, standing there for a while without saying much but having a quiet conversation with them in the mind, then the burning of paper offerings before leaving. Every time, it feels like we are continuing a process that has always been there.

There’s no festivity in it, and I don’t think there is meant to be. Just a kind of stillness, even when the sun is already up and the day is getting warm. Families gathering, not out of obligation alone but because something in the rhythm of the year brings them back. And in that space, between the living and the remembered, the connection doesn’t feel distant at all.

The drunken concubine

We attended an Anhui cultural show at the recently opened Penang Waterfront Convention Centre last Sunday. Actually, we almost didn’t go. Chinese New Year is around the corner and the house was in mid-springclean mode. At our age, springcleaning is no small matter. Every cupboard opened feels like a wrestling match with history. We had been at it daily and were quite exhausted. In the end we told ourselves, enough lah, a couple of hours out won’t collapse the house. We needed a bit of breathing space too. So off we went.

The entire programme was conducted in Mandarin. I must confess I did not understand a single word that was uttered on stage. Zero. Thankfully the printed programme was bilingual, so at least I knew what was going on. Otherwise I would have been clapping blindly.

As with many Chinese-based events, there were speeches. Long ones. Everyone wanted to have their say. The state Exco member for tourism spoke. The Chinese Consul-General in Penang spoke. The organising chairman spoke. A representative from the Anhui Performing Arts Group spoke. And then perhaps someone else spoke. After a while, you just clapped politely and waited for the actual performances to begin.

When I first glanced at the programme sheet, I remember muttering that there were at least a few items worth staying for. The face-changing act, for one. Huangmei opera. Hui opera. Not everyday we get these in Penang.

The face-changing segment brought back memories. I first saw it perhaps more than 20 years ago at Dewan Sri Pinang when a Beijing opera troupe came to town. I still remember buying tickets for my aunt and her friend, giving them a small treat. That was my proper introduction to the art of rapid mask-changing. One moment red, next moment blue, then black, all in the blink of an eye. On Sunday, the effect was still magical. I know there must be technique, training and hidden mechanics involved, but my eyes still cannot catch the exact movement. It remains delightfully baffling.

This time, however, it was just my wife and I seated right in the front row behind the VIPs. No aunties in tow. Just the two of us, watching quietly.

The Huangmei opera segment began in an understated manner. A singer appeared first without full costume, and I must admit I felt a slight dip of disappointment. Opera without costume feels incomplete. But soon enough other performers emerged properly attired, and a scene from Winning the Imperial Examination came alive. The two protagonists, Zhou Shan and Sun Juan, carried the piece. Sun Juan, I noted from the programme, was a recipient of the China Theatre Plum Blossom Award, which is no small accolade. Whatever nuances in dialogue I may have missed, the emotion carried through gesture, posture and melody.

The Hui opera excerpt was from The Drunken Concubine, with Wang Danhong in the leading role. She too was a Plum Blossom Award winner. Even without understanding the lyrics, one could appreciate the stylised movements, the vocal control and the distinctive musical phrasing that differentiated Hui opera from other regional forms. There is something about traditional opera, from the painted faces and the measured steps, to the deliberate hand gestures that transcends language. I might not have grasped the words, but I could sense the weight of tradition behind every movement.

By the end of the evening, I was glad we had decided to step away from dust cloths and ladders. The house still needed cleaning when we got home, of course. Age still made itself known in stiff shoulders and aching backs. But for a few hours, we had traded dusters and clutter for gongs and silk sleeves. Sometimes that is enough.

Unimpressed

What is real and what is fake? Netflix's 3 Body Problem had a brilliant portrayal of the Cultural Revolution which enveloped China for many years from 1966, but beyond that, the eight-episode series felt damp. I forced myself to finish watching the first episode but I doubt that I'll be watching the rest of the series. 

Connecting the dots: Jiang Ziya

This story was originally scheduled to appear on this blog on 20 June 2017 but somehow, I decided to save it for a later day. As things went, I totally forgot about it until today when I went through all my drafts that did not see the light of day. Well, this one will see the light of day: today, (four years later 😉)! So read on....

----start----

20 June 2017

It was actually quite accidental that I came across the film, Xuan Zang (大唐玄奘), which I wrote about a few days ago. It was days after I had returned from Sitiawan in Perak that I had wanted to know more about the Tua Pek Kong temple there. Remember too that I had written very briefly about the statue of Jiang Ziya (姜子牙) in the pond behind the temple building.

I had long been intrigued by Jiang Ziya and seeing that statue at the temple simply increased my curiosity about one of ancient China's military strategists. Jiang Ziya was also known by several other names: Jiang Shang (姜尚), Lü Shang (呂尚) and Jiang Taigong (姜太公), among others more. He was a Chinese noble who was hired by King Wen (周文王) and later helped his son, King Wu (周武王), of the Zhou Dynasty (周朝) overthrow the Shang Dynasty (商朝) in the 11th Century BC. 

In popular culture, Jiang Ziya is portrayed as an old man sitting by a riverside and patiently fishing with a baitless or hookless fishing rod. His contention was that when the fish was ready, it would swim to meet him. One day, King Wen saw him fishing thus and began engaging him in conversation. King Wen was convinced that he was a military strategist and made him his Prime Minister. Jiang's treatise on military strategy, Six Secret Teachings (太公六韜), is considered one of the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China.

I did a search on for the Internet for Jiang Ziya and among many things, learnt that in 2016, someone had made a film where Jiang Ziya was one of the main characters. The blockbuster show was called League of Gods (封神榜) and starring heavyweight actors like Jet Li. A name among the other cast members stood out: that of Huang Xiaoming.

Huang Xiaoming. At first, the name had sounded vaguely familiar to me. Then I remembered that he had starred opposite Donnie Yen in Ip Man 2. So naturally, I did a search on his name as well and Huang Xiaoming's name appeared as the main actor in the film, Xuan Zang (大唐玄奘). Now, I did know that Hsuan Tsang (玄奘) was the real-life pilgrim monk who went to India in search of Buddhist scriptures. He underwent lots of personal perils but none of which were even distantly close to those depicted in the various fantasy film versions of Journey to the West.

In those fantasy film versions, Hsuan Tsang would be protected by the divine powers of Sun Wukong (孫悟空), Zhu Bajie (豬八戒) and Sha Wujing (沙悟淨), which brings me full circle back to the Tua Pek Kong temple in Sitiawan where these four stone statues were located. Fascinating connections, aren't they?

----end----

As an afterword, I must add that there are currently some flicks about Jiang Ziya in the past few years. Other than League of Gods in 2016, there are now New Seal God Jiang Ziya in 2019 while the fully animated Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deitification came out in 2020. As I've yet to watch them, I can't comment anything on these three films. But for sure, they'll be on my list to watch. [UPDATE (22 May 2021): I laboured to watch New Seal God Jiang Ziya and can summarise my review in six words: "Don't waste your time on it."] [UPDATE (4 June 2021): For a Jet Li film, the action scenes in League of Gods lacked excitement, perhaps too much CGI, that couldn't make me grip my seat. Nevertheless, a film that can be enjoyed once and never again.] 

I must also mention something else. In 2013, I wrote in this blog that according to a newspaper story in The Straits Times of Singapore in the 1990s, some of Jiang Ziya's descendants had adopted Ke (柯) as their surname. It's difficult to prove or disprove this sort of claim.

Red Cliff

After years of procrastination, we have finally spent the last week watching those two Ang Woo epic films, Red Cliff and Red Cliff II. One of the things that had pulled me back from watching these films were their lengths. Together, they took up more than four and a half hours on the couch, and we normally watched only about an hour on television every day. Okay, perhaps I do watch more than an hour daily but with my wife, it's only an hour of telly together-time. The rest of the time, I watch other man-cave shows on Youtube and the like.

So there we were, watching Red Cliff and Red Cliff II. The second film was, however, too absorbing to stop and we continued watching till the end. Red Cliff came out in 2008 and Red Cliff II was released in 2009. Interestingly enough, the real Battle of Red Cliffs in China took place near Chibi on the Yangtze River in 208 and 209 AD. But the actual location remains disputed until today,

If the lengths of the two films had been a dissuasive reason for watching them, then the persuading reason must be the constant urgings to watch this epic by various metaphysics practitioners. Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) was the man to watch out for, they kept insisting, because he was a master of Chinese divination, the art of Qimen Dunjia (奇門遁甲). 

But what is Qimen Dunjia? According to wikipedia, it is an ancient Chinese form of divination which was originally devised to help form military strategy and tactics. It is very difficult to translate the meaning of this term into English but I would cautiously venture to say that 奇門遁甲 means the technique of transiting through mysterious doorways. Doorways can mean practically anything!

When watching the two films, I could see why the technique of harnessing the knowledge of the environment - wind, water and fire - to one's advantage would be so appealing to the metaphysics practitioners. This fits in very well with the five elements of fengshui (風水) or Chinese geomancy: metal, earth, fire, water and wood.

Chinese scholars believe that Qimen Dunjia was used at the Battle of Red Cliffs to defeat Cao Cao's ship-borne army. Over the centuries of Chinese history, Qimen Dunjia grew in popularity and expanded to include a number of other types of divination, including medical divination, matchmaking, childbirth, travel and personal fortunes. Today, it includes contemporary applications, most notably in business and finance. 

Quite possibly because of people's constant search for instant self-gratification and growing rich quickly, the practice of Qimen Dunjia keeps growing and is especially popular in Malaysia, Singapore and other nations of South-east Asia. 

A poignant comparison

I hope Global Times will not mind if I were to repeat their opinion piece here. It makes so much sense to compare the reactions between the storming of the Hongkong Legislative Council in 2019 and the storming of Capitol Hill in 2021. But with a taste of their own medicine, do you ever think the United States will have learnt a lesson and think twice before imposing their brand of democracy/justice on others again or even shooting off their mouths (sic)? Nope, I doubt it. I doubt it very much. They'll be up to the same tricks again, soon. 

(Of course, Penang people should not forget too that in 2014, a group of UMNO goons had also forced their way into a sitting session of the Penang State Assembly.) 

Chinese netizens jeer riot in US Capitol as 'Karma,' say bubbles of 'democracy and freedom' have burst

Jan 07, 2021

Words like "Karma," "retribution" and "deserving" were frequently mentioned in Chinese netizens' comments when they saw the latest episode of the US' real version of House of Cards - which saw Trump supporters storming the Capitol, messing up House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, clashing with police officers and looting items. The pictures went viral in US, Chinese and international news outlets after the riots began Thursday morning. 

Chinese web users still remember the distress and anger they felt when they saw rioters in Hong Kong storming the Legislative Council Complex, scrawling graffiti, smashing and robbing items, and, instead of condemning the violence, US politicians hailed the "courage" of these mobs, Western media praised the "restraint" of the rioters, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even called it a "beautiful sight."

Now, this "beautiful sight" is taking place in the US. A Chinese netizen commented, "Pelosi can enjoy the beautiful sight - even at her office desk! For such a long time, US politicians called rioters 'freedom fighters' in other countries. Now, they finally have retribution!" 

"It was like watching a thrilling action movie!" That was how Chinese netizens described the scenes early Thursday morning. 

When a similar scenario happened in Hong Kong's LegCo in 2019, some US politicians like Pelosi praised rioters in the city as fighters for freedom. This has inspired some talented netizens to come up with a slogan for US mobs to continue their protests. 

"Five demands, not one less. Liberate the US, the revolution of our times," they said, intimating five demands and slogans made by HK rioters to pressure the HK government.

The five demands include recognizing the Democratic Party cheated in the presidential election and denying that Biden is the new president; revoking the definition of "violence"; revoking the charges against the protesters; establishing a commission to investigate police violence and holding a second presidential election to ensure justice and fairness.  

A photo of protesters seemingly holding Pelosi's office chair has also gone viral on Sina Weibo, prompting netizens to joke that there's still a smell of "flattery" left on the chair which Pelosi would call "a beautiful sight."

As of press time, the topics "Trump said he would never concede" and "Trump supporters storm Capitol" were in the "mostly searched and seen" list on China's Twitter-like platform, Sina Weibo. 

Many Chinese netizens "confessed" in their comments that they saw the "chaos in the US" as revenge. After inciting so much chaos around the world under the pretext of "freedom and democracy," the US finally tasted the "karma" of its double standards. 

"This is the first political coup to happen in the American continent without the involvement of US embassies," mocked one netizen. 

Many Chinese netizens found it hilarious that US President Donald Trump's Twitter account had been suspended for 12 hours.

Mohamad Safa, a Lebanese diplomat and also Permanent Representative to the United Nations, made his comment on the incident on Twitter, saying that "If the United States saw what the United States is doing in the United States, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States." 

His tweet has received more than 41.8K "like" as of press time on Thursday.

Different from its previous active attitudes toward similar incidents in other places across the world, the US Embassy in China's Sina Weibo account has kept silent for what was happening in the US. 

But Chinese netizens seem to "give no mercy" to unveil the Embassy's double standards and hypocrisy - they swarmed into the Embassy's account as early as 7 am, asking "Why don't you come to work on time? We are all here waiting for you to talk tall of US democracy and values." 

"For a long time, US politicians criticized China for its efforts in cleaning up online rumors and disinformation and defamed us for 'hurting freedom of speech.' What are you doing right now? President Trump enjoys his right to freedom!" a netizen commented. 

Chinese netizens also put pictures online of what is happening in the US and China at the same time - while pro-Trump rioters are climbing the walls of the Capitol, Chinese workers wearing protection suits in Dalian of Liaoning Province are pushing a trailer carrying daily supplies to fight COVID-19. "A sharp contrast! While Chinese are busy saving lives, the US is showing the world how it is collapsing!" a netizen commented.

Shen Yi, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, told the Global Times that Chinese net users' comments on the storming of the Capitol are "the plain and true and sincere feelings of the Chinese."

The storming of the US Capitol happened at a symbolic point of power transition, and was the first time it has happened in US history. Netizens commented that this symbolic moment clearly demonstrated the "falling of the beacon of democracy."

What happened in the US Capitol and the US' response to it have burst the bubbles of "democracy" and "freedom" and "universal values" that the US has long used to coax others, Shen said. 

The US National Guard moved to deal with the rioters in the Capitol, which is also a slap in the face for the US over its previous remarks on similar incidents in other countries and regions and in China's Hong Kong. "How hypocritical of it to criticize other countries for using police to deal with rioters!"

Many US allies also expressed their concerns over the protests. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the scenes as "shameful," while Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said they are "unbelievable scenes" and "totally unacceptable attack on democracy."  

Their voices also irritated many Chinese netizens, who slammed their double standards when it came to interfering in China's Hong Kong affairs.

Chinese netizens commented, "Why didn't Boris Johnson say he backs the US 'freedom fighters' for fairness, the way he said he backs Hong Kong protesters 'every inch of the way?'"

Tom Fowdy, a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities, told the Global Times, "What we see tonight is the product of an extremely polarized political environment in the US." He added that it could be described as "cracks" in US democracy, as such a system only works if it has legitimacy amongst all its stakeholders. 

Fowdy said that there is a noticeable contrast in discourse as to how the two events are portrayed in Hong Kong and in the US. When rioters stormed the HK LegCo, it was heralded as an act of brave rebellion by "pro-democracy" protesters, but when Trump supporters stormed the US capitol building it was described by the BBC as a "violent, pro-Trump mob."

"There is a clear media double standard. The United States has long held a belief that unrest in its own country is always objectively wrong, but ought to be encouraged for political purposes elsewhere," he said.

Global Times

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1212074.shtml 

Faked in China

Somewhere in China, even wall murals are faked. 

Jawi

I've always liked to keep a few pieces of foreign currency in the house as a memento of my travels, and these two pieces of 50 Yuan notes from China reminded me of the very few times that I've been to the land of my forefathers. What struck me when I brought them out for a Chinese New Year airing today were the descriptions on the obverse side of this note. Not only of this denomination but also on all their currency notes. Apart from the ZHONGGUO RENMIN YINHANG, there also appeared languages of five ethnic groups in China, including Jawi.

This set me thinking....if China can use Jawi on their currency notes, and they are not obliged to use it, why can't our local busybodies in Malaysia - politicians, wannabe politicians, educationalists and racists - accept them too?

Personally, calligraphy in any form can be very pleasing: Chinese calligraphy, Indian calligraphy, Jawi calligraphy and English calligraphy. Anybody with an interest in this particular art form should jolly well explore it to their heart's content. Don't let those busybodies tell you what to do.

On a related matter, has anyone noticed the crest of the Penang Museum Board? You will notice that Jawi appears very prominently as part of the crest design. But before any comment is made about this, let me just add that the designer of this crest was not of the Muslim faith but he was a Catholic Christian. This fact is lost in the mists of time but let me tell you that it was designed in the 1960s by the Senior Art Master of Penang Free School, GS Reutens. The same Art Master who wrote the Penang Free School Rally.

The case of Fang Yuxiang

There are valid reasons why the World Chess Federation wants smartphones and other electronic devices banned from chess tournaments. By nature of them being smartphones, they are mini-computers in their own right and users are able to instal whatever application, or app, they want into them. And the more powerful the processors become, well, the more powerful are the chess apps too.

Naturally, this leads to widespread cheating in the game. We have players referring to their chess apps to analyse crucial positions during games. Mind you, several cheaters have already been caught using their smartphones in toilets and lavatories. Just a month or two ago, a chess grandmaster was photographed looking at his mobile in the toilet, with his pants up, whilst his game was going on. He was outed and Fide, the World Chess Federation, is poised to slap a suspension on him. Igors Rausis has since said he is contemplating retiring from playing competitively altogether.

[Update on Igors Rausis' case: It has been reported on 6 Dec 2019 that Rausis has been slapped with a six-year ban and his Grandmaster title removed. But then, the player had already said earlier that he had played his last game of competitive chess, anyway.]

Malaysian chess players aren't that innocent either. There was a report in May this year of a Malaysian chess player being booted out of a tournament in Dublin, Ireland, the month before when he was caught cheating with a smartphone. I had heard that there is also cheating going on in local chess tournaments despite precautions taken by the organisers, for example, in this year's Selangor open tournament where a participant was caught with his mobile showing the position on the board, presumably while the game was still going on.

For that reason, in long time-control events, players are asked to surrender their mobiles to the organisers in the tournament hall before the start of every round. No use just asking them to switch off the mobiles. If players want to cheat, they would just turn them on again in the toilets. Also no use asking them to pass their mobiles to their friends or relatives for safe-keeping outside the tournament hall. What's to prevent a cheater from collecting his mobile from his friend or relative while on his way to the toilet and returning it before re-entering the playing hall? Thus there is now this added responsibility of chess organisers to keep the players' mobiles each round. But it still doesn't solve the problem of friends and relatives waiting outside the hall to pass their own chess app-laden mobiles to the intending cheater.

At the recently concluded Malaysia Chess Festival, in particular, during those few days when the Open, Seniors Open and Challengers tournaments were played, the players' toilet movements were scrutinised closely by the organisers. They monitored how long a chess player had gone to the toilets and even the frequency. And red flagged any player who went many times during a round.

By the third day of the event, a mobile app had been implemented to scan the QR codes of the players pass tags. No player could leave the playing hall without his tag scanned and it was rescanned when the player returned to the hall. This way, the organisers could check how long or often a player would be away from his table, if required.

At this point, I'd like to acknowledge here the work done by Andrew Ooi, long known to the local chess community as Gilachess. He devised the toilet QR code app for the Malaysia Chess Festival. In his facebook entry, he said that it was the most challenging thing he did during the festival. "That's because even though programming is my profession, I have never written any program that could run on the phone," he wrote, and adding, "The scanning process was from the phone, data on players going in and out is saved on the web. Thanks to Google, Github, Stack Overflow and lots of cutting and pasting, it was done within 24 hours. Also thanks to GACC team for massive job of printing 300 players' tag that had the QR code embedded which was done in a day and a half."

Thus, these were the preventive measures - and more - taken at the chess festival to minimise cheating: the surrender of mobiles and all types of watches to the organisers, the scanning of the QR codes on the players' tags, the occasional metal scanning of players moving through the doors, plus the eagle-eyed observations of the arbiters and tournament helpers.

It so happened during the first day that the QR code scanning was implemented, a sharp-eyed arbiter spotted FangYuxiang, a grandmaster from China, emerging from the toilet with a mobile in his hand. He backed off when confronted and presumably began deleting the chess apps from his mobile. In the meantime, the Chief Arbiter was summoned.

From what I'm told, in front of witnesses, the Chief Arbiter asked the chess player to empty his pockets but he refused. Not once, but two or three times he refused. Then a metal detector revealed an object in his pocket. When the Chief Arbiter removed a mobile from the pocket and asked the player what it was, he had the temerity to answer, "I don't know." Naturally, the mobile was confiscated and it was found that the Stockfish app had been deleted. Fortunately, the traces of the app remained in the mobile and the timestamp of its last use was revealed as 2.59pm. This, however, was just before the round started.

If the timestamp was after 3pm, there would be grounds for cheating while a chess game was in progress. But since the timestamp was before 3pm, there was a doubt whether cheating had actually occurred. Nevertheless, the player was disqualified and ejected from the tournament not due to the suspicion but because he had broken the very first rule to surrender his phone to the organisers in the playing hall. There was no one else to blame but himself.

Somehow, this matter had reached the ears of the Chinese Chess Association even before the tournament ended. How the Chinese authorities are going to handle this problem of their player will be up to them but I'm sure the World Chess Federation will have their own procedures to follow too. I would expect a period of suspension will be imposed on Fang Yuxiang before too long.

-----------------------------

Note: In 2014, the World Chess Federation had approved the following proposal from the Anti-Cheating Commission:

Xu Yuhua, private tourist

Two days ago, I received a surprise invitation to dinner. The former women's world chess champion, Xu Yuhua, was in town, the invitation from Swee Sie said. Swee Sie is the president of the Penang Chess Association. And she told me that Hamid had told her that I would know Yuhua.

I was hesitant. Me knowing Yuhua? Why, that was a long time ago. A very long time ago. In fact, 21 years ago. I very much doubted that Xu Yuhua, a former women's world chess champion who had conquered the world stage in 2006 and met with hundreds, if not thousands, of talented chess personalities, would remember me.

In 1998, she was one of many budding new talents from China, all eager to follow in Xie Jun's footsteps (see Note #1 below). Yuhua had arrived in Malaysia to play in the Asian women's chess championship that would be held at the Awana in Genting Highlands from the eighth till the 22nd of April. Representing China, of course. I had been offered the chance to be the Deputy Chief Arbiter at this event. The Chief Arbiter was around but he would be leaving it to me to run the whole tournament with no interference. So technically, I was in charge. Yuhua played masterfully and was crowned as the Asian women's chess champion at the age of 21. She was awarded the Indira Gandhi Trophy. That was basically the first time I met her (see Note #2 below).

Seated from left to right: Anupama Gokhale, Ambica K Kutty (arbiter from India), Sathe Bagyashree, Maisa Ovezova, Maral Ovezova and Eva Repkova. Standing from left to right: Xu Yuhua, Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky, Maria Lucia Sulistya, Tamin Upi Darmayana, Nguyen Thuan Hoa, Nguyen Thi Dung, Mekhri Ovezova, Le Thi Phuong Lien and ... Quah Seng Sun!

Now 21 years later, she would be in Penang with her 12-year-old son. On a private holiday visit. As a tourist. Actually, she was supposed to be holidaying here with her parents but her mother became ill in the fortnight before her trip. Although her mother recovered, she decided to forego the trip. Thus, Yuhua arrived in Malaysia alone with her son. Her last few days had been spent in Kuala Lumpur and after Penang, she was travelling to Langkawi. Spending Chinese New Year in Langkawi? Yes, she said. Good luck, there's nothing much of interest there. All the action's here in Penang.

So there I was at the New CRC Restaurant in Pangkor Road. I walked in and immediately saw Swee Sie with three of her committee members, Eng Seong, Eu Hong and Lake Khee. "Hello, do you remember me?" I asked Yuhua as we shook hands. Awkward smile that conveyed the answer, "no".

Never mind, I can always show her something to jog her memory. Whipping out my mobile, I showed her this digitised picture from 1998. A picture of her and me....and Phan Ngan Koshnitsky. Phan Ngan was another participant in the Asian women's tournament. She's Vietnamese but living in Australia where she had married the son of Evelyn Koshnitsky, one of Australia's most well-known promoters of women's chess from the 1970s and continuing well into the 1990s.

Yuhua let out a laughter, almost a muffled scream. Thrilled, I could see. Then I showed her a second picture that was taken at the closing ceremony of the tournament. A shot of all the participants together. As the Arbiter, I had squeezed myself into the frame. The only Beauty(?) among the Beasts(?).

So the ice was broken. Everyone started relaxing and dinner proceeded smoothly, lasting for about two hours before we all broke up happy. I hope that I won't have to wait another 21 years before meeting her again.

The next morning, I learnt that Yuhua had sent the pictures back to her dad in China. And her dad had responded by writing a poem to extol the lasting friendship between the chess players of Penang and China. I tried to use Google Translate so that I could understand the poem in English but Google made such a mess out of it that nothing read logically at all. I shall reproduce the poem below in case there are good Samaritans who can provide a good, easily understandable translation. Good luck!

Note #1: Xie Jun was the first women's world champion from China. She won the title in 1991 from Zsuzsa Polgar who was then from Hungary. Xie Jun held the title until 1996. At that time, the women's world title was a close tussle between Xie Jun and Zsuzsa Polgar. In fact, it was Polgar who won back the title in 1996 before relinquishing it again to Xie Jun in 1991. Zhu Chen was the second Chinese player to be the women's world champion from 2001 to 2004. And Xu Yuhua was the third Chinese women's world champion from 2006-2008. After Xu Yuhua were Hou Yifan (2010-2012, 2013-2015 and 2016-2017), Tan Zhongyi (2017-2018) and presently Ju Wenjun (since 2018). Very much a Chinese stranglehold on the title nowadays.

Note #2: In those days, I was also doubling up as the webmaster for the tournament website: one of the first few chess tournaments in the world to have a presence on the Internet. Nothing sophisticated, of course, but it was still a website. I had it hosted on Geocities, now defunct. But the tournament website can still be viewed here.

Tung Uahn (同安)

So finally, I've completed my Cheng Beng obligations for this year. My wife and I left the house later than usual at just past seven o'clock. Previously, it would be 6.30am on the dot and we'd arrive at the Batu Lanchang cemetery while the sky is still dark. This year, it was bright all the way to Batu Lanchang. After paying my respects to my maternal grandparents, it was the turn of my paternal grandparents at the nearby Siamese cemetery in the Wat Pimbang Onn grounds. Cost of getting people to spruce up the two graves, that is, to clear the area of undergrowth and overgrowth, was RM180. Finally, we went to the Triple Gem temple in Pangkor Road, this time to pay our respects to my parents and aunt. All in, we finished just before lunchtime.

I had one additional objective when doing this year's Cheng Beng. It is common knowledge that Chinese gravestone heads would contain information about the male deceased's district of origin in China. It is a useful way to let descendants know where their ancestors had come from.

I know that my paternal grandfather came from an old district called Tung Uahn (同安) in the Hokkien Province. In fact, the forebears of the present Quah members from the Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi (檳城瑞鵲堂柯公司) all originated from Tung Uahn in China. So it was very gratifying - and re-assuring - to see these two Chinese characters engraved on his gravestone. But then, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my maternal grandfather's headstone also featured the same two Chinese characters. So his fore-fathers had come from the same district in China too!

Of course, China being such a large place, it is impossible for me to find out exactly where in Tung Uahn. Their villages could jolly well be next to each other or they could have been hundreds of kilometres apart. Nevertheless, it was sufficient for me to know that both my grandparents were Tung Uahn lang.

Chinese surnames: where do you rank?

Whether we like it or not, we are all in the minority. Below is the latest ranking of Chinese surnames in China, given to me by someone. And if we tally up all the percentages for the top 10 surnames, it only adds up to 44.1 per cent. Hardly a majority:

01李 (Li) 7.94% 02王 (Wang) 7.41% 03張 (Zhang) 7.07% 04劉 (Liu) 5.38% 05陳 (Chen) 4.53% 06楊 (Yang) 3.08% 07趙 (Zhao) 2.29% 08黃 (Huang) 2.23% 09周 (Zhou) 2.12% 10吳 (Wu) 2.05%

11徐 (Xu) 12孫 (Sun) 13胡 (Hu) 14朱 (Zhu) 15高 (Gao) 16林 (Lin)  17何 (He)  18 郭 (Guo) 19馬 (Ma) 20羅 (Luo) 21梁 (Liang) 22宋 (Song) 23鄭 (Zheng) 24謝 (Xie) 25韓 (Han) 26唐 (Tang) 27馮 (Feng) 28於 (Yu) 29董 (Dong) 30蕭 (Xiao) 31程 (Cheng) 32曹 (Cao) 33袁 (Yuan) 34鄧 (Deng) 35許 (Xu) 36傅 (Fu) 37沈 (Chen) 38曾 (Ceng) 39彭 (Peng) 40呂 (Lu) 41蘇 (Su) 42盧 (Lu) 43蔣 (Jiang) 44蔡 (Cai) 45賈 (Jia) 46丁 (Ding) 47魏 (Wei) 48薛 (Xue) 49葉 (Ye) 50閻 (Yan) 51餘 (Yu) 52潘 (Pan) 53杜 (Du) 54戴 (Dai) 55夏 (Xia) 56鐘 (Zhong) 57汪 (Wang) 58田 (Tian) 59任 (Ren) 60姜 (Jiang) 61範 (Fan) 62方 (Fang) 63石 (Shi) 64姚 (Yao) 65譚 (Tan) 66廖 (Liao) 67鄒 (Zou) 68熊 (Xiong) 69金 (Jin) 70陸 (Lu) 71郝 (Hao) 72孔 (Kong) 73白(Bai) 74崔 (Cui) 75康 (Kang) 76毛 (Mao) 77邱 (Qiu) 78秦 (Qin) 79江 (Jiang) 80史 (Shi) 81顧 (Gu) 82侯 (Hou) 83邵 (Shao) 84孟 (Meng) 85龍 (Long) 86萬 (Wan) 87段 (Duan) 88漕 (Cao) 89錢 (Qian) 90湯 (Tang) 91尹 (Yin) 92黎 (Li) 93易 (Yi) 94常 (Chang) 95武 (Wu) 96喬 (Qiao) 97賀 (He) 98賴 (Lai) 99龔 (Gong) 100文 (Wen)

101龐 (Pang) 102樊 (Fan) 103蘭 (Lan) 104殷 (Yin) 105施 (Shi) 106陶 (Tao) 107洪 (Hong) 108翟 (Di) 109安 (An) 110顏 (Yan) 111倪 (Ni) 112嚴 (Yan) 113牛 (Niu) 114溫 (Wen) 115蘆 (Lu) 116季 (Ji) 117俞 (Yu) 118章 (Zhang) 119魯 (Lu) 120葛 (Ge) 121伍 (Wu) 122韋 (Wei) 123申 (Shen) 124尤 (You) 125畢 (Bi) 126聶 (Nie) 127叢 (Cong) 128焦 (Jiao) 129向 (Xiang) 130柳 (Liu) 131邢 (Xing) 132路 (Lu) 133岳 (Yue) 134齊 (Qi) 135沿 (Yan) 136梅 (Mei) 137莫 (Mo) 138莊 (Zhuang) 139辛 (Xin) 140管 (Guan) 141祝 (Zhu) 142左 (Zuo) 143塗 (Tu) 144谷 (Gu) 145祁 (Qi) 146時 (Shi) 147舒 (Shu) 148耿 (Geng) 149牟 (Mou) 150卜 (Bo) 151路 (Lu) 152詹 (Zhan) 153關 (Guan) 154苗 (Miao) 155凌 (Ling) 156費 (Fei) 157紀 (Ji) 158靳 (Jin) 159盛 (Sheng) 160童 (Tong) 161歐 (Ou) 162甄 (Zhen) 163項 (Xiang) 164曲 (Qu) 165成 (Cheng) 166遊 (You) 167陽 (Yang) 168裴 (Pei) 169席 (Xi) 170衛 (Wei) 171查 (Cha) 172屈 (Qu) 173鮑 (Bao) 174位 (Wei) 175覃 (Tan) 176霍 (Huo) 177翁 (Weng) 178隋 (Sui) 179植 (Zhi) 180甘 (Gan) 181景 (Jing) 182薄 (Bao) 183單 (Dan) 184包 (Bao) 185司 (Si) 186柏 (Bai) 187寧 (Ning) 188柯 (Ke) 189阮 (Ruan) 190桂 (Gui) 191閔 (Min) 192歐陽 (Ou Yang) 193解 (Jie) 194強 (Qiang) 195柴 (Chai) 196華 (Hua) 197車 (Che) 198冉 (Ran) 199房 (Fang) 200邊 (Bian)

201辜 (Gu) 202吉(Ji) 203饒 (Rao) 204刁 (Diao) 205瞿 (Qu) 206戚 (Qi) 207丘 (Qiu) 208古 (Gu) 209米 (Mi) 210池 (Chi) 211滕 (Teng) 212晉 (Jin) 213苑 (Yuan) 214鄔 (Wu) 215臧 (Zang) 216暢 (Chang) 217宮(Gong) 218來 (Lai) 219嵺 (Liao) 220苟 (Gou) 221全(Quan) 222褚 (Chu) 223廉 (Lian) 224簡 (Jian) 225婁(Lou) 226蓋 (Gai) 227符 (Fu) 228奚 (Xi) 229木(Mu) 230穆 (Mu) 231黨 (Dang) 232燕 (Yan) 233郎 (Lang) 234邸 (Di) 235冀 (Ji) 236談 (Tan) 237姬 (Ji) 238屠 (Tu) 239連 (Lian) 240郜 (Gao) 241晏 (Yan) 242欒 (Luan) 243鬱 (Yu) 244商 (Shang) 245蒙 (Meng) 246計 (Ji) 247喻 (Yu) 248揭 (Jie) 249竇(Dou) 250遲 (Chi) 251宇 (Yu) 252敖 (Ao) 253糜 (Mi) 254鄢 (Yan) 255冷 (Leng) 256卓 (Zhuo) 257花 (Hua) 258仇 (Chou) 259艾(Ai) 260藍 (Lan) 261都 (Dou) 262鞏 (Gong) 263稽 (Ji) 264井 (Jing) 265練 (Lian) 266仲 (Zhong) 267樂 (Le) 268虞 (Yu) 269卞 (Bian) 270封 (Feng) 271竺 (Zhu) 272冼 (Xian) 273原 (Yuan) 274官 (Guan) 275衣 (Yi) 276楚 (Chu) 277佟 (Tong) 278栗 (Li) 279匡 (Kuang) 280宗 (Zong) 281應 (Ying) 282台 (Tai) 283巫 (Wu) 284鞠 (Ju) 285僧 (Seng) 286桑 (Sang) 287荊 (Jing) 288諶 (Chen) 289銀 (Yin) 290揚 (Yang) 291明 (Ming) 292沙 (Sha) 293薄 (Bao) 294伏 (Fu) 295岑 (Cen) 296習 (Xi) 297胥 (Xu) 298保 (Bao) 299和 (He) 300藺(Lin)

The real Xuan Zang

Who was the real Tang pilgrim monk, Hsuan Tsang (玄奘)? The man was real and his odyssey was real, but all that we have ever known about him is from the book, Journey to the West (西遊記), a 16th century fantasy novel attributed to Wu Cheng'en and first translated into English by Arthur Waley in 1942 (Monkey: A Folk Tale of China) and much later by Anthony C. Yu in  1977-1983 (The Journey to the West), and numerous movie adaptations of the story, of which the most memorable films emerged from the Shaw Brothers studios of Hong Kong between 1966 and 1968. These movie adaptations, however, gave full rein to the directors' imaginations of magic skills as the protagonists battled spirits and demons all the way to the West.

Xuan Zang (大唐玄奘) is the name of the latest adventure-drama film, a joint production of two film companies from China and India, that chronicled the perilous journey of Hsuan Tsang from Chang'an (長安) (modern-day Xi'an (西安)) to India in the Seventh Century to search for Buddhist texts at its source and take them back to China. This film, released to Chinese and Indian audiences in April 2016, never made it to Malaysian shores and thus, we have been deprived of viewing this historical drama.

If you had expected the film to follow in the footsteps of all previous Journey to the West (西遊記) films where the Tang monk is protected against mythological demons by the divine powers of Sun Wukong (孫悟空), Zhu Bajie (豬八戒) and Sha Wujing (沙悟淨), you will be greatly disappointed. Xuan Zang is a slow-moving film and the historical main character, Hsuan Tsang, lived and died in China between 602 AD and 664 AD, except for his 16-year journey to India. That he succeeded against all the odds showed his great perseverance, self-belief and faith.

During his outward journey that began in 629 AD, he was hindered in his travel by a decree from the Tang Emperor Taizong (唐太宗) that forbade travel outside of China. Although he managed to evade capture, there were also other hardships along the way as he had to avoid bandits and cross physical terrains such as the Taklamakan desert (塔克拉瑪幹沙漠) and the Flaming Mountains (Huoyanshan 火焰山) of Turfan (吐魯番). In Turfan, the King refused to let the monk leave and only agreed when he went on a hunger strike. In his travel, he documented a visit to Bamyan in modern-day Afghanistan where he marvelled at the large Buddha statues of Bamiyan, now destroyed by the Talibans in March 2001.

Hsuan Tsang considered that he had arrived in India in 630 AD and he continued travelling and learning about Buddhism in the Indian sub-continent until circa 643 AD when he resolved to go home. The Tang Emperor had learnt of the monk's adventure and he sent a delegation to meet with Hsuan Tsang halfway on his homeward journey. The group arrived back in Chang'an in 645 AD.

Hsuan Tsang was fêted with great honour and he spent the remaining years of his life - he died in 664 AD - in translating the Buddhist texts from Pali to Chinese. Ironically I read that much later, the Chinese translations were re-translated back into Pali to fill a void after the original Pali texts were either lost or destroyed. Hsuan Tsang was also credited for participating in an 18-day religious debate on Buddhism whilst in India. In 646 AD, at the request of the Emperor, he completed his book Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (大唐西域記) which is today a primary source of information on medieval Central Asia and India.

Surprisingly, all this known stories were included into Xuan Zang, the film version of Hsuan Tsang's Indian pilgrimage, with very little embellishments. The film producers had followed the story quite closely to the accepted text. Except for one part where the monk's horse saved him from certain death from thirst, there was nothing magical at all about Hsuan Tsang. No Sun Wukong, no pantheon of Chinese deities, no bounding over clouds, no demon or spirit wanting to capture the holy man, no magic fan, no mountains in flame, just a determined pious man walking, walking, walking and overcoming obstacles like soldiers, robbers, the heat of the deserts and the cold of the mountains, to realise his destination and ultimate destiny.

China's "nostalgia" tourist scam

While listening to the radio in the mornings during the past few weeks, I've been hearing a story repeatedly about a freight forwarding scam whereby an unsuspecting person wanting to buy a used vehicle overseas is persuaded to transfer money to a freight forwarding company to hold as a deposit. Of course, the car never arrives and the deposit is never seen again. This type of scam is described in some detail here, if anyone is interested to know its modus operandi.

Anyway, scams have been around globally for a very long time. While the Internet has contributed to scams being perpetrated across borders easily, there are still the more traditional, down-to-earth scams that hit unsuspecting victims. In November last year, I had written about one such scam, observed by one of my ex-colleagues from the banking days, that is still quite prevalent in China. As I had promised then to relate my own experience witnessing a similar scam, here it is.

Way back in April 2010, I had tagged along my wife when her company, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, organised a staff outing to Beijing. Now, the FMM is a national trade organisation with branches across the country and the staff members that joined the Beijing tour were from everywhere in the Malayan peninsula, Sarawak and Sabah. We were such a diverse group of tourists. Throw a stone into our group and you would hit someone from any state in Malaysia.

The problem with China tours is that the tour package always includes some compulsory visits to medicinal, jewellery, jade, silk, whatever, factories and shops where the staff lay in ambush to hit on the tourists. Through decades of practice, the Chinese entrepreneurs have honed this craft into a fine art. The way they carry out this process is almost scandalous. I would even describe it as a scam: a scam to relieve you of your hard-earned tourist money!

Now, on this particular day, we were taken to a jade factory not far away from the Bird's Nest stadium, main site of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Our group went in and was greeted by a lady who inquired where we were from. When someone said "Malaysia", this lady became so excited and told us that she would inform the manager. He would want to talk with us personally.

Soon afterwards, this man came in and, in some stilted but fluent enough English, introduced himself as the manager of the factory. He claimed to be so excited to see us because he was from Malaysia himself. He had left the country to come to China when he was still small, but could still recall many of the comforts of the home that he had left behind. Why, he could also remember a few words of Bahasa!

Then he talked to us, blah, blah, blah, about what he was doing now, how he had risen up to become the manager of the factory and was now very glad whenever tour groups from Malaysia visited the factory. For him, it was a connection with home. If that was not enough to soften us, he said that he still had relatives back in Malaysia.

But he was found out soon enough. Someone in our group asked him very casually where he was from. At first he hesitated but later when pressured, mentioned that his roots were in a small village in Malacca and his grandmother was still living there. That was taking a small chance because he had no idea where we were from. If he mentioned Malacca to most other tour groups, I would dare say that in 99 percent of the time, perhaps nobody would have pressed him further.

But then, you see, our tour group was very inquisitive and we came from such diverse places in Malaysia. Mention the name of any state and there was bound to be someone who originated from there. In this case, there were people in our group who were born and bred in Malacca, there were people who now worked in Malacca, and there were people who knew Malacca well. This Chinese bugger didn't realise it.

He was grilled left and right for more answers on Malacca and he couldn't answer. Eventually, he fell back on the excuse that he had left Malaysia a very long time ago and had forgotten many things. We just smirked and laughed at him. This fella had been found out but in his bewilderment, he didn't know why. But his modus operandi had been uncovered.

No matter what tour group had arrived at the factory, he would profess to be from that same country of the tour. Or maybe there were many others like him behind the scene, specialising in certain countries. He knew that to tug on the coat-tail of one pining for one's country whenever one is overseas could possibly generate sales for his business. That was a good psychological ploy but it did not work with us. We knew he was lying big time through his teeth. Yet, I have to add that our group still did buy quite a lot of stuff from him. Not us, but the rest did. Perhaps that was the only point that redeemed him of his embarrassment.