SNIPPETS OF TRAVEL IN CHINA: TOILETS & TRANSLATIONS

UNISEX (THIRD SEX) TOILETS

i was surprised to find Chinese toilets have an “UNISEX” or “THIRD Sex” category. There was the customary “Male” on the left, AND “FEMALE” on the right. I was puzzled and took a picture, then forwarded to my friends in Malaysia, including one who was an ex- boss and ran a Travel Agency to China. All of them shared my confusion , and thought that “Third” or “Unisex” must either be for some foreign travelers to China or the nation had now “advanced” or “regressed” to some western sex morals. I pondered and asked my China tour guide for an explanation. With a wry look at me, he respond to my query thus:

“It is meant for father, mother, or grand parent who accompany a child of any sex to the toilet, and also for the disabled.” So, it is a FAMILY toilet, nothing to do with sex, but gender of both kinds, and the disabled of either sex.

I am a certified OKU (Disabled Person) holder, thereby fit to enter and explore.

I confided to the ladies in the group that this public toilet was the cleanest and best equipped.

With apology, the “UNISEX” caught my eyes, unaware there was a logo with it.

In China, if you cant find the “exit” door , best to get oneself “exported”.

In two or three decades as a China traveler, the public toilets have evolved from “mine fields”, shared without doors, doors unable to lock/unlock, sanitary papers, including the pooh in bowls, or flush, to more modern updated ones.

This painting was posted in front of a male toilet in a restaurant. I dare not venture into the ladies to look for similar designs or painting for the other sex.

Recently we observe slogans or “poetry” pinned on toilet urinals, such as:

One Step closer to the bowl, is a big step towards civilization. (Perhaps an twisted inspiration from US astronaut landing on the imagined moon.)

However, the spillage speaks of the civilization; civic mindedness takes a decade or two to catch up. To be fair, some American have fallen, they do it openly on the streets. Well, the Indians have gone to the moon, but the toilets have yet to evolve. These are political decisions. No offence needed, but in Singapore, a heavy fine to impose discipline. Yes, free country, with freedom to express or pee and poo in the streets.

In a newly open highway to “multi colored Bay, Burjin, Xinjiang, well desssigned rest house, with toilets of modern designs are seen:

I hope my readers will enjoy reading my prose and my verses. The pictures are all taken from my REDMI hand phone, without any skill. There is no restriction in any photo taking or watching u tubes from the west or east, if you purchase a local SIM card.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 622: GRATIFYING GOSSIPS

spies, sex and gossips

bond the globe with monetary lures

sensation spins world

Note:

Asia is full of juicy news recently. It is not the sensation that I am looking for. We are social beings. We need vigilance and awareness to protect us from falling into temptation of sorts.

Every day lots of juicy bits are added into the saga of Qin Gang. Frankly, we are not told about the facts. The US and China are engaged in a total war, from trade, media, finance, military, spy and anti spy. The latest has yet to reveal, and forwarding unconfirmed messages makes one a gossiper, though without malice, but a mind seeking for sensation.

The pictures are all copied-pasted from the web, with gratitude to their owners. I think there is poetry even in gossips, and readers and poet himself may learn from it.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 614: CHORES AND CHAOS

spring sweep in shelter

silvery strands strewn on floors

season’s stressful stint

chores choke at corners

dust and dirt dwell on hoarding

less to free chaos

throw-away buying

waste is private affluence

deprive others’ right

Note:

I read Erich Fromm’ book “To Have or To be” several decades ago (First Published in 1976). Recently I have seen my old wife doing Spring -Cleaning, when the house is not really dirty, not perfect, but clean enough. Many other housewives do the same, and then suffer the aches and pain of excessive work. I do help a little, vacuum the floors before she mops. I notice more silvery strands strewn on the floors, due to the stress. The more furniture and fixtures, the more one has to bend to wipe and sweep. We clutter and then declutter in this market driven technology and advertisement. In our modern world, having is a status symbol and shows ease of living. These days, most of the things are not made to last, otherwise factories will close down and workers out of jobs. We have advanced fast in science and technology, but inwardly we are the same 50 years or more ago. The entanglement of private property, profit and power are still the same, but expressed differently. (The Latin word for private means to deprive another.) Authority and its power are entangled in it. US and the advanced rich nations have the obsession to stay supreme, to be in control of industry. Human Rights and Truth are just excuses for them.

I welcome any comment and discussion.

The pictures are copied-pasted from the web, with appreciation to their owners,

MALAYSIAN FREE VERSES: FLIRTING FROLIC

sensuous with pink skirt

alert by the flirt

shake and squirt the beer

self hurt by the sneer

lift the can of brew

to woo through and through

social cues from eyes

brows flash in disguise

bees decipher codes

flies rush across roads

grimaces and sway

play best not to stray

Note:

I read Claudia McGill poetry, CONVERT FLIRT NOT WITH ME, with amusement. It was published in her blog on 3rd April 2022, http://claudiamcgill.wordpress.com/2022/04/03/covert-flirt-not-with-me/ Please visit her blog or buy her books.

The first six lines was my paraphrase, in my own verses with end rhyme, from her poetry content. She has inspired me in a wide range of topics. The next six lines was my continuation of the fun. The word frolic is used as fun play among children. At 76 years, there’s end of flirting, except some rare reminiscence in younger days. Flirting is not necessarily negative. It’s a social game people play, but chose the right people to engage in the sports. After a traumatic bloody knee injury, one needs a laugh to relax.

The cartoon is copied and pasted from the web, with appreciation to the owner.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 597: MINGLE IN A TANGLE

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 597: MINGLE IN A TANGLE

mankind but not kind

image of divine, cast out

sake of sinful bite

in samsara round

paradox in paradigm

choice less or rebirth

surmount suffering

offloading outlook burden

open door leisure in

awesome real data

self trap in tangled wire

mingle to emerge

Note:

Covid 19 , with its B2 omnicron variant, infected massive population world wide. Two approaches: Open free policy to achieve herd immunity (UK, US and West) or zero tolerance (China), or mixed approaches (Singapore’s so called Middle Path). Most of the infection might be mild, but not the mortality figures on a large scale. And in a huge population like China and India, the death could run into millions. Besides, it;s the eve of Chinese New Year and Winter Olympics, and Western threat of war, plus natural calamities, inflation, rise of petrol price, unemployment etc. The world is not really a safe haven to live. Other than faith and serenity, religion and philosophy have not much to console us, except for the staunch believers.

In the context of SOP, how do the individual keep a safe physical distance, and yet maintain social ties. The pandemic affects us not only physically and economically, but also psycho-socially. In a small advanced nation like Singapore, fancy an old man could live in a forest (?) for so long without awareness by the family and community. Or the family or other citizens were not aware of psychiatric or social help. Of course, we have such cases all over the world, even in advanced West. Despite all the religion, sciences and knowledge, the end of light have yet to be seen. We are over burdened with choices (and we cant be right all the time); and uncertain on how real were the data to us, individually rather than collectively. We felt loss or trapped in the tangled loop of information. We are choked by excess knowledge that do not apply to us personally. Yet we had to be alive physically, economically, socially and well psychologically. We find ways to mingle and enable us to emerge from the entanglement of SOP. It’s looking at a meandering path with a different twist, not cutting corners, or short cut. I find a modify method of Moreno’s tele- psychodrama (and sociometry) useful, with soliloquy in loneliness. It is seeking a divergent way to get out of the chaos alive, or with lesser trauma. Many people find solace in ap gossip, zoom or video chatting etc. In the morning or evening walk or exercises, how safe it is for a large crowd to appear in a park, though we may wear masks. And then we expose ourselves in restaurants, cafe, pub and supermarkets, for human beings are also social beings. We may travel to UK (or US) and get infected without a place to stay . Nevertheless, life has to go on, but as senior citizens, we refrain from outing too often, or we chose better hours or opportunities, and that is only reducing the risks temporarily.

The Chinese character, men means door, an open one. The moon shines within it, making the character jian , meaning leisure. It’s good to chat with friends, sipping tea, while watching the moon and sky at night. Xian , with wood within, also implies leisure or idleness, but lack poetic ambience.

The narration and haiku are meant to be social chat, nothing political or religious in intention. If you prefer it is gossiping in prose and verses. All the pictures are copied and pasted from the web.

I wish all my Chinese readers a very Happy Chinese New Year.

POEM TRANSLATION TANKA 50 & GOSSIPS 12: ON TRANSLATION

POEM TRANSLATION TANKA 50 & GOSSIPS 12 :ON TRANSLATION

 

SECURITY HOOYA

（ 安全非哑）

 

bury by yahoo

埋藏由雅虎

nail box to secure account

釘盒以确保帳户

rash rush to rescue

鲁急的解救

endless security codes

無盡的安全编碼

unheard voices underground

聼不到地下嗓音

 

GOSSIP/GODSIB ABOUT TRANSLATIONS 12

Bilingual translation is never an easy thing. It could be subtractive or additive. How does one translate HOOYA? Clearly it is Yahoo written in the reverse order. The usual Chinese translation for Yahoo is 雅虎 meaning a graceful tiger; it is sonic literal translation, more meaningful than the English.

It could be a tiger (fierce animal), but not graceful in my case. Even turning the words around means more or less the same in Chinese. This is not the narrator’s intention. The translation must not be word by word, but in the context of the haiku. What the HOO (crap) is Yahoo protecting, YA? No offence to Yahoo, but a momentary personal feeling towards electronic devices, a burden to many senior citizen shared.  One goes in circuitry with the steps, in Yahoo RESET and there is never any person you can talk to about unsolved problems. 非哑, The first word means negativity or void, or no; the second word means mute.

 

 

 

 

HAIKU/SENRYU: ECHOES (TRANSLATION)

HAIKU/SENRYU: ECHOES (TRANSLATION)

(1)

 

all time interest

全時的興趣

befriend former enemies

昔日敵人待如友

a principled stand

原則性立場

 

(2)

both sides behind bars

柵欄兩背後

last laugh: monkeys at monkeys

最后諷笑：猴子于猴子

irony of life

生活諷刺性

 

(3)

greetings hit the wall

祝賀碰墙壁

fine attunement in home town

優美調音在故鄉

cold little red dot

冷淡小紅點

 

(4)

life, short circuited

人生，路程短

brave through agony and grief

勇敢的經過痛扎

dignity till end

至最後尊嚴

 

(5)

cancer: tech and touch

癌症：高科技，高联系

cure, palliate or abate

治療, 減輕或消除

deny to accept

否认至接受

 

 

 

 

 

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU: ECHOES XII

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU: ECHOES XII

 

Kan wrote again:

 

(1)

 

Strange protocol

Insistent on hierarchy

Gods answer to call

 

(2)

This is my response:

 

when one is dying

science, arts, magic and God

desperate call: help

 

EXTRA N FOR NUTS: HAIKU AND GODSIB AND GOSSIP 11

EXTRA N FOR NUTS: HAIKU

 

Peace and compassion

Cannon hide in the Canon

Blood path in Paris

 

NB

The first poem in my second book is “Canon and Cannon”, for it is the most widely read poem in my blog, for reasons not known to me. Yet no reader has queried the silence of “cannon” in that short poem.  The above haiku will break that silence.

 

GODSIB AND GOSSIP 11

I asked the young lass “Tell me in few words, from your heart, what Buddhism is? Please don’t quote from the books or master”. She replied “Learning.” I request her to elaborate. She remarked “learning to be a better human being.” “You mean educating one to be a better human being; or to bring out the best qualities of a being, meaning consciousness.” Indeed, if one could not be a decent being, how to label oneself as a disciple of this or that religion (re afresh, ligare to link, bond).The label is not the essence; the living religion is.

A Chinese monk, Master Taixu (1890-1947) once wrote that when personhood was fully cultivated and developed, enlightenment could then be attained. In other words, learn to be decent human being, before one plays the role of God.

 

GODSIB/GOSSIP 10: ON HAZE, SHAMAN GOOD GOVERNANCE

GODSIB/GOSSIP 10: ON HAZE, SHAMAN GOOD GOVERNANCE

 

This morning I take my legs for a walk. The haze has kept many indoors.  Indonesia has given us more month of haze-free air to breathe. We are grateful. Our Malaysian Raja Bomoh (King of Shaman) has sucked the haze in his modern magic vase. I can’t remember which century we are living.

Every morning and evening, a lot of Singaporeans take their dogs for a walk. With a population of less than six millions, there are certainly a lot of dog lovers or loners. However, unlike in Malaysia, there are no “dog poos” along the walkways. There are displays of fine: a thousand Singapore dollars, if you are caught without cleaning up. In Malaysia, we are very free, humans and dogs can do what they like in public places.

I like to walk along canals (euphemism for drainage) in Singapore, except it’s not easy to find toilets, and, with CCTV and social media around, it’s not easy to ease the tension even among the bushes. Best on your pants to show you are at least sweating profusely. In Singapore, you are able to walk in these parks and contemplate peacefully. In Malaysia, your mindfulness is with trepidation, for we have lots of “Butch Cassidy” in our Highways and neighbourhood.  It’s not money or your life; often it’s both, and it will be ridiculous to ask gangsters for a reason. If you report this, they console you by telling you it’s so prevalent, and you are really nuts to take it so seriously. You learn to accept your fate in a society full of faith. What they did not remark was, if the top could do it, then it was free for others, for earning a living was hard for many. Our stress level was up with the rising cost of robbing a living. We exercise lots of stereotyping in our daily lives. My learned friend said in schools they taught such over- generalization was wrong and racial. In Singapore, I walk many miles; passing by many races and creed, there was no need to be on guard or stereotyping, on all parties. Yet I change my social gear on safety each time on my return, knowing over generalization is evil. Be honest, stereotyping is not necessarily racial, it’s bad governance.

Twin Tower, an iconic phallic image of Malaysia