Matariki, the Maori New Year

Matariki is the Maori name for the small cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, in Taurus constellation. In New Zealand it comes into view low on the north-eastern horizon, appearing in the tail of the Milky Way in the last days of May or in the early June. This heralds the Maori New Year and the beginning of the Matariki celebrations.

Maori view the star formation as a sign of how fruitful their crops would be, depending on the clearity in the night sky. It is a time for the family to gather and reflect on the past and future.The tradition was not so common after colonisation but has experienced a revival in the new milennium.

A number of activities are being held in various towns and cities across the country with concerts and festivals. One of the main activities is Te Marama o Matakiri i.e The Light of Matariki which is a multi-disciplinary exhibition centred around themes of light and dark, harvest and celebration and the cycles of life and death.

Another is Matariki Music Night which is an evening of music, wine and food celebrating the ancient sounds of old and contemporary Aotearoa through a selection of outstanding New Zealand talent.

Kia Ora, Auckland 点点滴滴澳克兰

It has been almost a year since i have "relocated" in Henderson, Auckland and have celebrated several Chinese festivals such as moon cake festival (May 08), Chinese new year (Jan 09) and the most recent "chung" festival (May 09) in a foreign land. My Indonesian Chinese neighbour has kindly given us a few dumplings to sample. My family and a few Malaysian friends also went to K L Cafe (owner came from Penang) to eat dumpling (NZ$4.00 each) and fried "mee sua" (vermicelli) for the festival.

Known as the 'City of Sails' and nestled between two beautiful harbours and a gulf full of islands, Auckland is as much about the sea as it is about the land with regional parks. volcanic cones and more than 50 vineyards. As New Zealand's largest city, Auckland has a population of approximately 1.3 million people and thrives as the hub of financial centre and a colourful local culture with an eclectic mix of people.

The heart of Auckland CBD is based around Queen Street and the surrounding streets. Here you'll find chic boutiques, cafes, banks, art galleries, shopping centres and unmissable Sky Tower - the tallest in Southern Hemisphere with a casino and several fantastic restaurants and bars.

Henderson, a country town with orchards and vineyards during my student days about 40 years ago is today a vibrant township with the lastest shopping centres and public facilities and amenities. It is located in Waitakere City, west of Auckland which has world-class wineries, fantastic bushwalks and magnificent surf beaches.

As for our 67/69's, there are only 3 of us in Auckland to the best of my knowledge, namely, Dr. Andrew Leong Yong Kit, Billy Oon and myself. Recently, i managed to contact a representative of Chung Ling Alumni, Mr Lim Kheng Huat who stays in Palmerston North (about 540 km south of Auckland) and a 1986 graduate. I have assisted him to gather a few more chung ling boys and complile a listing with relevant information. So far we have 13 members (from different batches and various locations) on the list and hope to recruit more members all over New Zealand. This will act as a source of contact and communication and we also hope to assist new migrant or student from chung ling high schoools.

Last September, Chuah Tai Eu and family visited Auckland and other parts of New Zealand, both north and south islands. For those who love beautiful and natural scenery, New Zealand is the place to visit.

Ka Kite Ano ..............See You Later..............再见

Posted by h t yeoh on 2 june 09

Age and Youthfulness

We all get old daily. Very often we hear other people commenting that they are old and no longer youthful. They are resigned to slow down and do what old people do. Taking it easy, doing as little thing as possible in retirement or semi-retirement mode. Whilst it is true that everyone is getting old with increase in age, I question whether we must forgo our youthfulness.

I see growing up as a process of maturation. It is both physical and mental maturation. We gained physical and mental maturation as we grow up from a baby to a teenager and then to adulthood. Upon reaching adulthood, we may have stop growing taller physically, but we are still growing physically to maintain and sustain a meaningful and healthy life. However, we never stop growing in mental maturation in the acquisition of knowledge. In the process, we grow wiser either through the gain in knowledge or through personal experience. Because we are growing, we are living. By living, we go beyond the simple physical level of maturation and touch the deeper levels of life. By living meaningfully, we maintain our enthusiasm in life and therefore our youthfulness.

Youthfulness is an attitude of vitality and freshness that brings colour, life and love to a person. Youthfulness is blind to age. We do not have to forgo our youthfulness because we are getting old.

Sydney Welcomes The Year 2009

More than a million people crammed the Sydney Harbour foreshores to welcome 2009. They were there to see the spectacular fireworks displays launched from the Harbour Bridge, the barges across the Harbour and from the top of several Sydney skyscrapers.

Merry Christmas

Some of the Christmas decoration around our suburb.

It is all lights up.


And raindeer gazing at the front lawn.

The snowmen look happy amist the summer heat.

And Santa has just arrived.

The Olympic Torch Relay

The constant protest and demonstrations against the Olympic Torch Relay and the Olympic is of concern to everyone. There are a few theories and possible reasons behind all these fiascos.

1. Jealousy and Hatred: The demonstrators have been all brain washed by corrupt western ideas. They are just against China for the sake of just opposing China. China is a success story. From suffering poverty and hunger to exporting of food and technology, from hand building of The Great Wall to launching of rockets into space, from riding bicycle to driving motorcars, whatever you can think of, it is impossible to call it a success. The West is jealous of China’s success. They want to discredit China. The Tibetan issue comes handy as an excuse to be used worldwide. They say that Tibetans are a different people, have different language and with different culture. Hence they must be independent from China. If this argument is valid, why not free Hawaii, or Alaska, or Acheh or Jaffna or Kurdish? They are different peoples with different cultures too. Instead of using their hands, their legs and their mouths to protest, perhaps they should use their heads to think whether their actions justify their cause.

2. Ignorance: China and Tibet has long historical tie. In the 7th century, the Tibetans were all nomadic people living in the wild, at most at tents without religion. The Chinese Princess Wencheng married the Tibetans King Songtson Gambo in the year 634 and introduced agriculture, poultry farming, printing and other technologies to Tibet. Above all, Buddhism was introduced and practiced until now. The famous tourist attractions, the Jhongkang Temple and the Potala Palace were build by the Chinese engineers and trades person during the 7th centuries. Tibetans has gained a lot in terms of knowledge and technology due to the influence of China. (See http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/China/tales/princesswencheng_b.htm ).

Tibet has 2.7 millions people. Whether they are well treated depends on one’s individual knowledge of China and Tibet and their current affairs and current state of development. The majority of China 1.3 billion is still poor and suffering. The Olympic is an opportunity for the Chinese people to get together to improve their contacts with the rest of the world and to improve their livelihood. We should not suppress the wishes of 1.3 billion people to join the world through the Olympic to improve themself.

In welcoming the Olympic, 200 millions Chinese are learning English. More westerners will visit China and influence Chinese people and its Government as well on some good western way of life and the western democratic ideas. China is progressively opening up. The Beijing Olympic is a golden opportunity to further open up China. The demonstrators are ignorant thinking that they can just tell China what to do but they are not aware that by doing so they are helping to kill this opportunity. Moreover, they are also interfering in the internal affair of a sovereign country.

3. Greed: The demonstrators have ample opportunities to protest against their own governments. They can fight for free education, free medicine, equal opportunity and better social support. They can fight to prevent the rich from getting richer, and fight for the poor from getting poorer. There are so many issues that they cannot fight or they have no resources to fight. Instead, these issues are not enough to occupy them; they are greedy for more issues. So they demonstrate against the Olympic Torch Relay and against the Olympic.

Whether one agrees to the above depends on an individual. There may also be other theories beyond me. Whatever we do, I believe it is counter productive to boycott the Olympic or to injure the spirit of the Olympic Game. We should look into ourself and think we can help to make China or our country or any other country more progressive.

It is basically wrong to take the moral high ground and condemn others for what we do not like or for what we do not know fully.

Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Race

Dragon boat races to celebrate the Year of the Rat at Sydney Darling Harbour.

Chinese New Year Parade In Sydney

Celebrating Year of The Rat. Gong Xi Fa Cai

My Tip For The Christmas Break

With Christmas just around the corner, I can feel that the festive mood has intensified with each day passing. Around homes and offices, people are busy putting up the Christmas decorations. The car parks in and around department stores are getting more packed with the Christmas shopping frenzy unleased. Apart from being an important event in the Christianity community, the festive mood transcends races and religions. Everybody joins in the celebration. In shopping centres, children of all cultures queue up to have photos taken with Santa.

Different people will spent their Christmas break in different ways. Some may choose to go away for a holiday to have a break from the routine. Some may visit amusement parks, watch movies in cinemas or dinning out. Many may also take this as an opportunity to have extended time at the pubs.

To most people, the yearly Christmas break presents a great opportunity for family members and friends to get together. This is the time where most offices and factories are closed (apart from essential services) and majority of the population are off work.

My tip for the Christmas break is that one should spend the time as one planned or desired and comfortable. Above all, I would encourage friends and family members to spend at least one day together for a BBQ, a dinner or a drink at home. I would encourage each one to bring along a photo album of their memorable events during the year, such as weddings, birthdays, graduations, holidays, etc. to share around and discuss those beautiful moments with friends and family members. On this, photos on CD would be a big plus to play on a big plasma TV. Apart from trying to solve all the problems in the world after a backyard BBQ, I believe that the sharing of your important and memorable moments in life with your family members and friends would enhance your existing relationship.

I like to wish all of you a very Merry and Safe Christmas.

Kareoke Night At PJ

It was an enjoyable night meeting up with some classmates at a dinner in PJ Chung Ling Alumni House on 3/11/2007. After the dinner, we adjourned to the Audio Room and had a great Karoeke Night.