年夜思家

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刚从新加坡学生会主办的年夜晚会回来。晚会主办的还挺不赖,有火锅也有鱼生;除夕夜吃牛扒汉堡是过年最恐怖的方式之一。

鱼生由学生会准备当然比不上往年所吃惯的,但将就一点还可算是挺不赖。或许是因为今年的鱼生吃起来有点怪怪的, 脑海不仅挂念起往年和家人共享年夜餐桌上的美味佳肴。就这样的,开始思故乡,惦念着家中的妈妈,想起在阿姨家捞鱼生,和父母逛花市,到亲戚家拜年。坦诚因为大家生活忙忙碌碌很少有机会和亲戚相聚,过年期间见面时难免会感到有点陌生,但能够在新年之际了解各自在往年的来龙去脉,这我想并非没有意义。

单独在异乡过年免不了会感到有点寂寞和孤独。虽然一生上的是英校,讲起中文来咬文嚼字,结结巴巴,但每当过年时不仅会被节日的喜气洋洋给感染。还记得小时候有一年爸爸因为在外公干有事在身赶不回来吃团圆饭,我当时是又气又怒。 但长大又体会了不能回家过年的感受后,另有一份见解:免得了的话,又有谁会想在外孤单的过春节。虽然过年挂在嘴的不是恭喜发财就是财源滚滚”, 我总认为最重要的还是合家团圆


望春风

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Was talking to Kevin and Yvonne, two friends from Taiwan, about Singapore singers when I asked them about 望春风. I first came across the song in an entry on Colin Goh’s blog, somehow I had totally missed it when I was watching Singapore Dreaming. I asked my friends if it can actually be thought of as the unofficial national anthem of Taiwan, something like what Waltzing Matilda is to the Australians, and Yvonne said that people in Singapore must have a very strange perception of Taiwan.

However, the lyrics is indeed very nuanced. 独夜无伴守灯下,冷风对面吹. The loneliness of nightfall gives the song a somber beginning. More than a hint of resignation is perceptible in 十七八岁未出嫁, but the jadedness quickly gives way to something more playful, reminding us that the song is really about a young lady and her pining for a lover. 何时君来采,青春花当开, she asks. Touches like 心内弹琵琶 makes her innocence and guilelessness endearing. She is enamored, besotted and nervous about romance, she can’t hide her bashfulness nor her being smitten by 果然标致面肉白,咱家人子弟. Ultimately, she is angsted that her sweetheart doesn’t come. The song ends off with 听见外面有人来,开门该看觅/ 月娘笑阮憨大呆,被风骗不知, an allusion to 隔墙花影动,疑是玉人来 from the classical Chinese romance 西厢记.

The song came about in the early 1930s, even before the Kuomintang’s exodus from the Chinese mainland; Taiwan, or Formosa, was then under Japanese colonial rule. Till today, 望春风 is widely acknowledged as the emblematic product of the regeneration that was going on in the Taiwanese music scene. Her music was composed by 李临秋 and her lyrics written by 邓雨 at a time where film and broadcasting was taking off in Taiwan; and whereas the music scene used to be a motley mix of tribal hill-songs, folk music, instrumentals and operas of southern Chinese genres, with 望春风came a form that is distinctly Taiwanese and pop.

An MP3 of the song can be downloaded from Colin Goh and Woo Yenyen’s blog.
Here is a link to David Tao’s rendition of the song.


Happy Lunar New Year

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My computer can finally type in Chinese.

因为人在异乡,要在这给新加坡的亲朋戚友拜个早年。 祝大家:心想事成,万事如意, 在来临的猪年有个突破。

If your browser is not showing up the Chinese characters, do leave a tag.


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