A purple heart for ClintonBy Dr. Rita Pullium Clint was no ordinary child. His parents did everything they could to have a child, and after years of trying, they finally had Clint, one and only child, so he was pretty special! Yet, for all the worry about his being a spoiled kid, he grew up […]
The Filipino Catholic custom of marking the 40th day after death comes from the event we are marking liturgically today (Ascension Day). Tradition holds that Christ ascended to heaven 40 days after the resurrection, so in a quite literal way, Filipino Catholics observe an immediate mourning period of 40 days, somehow believing that the soul […]
Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply hit the bull’s eye. Here are some expressions unique to Hokkien as favored by Tsinoys. Idioms, expressions Hokkien pronunciation […]
June 9 marked the 44th year of the opening of our diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Unlike previous years, there appears to be fewer commemorative activities organized, whether officially by the government or by nongovernment organizations promoting Philippines-China relations. No symposiums, conferences, exhibits and cultural performances to celebrate the event except those […]
Last May 28, singer-songwriter Will Jay (劉偉男), whose birth month coincides with Tulay’s 31st anniversary, released a new song entitled, “I Can Only Write My Name.” The song is in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Month. As an avid fan of Jay’s music, I quickly looked up the song. Though I personally love his […]
Inner city school kids received school supplies, vitamins, clothes and other goodies from a Chinese embassy diplomat who visited a learning center in Intramuros, Manila, June 8. The visit of Xie Yonghui, counselor to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, preceded the 18th Philippines-China Friendship Day on June 9. Xie was accompanied by […]
John Pomfret’s The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present (2017) contains a lot of historical material about the Philippines, although it is mainly a history of America and China. America in Chinese is 美國, which literally means beautiful country (美 mei in Mandarin, bi in Hokkien; 國 guo […]
Where there is trouble, there is opportunity. Recent events have given new life to this old cliché. The past months have been filled with news on the debacle created by a hostile United States government against Chinese telecommunication equipment maker Huawei Technologies. The tough measures imposed by President Donald Trump are intended to stymie the […]
A Chinese national suspected of kidnapping a Chinese-Australian in Manila was arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Kidnapping Group on May 28. Police rescued Chen Jianting, 29, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on May 27. He was kidnapped by five Chinese nationals on May 24 from a high-end casino in Manila […]
A man was enjoying a quiet meal in a Manila restaurant when two Chinese men entered boisterously, smoking their cigarettes. The security guard tried to tell them smoking was prohibited on the premises, but was rudely told it was none of his business. The diner stood up and requested the shorter of the two newcomers […]