March 26, 2009

It sounds like a myth that only the Chinese are addicted to MSG (Monosodium glutamate), which was invented by the Japanese more than a century ago. Is that true? I always question such kind of quasi-racial presumption. It doesn’t break a sweat to know the truth.

In fact, popular American fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC all use MSG extensively. Others foods like Campbells and Walkers are no better. Of course, you never know the ingredients of Big Mac and realize the fact that MSG is no longer labelled properly but marketed brilliantly and irresponsibly.

A few weeks ago, while I was enjoying pre-packed wanton produced by a local brand, I felt I had some of the symptoms of the Chinese restaurant syndrome. Then I checked the ingredients label and I expected that I would find MSG on it, but none. (I was so stupid that I didn’t check it before buying it) Instead, I was puzzled by “flavour enchancer (E621)”. What the hell is that? I jumped to my laptop and google. It is MSG!!! E621 is the code of MSG! I was furious and hastened to check my Walkers stock. E621 again. My goodness, MSG is all around.

BTW, in response to my earlier post Chinese food mania, finally I had Yorkshire pudding again last week after I left England for almost two and a half years. Thanks to M & S.

Written by: hoito

March 25, 2009

Have recently read an old article by Martin Ince in Times Higher Education in 2007. It was an article written two years ago yet a couple of paragraphs from this article have left a deep impression on me and that’s why I want to share it to all readers of the Pulse.

“Despite their essential role in leading political and cultural debate, arts and humanities are often relegated to the back seat by the sciences.

Researchers in the arts and humanities often do not publish their most important work in refereed journals. They might write a book, compose a symphony or curate an exhibition with a scholarly catalogue. This means that academic success is harder to define here than in other areas of scholarship. It also explains why this table (the table refers to the subject ranking conducted by the Times Higher Education) does not attempt to measure academic achievement in these subjects by looking at publications.” by Martin Ince

The above paragraphs have expounded on the difficulty in using a quantitative method to measure academic achievements in arts and humanities subjects. And what I want to add to this is when everybody’s talking about the application of their knowledge to practical uses and how to measure one’s progress in absolute terms these days, many have started to forget the meaning of arts and humanities education.

It may sound old-fashioned or out of tune these days, but there’s once my classmate and I standing in front of an English lake, and shared our feelings about literature and what we’ve learnt from it. We have never thought of its practical uses, but rather, treats it as a window through which we can take a glimpse of another culture, another unknown world – whether it is the past, the present or the future, and reflect on our own existence. I believe it is also true in many other humanities subjects like history, philosophy……

Universities should be a place for the pursuit of knowledge, not a vocational institute. Yes, many people often cite this line in social functions or when delivering speeches on special occasions. But when it comes to actual practice, how many people still remember it?

Written by: hiuylee

March 20, 2009

Photography often has a sense of romanticism associated with it, isn’t it? What photographers try to catch is often that decisive moment, one which vanishes in an instant. The reason why portaits are often appealing to most of the people is because they are often able to catch the inner feelings of a person, the sentiment which you don’t always detect but is unconsciously disclosed because of an event, a person or some unexpected happenings. 

Last Friday was the opening of the photo exhibition by Taiwanese photographer Hsu Pei-hung. The exhibition features around 70 photos taken by Hsu during the various performances of the Kunqu classic, Peony Pavilion. These are records of the on-stage and behind-the-scene stories. What’s most remarkable of his speech during the opening ceremony was the way he tried to capture the most natural moment of the performers at play. ’When I wanted to take shots of the performers wearing make-up, I would hold my camera waiting there until the time when they started to forget the existence of my lens . Only then could I capture their most natural countenance,’ Mr Hsu said.

His words remind me of the times when we’re trained to take shots of the decisive moment for photography courses during my university days, though at the time what we looked for was the fleeting moment of the ordinary people – someone just like you and me but still have their own stories to tell.

For details of the exhibition, please go to: http://www.english.cciv.cityu.edu.hk/website/?redirect=/exhibition/hsu

Written by: hiuylee

March 17, 2009

The South China Morning Post Podcast team has recently visited the Chinese Civilisation Centre to shoot a video on the performance of Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe as well as interviewing the Centre director, Professor Cheng Pei-kei. The most interesting bit of it is that the reporter has got into the back stage of the Wei Hing Theatre to unravel the behind-the-scenes of the stage….like how the performers wore make-up….so if you want to know a bit more of the Kunqu performance and ventured (virtually) into the backstage then this is the programme for you!

Simply click  here

Written by: hiuylee

So finally the English website of the Chinese Civilisation Centre attains a new outlook!

http://www.english.cciv.cityu.edu.hk/home/

Please leave any comment on what you would like to see on this website, or any suggestion for improvements….because we’re still in the process of updating it and consolidating its content so that it not only actas as a platform through which important information of the Centre is disseminated but also can be of use not only to CityU students but also Chinese culture lovers as well!

Written by: hiuylee

March 10, 2009

Kam Tin. A place that sounds familiar yet there often seems to be few reasons to venture into this ‘exotic’ place especially for those living in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island. So when there was an opportunity arisen to explore the heritage there, it’s pretty hard to resist the temptation.

 

So there I was, joining a group of students taking a Chinese civilisation course to set off the excursion on a Saturday afternoon. The weather was good enough, with the haze created a layered effect to the distant mountains. A place surrounded by hills – Yuen Long plain in the west, Kai Kung Shan in the north, Kwun Yam Shan in the east and Tai Mo Shan in the southeast, Kam Tin is blessed with water and fertile soil. The majority of the population there is from the Tang clan, which is one of the five big clans in the New Territories. (more…)

Written by: hiuylee

March 4, 2009

Food is probably the no. 1 talking point among people, in particular for people living in other completely different (or bizarre?) cultural environment. From the interview in the previous post, Lily was asked about her favourite Chinese foods in Hong Kong. “I like ‘鳳爪‘ (chicken feet),” caught my eyes. I am a big fan of it. A Greek friend of mine loved it so much and even bought a hugh pack of chicken feet from the Chinatown. However, a German exchange student told me that she did not like it. Yes, not many people enjoy chicken feet, not even native Chinese. Food can be bizarre to some people indeed. Spam sushi is popular in Hawaii but it never sets foot in Japan. Food is not just about food. It is more than food and it is about culture, identity, lifestyle and many more. Anthelme Brillat-Savarin says “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” (The Physiology of Taste) The British say, ”how can you expect the Chinese who cannot, usually, stand the smell of cheese, be able to understand the complex English. But you can argue too, how can the British, who cannot enjoy a succulent chicken’s foot for breakfast, understand the Chinese?” (more…)

Written by: hoito