"The sharp knife of a short life

I've had just enough time..."


- "If I Die Young" The Band Perry


I see Beauty in many things. And like the ghosts that only speak to you if you notice them, they tell me wondrous tales. With my camera and my thoughts, I captured these as faithfully as I can to share with you. And by doing so, they gave me the reasons. And though the thousand reasons may not all be sweet and some indeed bitter; they are still reasons to live. Come to think about it, that is Life, isn't it?

Saturday 8 February 2014

My Chinese New Year Ang Pow of Immeasurable Worth.


I've had just enough time...   to receive a special ang pow.

60 pupils lined up to show how the character "horse" is written in Mandarin

Quite a number of you like the ang pows that I showed in the last post so I shared a few more varieties with you in this post.

However, my favorite Ang Pow is one that came in rather plain wrapper. But there is something very special about it. Only one person in the world have ever given me such a unique red packet every year and I always look forward to receiving it for I will never know what is the gift I may receive with it. It always come with only RM10 while most of my ang pows are richer, I treasure it more because the riches it bestowed is not the money. 

A cute ang pow with "ears" that the young will love.

It is given by my old Auntie who is a kind hearted soul who spends her own money traveling to and from Myanmar to do charity work and to teach the unprivileged youth. She is spending all her remaining years in the service of others. The world would be a better place if there are more like her.

One of the prettiest ang pow I received that of the family having a reunion dinner.

In her ang pow, along with the $10 note is a card with a different message every time. The message is not pre-selected so we always wonder what we are fated to receive. The one I received this year is – “Let go of all worries, only then will you appreciate the happiness of a compassionate heart.”

The card with a message slipped into the ang pow from my auntie.

“How appropriate”, I thought. I had been working on “letting go” the last couple of years. Only then, I believe will I be able to accept the reality of the situation that it is beyond me to bring about the changes that I would like to see. And if I persist, I will not only make myself unhappy. So first, I have to let go. Next is to adjust my life to accommodate “letting go”. Letting go of intention, letting go of bitterness, letting go of the past life and starting in a new direction. Even letting go of compassion for you cannot force compassion on others. When your gift is not wanted, it is of no use whatever your intention. So this year’s “gift” is especially valuable to me as a reminder of the path I have to take. And it comes in a little ang pow of immeasurable worth.

A cheerful ang pow showing a lion dance.


4 comments:

  1. Thank you very much for this nice post about your great culture Thou San!!
    Wish I could visit you great country some day :-)

    Best regards, Gert Jan

    ReplyDelete
  2. anakonda0127, ineedathis, bjebie, and 5 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    1000 Reasons - A bit slow, catching up...
    However, my favorite Ang Pow is one that came in rather plain wrapper. But there is something very special about it. Only one person in the world have ever given me such a unique red packet every year and I always look forward to receiving it for I will never know what is the gift I may receive with it. It always come with only RM10 while most of my ang pows are richer, I treasure it more because the riches it bestowed is not the money... Read about it in my blog.

    ineedathis
    Thanks for the information thru-out the year Thou, great stuff my friend!

    Onasill
    :-) this is amazig. Well done Thou. My compliments

    Geo_grafics
    I agree and fantastic treatment to show the complete set up ,,this is amazing how they all comes together as a team !

    Rebecca Ang
    With a new year, a new start. How precious the thoughts of your aunt and her CNY message. Letting go is not easy since we so easily cling to our own set ways of doing things, wanting to remain in our own respective comfort zones etc. If worries obscure our vision, we cannot accept, receive, and give compassion. And I agree with your thoguht - we cannot force compassion on others, our intentions may be positive but a gift not wanted, remains unwanted regardless of intention.

    dodagp
    Thou ! What a staggering photo collage with a top meaning ! Have never seen before such an inventive way to dictate spelling ... It's absolutely originative work,my friend :)

    Dahai Z
    Great idea and execution! I want to see them do "dragon" -- 龍!That would be a bit more challenging :)

    Claudia G. Kukulka
    This is very beautiful! Thank you for all the information!

    ReplyDelete
  3. anakonda0127, ineedathis, Onasill, and 3 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    1000 Reasons - A bit slow, catching up...
    It is given by my old Auntie who is a kind hearted soul who spends her own money traveling to and from Myanmar to do charity work and to teach the unprivileged youth. She is spending all her remaining years in the service of others. The world would be a better place if there are more like her... Read the rest in my blog.

    ineedathis
    Reminds me of my oldest who he loved to draw all types of things from his waking moment till he fell asleep,
    and I mean from age 2,
    What a lovely piece!
    I hope you are behaving with the new year celebrations:-)

    Onasill
    This is really neat. Well done.

    Geo_grafics 17 hours ago
    It is pretty darn cute and definitely have to admire your wonderful aunt for her hard work and dedication !!

    Kissingers
    very cute! yes :)

    Rebecca Ang
    I like how they make special designs for children :) But I hope too, that children look beyond the money within the ang pow and the pretty designs, and learn that as we are privileged and blessed with so much, let's learn to give back.

    dodagp
    What a cheerful ang pow !!!
    Cleverly designed to serve special purposes and give away smiles and joy !
    It must be a most valuable family keepsake for you since it comes from a very special relative.Our world becomes more beautiful when there are humans like her ...

    Dahai Z
    The red china where I grew up, we didn't get “红包” at all when we were young, but did get o play with explosive firecrackers :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. anakonda0127, Onasill, Dahai Z, and 5 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    1000 Reasons - A bit slow, catching up...
    This beautiful and cheerful ang pow depicts well the atmosphere of the Chinese reunion dinner. It is a family in harmony, the most important of all wealth.

    Onasill
    These are so playful to view. My compliments

    Geo_grafics
    So bright ,colorful and crisp it does scream family wonderfully and more pow er to the whole gang !!

    Carl's Captures 14 hours ago
    So interesting and well illustrated! Thanks for the ongoing entertainment and education :)

    Anna Kwa
    what a beautiful and colors ang pow packets :-) We get tons of them in different designs,...just wish we have that much money to use these packets...lol but we out them to other use,,making crafts out of them.
    As I get older...I feel like the atmosphere of CNY is not the same as when I was a child.....time has changed.....and we are losing little by little...the valued tradition.....

    dodagp 12 hours ago
    Delightful ang pow successfully depicting cultural elements and strongly supporting the institution of family !!!

    Claudia G. Kukulka
    This is a very sweet depiction of a beautiful tradition. Very lovely!

    ReplyDelete

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