Tembusu Tree; dragon tree; yesterday.sg

You might have known that the Tembusu tree appears on the back of Singapore's five dollar note. The tree featured in the note is the one located in the Botanic gardens. Read on below...

http://yesterday.sg/detail/the_tembusu_tree/

http://yesterday.sg/detail/tembusu_tree_part_ii/

http://flowersinsingapore.blogspot.com/2006/08/tembusu-fragraea-fragrans.html

Pictures of the dragon fruit before it takes on the appearance that you are familiar with :

http://flowersinsingapore.blogspot.com/search/label/Dragon%20fruit

More about yesterday : http://www.yesterday.sg/

The Red Bud Tree

Here is my summarized and translated version of the story contained in the Chinese Text Book of Virtues, Book one, Chapter on Fraternal Love and Respect. Please pardon my translation errors and let me know if you spot any errors.

During the Sui dynasty, there was a family of three brothers who lived together. Tian Zhen was the eldest, followed by Tian Qing and Tian Guang. They had decided to go separate ways and agreed to split the money and property in the house evenly among them. However, there was this blooming red bud tree which grew in front of the house. Who should it belong to? Finally it was decided that the tree would also be splitted evenly to three parts. Before they were going to chop the tree, they were surprised to discover that it had suddenly withered. The eldest brother, Tian Zhen, sighed and said, "The branches of the tree actually arose from the same trunk and roots. The moment it heard that it was going to be splitted, it became wan and withered. Looks like we humans can't even be compared to the trees." He was very much saddened by this. Eventually, the three brothers gave up the idea of going separate ways and continued living together, taking even greater care of one another. Strangely the red bud tree started to thrive and bloom again like in the past.

Li Wen Geng commented that before they had the idea of going separate ways, the three brothers had lived in harmony for quite some time and the red bud tree thrived in the harmonious environment. The action of splitting the family property hurt the harmonious environment in the house and the tree withered although it did not hear about the brothers' decision to split the tree. After the brothers returned to living in harmony, the tree again thrived, showing that it thrived under harmonious environment.

Original Chinese story available HERE 《德育课本》,初集卷二,《二十四悌》, 编号 : dykb1-02, story number 10).

Fried bean curd with bean sprout

You can see the virtues of a great man from the food he ate. Mr Tan Kah Kee was one of the pioneers of Singapore. He was a prominent and successful business man who used much of his fortune for charitable purposes, especially in areas of education. Recently, I came to know that one of his favourite dish was 'Fried bean curd with bean sprout' - 豆干炒豆芽. I'm touched when I heard about this. Although rich, he led a very frugal life, committing much of his time, effort and wealth on educational philanthropy. Here are some of his charitable and selfless deeds :

* In Singapore, he himself set up and helped to set up (through partnership) more than ten schools which included Dao Nan, Ai Tong, Chinese High etc. He was also concerned with the development of English schools and had donated generously to schools that impart English education. For instance, he donated $30,000 to Anglo-Chinese school in 1919.
* In China, he established a series of schools (from Primary to University level) in Jimei, his hometown in Fujian province. Moreover, he had also set up Xiamen University in Fujian province.
* He left his entire fortune of 3 million to the Jimei schools and for other educational purposes, leaving not a penny to his descendants.

References :

http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_839_2004-12-28.html

http://www.tkk.wspc.com.sg/tkk/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Kah_Kee

http://www.asiapacbooks.com/product.asp?pid=571&cid=39

Gui Yang Tu

Here is the flash version of the song, Gui Yang Tu (跪羊图) (on-line viewing version) : click HERE
Download version : click HERE