62 replies to this topic

[sg_han]

I don't think sugarcane are prayed to,

no one said sugarcane was" prayed to"

[chinesenoob]

no one said sugarcane was" prayed to"

But why is it used in prayer during CNY? I hear of the saying that sugarcane grove save the hokkiens during ww2. Sg_han, yr family still use sugarcane in CNY?

ljs

[sg_han]

But why is it used in prayer during CNY? I hear of the saying that sugarcane grove save the hokkiens during ww2. Sg_han, yr family still use sugarcane in CNY?

ljs

Though I am Hokkien, my father does not use sugarcane when praying because it is a" tradition" in our family. My father simply followed what his father thought him. Anyway on my mother side(who is also Hokkien) they use sugarcane.

Sugarcane is used because, yes, it saved the Hokkiens from invaders. I am not sure whether it is during WW2 or way back in China though. I will have to ask my auntie again

[Red Panda]

Though I am Hokkien, my father does not use sugarcane when praying because it is a" tradition" in our family. My father simply followed what his father thought him. Anyway on my mother side(who is also Hokkien) they use sugarcane.

Sugarcane is used because, yes, it saved the Hokkiens from invaders. I am not sure whether it is during WW2 or way back in China though. I will have to ask my auntie again

My grandmother is Hokkien and she said Hokkien hide in sugarcane farm from Japanese army during WW2 and failed to celebrate Chinese New Year on first day and come out on 9 th day of Chinese Lunar New Year ,she said 9 th first month in Chinese Lunar Calender is Hokkien New Year .

Edited by Red Panda, 13 June 2008 - 03:44 AM.

[chinesenoob]

My grandmother is Hokkien and she said Hokkien hide in sugarcane farm from Japanese army during WW2 and failed to celebrate Chinese New Year on first day and come out on 9 th day of Chinese Lunar New Year ,she said 9 th first month in Chinese Lunar Calender is Hokkien New Year .

red_panda and sg_han, are u singaporeans?

[xng]

Food (Hokkien?)
1) Hokkien Mee (No dark sauce variant)
2) Hokkien Mee/Lor Mee (Dark sauce variant with sliced fish and egg)
3) Ang Gu Kueh
4) Satay
5) Bak Kut Teh
6) Oolong Tea
7) Kong Ba Bao

I don't have any information on Hokkien practises. How do Hokkien celebrate Chinese New Year?

I think most of Zhaoyun replies are correct except for one or two.

The hokkien mee in singapore are called 'Hay mee' (prawn mee) in Malaysia.
The hokkien mee in KL are of the fatter type and its origin is still not known yet, whether it is malaysian hokkien invention or come from certain parts of fujian.
It looks like different parts of fujien has different type of mee.

Bak kut teh has its origin in Klang's hokkien people, Malaysia. Its spread to singapore is only quite recent.


Satay food is generally arabic in origin because if you go to arabic countries, they cook their food this way if you see videos of it. As for the origin of the word 'satay', it is still controversial. whether it is (三疊) in hokkien or an arabic word.

http://infopedia.nl....2005-01-10.html

Edited by xng, 13 June 2008 - 09:23 AM.

[xng]

Though I am Hokkien, my father does not use sugarcane when praying because it is a" tradition" in our family. My father simply followed what his father thought him. Anyway on my mother side(who is also Hokkien) they use sugarcane.

Sugarcane is used because, yes, it saved the Hokkiens from invaders. I am not sure whether it is during WW2 or way back in China though. I will have to ask my auntie again

The sugarcane is not for praying but for hiding the hokkiens during the invasion by foreigners. On the 9th of chinese new year, they came out of the sugarcane fields alive.

However, it is still debatable exactly in which dynasty the invasion was. Whether it was just before the mongol invasion (yuan dynasty) or the manchurian invasion (Ching dynasty) or other invasion ?

It's definitely not WW2 because it is too recent for them to forget to put into history books.

Edited by xng, 13 June 2008 - 09:34 AM.

[sunflower1]

wah, I think Satay was coming from Indonesia rather than from Malay. It is consider as cuisine from Eastern Java especially in an island called Madura Island. "satay" might be already westernized from the word SATE and the highligh is the peanut sauce and barbeque meat stick in coconut leaf spine.

[xng]

wah, I think Satay was coming from Indonesia rather than from Malay. It is consider as cuisine from Eastern Java especially in an island called Madura Island. "satay" might be already westernized from the word SATE and the highligh is the peanut sauce and barbeque meat stick in coconut leaf spine.

Satay originally came from arabic countries before the arab people sailed to SEA after 15th century.

Arab countries -> Indonesia/ Malaysia/Singapore

The sauce could be a local invention though.

The ethnic malays migrated from indonesian islands.

Edited by xng, 13 June 2008 - 11:45 AM.

[yan_ying]

About Bak Kut Teh.......

I think there are 2 different versions. There is the Hokkien Bak Kut Teh and the Teochew Bak Kut Teh.
Apparently, the Teochew version has a clearer soup and uses more black pepper and garlic whereas the Hokkien version is darker and uses other herbs.
There is also a " local legend" which says that Bak Kut Teh was invented in S'pore and has Singaporean origins. I'm not too sure about it, though.

[xng]

About Bak Kut Teh.......

I think there are 2 different versions. There is the Hokkien Bak Kut Teh and the Teochew Bak Kut Teh.
Apparently, the Teochew version has a clearer soup and uses more black pepper and garlic whereas the Hokkien version is darker and uses other herbs.
There is also a " local legend" which says that Bak Kut Teh was invented in S'pore and has Singaporean origins. I'm not too sure about it, though.

Of course some people would want to say that the Singaporean invented bak kut teh out of pride. But if you were to ask Lee Kuan Yew's father and the other oldies there , did they see any bak kut teh shop when they were a child in singapore ?

Whereas, Klang already has bak kut teh for many generations, that's why Klang is famous for its bak kut teh and almost every street has one shop.
Even KL people dare not claim bak kut teh is their invention, even though these cities are only 1 hour apart.

Edited by xng, 14 June 2008 - 04:41 AM.

[xng]

Because the sugarcane had kept the Hokkiens protected from invaders, the sugarcane has become part of the prayer item to the Jade Emperor

That's what I meant.

Somebody here has misconception that the hokkien pray to the sugarcane which is not true. They pray to jade emperor and the sugarcane was there as an item during praying because it was the sugarcane fields that hid them.

[chinesenoob]

That's what I meant.

Somebody here has misconception that the hokkien pray to the sugarcane which is not true. They pray to jade emperor and the sugarcane was there as an item during praying because it was the sugarcane fields that hid them.

So I can say that the sugarcane is a religious item to the Hokkien. Correct me if I am wrong.

From the disucussions on the bak kut teh origin, it appears that the Bak Kut Teh is a localised dish but do hokkiens eat Bak Kut Teh in Fujian?

There are two ways to preparing Bak Kut Teh, Hokkien-stlye or Teochew-style. Apparently, this is one of the subtle difference between these two dialect groups -- taste. Can I say that Hokkiens have a different taste preference from the Teochews or Hokkiens simply eat hokkien-style bak kut teh out of loyalty/affinity?

ljs

[General_Zhaoyun]

So I can say that the sugarcane is a religious item to the Hokkien. Correct me if I am wrong.

It could be a chinese folks religion practice.

From the disucussions on the bak kut teh origin, it appears that the Bak Kut Teh is a localised dish but do hokkiens eat Bak Kut Teh in Fujian?

Bak Kut Teh cannot be found in Fujian. Neither does it originate from Fujian. I can be quite sure that it's a dish of Singapore or Malaysian origin.

[General_Zhaoyun]

I have to wonder what imperial exams are for when I see a reply saying Hokkiens/Cantons are sinicized southern barbarians.

IIRC Singapore has an official policy of downplaying regional and language differences of its Chinese citizens. Mandarin is pushed forward as THE language to be used, no hokkien/hakka/cantonese/teochew whatever in tv programmes. I suspect this has contributed to an erosion of 'dialect' customs.

Lol, alot of young Singaporean cannot speak their own dialects today. Other than English, Mandarin dominates every aspects of chinese media and language environment in Singapore.

Alot of Chinese Singaporeans were brought up under the notion that "Mandarin" is their mother tongue. Hokkiens/Cantonese and various dialects were degenerated to 'street dialects' or 'lower class language'.