Marriage, children, parents-in-laws...and grandchildren!

I think mid-20s really gets girl. The not so young ladies start thinking more for their future, dreaming about the white dress and more so of their white horse. A number of my friends have already married or on the way to walk down the aisle. Those have nothing in hand have also started paying attentions to boys around them. The word of match-maker starts coming into conversations. On a big contrast, I am still living in an uninhibitedly life, enjoying what I am having and trying to forget my age. Seriously, I have never thought of committing a marriage, having kids, serving my parents-in-laws, living in a suburb, …, and expecting my grandchildren to come. OMG, what a confined life! When I will be tamed to live such a “merry” life?

The Media God

I have been reading a biography written about Rupert Murdoch, the name we worshipped as the media God during our student life. I am only three-quarter into the book and have already bemused to see how he turned his father’s newspaper ambitious into a global media empire, owning from print to broadcasting, from film studios to satellites. I am more fascinated to read about his art of manipulating news to sell his papers, his charm of engaging governments to give him wavier on media ownership, his coarser nature of intimidating his rivals to overbid for business. He is the world’s most powerful media barons and the one I always respect and worship since the time as a media student.

The gripping facts of M&A among media companies and the conflicts between editors and proprietor allow me to I understand more about behind the scene operations of the media – fact is no longer the key element. What can sell the papers outweighs what is actually happening. The fourth estate is playing its role of making political agenda and spinning emotionally factors for the very fact of boosting circulation.

After the decease of Kerry Packer and the growing age of Rupert Murdoch, it will be another new world for this 21st century.

I Miss Singapore ... a little bit

Recently I started missing my life in Singapore. Remembering the days during two Chinese New Year I spent there that I almost starved to faint because shops were closed; remembering how I tumbled at the beginning in the fast pace PR world, how I could not even distinguish the differences among publications and the needs of journalists; remembering the nights I spent alone thinking of the days I was in Melbourne; remembering the days frolicking in SEA region; …

I wish I could get back to work soon. I will never ever take such a long and idle holiday again.

Sichuan Spicy Girl

Well, after being pushed around in Beijing and suffering from severer skin rash in Guangzhou, I dragged my draining body to the rural area in west China – Sichuan – hoping to breathe in fresh air as well as to escape from my dull fathersitter life.

I joined a tour this time. Yes, I was traveling in uniform hats, walking behind a tour flag and competing to take photos with many others. No boredom nor being tied up were experienced. Why? The tourmates I hung out with were great fun, despite they were all over 45 years-old. The aunties and uncles played and laughed as freely as I do. I listened to their hardship stories and talked randomly about the way young people are living their lives nowadays. For the whole seven days, I was laughing and talking non-stop, temporarily throwing the boredom of my city life aside. By the way, I was in an orange “army” – loving it.

My big contribution in this tour was to finish most of the spicy food. I can’t remember when I started liking the hot and pungent flavors of chili; this unusual savor is rarely seen in Cantonese. VIOLA, I suddenly became the hot girl in our meal table. At the end of the tour, everyone knows Mapo Tofu was my favourite and I could not eat rice without chili.


Day 1 Chengdu – Maoxian

We were picked up by a dainty Sichuan girl in the airport and were sent on a bus trip of four hours to a small rural town called Maoxian. In the bus, I was still recovering from the aftermath of this morning’s big I.D. drama: I mistakenly took my Singapore I.D. instead of the China one. My mum had to bring my China I.D. scudded in a cab from the city to the airport. I barely made it to the plane! Gosh, I am reliable on lots of things, except for taking planes. There was once I missed my flight to Tasmania last time. The lesson is: never trust me when you are to take a plane with me.

Back to Maoxian, it is a small peaceful town in rural Sichuan. There was nothing to see around our hotels, except for assorted craftworks made of yak’s horns. I got to see the raw materials of those beautiful crafted ornaments – the dried yak’s heads and their giant horns. They were waiting to be burnished and sold.


Day 2 Mounigou Scenic Area

After another three hours of bus trip, we finally got to our first destination – Mounigou Scenic Area. The main attraction of this area was its tufa waterfall – Zhaga Waterfall. On our way into the area, we went through the charm of natural hand and the beauty of calcification remains. Breathing in the fresh air produced by the virgin forest, I threw away the bad memories of our crappy lunch and dirty bathrooms.

The waterfall was either marvelous or grand, but it has this natural tranquility that pacifies you into its serene cradle. Its calcific rocks were reflecting a unique colour which could only be seen in the Tibet region.

The rest of the day was another long-hour of bus trip with me reacting to the thin air in the high altitude district; I had a headache.

We stayed in a hotel closed to the entrance of Jiuzhaigou Valley. It was a boring town, no night life after dark and with restricted time for hot water supply. I walked with the aunties and uncles to check out the local accessories before we called it an early night. I needed the rest to recover from the headache anyway.


Day 3 World of Fairytale – Jiuzhaigou Valley

Jiuzhaigou Valley is the world of fairytale – a well preserved national park where nature created large and small pools reflecting different colours of the sun. Minerals were deposited into the water that enhance the distinctiveness of the water colours.

Jiuzhaigou (nine valleys) was named for its nine valleys found in the area; only three valleys are currently opened for tourism. The geography of Jiuzhaigou and its beautiful pools formed like a “Y” shape and are surrounded by snow mountains and virgin forests. Inside the valley, eco-cars run frequently like communal buses that drive tourists around to visit different pools.

There are numbers of pools/lakes with different charms of its colours scattering inside the valley. I will only pick several ones that I like the most to write about.

The most colourful – Five Coloured Lake

The lake is also called Peacock Lake. As the name suggested, its water at different level covers a colour spectrum from pale blue to aquamarine to emerald green. Such different colours in one lake phenomenon is attributed to mineral concentration. Some tree trunks and branches have fallen into the lake by natural force, which has greatly enhanced the beauty of the lake. You would be allured to the scattering patches of the lake reflecting different colours created by God’s hand.

The Mother of the Valley – Long Sea Lake

Long Sea Lake is located on the top of the valley – 3200 above the sea level. Its water is running all year round and supplying to most pools/lakes in the valley. Snow mountains vividly presented their immaculate figures right in front your eyes. At their feet, the stretched panoramic view of the lake helps you to open your heart to the natural environment.

A Tranquil Lady – Firework Lake

We came in a fairly dry season, the trees were not in the best shape, neither are the colours. Anyhow, I like about the tranquility of this lake, where tourists hardly came to visit because it was hidden from the main road. The 1KM walk was well rewarded as soon as I saw the beauty of this aquamarine colour lake. The backdrop was one of the nine villages and tourists busy walking along the main road plus buses driving pass. From where I was standing, I could hear nothing but the soothing sound of the nature.

Colourful Villas – Lotus Leave Village

Even the villas in Jiuzhaigou are colourful. Different houses were painted in different colour themes. The houses are built by stones and made three levels. According to the tradition of Zang minority group, a young man needs to climb up three floors to meet the girl he likes. Well, no wonder they build such thick pillars in most villas.

Cultural Show

We have paid a substantial amount to see a cultural show in the Jiuzhaigou district at night. The saying of Sichuan produces pretty girls and handsome boys is indeed true. The girls wore delicate clothes with embroidered patterns danced gracefully while the guys marching in macho steps to perform the manful side of their tribes. We were also delighted to see a number of good singers to present us the most native voice from the Tibet mountains.


Day 4 Bus Trip of 12-hour with a Surprised Snow View

Today’s schedule was a 12-hour bus trip back from the rural Sichuan to its capital Chengdu. To our great surprised, as our bus climbed up, we got to see snow covering not only the tip of the mountains but the roadside. For our Cantonese, snowing is scarce. We felt like being driven into a La La Land and could not wait to get of the car to play with the snow.

I was wearing a pair of three-quarter pants that day as I thought I would be confined and squashed in the bus for the day. When I was playing with the snow, some of my tourmates challenged my bravo! Aha, later that day, my dress code was proven right for the day, which had stroke up to 26C.

We ate in the same restaurant as we first came to Sichuan. Even though we had similar dishes, we felt that they were much nicer this time. After eating crap meals in the past three days, I guess our appetite and hygiene standard have dropped like the current stock market.


Day 5 Leshan Grand Buddha

We packed our bag and moved again after a night of luxury staying in a four-star hotel. This time we came to the feet of the infamous Leshan Grand Buddha.

The tour guide tried to persuade us to take a boat trip to capture the full Grand Buddha in our camera. She exaggerated that climbing the Buddha was not easy, on top of that, we had to queue for two hours to go down a cliff road. Only three of us decided to climb; of course I was one of them.

The climb was not as difficult as described and the queuing was merely half an hour, given that several people had jumped our queue. We’d gotten a close view of this thousand years old giant Buddha which was originally covered in gold. I was even able to touch its curly hair and its giant toes!

At night, we stayed in this very nice hotel at the foot of Mt Emei. We had a huge communal balcony which we could oversee part of the Mt Emei city.

After dark, we went out to a street famous for food in the city centre. One of my tourmares and me joint a group of oldies, trying do dance in the elderly aerobic music. We were fed with enough laughter.


Day 6 Mt Emei

We woke up at 5am in the morning in order to catch the first bus to go up to Mt Emei – a famous sacred place of Buddhism. To be honest, there are not much to see apart from the monkeys alone a short walkway and the four-faced giant Buddha.

For thousands of years, people from all over China came to pilgrimage, making three important wishes of their lives. Do in Rome as Rome does, I pray devotedly in front of three Buddhas. I have made wishes for health, love and career. In front of giant Buddhas, I was whispering and repeating the same wishes again and again …. what can be more important than these wishes in one’s life?

It was very foggy up on top of the hill. I could not see the trees within 10m radius. When we took the cable car down, we felt like we were on top of the world and became Gods.

The monkeys in Mt Emei are famous for its vulgar attitude. They are well fed by tourists all year round and show no gratitude towards human – they are the king of the mountain, not us. While we were having fun feeding the massy monkeys, a tiny monkey baby climbed up from the cliff. Swoosh, the little bub was snatched by his father and hidden deeply inside his arms hold. Almost at the same time, the mummy came in front of daddy and started grabbing the bub’s mini head. Wow, we heard the little one making screeching noise in-between two mighty hands. Poor baby, living in a primitive world is not easy.

In our last night in Sichuan, I finally got to experience the cultural atmosphere of Chengdu. We went down to Jinli Street where olds blended into news, bringing the resonant Chengdu life right in front of your eyes. From traditional Chinese tea houses to modern western bars, from Sichuan snacks to spicy hotpots, from shadow puppet show to toys from the old-time, all were displayed alongside the vibrant street for you to savor. I was dazzling with local cultures and variety of local craftworks during the two-hour excursion inside the street.


Finally … Time to Say Goodbye

After seven days of sharing the same bus and meal table, I was about to leave my jocose aunties, uncles and other tourmates. Two will go back to New York, another two will head to Northern China for more traveling, the others are either going back to their ordinary lives or exploring something new in Guangzhou.

My two-month of traveling is also about to come to an end. A frantic life is waiting for me ahead. Well, well, I would rather come back to the PR battle field, rewarding myself with achievement than traveling like a lonely planet. There are so many things to see in the world, why rush to see them all while you can take a slow pace with a good accompanier.

Anyhow, I concluded my journey in great satisfaction.

Life's dichotomies

Myformer colleague, Eddie Toh, the former Singapore Business Times Associate News Editor and H&K Financial Practice Group Director, passed away last week, just two days short of his 41st birthday. He died of a massive heart attack on Sunday night. The news came as such a shock, and my previous company shut down its Singapore office to allow staffs to pay tribute to him on the last day of funeral service. I can’t say I really know Eddie; I didn't get a much opportunity to work with him. However, I was the first person he met on his first day at work. I always turned to him asking for help with Business Times pitching. The most memorable moment of him was that he kept his beard to make himself look like Tony Leung; thus we called him Tony for almost three months. During the amazing race in our company’s offsite, he was driving the four wheel drive over taking a few cars to try to get to the finishing line – he had shown that he was from the real Malaysia. Apart from others’ gossips and grumbling about his attitude, Eddie was a good man. He looked after our Associates well, gave as many instruction and guidance as possible to guide us through the PR/Media landscape in Singapore.

The news of his sudden death was published in all Singapore major newspapers. I was stunned and shocked by his departure even though I am no longer belonged to the country. I wish you rest in peace.

Here are some Singapore articles reporting the sad news of Eddie’s sudden departure:


Tomorrow isn't guaranteed

Teh Hooi Ling Senior Correspondent
2008 年 4 月 5 日
Business Times Singapore
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

So keep your perspective and make every day count, sensibly and lovingly

LIFE is fragile. Life is transient. And the unexpected departure of former colleague Eddie Toh from this world last Sunday was, for me, a much-needed reminder to take stock.

In our hectic lives, the days literally zoom past; it seems like everything is in fast-forward mode. Rarely do we have time to stop and consider what is really important to us.

It seems like just yesterday when a friend of mine, Carol, called me around 10 on a Sunday morning.

'Guess who's in front of me now,' she said.

Me: 'How would I know?'

Carol: 'Thaksin. He's having bak kut teh at Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh at Rangoon Road. It's very near where you are. Come quick. You can catch him here and interview him for your paper.'

Me: 'You sure it's him? Aiya, even if it is him, he may be gone by the time I get there.'

I put down the phone. But the chance that The Business Times could score a scoop with deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was having bak kut teh at Rangoon Road made me pick it up again.

Life's dichotomies

I called Eddie. Knowing the true news hound he was, I was sure he would make his way there. Furthermore, he lived in that area. About 10-15 minutes later, both of us reached Ah Sio's shop about the same time. Eddie came well prepared - with his note book, tape recorder and a barrage a questions for Mr Thaksin. Alas, he never got to ask them; the ex-PM had already finished his breakfast and gone.

To prove that he was there, my friend Carol showed us a photo she took with Mr Thaksin on her handphone. So we ended up having our brunch anyway. Eddie, then the deputy news editor of BT, subsequently got that photo published in the paper.

Although this happened more than a year ago in January 2007 (how time flies!), it is still fresh in my mind.

After that, Eddie left BT - and, alas, we managed to catch up only once for dinner and drinks.

There are a lot of dichotomies in life. Humans as a species are different from others because we can delay our gratification, which is one of the reasons we have progressed more than other animals.

Instead of eating all the food we have straight away, we save some for tomorrow. Instead of spending all that we have today, we save and invest. Instead of enjoying life to the fullest today, we study, we work. We sacrifice spending time doing things we like because we have an exam to take next month, or have a project deadline to meet next week.

We do all this in the hope that, some time in the future, we will get to enjoy the fruit of our labour.

Indeed, it is those who have the discipline to delay gratification who will be successful in life. What can a person make of his life if all he does every day is sip wine, loaf on the beach and feel high?

On the other hand, if we strive too much to keep up with the Joneses and keep on increasing the speed of the treadmill we are on, life becomes a drag.

There is no denying that some folks - a lucky few - derive pleasure from the work they do. Others, however, become too obsessed with material pursuits. As Nassim Taleb noted in his book Fooled by Randomness, the higher a person is promoted, the less of his time will belong to him.

In life, the fact is that we all have to do what we have to do so that we can do what we want to do. We have to work to survive, to indulge ourselves, to ensure we are financially secure so that we can raise a family or devote our time to some cause we believe in.

Perhaps, given the unpredictability of life, we should not feel guilty about pampering ourselves once in a while.

As Berkshire Hathaway's vice- chairman Charlie Munger said, every day you should give the best hour of the day to yourself. It can be spent with a loved one, or it can be spent exercising so you can remain fit and healthy, or it can be spent thinking about how best to manage your finances. And the rest of the time, you can do what you have to do.

But, of course, to have a goal, a target, is what keeps humans going. The key is to try to not make this an all-encompassing purpose that makes you lose sight and perspective of everything else.

One way to keep perspective is to derive pleasure and satisfaction from little achievements along life's path. For me, an article well done is something to be happy about. A dish well cooked is another reason to be satisfied.

But, ultimately, what people seem to remember most about life when they reach the end of their earthly journey is other people who travelled with them and the experiences they shared.

A dinner with a group of friends at Holland Village. Enjoying a picnic and concert in the park with your family. One particularly flawless game of tennis you played. Moments when the silliest of things made you laugh until you cried.

Since we never know what tomorrow will bring, we should make today - every day - count. So give your mum a call. Arrange that lunch with the friend you said you'd meet 'one day'. Make the first move to know a person you have been wanting to know. Buy a ticket to a concert to hear your favourite music.

And while you're at it, try some random kindness with no expectation of receiving anything in return. Make somebody's day. Because, like Eddie, we are all but passing through this world.

My regular readers will know my column is about the nitty-gritty of money, which is something we all need. But sometimes it pays to stop and think: there are plenty of other riches out there too.



Remembering Eddie Toh...

Reme Ahmad
2008 年 4 月 1 日
Business Times Singapore

EDDIE Toh would have been 41 years old today.

Born in Johor, he was a long- time reporter with Singapore Press Holdings, then switched to stockbroking firm Kay Hian for a couple of years in Singapore and transferred to Kuala Lumpur.

He later rejoined SPH as KL correspondent for The business Times. And we became buddies when I joined the KL bureau of The Straits Times in May 2000.

Lunchtime would see us roaming around Wisma Cosway or KLCC or its surrounds, looking for lunch places or the latest (ahem, pirated) DVDs.

Compared with me, Eddie was always the reporter who could walk up to a newsmaker and charm them into giving beautiful quotes for stories.

And he knew a lot of top people too.

Once, when we were lunching at that ground floor cafe in Equatorial KL, Hong Leong Bank boss Yvonne Chia came over from another table to talk to us for about 20 minutes because she knew Eddie.

Another time, we bumped into Rashid Hussain of RHB Bank, and the two of them spoke like old buddies for half-an-hour at a cocktail reception, while I pretended to be part of the conversation.

The way Eddie joked with newsmakers at press conferences told you he knew them well.

During our time in KL, we debated politics, business, cronyism and Mahathirism - and 'talked cock' about life.

Eddie helped me explore angles when I got stuck with stories. He even helped me make calls.

We became such mates that we even contemplated joining forces to buy a studio unit at The Marc. It was one of the first condos to come up in the KLCC area and was 'cheap' - starting at RM500,000 for a 700 sq ft unit.

But by the time we argued over bumiputra rights (I'm not a bumiputra because I'm a Singaporean, but what the heck) and Chinese hegemony over business deals, and who should own 51 per cent of our joint company, the discount window ended and the price went up to RM650,000. (Today, the price of the studio is about RM750,000- 800,000.)

Then there was the time when I pretended to be the driver of 'Datuk Eddie' when we went to visit a car showroom in Kampung Baru. We parked his old silver Citroen ZX far away and breezed into the showroom, where Eddie fiddled with the Mercs and Beemers.

He even sat in one open-top Beemer and started the engine - much to my embarrassment. Because after a few minutes, it was clear that this 'Datuk' was not quite the real thing.

How close was I to Eddie?

In KL, from 2000-2005 when we were there, if you saw a Malay chap and a Chinese guy sharing food in the midst of dozens of other office workers in a high-end restaurant or at roadside hawker stalls, that was us.

I was his 'Muslim brother' and he my 'Chinese brother'.

We even joked about his little goatee, because Muslim me didn't grow one then.

And somewhere in between all the work and laughter, Eddie met Linda.

He was very secretive about her; I guess he didn't want to get ribbed too much. And then they got married and moved to Singapore.

He left BT last year and joined Hill & Knowlton as director of strategy or some such fancy title.

On Sunday, I saw the last minutes of Eddie's life.

He was struck by a severe heart attack about 3.30am that day and never recovered.

I arrived at Tan Tock Seng hospital about 1.45pm . . . and it was heart-rending to hear Linda calling him to wake up to go and eat mee pok together.

He died about 5.10pm.

And suddenly I realised that I hadn't cried over someone for a long time.

Thanks for all the help, laughs and love, Toh Wei Chee.

I will miss you very much, my brother.

The writer was formerly Malaysia bureau chief of The Straits Times. He is now assistant foreign editor



Singapore
Former BT deputy news editor dies

Chong Chee Kin
2008 年 3 月 31 日
Straits Times

THE one true passion of former Business Times (BT) deputy news editor Eddie Toh was journalism.

Even after leaving the newspaper for public relations last year, he retained a voracious appetite for politics and current affairs.

Yesterday, just two days short of his 41st birthday, Mr Toh died in hospital after suffering a massive heart attack at home.

He is survived by his wife of three years, Linda. The couple, who had no children, had birthdays one day apart and planned to celebrate her birthday today.

Mr Toh, a Malaysian, started his journalism career at The Straits Times almost 20 years ago, reporting on financial news.

He left to work as an analyst before returning to BT as its Malaysia correspondent. He was later made the paper's deputy news editor here.

His sudden death was a shock to his family and friends.

BT senior correspondent Ven Sreenivasan, who knew him for over a decade, described Mr Toh as 'easily one of the nicest people around'.

'He was warm and approachable and one of those genuinely friendly people,' he said. 'He was very laid back and easy to talk to. He was very knowledgeable about Malaysian politics and we used to talk about it all the time.'

A close friend of nearly two decades, former BT news editor Quak Hiang Whai said: 'Other men may talk about football when they meet but, with Eddie, it was always politics and global issues. Even after he left BT, we would spend our time doing a postmortem of the newspapers when we met.'

Mr Vince Chong, Beijing correspondent with The Straits Times, said he was in Singapore last week and had dinner with Mr Toh at Clarke Quay.

'He was his usual jovial self, joking about politics and catching up on the gossip in the corporate world,' he said.

At about 3pm yesterday, Mr Toh complained of discomfort and began to vomit.

With the help of a neighbour, his wife took him to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. By then, he was unconscious.

Mr Quak, who was among the friends and colleagues who went to the hospital as soon as they heard the news, said: 'I kept whispering in his ear, telling him we should both return to BT and we would stir up a storm together - anything that would excite him. I felt so helpless.'

But Mr Toh slipped away.

BT editor Alvin Tay, who had also gone to the hospital, said: 'I was shocked when I heard the news. He seemed quite fit when he was with BT.'

He remembered Mr Toh representing the paper at one of the Singapore Exchange's Bull Runs in the Central Business District.

'He was also affectionately known in BT as the newspaper's CEO, or chief entertainment officer, mainly for chairing the organising committees for several of our fun events.

'I was disappointed when he decided to quit the paper last year. To me, it was a loss to journalism.'



BT's ex-deputy news editor, 41, dies

360 字
2008 年 3 月 31 日
Business Times Singapore

THE Business Times' former deputy news editor Eddie Toh passed away yesterday following a massive heart attack, just two days before his 41st birthday.

Mr Toh had left BT at the end of March last year to join public relations firm, Hill & Knowlton, after almost 18 years in journalism.

He joined Singapore Press Holdings as a Straits Times reporter on its Money Desk covering the property market. He left after about five years on the desk to join stockbrokers Kim Eng as a research analyst, then moved to rival firm Kay Hian's Kuala Lumpur office. He spent about a half dozen years in research before joining BT as its KL correspondent. He returned to Singapore in 2004 to become BT's deputy news editor.

Said his distraught wife, Linda: 'His passion was always journalism. He talked about it all the time.' She was to have celebrated her 32nd birthday today.

Former BT news editor Quak Hiang Whai, who is now with United Overseas Bank, said of Mr Toh: 'An intellectual with balanced political views. Eddie belongs to the rare breed of true-blue journalists who loved, lived and breathed news.'

His love for journalism never left him and he carried on writing through his own blog.

'He always enjoyed a good debate on anything under the sun and his blog was essentially a political platform for him to expound his views on regional and global affairs. His death is a real loss to journalism and the blogosphere. More importantly, he was a great buddy, and I will never forget him,' Mr Quak added.

BT's editor Alvin Tay said: 'I was shocked when I heard the news. He seemed quite fit when he was with BT. I remember him representing BT at one of SGX's Bull Runs in the CBD. He was also affectionately known in BT as the newspaper's CEO, or Chief Entertainment Officer, because he chaired the organising committees for several of BT's fun events.

'I was disappointed when he decided to quit the paper last year. To me, it was a loss to journalism.'

Waterloo Bridge replayed

I watched Waterloo Bridge again. Last time I watched it was about 10 years ago. Well, 10 years on, Vivien Leigh is still enchanting and pure as an angel, while Robert Taylor is still charming and attractive as every young girl’s dream man. This is the movie I would keep and re-watch every now and then.

I love watching black and white movies nowadays. Vivien Leigh, Audrey Hepburn and Liza Minnelli are my all time stars. In the old days, no fancy special effects, no overdone make-ups, no extravagant shootings, just a good storyline with excellent acting. A simple touch would have made you remember the movie for life.

It is April, it is this time of the year. I am going to visit more graves (the so-called “commemorating your ancestors”) tomorrow. I hate the smoky smell of burning incenses and papers for the death. I am going to suggest buying a bunch of flower for our ancestors next year. At least we are not polluting the environment, and we might have reused the flowers in our home.