Translation Focus

TIMELESS CLASSIC Ancient Chinese idioms continue to be relevant today Idioms. Peribahasa. Chengyu. Figures of speech that roll off the tongue effortlessly into our daily lives yet belong to a time gone by. They survive because they're timeless, carrying implied or hidden meanings that are crystal clear when uttered in written text or in speech. A conversation with a friend recently reacquainted me with the delightful Chinese idioms, chengyu and the legends and fables they originated from. Generally, in the form of four-character idioms, they often convey a deeper meaning, a lesson of life. It was some years ago whilst researching Asian legends that I came across this literary form, specially from the story of Old Man Yu Moves The Mountain, Old Man Sai Weng Loses His Horse but it doesn't mean It's Unlucky and perhaps, most apt this year, To Kill A Chicken To Warn The Monkey. Sha ji jing hou is the saying or "kill the chicken to scare the monk...

EGGPLANT Once a upon a time, there was an old ruler who had many lands as his personal territories. One day, he left his palace to hunt on his lands. His private cooks and the guards accompanied him. In addition, he took his jester with whom he could have fun. All day long they looked for game. Nevertheless they could catch nothing. Very hungry, they went back to the cook. "Bring me something to eat!" The ruler said, "I'm so hungry that I could swallow a big sheep in no time." The poor cook was frightened and said, "Your Excellency! Unfortunately, we have nothing but eggplant here."  The ruler paused for a moment and murmured, "That's all right. Just be quick." The meal was made ready quickly and the ruler began to hungrily eat the eggplant. He then said, "What an unbelievably nice food eggplant can be!" His jester began to talk about the advantages of eggplant as he kept on looking at the ruler. Feeling bloated, th...

BAGAIMANA GULA MENJEJASKAN KESIHATAN GIGI Gula merupakan salah satu daripada penyebab kerosakan gigi. Walaupun gula (sukrosa) adalah penyebab gigi rosak yang utama, tetapi ini tidak maksud ia merupakan satu-satunya punca. Semua gula boleh digunakan sebagai makanan bagi bakteria di dalam plak pada gigi. Bakteria tersebut mengeluarkan asid yang boleh merosakkan enamel gigi. Oleh itu semua jenis gula menjadi satu masalah di bawah keadaan yang sesuai, sama dengan makanan kanji. Kebiasaannya makanan manis atau makanan berkanji yang akan melekat pada gigi. Ini akan mudah mendatangkan kerosakan gigi. OBESITI Di Malaysia, terdapat enam juta orang dewasa yang mempunyai berat badan berlebihan dan obes. Demikian menurut kajian yang dijalankan oleh Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, Kaji Selidik Pemakanan Orang Dewasa Malaysia 2003. Selain daripada lemak dan kolesterol, salah satu faktor utama yang menyebabkan obesiti ialah kalori, contohnya kalori daripada gula. Gula pasir itu menambah t...

Crime for not vaccinating your child? Lately the papers are gushing with news about vaccinating children. The deputy health minister says he is planning to make it a crime for not vaccinating one's child. The minister of health disagrees. He prefers educating the parents instead. The Women's Ministry is mulling to prosecute parents who refuse to vaccinate their child. Some radio stations have come into the act too - vilifying parents who refuse to vaccinate their offspring. Statistic have been rolled out to show an increase of cases of measles and deaths from diphtheria - all attributed to a failure to vaccinate. No clear causal links have been established, though. To complicate matters, Indonesia acknowledged that since 2003, fake vaccines have been given to millions of children. This follows a scandal in China involving improperly stored vaccines distributed in 24 provinces since 2010. The United States Supreme Court has determined that vaccines are "una...

PASSIVE SYMPATHY Once upon a time, a poor man had been severely punished by nature. A big flood had washed all his properties away. He was sitting very disappointedly in a corner crying. A passer by came to him and asked him the reason. The wretched man narrated him the whole catastrophe that had happened to his life. He also said, "Now I am left with a poor wife and five half grown children of different ages who have got nothing to eat." He then asked the passer by for some money so that they could get something to eat. The passer by still sharing the sympathy with that poor man, said' "Look friend! I shall be with you in crying as long as you are satisfied. Just don't ask for help! SIMPATI PASIF Pada suatu masa dahulu, seorang lelaki miskin telah dihukum oleh bencana alam. Sebuah banjir besar telah musnahkan kesemua hartanya. Orang miskin itu menjadi sangat kecewa dan duduk menangis di tepi sebuah kawasan. Seorang asing yang sedang melalui kawa...

LITERACY GLASSES One day, an illiterate villager entered an optic store and asked for some glasses. The shopkeeper brought him a few glasses to choose. He tried all of them and said, "That's not I'm looking for. Please bring me some other ones." The shopkeeper brought him some others. He tried them and repeated the same request. This time the shopkeeper puts a lot of glasses on the table and asked him to choose one. The man was still not satisfied. Lots of glasses were there on the table and he could choose none. Finally, the shopkeeper became angry and said, "Just tell me what kind of glasses you want and I'll bring them to you." The man looked at the other glasses on the shelves and said, " I am looking for glasses by which I can read!" CERMIN MATA LITERASI Pada suatu hari, seorang penduduk kampung buta huruf memasuki kedai optik dan meminta beberapa pasang cermin mata. Pemilik kedai itu pun membawakan beberapa pasang cermin mata...

COMMON IGNORANCE Once up a time, an old illiterate asked somebody to write a letter for him. He said, "Please write whatever I am telling you." He then began to explain his life while the writer was busy writing. He talked about himself and some hos problems. After he finished, he turned to the writer and said, "Alright. Now read me all you have written." The man began to read the letter. Little by little the old man, listening to the writer carefully, started crying. The writer looked at him surprisingly and said, "These are what you have already explained. There is nothing more in this letter. Why are crying then?" Still crying hard, the old man said, "I practically knew that I was a poor wretched man, but I didn't know it so clearly as you told me today!" TIDAK PEDULI Pada suatu hari, seorang warga emas buta huruf meminta seseorang menuliskan sepucuk surat untuknya. Dia berkata, "Tulis apa yang saya katakan." Dia...