https://www.scmp.com/rss/525505/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Yin yeung was the first drink a colleague recommended when I moved to Hong Kong two decades ago – that sweet milky mix of tea and coffee also called yuen yeung, offering the best of both worlds. She also suggested I sample pineapple buns, though with the warning they were nothing like the pineapple tarts of my heritage, being devoid of pineapple! Other delicacies of my Hong Kong years included daan tat from various bakeries – small open egg tarts of flaky or shortcrust pastry. I frequented bing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3348110/hong-kongs-daan-tat-singapores-ice-kachang-asian-foods-make-their-way-global-english?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3348110/hong-kongs-daan-tat-singapores-ice-kachang-asian-foods-make-their-way-global-english?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 23:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim As the Middle East conflict escalates, someone says “oil” and we picture black rain after oil depot air strikes, or contemplate the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. But the origins of the word “oil” are found in a different region – the Mediterranean – and in humans’ fundamental connection with nourishment: it is rooted in Greek ἔλαιον elaion, for “olive tree” or “olive fruit”, from ἔλαιο elaio for “olive”, from whence oil was derived. In a similar vein, the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3346441/amid-new-oil-crisis-how-word-oil-evolved-its-food-based-origins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3346441/amid-new-oil-crisis-how-word-oil-evolved-its-food-based-origins?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 03:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Chinese New Year might soon be concluding, but that doesn’t mean you cannot continue this “very Chinese time” of your life. After all, we are in the thick of a social media trend of “becoming Chinese”, popularised by Gen Z, in which the norms and traditions typically associated with Chinese culture are embraced, particularly by non-Chinese in the West: sipping hot water, wearing house slippers, consuming traditional Chinese medicine, acquiring “made in China” products, practising tai chi … Such... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3344821/gen-z-loves-chinamaxxing-where-does-maxxing-come?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3344821/gen-z-loves-chinamaxxing-where-does-maxxing-come?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 03:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim In addition to Greenland’s vast deposits of critical minerals, including rare earth elements, its significant oil and natural gas reserves, and strategic security-critical Arctic location – assets now widely familiar since the US threat to annex this autonomous territory of Denmark – Greenland’s language is also invaluable. In prehistoric times, successive waves of Paleo-Inuit (Paleo-Eskimo) peoples inhabited the island. The early 10th century then saw Norse arrivals, led by Erik the Red, who,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3341767/how-greenlands-language-just-invaluable-its-minerals-oil-and-strategic-location?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3341767/how-greenlands-language-just-invaluable-its-minerals-oil-and-strategic-location?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 13:15:13 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Japan and South Korea have been drumming up attention on the world stage – and not just with their recent Nara summit on security and economic cooperation, which included their leaders engaging in a drumstick diplomacy session of K-pop hits. They have also been in the news for Japanese and Korean words that were recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), highlighting the ever-increasing impact of these cultures on the English language. The new words included in OED’s latest update in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340137/senpai-bingsu-ramyeon-new-korean-and-japanese-words-oxford-english-dictionary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340137/senpai-bingsu-ramyeon-new-korean-and-japanese-words-oxford-english-dictionary?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jan 2026 08:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim “Avatar” nowadays might immediately conjure up an image of the blue-skinned Na’vi from Pandora in the Avatar sci-fi film franchise, or the fantasy action series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The word, in fact, is originally rooted in Hinduism, being the incarnation of a deity on earth in human or animal form to counteract some particular evil in the world. Pronounced “uhv-TAAR”, avatārat derives from Sanskrit avatāra, verbal noun of avatarati, meaning “descends”, which is composed of ava meaning... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3338475/incarnations-word-avatar-visiting-deity-sci-fi-hit-and-online-personality?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3338475/incarnations-word-avatar-visiting-deity-sci-fi-hit-and-online-personality?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 04:15:13 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim If 2025’s zeitgeist is manifested by the various Word of the Year (WOTY) choices of dictionaries and other language-related bodies, then this year has us unequivocally positioned in the virtual world. WOTY choices are based on a combination of usage, public vote and committee deliberation. “Rage bait” is Oxford’s WOTY for 2025. The term, which denotes something that deliberately annoys others, was first coined in 2002 to describe a driver’s reaction to being flashed at by another driver... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3337005/word-year-2025-choices-reflect-how-virtual-our-reality-has-become?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3337005/word-year-2025-choices-reflect-how-virtual-our-reality-has-become?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Dec 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Bamboo, a subfamily of typically fast-growing, tall, tree-like grasses, is found in tropical, subtropical and mild temperate regions across almost all continents, except Antarctica and Europe. In prehistoric South, East and Southeast Asia, it is well known for its use in tools, weapons, means of construction, transport and food. Due to its characteristics of bending without breaking and remaining evergreen, bamboo symbolises resilience, strength and adaptability, as well as prosperity and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3335318/enduring-legacy-bamboo-symbol-resilience-strength-and-adaptability-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3335318/enduring-legacy-bamboo-symbol-resilience-strength-and-adaptability-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2025 00:15:12 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Cop30, the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Cop) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 1992 landmark international treaty and parent treaty to the 2015 Paris Agreement, began on November 10 and was scheduled to end on November 21. Hosted in Belem, Brazil, Cop30 was the “Forest Cop”, not only for its Amazon rainforest venue, but because a focus of the UN Climate Change Conference is forest and biodiversity protection. Central to this endeavour... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3333625/why-language-loss-indigenous-communities-hurts-biodiversity-conservation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3333625/why-language-loss-indigenous-communities-hurts-biodiversity-conservation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Nov 2025 09:15:13 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Mulling over this week’s column, I polled my multigenerational family in our group chat, which includes three Gen Zs, asking if I should write about the 6-7 meme. The options I gave were: Slay! So skibidi! On a scale of one to 10, that’s a 6-7 … Bruh! Old news! In the lifespan of TikTok, this is rather ancient news. Tweens and teens – not only those in the US, but also in Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and anywhere youths access social media – have been chorusing “SIX SE-ven” maybe 6 or 7... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3331917/gen-alpha-slang-6-7-takes-over-world-and-it-holds-more-meaning-you-think?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3331917/gen-alpha-slang-6-7-takes-over-world-and-it-holds-more-meaning-you-think?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Nov 2025 11:15:13 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The United Nations came into existence eight decades ago, after the end of World War II, with the ratification by its initial 51 members of its founding document, the UN Charter, which entered into force on October 24, 1945. Now comprising 193 sovereign states, with all of its members having equal representation in its General Assembly, the UN is the world’s largest intergovernmental organisation. With its primary aims of maintaining international peace and security and achieving cooperation... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3330166/how-multilingualism-core-un-value-can-help-move-towards-global-peace-and-tolerance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3330166/how-multilingualism-core-un-value-can-help-move-towards-global-peace-and-tolerance?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Oct 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim What do the Capricorn constellation, a butterfly, a type of grass, a blue lake, a swordfish, a raccoon dog, and a dessert of rice balls and coconut milk have in common? If you are from the northwest Pacific, you may recognise them as giving names to the significant typhoons of Yagi, Wutip, Co-May, Kajiki, Nongfa, Neoguri and Bualoi – from Japanese, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Lao, Korean and Thai, respectively – that all occurred in the past 12 months. Some names may seem apt. The recent... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3328528/ragasa-matmo-yagi-how-typhoon-gets-its-name-and-who-gets-name-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3328528/ragasa-matmo-yagi-how-typhoon-gets-its-name-and-who-gets-name-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Ragasa – “a surge, a rush, a sudden quickening of motion” in Tagalog – is an apt name for the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, which peaked as a super typhoon, and from which northern Philippines, Taiwan and southern China are just recovering. Typhoons, together with cyclones and hurricanes, are some of the most destructive weather phenomena. They originate over warm tropical waters and comprise intense rotating storm systems of clouds and thunderstorms, with diameters from... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3326982/where-does-word-typhoon-come-its-not-what-you-might-think?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3326982/where-does-word-typhoon-come-its-not-what-you-might-think?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim 鬼門大開! The Gates of Hell were flung wide open across East and Southeast Asia last week, at the start of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. In this Ghost Month 鬼月 (Cantonese gwái yuht), spirits are permitted to cross over into the human realm and roam the earth. During this period, and especially on the 15th day of the seventh month, festive practices aim to regain the favour of one’s ancestors and other restless spirits in need of honour or appeasement, and, in so doing, to demonstrate... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3323646/how-hungry-ghost-festival-has-roots-buddhism-and-daoism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3323646/how-hungry-ghost-festival-has-roots-buddhism-and-daoism?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:45:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Ten years ago, the English-language world witnessed a small milestone in a larger jubilee. At Singapore’s 50th National Day celebrations on August 9, 2015, the unthinkable came to pass. In the National Day parade section themed “Identity – Uniquely Singapore”, alongside floats of Singaporean food, there were props depicting words from Singapore English, also known as Singlish, such as the particles “lah” and “leh” and phrases including “blur like sotong”. Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3320363/what-singlish-words-and-phrases-going-mainstream-tell-us-about-singaporean-identity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3320363/what-singlish-words-and-phrases-going-mainstream-tell-us-about-singaporean-identity?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:45:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Cheongsam, qipao, kimono, hanbok, sari, salwar-kameez – these traditional Asian outfits and their names have long been embraced by the English-speaking world. What about kebaya? The kebaya has been a significant element of cultural heritage for centuries. These hip- to shin-length front-opening tunics or blouses are made from various materials such as cotton or voile, are often adorned with intricate embroidery and are worn with fasteners such as brooches, buttons or a sash. The celebrated... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3318719/how-kebaya-became-symbol-southeast-asian-heritage-and-how-its-name-spread?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3318719/how-kebaya-became-symbol-southeast-asian-heritage-and-how-its-name-spread?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jul 2025 07:15:09 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim “Eating three hundred lychees every day, I would long live in Lingnan.” The sentiment of Song dynasty poet Su Shi towards this popular summer fruit is echoed by many across Asia today. From Hong Kong to Hanoi and Maoming to Muzaffarpur, mounds of dusty-pink lychees can be found in wet markets and on the sides of streets at this time of year. Their thin leathery skin peels easily to reveal luscious translucent-white flesh that covers a shiny seed and has a heady floral flavour. Native to southern... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3316924/where-lychees-came-and-why-chinese-culture-theyre-auspicious-symbol?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3316924/where-lychees-came-and-why-chinese-culture-theyre-auspicious-symbol?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:45:07 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim If you live in or are visiting Hong Kong, you may have watched the Tai O Dragon Boat Water Parade from the fishing village’s stilt houses last week, or mastered the art of making cha kwo (steamed sticky rice dumpling). You may be heading to Sha Tin later this month to learn a paper-crafting technique, or make temple offerings at the Che Kung Festival. A plethora of such cultural experiences is being widely showcased at the moment – more than usual – because June is the inaugural Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3313314/intangible-cultural-heritage-and-hong-kong-examples-city-celebrates-inaugural-ich-month?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3313314/intangible-cultural-heritage-and-hong-kong-examples-city-celebrates-inaugural-ich-month?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jun 2025 23:45:09 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Around the world, aficionados may sip on a wee dram, ask for a Scotch on the rocks, or grab a ハイボール haibōru, Japanese for “highball”, even in a can from a kombini (Japanese convenience store). This spirituous liquor, originally distilled in Ireland and Scotland from malted barley – with or without unmalted barley or other cereals – is, of course, whisky, or whiskey, the latter the spelling common in Ireland and the United States. Whisky is a clipped version of whiskybae, which is a borrowing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3310673/how-whisky-took-its-name-gaelic-water-life-and-what-drinking-it-neat-means?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3310673/how-whisky-took-its-name-gaelic-water-life-and-what-drinking-it-neat-means?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 May 2025 00:15:06 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim We are in an interregnum. From the Latin inter- “between” and rēgnum “reign”, the latter from rex, rēgis “king”, the word refers to the gap in government or social order, archetypically the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next, or, in Christianity, the period between a pope’s resignation or death – in this case that of Pope Francis on Easter Monday – and the election of a new pope. This period is also called sede vacante – meaning “vacant seat” in Latin. The seat in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3308953/rituals-conclave-choose-pope-declaring-extra-omnes-habemus-papam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3308953/rituals-conclave-choose-pope-declaring-extra-omnes-habemus-papam?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 May 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim “Happy Easter!” is a wish that will be articulated by many this Sunday, certainly by those observing the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus – with both Western (Gregorian) and Orthodox Easter being celebrated on the same day this year. What is interesting is that among the European languages, the word “Easter” is only found in English and German, while in other Germanic languages and most European languages, the word for the festival is derived from the corresponding word for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3307051/where-word-easter-comes-and-how-only-2-european-languages-use-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3307051/where-word-easter-comes-and-how-only-2-european-languages-use-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Apr 2025 00:45:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Few who watched the recent four-part crime drama Adolescence on Netflix would have remained unmoved – whether by the powerful acting, the one-shot episodes, the tragedy of a teen murder, or the disturbing attitudes embodied in language. Many delved further – the terms “manosphere” and “incel” saw a spike in online searches following the show’s release. “Manosphere” combines “man-” with “-sphere” to refer to a particular area of interest and the people associated with it, the word modelled after... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3305184/after-netflixs-adolescence-incels-manosphere-negging-and-80/20-rule-explained?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3305184/after-netflixs-adolescence-incels-manosphere-negging-and-80/20-rule-explained?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Apr 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Poetry is “a luxury we cannot afford”, Singapore’s founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, said many years ago. He intended it to be a maxim for the then-fledgling nation to focus on matters more pressing and of greater practical value for its survival. Yet poetry’s worth is widely recognised as surpassing luxury. On a different continent, poetry became a companion to the daily commute, with poems – classic, new, translated – displayed in London Underground trains and stations. The subway... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3303440/poetry-necessity-we-can-afford-today-and-public-displays-make-it-easier-absorb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3303440/poetry-necessity-we-can-afford-today-and-public-displays-make-it-easier-absorb?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim English was recently designated the official language of the United States of America, via an executive order issued by President Trump on March 1, 2025. At face value, instituting an official language – one granted a special legal status that elevates its use in government, education, and other formal domains – should not necessarily raise eyebrows. Save for Australia, Eritrea, Mexico, and the United Kingdom – and, until just now, the US – all countries have an official language. Many have more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3301425/trump-order-english-official-us-language-ignores-human-right-use-ones-own-tongue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3301425/trump-order-english-official-us-language-ignores-human-right-use-ones-own-tongue?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Mar 2025 00:15:07 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim What is your mother language? Do you speak it on a regular basis? Mother tongue or mother language usually refers to the language first acquired by a person from birth – their native language. While it is a straightforward concept for those from monolingual backgrounds, it is more complex for the majority of the world’s population who exist in multilingual environments. Some grow up with two, three, or even half a dozen language varieties spoken or signed around them. Yet state policies mean... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3299855/why-minority-languages-matter-learning-and-culture-yet-many-are-risk-dying-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3299855/why-minority-languages-matter-learning-and-culture-yet-many-are-risk-dying-out?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Feb 2025 04:19:17 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The heart is universally recognised, its iconography found in art, advertising, and everyday exchanges. For Valentine’s Day, hearts on cards, as cakes and balloons and as one of the most used emojis, are widely exchanged. But how did this shape come to symbolise love? The oldest known image of the heart shape is on a coin dating back to 510-470BC, discovered in the ancient Roman city of Cyrene, near what is now Shahhat, Libya. This was in fact a representation of the seed of the silphium plant,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3297772/how-heart-became-symbol-love-another-and-thanks-t-shirt-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3297772/how-heart-became-symbol-love-another-and-thanks-t-shirt-city?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Feb 2025 00:15:14 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim From snake-themed events to whether your luck is in: discover all you need to know about the coming Lunar New Year in our Year of the Snake 2025 series. If you asked which animal it is this Lunar New Year, some might say Slytherin. This name – of one of the four Houses of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series, whose emblem is a snake – was coined by author J.K. Rowling, likely from the word slither. This fiction is actually not far from the truth, as seen in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3296263/how-snake-slithered-english-language-and-what-singaporeans-mean-eat-snake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3296263/how-snake-slithered-english-language-and-what-singaporeans-mean-eat-snake?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2025 00:15:07 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim It is the new year, and the birth of a new generation! 2025 sees the start of Generation Beta, the cohort comprising individuals born between 2025 and 2039. Generations are typically defined as groups of people born in a specific time period who share cultural, social and historical experiences, often shaped by major events, technologies and social transformations, which influence their attitudes, values and behaviours. Gen Beta is anticipated to be a generation characterised by significant... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3294225/millennial-or-older-youll-hate-skibidi-brat-ate-they-define-gens-z-and-alpha?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3294225/millennial-or-older-youll-hate-skibidi-brat-ate-they-define-gens-z-and-alpha?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Jan 2025 00:15:07 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Are you brat, or very demure, very mindful? Has it been a year of brain rot and ensh**tification? If these resonate, then you have been experiencing the moods and conversations of this past year – as reflected by the Word of the Year (WOTY) choices for 2024. These words or phrases are selected by dictionaries and other language-related bodies – by committee, usually based on usage frequency or readers’ poll – as embodying the year’s zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. Several 2024 choices... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3292510/word-year-2024-choices-around-world-focus-negative?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3292510/word-year-2024-choices-around-world-focus-negative?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:15:07 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim It’s pandamonium in Hong Kong. The city is now home to the largest number of giant pandas outside mainland China, with a pair recently gifted by Beijing, the third since Hong Kong’s 1997 return to Chinese sovereignty, taking the total to six of the creatures, all at Ocean Park. Thematic festivities include panda sculptures blending intangible cultural heritage with contemporary design at Cheung Sha Wan Promenade, and 2,500 sculptures of pandas at various landmarks. These pop-ups all feature... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3290682/how-did-giant-panda-eclipse-true-panda-red-one-dont-get-panda-eyed-wondering-why?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3290682/how-did-giant-panda-eclipse-true-panda-red-one-dont-get-panda-eyed-wondering-why?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Dec 2024 00:15:07 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Silence enveloped South Korea a fortnight ago as half a million students sat the eight-hour national university entrance exam. During this time, to aid their concentration car honking is discouraged, construction work is paused, and even airliners are grounded; certain too-catchy tunes are forbidden to air too. However, one thing was probably still playing in people’s heads – “Apateu apateu / apateu apateu …,” the addictive refrain to the chart-topping song “APT” by South Korean singer Rosé of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3288971/apateu-may-soon-enter-english-lexicon-thanks-apt-hit-song-rose-and-bruno-mars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3288971/apateu-may-soon-enter-english-lexicon-thanks-apt-hit-song-rose-and-bruno-mars?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Dec 2024 08:10:33 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The most beautiful word in the dictionary is “tariff” – at least, to US president-elect Donald Trump, who made the declaration in an interview in October before his election victory. Trump has proposed a 20 per cent tariff on all imports to the US, suggesting this could rise to a possible 60 per cent tariff or more on imports from China. All eyes are on the two countries as the president-elect’s next term looms. The word “tariff”, however, warrants a look to another place and time, where it was... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3286990/wonderful-history-word-tariff-trump-makes-us-all-sick-hearing-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3286990/wonderful-history-word-tariff-trump-makes-us-all-sick-hearing-it?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2024 10:45:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The most exciting headline of last weekend’s Art Basel Paris was not its location in the magnificent Grand Palais, nor its 195 artist-starred galleries. For this columnist, it was Cha Chaan Teng. This was an activation of a three-year partnership between the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Art Basel, comprising a pop-up cafe in the Grand Palais that served Hong Kong specialities including char siu with rice, pineapple buns, egg tarts, mango pudding, and Hong Kong-style yuen yeung milk tea, as well... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3283873/restaurant-deli-dai-pai-dong-are-english-words-what-about-cha-chaan-teng-hopes-grow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3283873/restaurant-deli-dai-pai-dong-are-english-words-what-about-cha-chaan-teng-hopes-grow?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Oct 2024 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Hurricane Milton, which recently devastated Florida, was the ninth hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricanes, together with cyclones and typhoons, are some of the most destructive weather phenomena, comprising intense rotating storm systems of clouds and thunderstorms which originate over warm tropical waters, with a typical diameter of 120 to 300 miles (190 to 480 kilometres) and winds exceeding 119km/h (74mph). The overarching term used by meteorologists to describes these... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3282101/hurricane-milton-and-hurricane-helenes-aftermath-where-word-big-storms-comes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3282101/hurricane-milton-and-hurricane-helenes-aftermath-where-word-big-storms-comes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Oct 2024 23:45:11 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Traditional sampans adorned with panda-themed LED lights, as well as an authentic Chinese junk decorated with flags and panda motifs, cruising around Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter will be among the festivities in Hong Kong in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Sampans – typically small, light, wooden boats with a relatively flat bottom, propelled by a pole, oars, or a single long stern sculling oar – have a long history in East and Southeast Asian... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3280224/where-did-english-get-words-sampan-and-junk-probably-cantonese-and-javanese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3280224/where-did-english-get-words-sampan-and-junk-probably-cantonese-and-javanese?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Sep 2024 23:45:11 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim A highlight of Hong Kong’s celebrations for the Mid-Autumn Festival – also known as the Moon or Mooncake Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month – is the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance. The dance involves no ordinary dragon. This one is 67 metres (220 feet) long, is made of bamboo and straw, comes festooned with more than 10,000 burning incense sticks, and is handled by 300 performers. A fire dragon also dances every year at Pok Fu Lam Village. These performances are much more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3278345/why-hong-kongs-fire-dragon-dances-part-mid-autumn-festival-celebrations-are-so-vital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3278345/why-hong-kongs-fire-dragon-dances-part-mid-autumn-festival-celebrations-are-so-vital?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Sep 2024 00:15:12 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The Paris Olympics may be over, but the 2024 Paralympics is now in full swing. Held shortly after the corresponding Olympic Games in the same year, the Paralympic Games are a quadrennial global multisport competition involving athletes with disabilities. The origins lie in a sports competition organised by Dr Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the UK, almost eight decades ago, for second world war soldiers with lower spinal cord injuries affecting their lower limbs. The word for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3276343/where-did-term-paralympics-come-examining-its-origin-and-evolution-meaning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3276343/where-did-term-paralympics-come-examining-its-origin-and-evolution-meaning?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim “Open the gates!” And so it was that, a fortnight ago, at the start of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the Gates of Hell were unlocked for another year, allowing spirits to pass back into our world. Roaming the earth during Ghost Month 鬼月 (Cantonese gwái yuht) are ancestors and restless spirits seeking respect or appeasement. The climax of this month is the Hungry Ghost Festival, celebrated on the 15th day (which this year falls on August 18), also known as Zhongyuan Festival (中元節) or... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3274813/how-hungry-ghost-festival-cultural-practices-evolved-hong-kong-and-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3274813/how-hungry-ghost-festival-cultural-practices-evolved-hong-kong-and-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Aug 2024 00:15:12 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Many have declared the highlights of the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics to have been Lady Gaga’s homage to cabaret and Céline Dion’s rendition of Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne a l’amour”. But for representing contemporary France, one segment stood out – Aya Nakamura’s performance on the Pont des Arts. This is not just because Nakamura is the world’s most popular francophone performer and France’s top-selling artiste; her work has garnered 7 billion in streams, and she has been hailed as the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3272904/aya-nakamura-and-her-song-using-parisian-back-slang-symbolised-todays-france-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3272904/aya-nakamura-and-her-song-using-parisian-back-slang-symbolised-todays-france-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Aug 2024 00:15:09 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim A larger-than-life mural of a Samsui woman, cigarette in hand, on the exterior of a Chinatown shophouse in Singapore, has been the subject of public debate the past month. Discussion has centred more around its alleged normalisation of smoking, and less on Samsui women’s contribution to the modern state. Samsui women – who originate in the district of Samsui, Cantonese for “three waters”, in the coastal province of Canton, today’s Guangdong – are synonymous with the construction of 1930s Malaya.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3271351/comb-samsui-women-who-worked-construction-malaya-and-lived-coolie-houses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3271351/comb-samsui-women-who-worked-construction-malaya-and-lived-coolie-houses?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jul 2024 04:18:07 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim World Chocolate Day offers a licence to indulge. Your pick is likely to be a European or American brand: Swiss, French, Italian and Belgian chocolatiers are ranked as producing the world’s finest, while multinational corporations dominating global chocolate are based in the US, UK, France, Italy and Japan. Yet Europeans had no knowledge of chocolate – nor the word for it – before their 16th-century voyages to the Americas. Chocolate is, after all, made from the cacao bean (technically, a seed) –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3269439/where-chocolate-and-cacao-came-words-history-and-why-europe-was-late-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3269439/where-chocolate-and-cacao-came-words-history-and-why-europe-was-late-party?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Jul 2024 00:15:09 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim A Sunday pleasure for many of you, dear readers, surely involves a leisurely perusal of this magazine – turning the pages of the physical copy at your breakfast table, or, still in bed, scrolling through online. If your household happens to include a teen boy, their weekend may be magazine-strewn, too – feeding ammo into their firearms in online shooting games. The origins of “magazine” at first glance appear quite different from either of those definitions – tracing to the Arabic, makhzan... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3267586/how-magazine-whose-arabic-root-word-means-storehouse-came-denote-periodical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3267586/how-magazine-whose-arabic-root-word-means-storehouse-came-denote-periodical?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Jun 2024 00:15:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim For East and Southeast Asia, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is Tuen Ng Jit (Cantonese) or Duānwǔjié (Mandarin). Ng/wu refers to the sun’s position at its highest point, and tuen/duan means “extreme, upright”, referring to the summer solstice. Celebrations include eating sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) and racing dragon boats – prompting the English nickname Dragon Boat Festival. Its origins in Chinese mythology are darker: it commemorates the suicide in 278BC of Qu Yuan (屈原), a well-loved... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3265777/myth-behind-dragon-boat-festival-began-poets-death-his-work-lives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3265777/myth-behind-dragon-boat-festival-began-poets-death-his-work-lives?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Jun 2024 23:45:14 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The design, production, trade and use of denim span the globe, but the name, as with many fabrics, originates in the place it was once made. From the 16th century, the northwest Italian port city of Genoa crafted a type of twilled cloth, notable for yarns of cotton instead of linen, hemp or wool, and indigo-dyed warp. This durable, relatively inexpensive textile, which could withstand the damp, was used to make ships’ sails, cargo covers and trousers for sailors and the Genoese navy. By the 17th... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260788/where-jeans-and-denim-come-clues-are-names?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260788/where-jeans-and-denim-come-clues-are-names?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Apr 2024 23:45:15 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The Oxford English Dictionary’s March 2024 update included a delectable 23 words of Japanese origin. More than half are food-related, including donburi, karaage, katsu, okonomiyaki, onigiri, takoyaki, tonkatsu, tonkotsu and yakiniku. This is unsurprising, given the continuing impact globally of Japan’s soft power through cuisine (and popular culture), with the rise in Japanese restaurants and availability of Japanese ingredients. As a dish, katsu (カツ•) is a piece of meat, seafood or vegetable,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260279/boomerang-word-katsu-japanese-borrowing-english-cutlet-among-2024-oxford-english-dictionary-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260279/boomerang-word-katsu-japanese-borrowing-english-cutlet-among-2024-oxford-english-dictionary-new?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2024 23:45:16 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The word “purple”, spelled purpel in Middle English, from purpul in Old English, was first recorded in Northumbrian, in the Lindisfarne Gospels. This involved a dissimilation (changing one of two identical sounds to a different, similar one) of purpure, borrowed from the Latin purpura in the ninth century, coming from the Greek porphyra, which most likely had a Semitic origin. Meaning “purple dye, a purple garment”, the word for the hue is in fact derived from and references the source of the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3257171/purple-reign-how-colour-owes-its-name-sea-snails-and-why-it-became-associated-grandeur?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3257171/purple-reign-how-colour-owes-its-name-sea-snails-and-why-it-became-associated-grandeur?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Mar 2024 06:15:11 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Much has been (glitter-gel-) penned about Taylor Swift’s wardrobe over her various album eras, and about her language, including her changing accent, and her lyrics’ symbolism and imagery. There is also a lot going on where fashion and language intersect. “NOT A LOT GOING ON AT THE MOMENT” was the language conveyed on Swift’s sequinned top worn in her “22” music video’s opening scene, the work of British-based designer Ashish Gupta. In her current Eras tour performance of “22”, she updates that... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3255320/wizard-oz-taylor-swift-graphic-t-shirts-have-been-around-while-and-can-pack-political-or-social?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3255320/wizard-oz-taylor-swift-graphic-t-shirts-have-been-around-while-and-can-pack-political-or-social?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Mar 2024 09:45:19 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim March 3 is Hinamatsuri – Dolls’ Day or Girls’ Day – in Japan. One typical food for this festival is hishi mochi 菱餅, multicoloured rice cakes. While other elements and foods of the festival may be less familiar to outsiders, mochi is known the world over. Mochi is a rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain Japonica glutinous rice that is pounded into a paste and moulded into shapes, often with fillings or flavours, for traditional Japanese sweets, or grilled or cooked in soups. While it may be... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3254101/japanese-mochis-chinese-origins-and-how-similar-names-rice-cake-snacks-hong-kong-and-taiwan-suggest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3254101/japanese-mochis-chinese-origins-and-how-similar-names-rice-cake-snacks-hong-kong-and-taiwan-suggest?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Mar 2024 23:45:08 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim As a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, all member states of the United Nations have adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the heart of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Those SDGs comprise an urgent call to action in a global partnership of governments, civil society, businesses and the education sector. The issues the SDGs cover are largely poverty, health, hunger, gender, education, sanitation, infra­structure, energy, economy, climate... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3252188/how-unescos-international-mother-language-day-recognises-critical-link-between-language-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3252188/how-unescos-international-mother-language-day-recognises-critical-link-between-language-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Feb 2024 06:15:10 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim The English word “dragon” was borrowed from French dragon – a mythical monster, traditionally represented as a gigantic clawed, scaly skinned, winged reptile, sometimes breathing out fire. This derived from Latin dracōnem (with nominative form draco), which referred to a huge serpent or dragon, from Greek δράκων, drakon, for “serpent, giant seafish”. This came from ancient Greek drak-, the strong stem (indicating a past action without end) of the verb δέρκεσθαι, derkesthai, meaning “to see... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3251255/year-dragon-origins-mythical-beasts-name-and-imagery-fiery-beast-asian-symbol-strength?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3251255/year-dragon-origins-mythical-beasts-name-and-imagery-fiery-beast-asian-symbol-strength?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Feb 2024 23:45:17 +0000