After cutting a piece of PalmArt which is circular, I was left with some scraps with a nicely half-circular edges. I like pleasing shapes, so was reluctant to throw them away.
After staring at them for some time, I thought they would look like new moons if I cut the opposite side with the same circular curve.
And if I stick a short piece of copper wire between two pieces, I can connect them into a nice curved shape. I can even make the curve wrap around to connect with the beginning - and make a circle. Thus is born the ring of new moons.
New moons are nice. But I always like fish. If I turn the new moons into fish …, and make a lot of them, I can make a long string of fish …, and connect the ends to make a large ring.
And if I twist the large ring, I can make a double ring, …, then the ring can stand by itself. In fact, it can stand in more than one positions.
While we were in Vietnam, we went to see the tunnels at Cu Chi District of Ho Chi Minh City.This is an immense network of tunnels used by the Viet Cong (from the Communist North) during the Vietnam War.It was said to be the base of operations for the Tet (Lunar New Year) Offensive in 1968, a critical turning point in the war.
The tunnels have very narrow and camouflaged entrances. Inside it can be very elaborate and some rooms can be sizeable.
People hide, move around, shoot, sleep, live, plan, make munitions, sew clothes, and a lot more in there.
A mechanical sewing machine caught my attention. It is something I am quite familiar with, even though I cannot really use it. It is powered by a paddle at the ground level that can be rocked back and forth by foot. The rocking motion is used to drive a belt, which turns the spindle of the sewing machine above the paddle. Which then translates the rotational motion into an up-and-down motion that drives the sewing needle. It is deceptively simple.
The Vietnam War took place in the 1960s and 70s. The machine does look like it might be from that era, and quite familiar.
This was also the time I was attending primary and secondary school in Hong Kong. During those days my mother took care of the 3 of us. She also sewed at home to make critical income in addition to my father’s salary. I helped to cut the loose ends of the threads from the clothes, flip them inside out and pull out the corners properly. She used a sewing machine that look almost exactly like that one in the Vietnam tunnels.
The additional income that my mother made using the sewing machine was very important for our family. Particularly in the 1960s, when my father’s salary as a “semi-skilled" workman was very low, with 3 growing kids to feed, who also had to attend school.
Nowadays many people in the developed world continue to use sewing machines. But those, such as the one that my wife uses, tend to be powered by electricity. Some can also be programmed to make special stitches and elaborate patterns, automatically.
Yet in developing countries such as Rwanda, there are still many many people who depend on mechanical sewing machines to make a living. This is particularly important in the countryside, where there is no electricity. Wood and charcoal remain a major source of energy in many parts of Rwanda, as in many other sub-Sahara countries. Even in the city, electricity can be unreliable and expensive. Hence the technical sewing machine is much more dependable.
It is not just women who sew. In fact, I have seen more men than women sewing in Rwanda. Many vocational school teach the skill to use these sewing machines. A sewing machine makes a great gift, enabling someone to make a living.
The mechanical sewing machine remains a potent tool - in my childhood in Hong Kong, for the fighters in the Vietnam War, as well as families in present day sub-Sahara Africa.
Gifts, parties, spending money, vacations, food and fun. For many that is what Christmas is about.
Not so, says some. That is so materialistic and hedonistic. Christmas is more about joy, happiness, peace and family.
But looking around, it is not that easy to be joyful. Wars are continuing, and in fact seems to be getting worse. The rich are continuing to exploit the poor, rather than helping them. The powerful continuing to oppress the weak, instead of upholding justice. The “leaders” in government, church and elsewhere continue to suppress dissent. People prefer to believe fake news that suit their prejudice rather than facts that challenge that prejudice.
In the face of pervasive selfishness, self-righteousness, ugliness, hypocrisy, and hatred, it is hard to be joyful. Many places particularly traumatised by war and conflicts have chosen to not celebrate Christmas. It just seems inappropriate under such circumstances. How can one celebrate when so many are suffering so much?
Perhaps hoping against hope is what remains. The defiance against overwhelming, depressing reality. Holding onto what little hope that remains, that things will turn better. Perhaps that is why people do not give up, even when they have lost so much: family, friends, land, possessions, jobs, the right to speak the mind. That people continue to come together to share what little they have. To insist to be kind to each other when they cannot really afford to. Coming together seems to help us retain that little hope.
Perhaps that is what Christmas is really about. The birth of Jesus brings hope in an equally depressing world 2,000 years ago. It seemed a very little thing then, but it brought great changes. The birth of hope in darkness, hope in suffering. With hope, life is just a little less depressing, with hope for a better future.
Our family started the first day of our vacation in Ho Chi Min City by visiting Mai Sen, a social enterprise restaurant school. We visited another one on the last day, also opened by Francis.
This time we are able to visit both the school (where the students study and sleep) and the restaurant (where they train).
The 40+ students are mostly underprivileged, from the countryside, who did not finish regular schools for some reason. Here they learn to work in a fine restaurant, and the English communications skills needed.
They are provided with a place to live. And they do not have to pay - they cannot anyway. Yet by the time they graduate from the 3-year program, they are in great demand. That is how good their training is.
They get up at 6:45 am, freshen themselves, have breakfast, then attend classes for the whole morning. They then have lunch, which they prepare for themselves. Their dormitory is tidy and spotless, which they clean and maintain themselves. It is easy to imagine the discipline that they have acquired from the training.
In the afternoon, they train and serve in the restaurant.
The restaurant is very well run. It serves very fine cuisine. Excellent German style pork knuckle. French style (?) duck breast.
And Asian cuisine, cooked in Chinese style woks.
The students we encounter are all courteous, diligent, and professional. No wonder they are in such high demand.
The resources needed to run such a school is great. I understand the land for the restaurant as well as the school are provided by the Catholic church. There is also the manpower, the equipment, the supplies, electricity, … The income from the restaurant and the catering must come in handy. Yet I imagine the kindness of donors is also critical. I heard that some graduates from Mai Sen are among the staff. They can probably make more money working at high class hotels and restaurant. Yet they are working here, with a different kind of return.
Many of these youngsters are having a much brighter future because of the kindness of others. God has blessed some of us with much, and we should bless others so. That is how the world should operate, isn’t it?
We are here on vacation. But the first day of our vacation started at a social enterprise, a school that has been training underprivileged youths to work in the restaurant industry, for 10 years already.
The story that I came to know can be traced back to the point when a young Vietnamese man named Francis who fled his country during the Vietnam War. He settled in Germany and learned to be a chef. Decades later, he came back to Vietnam and started this school.
He named it after a Catholic priest, Father Maicen (from Czechoslovakia, I believe), who came to Vietnam and started a Salesian school, which Francis attended before he became a refugee.
The Salesians is a Catholic order started by Don Bosco, to serve the underprivileged youths in Italy more than a hundred years ago. I happened to attend a school run by the Salesians in Hong Kong, before I went to the USA to study on a scholarship offered by an American university.
This is perhaps why the bistro that the school runs offers both Vietnamese and German cuisine. And this is why our family had Vietnamese and German food for breakfast this morning. Both excellent.
We visited a number of places during the day, much of it about the war. Just when we were getting into our homestay place at around 9 pm, we were interrupted by a Vietnamese man. He turned out to be the Grab driver who took us to the homestay from the airport the day before. He came to return a water bottle he found in his car after he dropped us off. It turned out the water bottle was not ours. But the driver’s kindness touched us greatly.
We encountered so many good people in one day. We feel so blessed.
Phnom Penh noodles is well known and popular in Hong Kong. Since coming here for the first time in 2010, I have had many different versions of it, from small shops frequented by locals, to fast food joints in posh shopping malls, to breakfast in hotels, to regular restaurants. It is truly ubiquitous.
Even on this short trip scouting for new projects, I have eaten several varieties. All of them have the thin noodles in a clear broth. The noodle itself is made from rice. Similar to Cantonese “rice noodles” (米粉) but a bit more chewy. Also similar to “river noodles” (河粉) but firmer in texture.
They usually come with mung bean sprouts, green vegetables, and a variety of condiments such as preserved vegetables, etc.
They can be accompanied by beef, chicken, pork, shrimps, roasted pork, roasted duck, dumplings, …
Come to think of it, it resembles Vietnamese pho very much.
