Glaucoma and TCM

One of mum's interests is health and healthy living. As a result, she has a collection of books and has a vast knowledge on the subject.

When dad had troubles with his eyes (which he eventually found out was glaucoma), all the conventional medicines did not help him much. Mum recommended that he try out a traditional formula from a classic Chinese medicine book. She remembered that the formula worked with some of her friends who had troubles with their eyes.

It worked wonders for him. On top curing his glaucoma, his general health improved, his gum felt better etc. Now dad is a firm believer in the formula and is on a crusade to save the world from the 'sneak thief of sight'. Dad highly recommend the formula to everyone.

Here's the formula, verbatim except for some formatting and addition of common/latin names for the convenience of those who do not know Chinese.

青光眼经验方

此方为眼病总方, 头痛眼赤, 或无头痛眼起赤翳膜点, 均合用, 有人两眼没坏, 忽然不能视, 卽瞳人反背或日青光盲症, 用尽中西医, 亳无效果, 服此方十剂卽復明如初, 另有一人, 三年青光盲, 服此方七剂卽復明.

• 甘草二錢 (Licorice Root)
• 京芥七分 (Shizonpeta)
• 木通六分 (Akebia stem)
• 独活八分 (Doubleteeth Pubescent Angelica Root, Radix Angelicae Pubescentis)
• 木賊三錢 (Scouring rush, Equisetum hyemale)
• 防风二錢 (Radix Saposhnikoviae, Divaricate Saposhnikovia)
• 赤芍七分 (the root of herbaceous peony, Paeonia Lactiflora)
• 紅花三分 (Safflower, Carthamus tinctorius)
• 甘菊四錢 (Camomile, Matricariarecutita)
• 蔓京子二錢 (Man Jing Zi, Fructus Viticis)
• 決明子二錢 (Cassia Seeds)

净水煎服，飯後半点钟服, 或臨睡时服圴可。

如有熱者，可加黃苓二錢共煎服, 如身體弱者，可加入四物補血湯共煎服, 即多服无妨, 四物補血湯方:

• 當歸一錢
• 川芎二錢
• 熟地一錢
• 白芍二錢

I believe this is a classical formula, i.e. from classical texts. This same or similar formula are posted elsewhere on the net, for e.g. from Singapore, Taiwan and China(?)

Please use this formula at your own risks and with caution. A brief search on the net on individual herbs did indeed point to both benefits for the eyes and improvement to gum and general health.

Caution: if you are going to use this formula please make sure that the 木通 (Akebia stem) you use is 川木通 (Chuan mutong, Clematidis Armandii Franch) or 白木通 (Bai mutong, Akebia trifoliata); not 关木通 (Guan mutong, Aristolochiae Manshuriensis) which is toxic to the kidneys. Click here for further information.

乐享高龄

我们是快乐的高龄人士

勤运动练气功辰步保健

祝寿聚餐欢叙歌唱舞蹈

高龄人相聚时快乐无比

松轻地享高龄多么开心

我们是快乐的高龄协会成员

我们是快乐的高龄人士

勤运动习气功辰操健身

旅游观光采购拜访慰问

高龄人在一起快乐融融

自在地享高龄引人醉心

朋友们共同来享快乐高龄

1997 年填词

调取青春友谊圆舞曲

See the original lyrics here

爱心多伟大

爱心孕育的温床
爱心求存的曙光
爱心燃起了信望
也燃起了人们心底慈爱的潜能

阿爱心
抚慰多少的不幸
支援无数的困贫
多伟大阿爱心

无限包容被祢誉
大公无私受推崇
多伟大

伟大的爱心
慈航的舵手
一起来撒播传送誓把爱心光大阿爱心

爱心到处没寒冬
爱心所在会常暖
多伟大


1998 年5月填词
调取自阿兰娜

高/乐龄组织好棒 (Singing)

NB: Mum thinks this recording is a little off at the end but I think its perfect :-)

Photos are courtesy of Pixflicks.

See Lyrics in previous blog entry here.

Copyrights Issues

Recently, a concerned party raised the legality issue of writing lyrics based on other people's tune and singing the resulting song, especially since these creations are being posted on the net.

It is a valid concern. A search on Wikipedia explained that fair use of materials are permitted as protected derivatives in the USA. Someone has posted a question on yahoo! about the legality of parody and the answers summed up as 'if you are not interfering with the other guy making his money, you are ok.' However, we understand these are all answers based on American laws. If anyone knows of copyrights concerns in other countries, please help us by leaving a comment.

So, firstly, we acknowledge that these songs are based on tunes by more illustrious songwriters and we have endeavored to attribute the tunes to the original songs and composers. Secondly, no copyright infringement is intended in the writing and singing of these lyrics, they were done only for the enjoyment of my mother and the old folks at her association and no profit is made out of them.

欢迎光临/欢别小调

欢迎光临

欢迎, 欢迎,
欢迎朋友们的光临
朋友们的光临
传来了喜悦
传来了欢欣
我们来夹道鼓掌接迎
我们来握手表欢迎

欢迎, 欢迎,
欢迎朋友们的光临
朋友们的光临
带来了笑声
带来了激情
轻松的交流湊成乐曲
友好的欢叙送温馨

欢迎,欢迎,
欢迎互相来交友情
互相来交友情
友情互动,友情接心

欢迎,欢迎,
欢迎互相来交友情
互相来交友情
友情不渝,友情長青

调取自春之辰前段(周璇)

欢别小调

再见再见亲爱的朋友再见,盼望能再相见
啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦.....

附注: (把调背熟, 轻松的哼出来, 可以重复的唱, 直至客人完全离去)

2005 年9月填词

日子真易过

自有高龄会日子真易过
朋来友往生活不再感寂寞

自有高龄会日子真易过
谈天说笑无聊空虚远离

纵然岁月催人老
尽管青春去不返
只要生活不留白
此生也就不空过

走入高龄所日子真易过
我的心开朗我的情也有所托

纵然世事多変幻
尽管人生无常
只要珍惜当下
此生也就不遣憾

走入高龄所日子真易过
一起来经营一同享受乐龄乐

2000 年2月填词, 迎接千禧龙年
献给高龄的朋友们

调取自 - 如果没有你 (作詞：陸麗 作曲：莊宏)

乐龄良辰曲

乐龄日在时光隧道辗转又悄悄莅临
我们热忱地祝良辰日不让它轻易逝
高歌迎接十月一日举杯道贺诉衷情啊
友谊蓓蕾良辰绽开啊

今日良辰别具寓意乐龄的晚景怎样?
烛光随风在眼前摇晃触动无限忆想
引吭庆祝乐龄日载歌载舞情难禁啊
拥抱良辰愁绪不再啊乐龄

2000 年8月填词

调取自 - 月光小亱曲 (周蓝萍)

乐龄日之歌

(十月一日为国际乐龄日)

乐龄日欣然来到了
缘聚乐陶陶今日的心境分外好
样样都顺瞧

乐龄日欢叙喜洋洋
祈个好愿望互祝福寿愿拥安康
乐龄情谊长

Chorus:
但愿乐龄者生活得美好
但愿乐龄日启递着孝道
盼今后吹起敬老潮乐龄幸福绕
享天伦自在喜安老年年贺今朝

Repeat Chorus

2000 年9月填词

调取自田园之歌 (姚敏)

See original lyrics here

高/乐龄组织好棒

高/乐龄组织是多么的好
高/乐龄组织是多么的棒
为我们带来許多的活动
让我们陶醉在欢愉中

高/乐龄组织是多么的好
高/乐龄组织是多么的棒
晨运气功使精神饱满
唱歌舞蹈令身心舒畅

Chorus:
高/乐龄所求是安康
高/乐龄所盼是无恙
高/乐龄组织的硧好棒
带动着我们开创康乐的天地 (嘿)

高/乐龄组织是多么的好
高/乐龄组织是多么的棒
为我们带来无限的欢乐
让我们的心态不会老

Repeat Chorus and Verse 3

1998 年7月填词

调取自 - 少年的我 (李七牛)

Find out about the original song and lyrics here

Lightly Exploring Gratitude (Translation)

(See entry below for the original article)

My topic of inquiry for the fellow students of 8^th graduation class of Yuk Choy High School, in its 50^th anniversary newsletter, is gratitude – to cherish is gratitude and is somewhat emotional.

It emotional because, in half a century of life, filled with love, anger, sadness and happiness, how many names can we still remember? How many faces can we still recall? In the ephemeral and changing impermanent world, 50 years in the context of a short lifespan, can be seen as a long river.

At the anniversary celebration hall, meeting friends and classmates who I have not seen for 50 years, is a happy event. It invoked “we thought we would never see one another again” happiness in us (indeed, some of our classmates have already passed away). We are very grateful to the organizing committee who brought us this historic event, creating for us this opportunity to meet.

Recently in the 2^nd edition of the alumni newsletter, I read about the thankgiving story of schoolmate Kwang Yen. The noble bare-foot monk helped her sickness and yet never asked anything for himself, is deeply touching.

Gratitude, expressing from the bottom of our hearts what we most sincerely cherish and respect as well as our blessings; Gratitude, makes our spirit graceful; Gratitude, is friendship and brotherhood.

I encourage everyone to live with the attitude of gratitude. Deal with your family, life partner, siblings, relatives and friends with heartfelt gratitude. It is a privilege to have them in your life. Buddhists said ten years of cultivation brings shared journeys; hundreds years, shared lives as spouse; and thousands years, blood relationships. Therefore we should cherish the relationships that fate brought us. Live with each other with the attitude that start from tolerance, temperance, forgiveness… … to letting go, acceptance and contentment, (see notes below) otherwise know as the attitude of gratitude.

Due to the lack of gratitude, families strife leads to the loss of harmony and tenderness; couples became estranged or divorced; siblings cannot get along and became strangers to each other; relatives and friends turned into bitter enemies and hurt one another…

Gratitude – nurture and inform our lives. In expressing gratitude with our daily words and actions, we elevate our inner spirit.

When you awake in the morning, and find that you can move, walk, take care of yourself… be happy. That attitude is nurturing, it is also of gratitude.

Let us cultivate that attitude!

Klang, 2 September 2009

Notes (Only a short description for mutual exploration)

Tolerance: Tolerate even in difficult situations, learn to accept defeat, accept being number two, and you will be rewarded well. As the saying goes – holding back momentary leads to long term peacefulness.

Temperance: In any matters which you are not happy with, do not anger, blame or betray.

Forgiveness: Don’t be harsh and petty. Go easy on others when they made mistakes. Some said, forgiving others is an act of self-love.

Letting go: Once it is settled, let it be. A heart without lingering resentments is the freest.

Acceptance: For events that have happened and things that you can’t change, accept them.

Contentment: Cherish the moment. In all matters, step back to reconsider, happiness will follow.

淺谈感恩 (Gratitude)

我对育才高中第八届毕业同学，庆祝５０周年通讯录主题：恩－怀念就是恩，有所感触。

感触半个世纪的岁月里， 在喜怒哀乐交替的生活中，还能记得多少同窗的姓名? 多少同窗的面孔? 瞬间可变的无常，５０年对短暂的人生，可是一条长河。

５０周年金禧庆典里，跟某些隔别了５０年的师长或同窗重逢，虽不至说 “宛如隔世” ，卻多多少少兴起了 “以为此生不能再见” 的情怀。(不是吗? 有好多同窗已不在世了) 不禁对筹办这历史性聚会的諸多学长，给我们造就的机会，感恩有加。

近日收到通讯简报第二期，拜读光燕同学那篇感恩的故事，敘述她对赤脚和尚救渡病患的博大神通，施惠不受报的高风亮节，感恩不已。

感恩，表达了内心衷誠的怀念，敬意和祝福; 感恩，美化了心靈; 感恩，有情有義。

我祝愿人们把感恩心融入生活。用感恩心来和家人, 配偶, 兄弟姊妹, 亲戚朋友… … 相处。感恩今生具有如此关系, 如此因缘, 是前生修来的缘份。佛家有说: 十年修得同船渡，百年修得共枕眠，千年修得血脉缘。可见缘份殊胜应珍惜。相处由忍让, 包容, 宽恕 … … 到放下, 接受, 知足 … [P.S. 註:] 即是感恩的生活态度。

由于不感恩, 许多家庭纷争失了和谐，失了亲情; 许多夫妻成了怨偶或离异; 许多兄弟姊妹水火不相容，情同陌路 ; 亲友反目成仇，互相攻击…。

感恩，是生活的涵养，生活的智慧。表现在日常对人对事的言行上，提升了生活的素质。

每早醒来，能动，能走，能自理… … 便很开心满足了。如此心境，是养生，也是感恩。

大家一起来修吧!

2009年9月2日于吧生寒舍

P.S. 註: 只简释，大家可以发表见解。

忍让: 艰忍要忍。学吃亏，认第二，总有好收获。谁不知 “忍一时风平浪静” 的道理?
包容: 对不满意的事情，不要动辄指责或变脸。
宽恕: 不苛求。别人犯错时也自省。有说: 原谅别人，就是等于善待自己。
放下: 看开就是了。心无挂碍最自在。
接受: 对已发生的事，不可能改变的事… … 要接受。
知足: 珍惜当下。凡事退一步想，幸福感随即涌现。