The Pekingese or Pekinese is an ancient breed of toy dog, originating in China. They were the favored pet of the Chinese Imperial court, and the name relates to the city of Beijing where the Forbidden City resides. The breed has several characteristics and health issues related to its unique appearance.
These dogs are also called Dogs of Foo (or Fu, word for happy in Chinese) by the Chinese, and how much they are revered can be seen in the number of Chinese artworks depicting them. They were considered a guardian spirit as they resembled Chinese lions.
THE HISTORY OF PEKINGESE
The breed originated in Chinain antiquity, in the city of Peking most likely from Asian wolves. Another theory proposed by Professor Ludvic von Schulmuth is that the "Gobi Desert Kitchen Midden Dog", a scavenger, evolved into the "Small Soft-Coated Drop-Eared Hunting Dog". From this dog evolved the Pekingese, Tibetan Spaniel, and Japanese Chin. The Professor studied canine origins by studying the skeletal remains of dogs found in human settlements as long as ten thousand years ago and believed different branches of this "Kitchen Midden Dog" also gave rise to the Papillon and Long haired Chihuahua, as well as the Shih Tzu and the Pug. Recent DNA analysis confirms that the Pekingese breed is one of the oldest breeds of dog. For centuries, they could be owned only by members of the ChineseImperialPalace.
During the Second Opium War, in 1860, the Forbidden City was invaded by Allied troops. The Emperor Xianfeng had fled with all of his court. However an elderly aunt of the emperor remained. When the ‘foreign devils’ entered, she committed suicide. She was found with her five Pekingese mourning her passing.
They were removed by the Allies before the OldSummerPalace was burnt. Lord John Hay took a pair, later called ‘Schloff’, and ‘Hytien’ and gave them to his sister, the Duchess of Wellington, wife of Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Wellington. Sir George Fitzroy took another pair, and gave them to his cousins, the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon. Lieutenant Dunne presented the fifth Pekingese to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who named it Looty.
The Empress Dowager Cixi presented Pekingese to several Americans, including John Pierpont Morgan and Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, who named it Manchu. The first Pekingese in Ireland was introduced by Dr. Heuston. He established smallpox vaccination clinics in China. The effect was dramatic. In gratitude, the Chinese minister, Li Hung Chang presented him with a pair of Pekingese. They were named Chang and Lady Li. Dr. Heuston founded the Greystones kennel.
Nowadays, women like to wears baju kurung in many occasion such as to school (uniform), to a wedding, to shop and others. There are many colors to choose from when making or buying a baju kurung and the design is floral, abstract or just plain colors.
A baju kurung consists of a baju and kain. The baju is of knee length and the sleeve is to the wrist. Meanwhile the kain is of ankle length with a kipas or folds on the left side of the kain. The kipas or folds are made to make movements easier. Other than that, the neckline is round with a vertical 6 inch slit at the front. This neckline is finished in herringbone stitching. The neckline is worn with a special single Baju Kurung button which is held in place by two loops.
Today I went to RAKSI’s activity, and this was the last module for RAKSI. Our group got the SK Pandan which is nearby our university. Only the standard five students joined this activity because next year they will take the UPSR examination and we need to give them a motivation and some tips to prepare their examination.
This morning, we had done a lot of activity with them. We divided 33 students into 10 groups. And one of us conducted about 3 or 4 students. The first activity that we did was the ice-breaking. What we did in this activity was introduced all of the standard five students by group. Ice-breaking can improve students’ creativity and teamwork also.
After introduced all of the students, we just continued our second activity which is arranged the I, L and T words with manila card. Most of the student cannot arrange the word T because T is more difficult to arrange. But they still did it and never gave up. This activity can improve their teamwork and tolerance between group members. The third activity was drawing but students need to draw the things that we said such as mountain, sun, river, house, bird, sampan and others.
After that was our lunch time, the teacher in SK Pandan had prepared a lot of nice food for us. We used our lunch until 11.30am. We started our last activity which call MOTHER’S EYE in the hall. All the students were cried after watched the slide. This slide was about a son and his one eye’s mother. The son hates his mother and he feels so shy because he has a mother which has only one eye. His mother dies after he is work at Singapore. His mother leaves one letter for her son. Finally his son just know about his mother gave him one eye after an accident since he was young.
Our activity was finished about 12.20pm. After that we just went back to University Malaysia Pahang.
After this activity, I had learned about the importance of the teamwork. Teamwork is a group of people, contributing their individual knowledge and skills but working together to achieve a common goal/task. It is very important because we will not success if we are alone and no others’ help.
On last Saturday and Sunday (that were 11st and 12nd Oct), I had joined the Bridged Siswa camp at Sungai Lembing in Kuantan (Pahang). Actually my friend and I got the place at Palok Inai but we had got wrong bus on that day. But they also let us stay there after we told them that we had got wrong place. This was my first time joining camp and I learn a lot of things and get a lot of experience from this activity.
We were reached at Sungai Lembing about 8.20am. The commander told us about the history of Sungai Lembing after we putted all our bags inside the house.About hundred and more students joined this camp and got 2 UMP staffs followed us also. The first activity was the jungle trekking at Gunung Putih and we started this activity about 10am. I was very tired and feel so hot on the way I climbed. However, I had learned something from climbing. If we want succeed then we must be hardworking and must not easily give up when meet troubles. Although we all were very tired but we still kept on in climbing. We took about 5 hours and more to finish this activity. The view from the Bukit Putih is very beautiful and the air is fresh. After that, we took bath in the river between 5.00pm to 6.30pm.
At night, we had another activity (find a bamboo in a house). The teamwork is very important in this activity.Teamwork is defined as the actions of individuals, brought together for a common purpose or goal, which subordinate the needs of the individual to the needs of the group. In essence, each person on the team puts aside his or her individual needs to work towards the larger group objective. The interactions among the members and the work they complete are called teamwork.
On the second day, we had the cooking activity. We started to prepare the entire thing about 10am and finished it at about 1.30pm something. After that, we went back to UMP about 4.10pm.
My mood is very down because I'm coming back to UMP..haiz... One week holiday is not enough to me!!!
I have not prepare for my second test yet!!! So, this week I will very busy for preparing mysecond test and the final exam(start from 4th Nov).. This weekend has the camp(bridged siswa), I have not enough time to prepare it..so... I guess I will not take a good result in this test..
Celebrated by the Muslims signifies the end of the fasting season of Ramadan for a month. The celebration is determined by sighting of the new moon. This is the most significant celebration for the Muslims. Muslims starts the day by congregating in the mosques early in the morning to perform Hari Raya Puasa prayers followed by visits to the graves of the departed.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri ( Hari Raya Puasa ) is the Malay term for the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr. Hari Raya is also known as Lebaran.
Yesterday ( 1st Oct 2008 ) was the 1st day of the Hari Raya Puasa. My best friend, Roslina had invited me and my friend visit her house.She is studying at KL now and she was my classmate since 10 years old.Her mother prepares many traditional foods for us, such as ketupat, lemang, kuih-muih and others. Before we leave her house, her mother gives ‘ang pao’ (green pao) for us… Other than that, we also take a lot of food....
The Moon festival (Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival) falls on September 14th in the year 2008. Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie(中秋节)."
Legend says that during King Yao's rule, ten suns appeared in the sky. Because the heat from these suns endangered crops, wildlife and the very existence of people, King Yao asked a famous archer to shoot down nine of the ten suns.After shooting the extra suns down, archer Houyi asked for the hand of the Emperor's beautiful daughter, Chang E, as a reward.
Houyi took good care of Chang E but she remained indifferent to him, always considering herself the most beautiful woman in the world. Meanwhile, the king was worried the extra suns would appear again and cause a new disaster so he gave Houyi a pill that was said to ensure immortality. But Chang E learned of this pill and decided she could make better use of it herself. So she swallowed the pill and immediately started floating into the air. She soon reached the moon, where she remains, transformed into a toad as punishment. Leaving poor Houyi to see only the shadow of his vain wife and only when the moon is full.
Traditional Food ----- Mooncake......
I have celebrate the mooncake festival in UMP with my friend today and this is the first time that I do not celebrate with my family and my friends. But I still can eat our Chinese traditional food --- mooncake...
