Yesterday was the twelfth day of Chinese New Year and likewise, our World Speakers' Coalition Kuala Lumpur's twenty-sixth meeting. Lim Jia Yen had taken on the mantle to organize/host the event and the venue was a Chinese restaurant (duh!), Noble Mansion, housed in Plaza 33 at Jalan Kemajuan, PJ.
If I may add, it was an excellent choice. Check out photos that Yen herself took of her selections from the menu:
Of course, no CNY dinner is complete without tossing the yee sang!
Food aside, Yen's pick of the theme was 畫龍點睛 (huà lóng diǎn jīng) or literally translated as "paint the dragon, dot the eyes". Or another way of putting it, when you paint the eyes of the dragon, it comes alive.
This Chinese saying describes how important, the final touch is – meaning, it brings perfection to a masterpiece.
The allusion to this idiom comes from the story of Zhang Sengyao (張僧繇) who served under Emperor Wu of Liang (464-549 AD) during the Southern Dynasty period. It is said that one day, having painted four dragons on a wall of Anle temple in Jinling (what is now Nanjing), he did not draw the eyes.
He did this on purpose. He explained: "The eyes are the spirit of the dragon. The other parts are just the form. Once you add the eyes, you are giving it a life force and it will fly away".
So, with four dabs of his ink brush, Zhang dotted the eyes, giving pupils to two of the dragons. At this, a lightning bolt struck the wall where the dragons were painted. And the two flew out of the wall and ascended to the heavens. The other two pupil-less dragons remained as just wall paintings.
It's safe to say we all found the topic a tad challenging. Admittedly, we had to put aside some time thinking about it.
Nonetheless, we managed to give our own take on it. And the speeches were a delectable smorgasbord of nine personal stories that inform, illustrate and illuminate.
Meaning, there were nine of us present and all are members. And yesterday, we made three interesting observations: (1) We came dressed in shades of red. After all, red is an auspicious color for CNY. (2) For the first time ever, we were 100% sober. Alcohol-free! (3) As in most traditional Chinese dining, dishes are shared communally. Needless to say, we sat in a round table with a lazy susan, which means, everyone faced each other. For sure, the whole dining experience became more intimate and inclusive.
And we took the opportunity to also celebrate Kavita's birthday which is today:
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