business expenditure, perhaps
When you run your own business, any and every expenses are taken into account, and so, there is no chance of ‘forgetting’ that nagging reminder in your head before you click the ‘buy’ button (since 95% of my purchases – I kid you not! – are made online); or pick up any goodies and dump into your shopping cart – the real shopping cart, that is.
Now, as days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, and months into years, and years into… whatever.. (you get my drift, eh?), your brain function is automatically modified to send out amber alert each time you are planning to deplete your bank account, or paypal account.
So, we, as standard crafty human beings, try to ‘work around’ the system, like we would do for anything.
I decided that I need want the new ink stamps, and spent good length of time trying to translate the English business name – Simple Arts Planet – to a nice Chinese business name which is completely relative to the original. I could do a direct translation, but it wouldn’t sound as smooth – lack of flow. Fortunately, Chinese is a highly sophisticated and complicated language – trust me, imagine the same language can be written in the Traditional, Simplified, and Ancient text, and each character when paired with different characters can mean so differently, or similarly – so there are more options to replace the less flattering phrase. Of course, that would be the time that I wished I had been provided with better Chinese education (even though I scored A1 -similar to distinction – in my Chinese language, I am remotely considered good in the real Chinese world, I could probably be barely adequate to use this language on day-to-day basis, but nothing more).
Somehow, the reason for requisition seems justified. Fine, I decide to dish into my own pocket money for this, I really WANT them! They are sooooo Chinese!!!
It’s important to note that I love Chinese for the sake of the long and valuable history, just as I love any other races and cultures, I am not necessarily remembering my Chinese ancestry roots. Singapore was made up of immigrants, long before my time, and as a Singaporean Chinese, my roots belong with Singapore. That said, the Chinese culture has a stronger impact on me, it still runs in the blood, I guess. Some day, I will visit China, and stand before the Forbidden City, then, I may be able to share more accurately if I feel differently.
You may also notice that the recent photos have a watermark on them. Depending on the nature of the photo, it is either watermarked with the digital stamp of the Chinese business name – 簡藝世界, or with my Chinese name.
The one on the left is my Chinese name. Traditionally, the Chinese sentences/phrases begin from right to left, so the one single word on the right side of the stamp is my last name, and the 2 characters first name is layout by side, top to bottom.
The stamp on the right side bears the Chinese translated business name. Similarly, the flow is from the left to right, top to bottom. (There are several ways to layout the characters though, but arguably, it goes back to a vague guideline – artistic flow and essence of energy)
Chinese stamps are now very popular in the Western countries, especially if you have a master to hand-carve the characters onto the jade/stone, and stamp using the traditional red ink paste.
REMINDER – BUSINESSES IN ASIAN/CHINESE COUNTRIES:
Lunar New Year falls on 03 February 2011, and the eve of the Lunar New Year is usually a half-day work for most businesses, some factories shut down for operation a few days, or a week before the Lunar New Year, as the production employees are mostly foreign workers from the regional countries and are returning home, in time for the reunion dinner with their families.
Officially, Lunar New Year is celebrated for 15 days, some businesses on resume work a week after the Lunar New Year.
For Singapore, the official public holidays are 1st and 2nd day of the LNY.
Plan your purchases ahead if you are buying from businesses that celebrate LNY, as there might be delay in shipping.
saplanet originals™
I will be traveling nearly throughout the LNY, and I am leaving by this weekend. Please observe the cut-off time and turnaround time for various categories when ordering.
Reference: vacation notice
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