The word “acceptable” in Hebrew (in Isaiah 61:2) is the word ratson, which means “delight, favour and acceptance”. The year 2009 is going to be a year of delight, favour and acceptance from God! In Greek (in Luke 4:19), it is the word dektos. According to Thayer, a reputable Greek scholar, dektos denotes the most blessed time when salvation and the free favours of God profusely abound!

What Makes 2009 So Special?

From the time that Jesus died and rose again, it’s been more than 2,000 years of “the acceptable year of the Lord”, as Jesus is still healing and saving people. So what makes 2009 so special?

The acceptable year of the Lord is mentioned in Isaiah 61. In Isaiah 60, we find this passage:

Isaiah 60:1–3
1Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 2For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. 3The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isn’t deep darkness covering the earth now? Economic forecasts are all doom and gloom. Big companies which no one thought would ever collapse have gone bust and shocked the nations. People are fearful of new strains of viruses, increased terrorist activities, global warming and natural disasters.

So you are living in a time when you can apply the next chapter — Isaiah 61 — for this year. Despite all the negative forecasts in the world, fear not and don’t be dismayed! The glory of the Lord will rise upon you. You will shine and people will flock to churches for answers! This year is going to be a time when salvation and the free favours of God profusely abound!

It’s Not A Free Favour If You Have To Merit It!

My friend, free favours are blessings you don’t deserve. Even if you have messed up big time, you can still expect free favours from God this year because they are unmerited and undeserved. If you have to merit them, then they are no longer free favours! So be bold, ask God for a favour: “God, can you do me this favour? I need…”

Let me say it again: The year 2009 is going to be a dektos year of the Lord. It is going to be a great year of profusely abounding favours. Not only that, you will see more salvations — in this church and all over the world! Can you say “Amen” to that?

Believe God And Say ‘Amen’ To His Glory!

“Amen” comes from the Hebrew word aman, which first appears in the Bible in Genesis 15:6: “And he [Abraham] believed [aman] in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Aman means “believe”.

So when you say “Amen” to good news preached, you are saying “I believe the message”, “I have faith in God’s word” or “So be it unto me” — and there is power in that.

In 2 Corinthians 1:20, the Bible says that “all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”. All the promises of God are for us to say “yes” and “Amen” to because you are in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30)!

When we say “Amen” to God’s promises, God gets the glory “through us”. We say “yes” and “Amen” so that the promises may be fulfilled in our lives to the glory of God!

Jesus Is The Reason We Can Say ‘Amen’ To Blessings

In the Old Testament, the Israelites could not say “Amen” to blessings. After they had entered the promised land, God divided the 12 tribes into two. Six tribes were instructed to climb Mount Gerizim, while the other six climbed Mount Ebal. These two mountains face each other. The tribes on Mount Gerizim pronounced the blessings on all who obeyed the law, and those on Mount Ebal pronounced the curses on all who broke the law. (Deuteronomy 27:11–28:13)

When the curses were pronounced, the people had to say “Amen”. For example:

Deuteronomy 27:16–17
16‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ 17‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbour’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Yet, when it came to the blessings, there were no Amens. I asked the Lord why this was so. He told me that in the Old Testament, they could not say “Amen” to the blessings as Christ had not yet come. All of God’s promises are in Christ yes and in Him Amen. Thank God that for us today, Christ has come and redeemed us from the curses of the law! (Galatians 3:13)

Loving Life And Seeing Good Days

What is the opposite of saying “Amen” to the blessings of God? It is speaking in line with the evil or negative reports of the world. My friend, if you want to love life and see good days full of the free favours of God this year, refrain your tongue from evil!

1 Peter 3:10
10For “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil…

“Evil” here refers to not speaking in agreement with God’s words, or speaking in line with the evil or negative reports of the world. If I say that the Lord has told us that this year is going to be a great year full of His free favours and you say, “You must be kidding me,” that’s speaking evil!

The Israelites could not enter the promised land of Canaan because they gave an evil report. God had said that He had given them the land. But instead of agreeing with God and possessing the land, they spoke evil by saying that they were not able to possess the land. (Numbers 13)

My friend, choose not to believe negative news reports and cynical coffee shop talk. If your colleague tells you that this year is going to be bad and that you might get a big pay cut or lose your job, don’t say “Yes”. Believe God’s Word and His promises, and speak in line with His words. Say, “It’s going to be a good year for me, full of the free favours of God!”

Say ‘Amen’ To All That Jesus Offers

Let me finish by bringing you back to Nazareth in the New Testament. When Jesus was in a synagogue on a Sabbath day, He read this portion from the book of Isaiah:

Luke 4:18–19
18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Then, He closed the book and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) The people of Nazareth had a golden opportunity to have everyone in their city healed and delivered. They could have had the greatest revival known in the history of man because Jesus Himself was there to fulfil all that was written in that portion of the Scripture!

But He waited and waited — and there were no Amens. Instead, the people said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22) They naturalised Him and even wanted to kill Him. They tried to push Jesus off the cliff, but they could not kill Him who had no sin. He walked through the midst of them (Luke 4:28–30), away to where there would be an Amen to all that He had to offer.

Will you say “Amen” to all that Jesus offers you? Today, He stands before you saying, “This is going to be the acceptable year of the Lord, where salvation and My free favours profusely abound in your life.” Beloved, shout “yes” and “Amen”, and catch the fullness of this blessing!

Labels: 2009

princess לינדה הודית the Beloved @ 12:33 PM

Chinese Peranakan: A Culture More Than The Sum Of Its Parts

By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop

SINGAPORE -- Over the centuries, Chinese migrants have spread around the world, often creating enclaves within large cities, Chinatowns where their culture, including religious practices, culinary skills and artistic tastes, would remain intact. But in peninsular Malaysia, Chinese migrants integrated so well with the locals, appropriating certain cultural traits and
assimilating these into their own culture, that they created a new culture with its own identity: the Straits Chinese Peranakan.

Chinese merchants first settled in Malacca in the 15th century, and by the 19th century they were playing a pivotal role as intermediaries with the Portuguese, Dutch and then British colonial traders. As the Chinese merchants started to integrate with the local population, they started fusing their Chinese heritage with the local Malay influences, developing a distinctive hybrid culture.

''The Peranakans were very open-minded toward other cultures, and they took the best from everywhere,'' said Kenson Kwok, director of the Asian Civilization Museum and the Peranakan Museum in Singapore.

''They were able to operate in a multicultural world, something we all need to be able to do today. We all need to speak
different languages and operate in different cultures, and that's something the Peranakans were doing back in the 19th
century.''



The small Peranakan Museum, which reopens on Saturday after two years of renovations, explores this unique culture, presenting artifacts like porcelain, jewelry and textiles from the former British Straits Settlements of Malacca, Penang and Singapore, as well as displays that detail the Peranakans' way of life, including their elaborate wedding ceremonies, religious practices and funeral rites, some of which continue to this day.

As intermediaries between the British and mainland Chinese traders, many amassed large fortunes, which they used to spend lavishly on their homes, commissioning, for example, colorful porcelains from Shanghai, known as Nonyaware, and elaborate gold and silver jewelry.

The Peranakan culture was very colorful and elaborate, and Nonyaware is a great example of that taste, says Randall Ee, a curator at the Peranakan Museum.

While Chinese utensils tended to be plainly decorated and painted in pale washes of enamels, Nonyaware is characterized by vivid enameled tints on a brilliant painted background, and they were decorated primarily with flowers, peonies in particular, and phoenixes. ''The Chinese wanted to appreciate the whiteness on their porcelains because it tells you of the quality of the firing, but the Peranakans appreciated the color and the form - not so much the porcelain - so their porcelain is completely covered with color,'' Ee said.

Pola Antebi, who heads Christie's Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department in Hong Kong, notes that the Peranakan patterns would have been considered too busy to be used as table settings for the mainland Chinese market. ''The table settings incorporated some Western-shaped vessels as well, such as cups with handles, as the Peranakan adopted drinking tea in English teacups,'' she said.

Some of the rare porcelains on display at the museum include large kamcheng jars (covered food containers) topped with a finial in the shape of a qilin (a Chinese mythical animal) and decorated with unusual café au lait or coral red colors.

Another distinctive expression of Peranakan aesthetics can be found in their beadwork and embroidery, which was often produced by the Nonyas (the Peranakan women). The eligibility of a young Nonya in well-to-do families could hinge on the quality of her needlework, and she had to produce a complete trousseau, painstakingly using thousands of tiny glass beads, often imported from Europe.

The museum displays needlework examples of beaded slippers, a densely beaded daun nipah case (which would have contained palm leaves used to make hand-rolled cigarettes), as well as embroidered kebayas, the traditional long-sleeved, tight-fitting blouses that first appeared in the nonyas' wardrobe in the 1920s and that today remains very much in fashion in the region.

Four galleries are devoted to the story of the traditional 12-day Peranakan wedding where significant ceremonies like the
lap chai, (exchange of gifts) and chiu thau (coming of age, which was the most important rite) are presented.

''While the actual wedding took place on the first day, the ceremonies stretched over 12 days until the bride left her
parents' house and moved in with her in-laws,'' Ee said.

The recreated wedding chamber displays an ornately carved Ranjan Kahwain (wedding bed) decorated with beadwork and embroidery featuring motifs such as birds, rats and crabs, (seen as fertility symbols by the Chinese.) ''A young child, preferably a boy, would roll three times across the bed three or four days before the wedding,'' Ee explained. ''The child would come from a family who has many sons, to get his male energy.''

Other contextual presentations include a Peranakan dining room set up for a grand banquet, a religious altar to worship
ancestors, as well as a coffin decorated with a colorful embroidered cover. ''The coffin is actually not empty, we've put
some wood inside, because our belief is that a coffin cannot be left empty or it calls for someone,'' said Ee, who is Peranakan.

While the Peranakans absorbed the local culture around them from very early on, they held on to their religious beliefs from China strongly and for a long time. The ACM curator David Alan Henkel notes that by the mid-19th century, many Chinese migrants coming to the Straits Settlements were surprised to find archaic worshiping practices that were no longer to be found in China.

Yet as they interacted with the British colonial rulers, the Peranakans became influenced by Western ideas, and many
converted to Christianity. The museum displays an example of a Bible written in Baba-Malay (the Peranakan language) as well as a rare Catholic altar converted from a Chinese piece of furniture that is decorated with Daoist deities, like the
stellar gods of happiness, wealth and longevity, and auspicious creatures juxtaposed against a central Catholic devotional image of the Holy Family.

Kwok says the curators have strived to present the Peranakan culture not as a ''dusty'' one of days gone by. ''We don't want the museum to be seen just as a celebration of the past. It is also a record of the present, and we have tried to look at the taste of the Peranakan and re-interpret it in a contemporary way,'' Kwok said, pointing out that the museum also includes a few contemporary paintings by Peranakan artists.

While the museum exhibit concentrates on the former Straits Settlements, it does include a few exhibits from Sumatra and
Java. ''In the future we hope to widen that brief and look at other Peranakan-related communities in southern Thailand and even some in Myanmar,'' Kwok said. ''The field is wide open for research.''

princess לינדה הודית the Beloved @ 12:12 PM

New Singapore museum preserves unique Peranakan culture

By Melanie Lee

SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters Life!) - In a faded sepia picture, a young Chinese woman wearing an elaborately embroidered blouse, sarong and finely beaded slippers, stares out from history.

The snapshot, taken at the turn of the last century, of a Nyonya or Peranakan woman, is one of the 1,200 artefacts on display in a new museum in Singapore dedicated to preserving the little-known Southeast Asian culture.

The descendants of Chinese migrants, Peranakans, whose name means "local born" in Malay, came to the Malay peninsula from the fourteenth century onwards.

Marrying local women, they settled down and formed a hybrid culture that mixed Chinese, Malay and European influences, and differentiated themselves from later waves of migrants from China with their unique language, arts, foods and dress.

While there are no reliable population estimates, as many as 10,000 ethnic Peranakans may live in Singapore, whose new
Peranakan Museum, opening on Saturday, houses the world's biggest collection of the culture's artefacts."Some of these things, the quality is so exquisite," Kenson Kwok, director of the museum, told Reuters.

"You can't see a comprehensive display of Peranakan material of this quality anywhere else."

Only two other museums in the world house Peranakan material, both of which are smaller and more niche in focus, Kwok said.

The partly-government funded S$12 million ($9 million) museum aims to draw 120,000 visitors in its first year, with Singapore trying to grow tourism to help offset declining manufacturing.

Among the jewels of the collection is an ornately carved nineteenth century blackwood chair, inlaid with marble and
painted with flowers, and an elegant 3-foot beaded tablecloth featuring colourful exotic birds.

Ceramics, textiles and pieces of furniture -- donated or on loan from Peranakans in Singapore and Malaysia -- are spread through 10 galleries.

Interactive displays show an elaborate 12-day wedding and a Peranakan funeral, complete with women wailing in the background.

NYONYAS AND BABAS

The new museum joins something of a small Peranakan renaissance in the city state.

While Peranakans are no longer as distinct a community in Singapore as in the past, the country saw its first
comprehensive dictionary of the Peranakan dialect "Baba Malay" published in 2006. A baba is a Peranakan man.

Peranakan food has also made it to the mainstream, said Linda Chee, editor of Singapore's Peranakan magazine.

Popiah (fresh spring rolls), the curries sold at Chinese food stalls, chap chye (mixed vegetables in bean sauce) and pineapple tarts all have Peranakan roots, she said.



Half a dozen Peranakan restaurants sell traditional dishes such as fishcakes, chicken with black nuts, glutinous rice dumplings and chili-based sambals.



Others see echoes of Peranakan women's fine silver belts in the -- plasticated -- silver belts worn by the city-state's teenage girls, and in the flower-patterned uniform worn by the national airline's 'Singapore Girl' stewardesses.



Bright yellow, green and pink Peranakan-style porcelain tea cups and plates also make popular souvenirs with tourists.

But hanging onto heritage can be a challenge in modern, multicultural Singapore, Chee said.



"Not many in my generation and even fewer of those in their 20s and 30s can speak the Peranakan patois which gives us that sense of familiarity within the community," she said.



"Hopefully, the growing pride in being Peranakan can help to reverse the situation."

Just because modern Peranakans do not often wear traditional outfits or observe traditional rituals does not mean the culture is dead, said museum director Kwok.

"Important aspects of the culture are still alive in Peranakan families," he said.

"I won't say it's dying, but some of the archaic and elaborate ceremonies are not practical and people don't have the time to do those anymore."

(Additional reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Neil Chatterjee
and Gillian Murdoch)



April 25 (Reuters Life!) - Crammed with beaded slippers, bright porcelains and marble-inlaid furniture, Singapore's Peranakan Museum opens on Saturday to showcase the colourful but little-known hybrid Asian culture. Here are five facts about the Peranakans and their culture.

* Peranakans come from different parts of Malaysia, such as Penang and Malacca, as well as

coastal areas of Indonesia's Java and Sumatra islands.

* Many Peranakans have since migrated to different parts of Southeast Asia, including Singapore. Female Peranakans are
called 'nyonyas' and the men 'babas'.

* A matriarchal society, the head of a Peranakan household is usually the grandmother. Babas were the breadwinners of the family.

* Peranakans were bilingual, speaking English as well as their dialect of Baba Malay, and embraced influences from various religions including Buddhism, Taoism, ancestral worship and Christianity.

* In the nineteenth century Peranakans sent their children to convent schools instead of Chinese schools to learn English,
unlike most children of that time. As a result, Peranakan culture absorbed European influences and some converted to
Christianity.

(Writing by Melanie Lee; Editing by Gillian Murdoch)

princess לינדה הודית the Beloved @ 12:09 PM

Singaporean : Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Peranakan, Hakka, Hainanese, Malay, Indian or others? RANDOM INTERESTING FACTS.

Street name origins

• Bukit Pasoh Road is located on a hill that in the 1830s marked the western boundary of the colonial town.Mosque Street is named after Jamae Mosque, located on the South Bridge Road end of the street. The mosque was completed in 1830 by the Chulia Muslims from the Coromandel coast of South India. In the early years, Mosque Street was the site of ten stables.


• Pagoda Street takes its name from the Sri Mariamman Temple. During the 1850s and 1880s, the street was one of the centres of slave traffic. It also had its share of coolie quarters and opium smoking dens. One of the traders was Kwong Hup Yuen who, it is thought, occupied No. 37, and after whom Pagoda Street is often referred to today.


• Sago Lane and Sago Street got their name because in the 1840s there were a number of sago factories located there. Sago is taken from the pith of the rumbia palm and made into flour that is used for making cakes both sweet and savoury.


• Smith Street was probably named after Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, who was the Governor of the Straits Settlements between 1887 and 1893.


• Temple Street refers to the Sri Mariamman Temple, which is located at the South Bridge Road end of the street. It was formerly known as Almeida Street after Joaquim d'Almeida, son of José D'Almeida, who owned some land at the junction of Temple Street and Trengganu Street. In 1908, the Municipal Commissioners changed its name to Temple Street to avoid confusion with other streets in Singapore which were also named after D'Almeida.


• Trengganu Street, described as "the Piccadilly of Chinese Singapore" in the past, now forms the heart of the tourist belt in Chinatown. In Chinese, it is called gu chia chui wah koi, or "the cross street of Kreta Ayer". The crossing of streets refers to Smith Street and Sago streets.


• Kreta Ayer Road is the road that defines for Chinese, the Chinatown area. In the 1880s, Kreta Ayer was the red light area in Chinatown.The effects of diversity of Chinatown are still present. The Hokkiens (Fukiens) are associated with Havelock Road, Telok Ayer Street, China Street and Chulia Street, and the Teochew merchants are mostly in Circular Road, River Valley Road, Boat Quay and South Bridge Road. The ubiquitous Cantonese are scattered around South Bridge Road, Upper Cross Street, New Bridge Road and Bukit Pasoh Road.


• The Chinese names for China Street are Kiau Keng Cheng (front of the gambling houses) and Hok Kien Ghi Hin Kong Si Cheng (front of the Hokkien Ghi Hin Kongsi). Church Street is an extension of Pickering Street and the Chinese call it Kian Keng Khau (mouth of the gambling houses) or Ngo Tai Tiahn Hok Kiong Khau (mouth of the five generations of the Tian Hok Temple).


Guilds, clans, trade unions and associations were all referred to as kongsi, a kind of Chinese mafia, although the literal meaning of the word is "to share". The so-called mafia is better translated as the secret and sinister hui. However, these secret societies, the triads, who themselves had suffered under the Manchus in China, provided support to the later immigrants to Singapore by paying their passage and permitting to pay it off by working.


• There were the letter writers of Sago Street -- the Chinese called this street Gu Chia Chwi Hi Hng Cheng (front of Kreta Ayer Theatre), but it was mainly associated with death -- the sandalwood idols of Club Street and the complicated and simple food of Mosque Street; all rang to the sound of the abacus. Old women could be seen early in the mornings topping and tailing bean sprouts, the skins of frogs being peeled, the newly killed snakes being skinned and the centuries-old panaceas being dispensed by women blessed with the power of curing.
  
  Surprisingly, in the heart of this diverse Chinese community is the Sri Mariamman Hindu Tamil Temple and the Indian mosques, Al-Abrar Mosque at Telok Ayer Street and Jamae Mosque at Mosque Street, as well as the Fukien Thian Hock Keng Chinese Temple of 1830 to 1842.


The street architecture of Chinatown's buildings, the shophouses especially, combine different elements of baroque architecture and Victorian architecture and do not have a single classification. Many of them were built in the style of painted ladies, and have been restored in that fashion. These styles result in a variety of different colours of which pastel is most dominant. Trengganu Street, Pagoda Street and Temple Street are such examples of this architecture, as well as development in Upper Cross Street and the houses in Club Street. Boat Quay was once a slave market along the Singapore River, Boat Quay has the most mixed-style shophouses on the island.

It was in 1843, when land titles were issued, that the terraces in Pagoda Street (now with additions, mostly three-storey) were born. They were originally back to back, an arrangement which made night soil collection difficult, but lanes were developed in between following the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) backlane orders of 1935.

The architectural character of many of the terraces in Chinatown is much more Italianate in style than those of, for instance Emerald Hill or Petain Road. Windows often appear as mere slits with narrow timber jalousies (often with adjustable slats). Fanlights over the windows are usually quite decorative and the pilasters and balconies and even the plasterwork and colours seem to be Mediterranean in flavour. The style was probably introduced by those early Chinese immigrants (both China-born and Straits-born) who had knowledge of the Portuguese architecture of Macao, Malacca and Goa. The Chettiars and Tamils from Southern India would also have been familiar with the European architecture there, although it is difficult to imagine how these people would have had a particularly strong influence on building in Chinatown.

The Chinese in Singapore are people of Chinese descent who are born in or immigrated to Singapore and have attained citizenship or permanent residence status. As of 2000, Chinese Singaporeans constitute 76.8% of Singapore's population, or about three out of four Singaporeans.

Chinese in Singapore today commonly recognize themselves as Singaporeans rather than Chinese. Many Chinese too have married Peranakans, who are Chinese who have married ethnic Malays and have adopted a mix of Chinese and Malay culture, and increasing numbers are marrying outside their ethnic group.

Know your dialect origins
The Chinese in Singapore are almost exclusively "Han Chinese". In reality, the "Han Chinese" are actually made up of various acculturated groups and aborigines of different parts of China who have adopted the culture and language of the original Han Chinese, who originated in northern China. The Chinese in Singapore belong to several linguistic-cultural dialect groups, originating from mainly the southern parts of China. The Hokkien, Teochew and Hainanese, all of whom belong to the Min-nan group, jointly form more than three-quarters of the Chinese population. The Cantonese and Hakka account for most of the remainder.

Government policies, such as banning dialect-medium subjects in schools and the media, have resulted in an entire generation of young Singaporeans distanced from their various mother tongues, leading to considerable difficulties in communication between the young and old.

The Hokkiens (Fukiens) constitute around 41% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Most came from the southern parts of the Fujian province, primarily Xiamen and Quanzhou. They speak Hokkien, a Min-nan dialect, which is comprehensible to Teochew, and to a lesser extent, Hainanese speakers.

Early Hokkiens settled around Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street, enclaving around the Thian Hock Kheng Temple and subsequent clan headquarters Hokkien Huey Kuan, later expanding to Hokien St and the vicinity of China Street.

As the early settlers come from the southern coast of China, they tended to live off sea trades and worship one of the patron-deities of Taoist pantheon, the Heavenly Mother or "Ma Zhu" who supposedly look out for seafarers. Thian Hock Kheng temple houses "Ma Zhu" and is also known as Ma Zhor Kheng. Another popular patron group of deities being the Nine Emperor Gods, a commemoration of the Emperors who brought peace and prosperity to the people and the prayer to the Jade Emperor on the 8th day of Chinese New Year.

An occult Taoist practice by a Taoist a priest call "Tangki" is also popular amongst Hokkien. Basically, the priest (Tangki) goes into a spiritual trance and acted as a medium between the mortal and the chosen deity. It is said that the Taoist deity enter the Tangki's body and act as an oracle for mortal consultation usually concerning domestic queries and request like a talisman to protect their love ones

The Teochew (also spelt Teochiu) in Singapore constitutes about 21% of the Chinese population in Singapore. Teochews originated from the Chaoshan region in Guangdong Province of China, namely Jieyang, Shantou, Chaozhou, Chaoyang, Puning, Chao'an, Raoping, Huilai, and Shanwei.

The Teochew speak Teochew, a Min-nan dialect, which is much comprehensible to the Hokkiens. However, despite similarities linguistically and culturally, the Teochew and Hokkien considered themselves distinct and never got along well, especially during the British colonial era. Like the Hokkiens, superstitious Teochew also shared the Taoist belief of Tanki.

The Teochews were the dominant Chinese dialect group for a period of time during the 19th century. Mass immigration of Chinese from Fujian later outnumbered the Teochews, especially in the south. The majority of the Chinese living along the banks of the Straits of Johor were largely Teochew until the HDB initiated mass redevelopment from the 1980s onwards.

However, the majority of the Teochew settled along the banks of Singapore River in Chinatown during the 19th and early 20th century. Teochews who settled in Chinatown professed in many commercial sectors as well as fishery. Traditional commercial sector Chinatown, are dominated by Teochews include Circular Road and South Bridge Road.

Others, mainly businessmen, set up gambier and pepper plantations in the dense forests of Singapore, parts of northern Singapore as well as Johor Bahru. The Chinese first started their plantations with the approval of the Sultan of Johor from the nineteenth century onwards. This attracted more Teochew businessmen to start their plantations in these areas over the years. As such, the "Kangchu" system eventually started to form. The Chinese word "Kang" (江) means river, while "Chu" (屋) means house. However, in this context, "Chu" is the clan name of the first headman in charge of the plantations in the area.

Like many other dialect groups, early Chinese immigrants (Teochew: Sengkhek) cluster themselves to form clan and dialect associations. These clan associations or Kongsi serves as unions for the mostly illiterate Chinese laborers and their colonial ruler/ employer. Subsequently there was a decamp from colonial bosses when the Kongsi contract their own import/ export, which in the colonialist eyes was considered competition and labelled piracy. And to safeguard their rice bowl, members of certain clans were sworn in with elaborate rites of passage which the colonialist termed as secret societies. Mostly, such associations were formed to look after the religious and welfare needs of Chinese immigrants in Singapore. One of the more prominent clan assosciation for the Teochew include Ngee Ann Kongsi, a Teochew-oriented association formed in 1845, and has established themselves since then.

The Straits Times highlighted that Hougang has a relatively high concentration of Teochew residents.

The Cantonese makes up 15% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Unlike the Hokkien, Teochew and the Hainanese, the Cantonese speak a dialect belonging to the Yue family. The Cantonese community is also further sub-divided into several sub-dialect groups. Yue Hai is considered to be the purest form of Cantonese because of its close proximity with Guangzhou. Other variants include Luoguang, Seiyap and Gouyeung. The Gwainaam variant is largely based in Guangxi and shares close affinity with Pinghua.

The Cantonese mainly worked as goldsmiths, tailors and restaurateurs during the early and mid 20th century. Cantonese businesses predominated along the shophouses of Temple Street, Pagoda Street and Mosque Street.

Many Cantonese women left behind their families in China and came to Singapore to work in construction sites for a living during the 20th century. This group of Cantonese women came from the Samsui district in Guangdong were later known as Samsui women. They are noted for their distinctive navy blue outfits and bright red headgear, which were meant for protecting their hair as they worked. The headgear was first worn by Wang Chao Yun 王朝云 字子霞, a concubine of Su Dongpo, in the Hakka Fui Chiu district of Guangdong province and it eventually became the traditional headgear of Hakkas. Cantonese women who worked alongside with female Hakka labourers and adopted the use of the headgear. To the average person, Samsui women normally evokes the image of a woman clad in blue top and trousers and the invariable headgear.

Cantonese women from the Seiyap district in Jiangmen prefecture wear a black headgear similar to the Samsui women. Seiyap women who wear black headgears mainly work in shipyards at the old harbour along Singapore river as well as at Keppel Harbour.

The Hakkas constitute 8% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Since their dialect was initially somewhat intelligible to Mandarin, although strongly influenced by Min-nan and Yue, they were believed to have migrated from Northern China between the 16th and the 17th century. Recent genetic studies, however, have shown that the Hakkas originate from Southern China, like the other Chinese dialect groups of Singapore.

Many Hakka women who came to Singapore during the early 20th century. They worked in construction sites wore headgears similar to the Samsui women. Unlike the Samsui women, these Hakka women wore black, rather than red headgears.

This group constitutes 5% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Of them, the majority are Hainanese, from Hainan, speaking Hainanese, a Min-nan dialect with its roots from the Hokkien dialect.

The others, who included the Hokchew, Hokchia and the Hinghwas, who came from Northern Fujian and Southern Zhejiang. They speak various Northern Min dialects. As late-comers to Singapore (late 19th century), most of them worked as shop helpers, chefs, and waiters in the hospitality sector. Hainanese Chicken Rice is a famous dish.

Mandarin speakers from Beijing and other northern provinces, and Wu speakers from Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, constitute only 2% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Most of them immigrated to Singapore much later than the other groups. They can all speak Standard Mandarin Chinese, the lingua franca among all the Chinese dialects, and are able to speak their own dialects as well, though their own dialects are rarely used in daily life even among those from the same region.

These are mainly first and second-generation Chinese Singaporeans who came to Singapore in the 1990s. As with overseas Chinese emigration patterns worldwide, they tend to be highly paid white-collar workers in multinational corporations or academics in research and educational institutes. Also, there is an increasing number of Chinese teachers from the PRC working in Primary and Secondary schools and Junior Colleges in Singapore. This is because the Ministry of Education in Singapore finds it increasingly difficult to find qualified young Singaporeans to teach Standard Mandarin.

There is a degree of discrimination against these recent immigrants. Despite being generally well-off, they are seen as outsiders who 'steal' the jobs of the 'natives'. Even in education institutions around the island there is a certain amount of discrimination as the number of foreign students increase.

The Peranakan, also known as Baba-Nonya are early Chinese immigrants from Malacca, of which many of them later migrated to Singapore. The men are known as Baba while the women are known as Bibiks or Nonyas. Peranakans in Singapore were once concentrated in the Katong area. This is because the Peranakans were the wealthiest social group after the colonial English masters during colonial Singapore, speaking and trading in English, Malay and Chinese languages such as Hokkien.

Many famous Peranakans and Hokkien Chinese moved out of the congested town of Singapore - now the Central Business District (CBD) - and built seaside mansions and villas along the East Coast in Tanjong Katong ("Turtle Bay" in the Malay language) for their dynasties. Some famous Peranakan descendants include Ivan Heng and Dick Lee.

However, they have since dispersed off to other parts of Singapore after 1965. Peranakans in Singapore generally belong to the Hokkien and Teochew dialect groups and spoke Baba Malay and Chinese dialects as mother tongues. Many of them converted to Roman Catholicism during the 18th-century Portuguese colonisation into South-East Asia. Missionaries set up posts in Batavia (Indonesia), Malaya (Malaysia) of which Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were parts of before the 1965 independent and separation movement of Singapore city from its Malayan hinterland.

The Peranakans were a transcultural race that blended colonial English style with indigenous Malay languages with ancient Hokkien Chinese customs.

According the 2000 census, 42.5% of Singapore's population declare themselves to be Buddhist, 8.5% Taoist, 14.6% Christian and 14.8% non-religious. The Chinese form the vast majority in these four groups, due in part to their dominance in Singapore.

The majority of the Chinese in Singapore register themselves as Buddhist, and a smaller number claimed to be Taoist. Many Chinese have retained the belief of so called folk Buddhism or folk Taoism, an age-old Chinese tradition that combines Buddhist with Taoist beliefs, or vice-versa. Taoism was once the dominant belief system, but younger generations have either switched to modern, more orthodox versions of Buddhism, Christianity or have become non-religious

Taoism is practiced by 8.5% of Singapore's population, which amounts to about 200,000 individuals. A backbone of folk Chinese culture among southern Chinese dialect groups, Taoism was once a popular belief held by many Chinese, Taoist beliefs has witnessed a sharp decline from the 1970s onwards, as most of the younger-generation, Chinese Singaporeans abstain from folk beliefs, viewing that superstitious beliefs would do harm to them.

Taoists in Singapore are generally polytheistic, and worship similar deities. Many of these deities are ancestral, and to their dialect groups suggest different levels of veneration for each deity. These southern Chinese also worship some deities of common origins, notably Matsu. Other deities that were venerated and frequently taken as decorative objects include Fertility (Hock in Teochew/Hokkien, Fok in Cantonese, Fu 福 in Mandarin), Prosperity (Lock in Teochew/Hokkien, Luk in Cantonese, Lu 禄 in Mandarin), and Longevity (Siew in Teochew/Hokkien, Sao in Cantonese, Shou 寿 in Mandarin). This includes ancestral gods such as Guan Yu. The God of Fortune is also venerated by many Chinese businessmen all over Singapore as well as Malaysia. Minor deities, especially ancestral, worshipped by different dialect groups may not share a common origin with other dialect groups.

The Hakka are an exception in this case. Unlike other Chinese dialect groups, some deities worshipped by Hakka are not depicted in the form of statues. Usually a stone or tablet is used to represent the deity instead, and this is particularly true side-temple deities that are not placed in the main altar.

Religions in Singapore
Adherents of Taoism would place house altars in their living room. This is more frequently seen among Chinese families, rather than individuals. The family god or deity would be placed on the top altar, and a spiritual tablet would be placed at the bottom altar, although ancestral tablets may be placed at the top altar as well. Often, urns, usually placed with some joss sticks, are placed in front of the deity. Oil lamps may also be placed at the sides, and fruit offerings are also placed in front of the deity as offerings to "appease" the deity.

A brazier, often painted red, may also be seen. They are meant for burning joss papers. They also hang small urns filled with sand and ash outside the house; this is where joss sticks are placed. The smoke that is produced whilst burning the joss sticks are believed to be messages of requests that can be received by gods in heaven. A small altar, painted red, with the words " 天宮賜福" painted on it. The altar is meant to be the image of heaven.

Traditional Chinese funeral customs is largely Taoist, even in the case that prayers are chanted by a Buddhist monk instead of a Taoist priest. Such funerals are usually conducted under the void deck of a HDB flat or condominium, or within the living premises of the deceased's private house.

In the past, Taoist priests were called in to chant mantras and prayers, although the economic trends among Chinese Singaporeans have changed their preference for Buddhist monks instead. Very often, the deceased is laid to rest in a wooden coffin, which is placed under void decks for around two to four days. Land spatial constraints have promoted family of the deceased members to be cremated in crematoriums and temples, and very few still maintain the trend to bury the dead.

Taoists in Singapore are influenced by folk Buddhism to some extent. Vegetarianism among Taoist priests and worship of the bodhisattva of compassion, Kuan Yin as an immortal are some influences of Buddhism. Folk Taoists are also influenced by the reincarnation theology from the Buddhists, and believed that the deceased's soul will reincarnate into another being in his next life, be it a human or an animal.

The economic growth in Singapore has led to a steep decline in the number of adherents of Taoism, from 30% in 1980 to 22.4% in 1990, and then down to 8.5% in 2000. Changes in lifestyles have also affected the belief system of many younger-generation Chinese Singaporeans to embrace evangelical Christianity as well as modern versions of Buddhism. Modern Taoists in Singapore generally belong to the lower-income group of people

Buddhism is practiced by 42% of Singapore's population, or a little more than half of the Chinese in Singapore. Buddhists in Singapore before independence are almost exclusively Chinese folk Buddhists who combine elements of Taoism and ancestral worship. Overseas missionaries from Thailand, Sri Lanka , Japan and to a lesser extent, Tibet, have since then introduced Theravada, Nichiren Buddhism and Tibetan forms of Buddhism to Singaporeans. The Buddhists in Singapore are almost exclusively ethnic Chinese, with the exception of a minority of Japanese expatriates, as well as minuscule numbers of leftists, Europeans, Americans and Eurasians who have converted from Christianity.

Folk Buddhists in Singapore are generally considered to belong to Chan, although in actual fact there is no clear classification as such. Folk Buddhists are influenced by folk Taoists, and the majority worship Bodhisattva in various forms, notably Kuan Yin(aka Goddess of Mercy) and to some extent, Avalokitesvara. Kuan Yin is often worshipped as an Immortal by many folk Buddhists.

Folk Buddhists practice customs much in common with folk Taoists, notably in funerals and items used for worship. This is especially true in the role of Buddhist monks in funerals, which they were believed to possess as much, if not more powers than Taoists priests to ward off evil spirits that are believed to haunt the deceased's soul. Decorations used for Taoists funerals that were intended to ward off evil spirits are not used in Buddhist funerals.

Usage of joss sticks and other incense is an influence from ancient Shamanistic beliefs via Taoism. Joss sticks are believed to contain messages for the supernatural being in heaven from the wishes the human being on earth wants to fulfill. Joss sticks are mainly used by folk Buddhists in prayers as well as funerals. Rattle sticks are also used at prayers. According to Taoist belief, rattling the sticks in the container would shower fortune on the person himself.

A large portion of folk Buddhists own house altars in their homes, notably among families. A Kuan Yin would be placed at the top altar, and a spiritual tablet would be placed at the bottom altar. Like folk Taoists, urns, usually placed with some joss sticks, are placed in front of Kuan Yin. Oil lamps may also be placed at the sides, and fruits are also placed in front of Kuan Yin as offerings. Some folk Buddhists may also have a heavenly altar, painted red, with the words "天宮赐福" painted on it. Such altars are usually placed along corridors.

Buddhists celebrate the festival Vesak, a festival that Taoists do not celebrate. Vesak is a festive day that commemorates the birth, Enlightenment and passing of Gautama Buddha. Among folk Buddhists, joss sticks and other incense are used.

In recent decades, Buddhist missionaries from other parts of Asia have made large number of converts, in a way similar to Christian missionaries. Books, notably on Tibetan Buddhism, are one of many factors to propagate modern forms of Buddhism. Other factors include Singapore's relations with Buddhist organizations overseas.

Buddhists in Singapore normally tend to look towards Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Temple, a monastery and a temple which caters services strongly related to orthodox Buddhism, notably dharma and meditation. Young Buddhist boys would look forward to such temples to ordain monkhood, temporarily as well as lifetime.

Both Nichiren Buddhism by SSA and Theravada Buddhism also wield considerable influence among Buddhists in Singapore. Many Buddhists, notably Chinese who have shed some of their Taoist-influenced, folk Buddhism, continue to use incense during prayers.

Percentage of people declaring to be Buddhists in Singapore grew from 27% in 1980 to 31.2% in 1990 and 42.5% in 2000. Such growth rates is largely contributed to young, impressionistic ethnic Chinese people who are attracted to foreign Buddhist missionaries belonging to various denomination and stresses on Buddhist ideology more strongly than folk Buddhism. Folk Buddhists, which are considered less orthodox than modern Buddhism, are largely confined to older generation, Chinese Singaporeans who are also influenced by folk Taoist beliefs.

Christianity is practiced by 14.6% of Singapore's population, the great majority of whom are ethnic Chinese. Most Christians in Singapore are either Roman Catholic or Protestant, with Orthodox Christians forming a minuscule minority.

Protestants in Singapore include Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists. Non-sectarian Churches such as Pentecostals, Charismatics and the City Harvest have made large numbers of converts in the recent years, notably among youths.

Ancestor worship is permitted among Roman Catholics but is considered taboo among Protestant denominations. The continuation of ancestor worship is commonly seen among the older Catholics, especially during the Cheng Meng festival.

Christian church services are mainly held in English, though some churches have services in different languages, notably Mandarin, Tamil, Tagalog and on rarer occasions, Chinese dialects. Latin services are occasionally conducted in Catholic churches.

Corresponding to the trend towards modernization and westernization, the Christian population in Singapore has grown from 10% in the 1980's to 18% in 1988. In recent years it has dropped to below 15%. Many youths have moved from traditional churches to the more liberal non-sectarian mega-churches such as New Creation Church, City Harvest and the Faith Community Baptist Church.

Another 13% of the Chinese Singaporean are non-religious and they call themselves "free thinkers". In Singapore, this term means that the person does not believe in any religion. However, some may practise Chinese traditions and practices.

A small minority of the Singapore Chinese follow either Islam or Hinduism. Most are converts who have married Malay Muslims or Indian Hindus. Some may be raised by Malays or Indians.

There are records of the Chinese presence in Singapore as early as the 14th-century. Imperial Chinese sources state that there was a significant amount of Chinese inhabitants in the region. According to the Chinese explorer Wang Dayuan, the Chinese inhabitants of Singapore were dressed in local traditional costume and were largely intermarried with the local South-East Asian women, following an amalgam of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. These were the earliest Peranakans of Singapore.

After Singapore became the capital of the British Straits Settlements in 1832, the free trade policy attracted many Chinese from mainland China to trade, and many settled down in Singapore. The large influx of Chinese to Singapore led to the establishment of a large number of Chinese associations, schools, and temples in Singapore and within a century, the Chinese immigrants exceeded the population of the Malays. During this period, Christian missionaries from Europe began to evangelize the Asians, especially the Chinese. By 1849, the Chinese formed half of Singapore's population

The Second Sino-Japanese War, started in 1937, revived a perceived sense of patriotism in the local Chinese to China and soon the Singaporean Chinese imposed an embargo against Japanese goods and products in Singapore. During the war, fearing for the safety of their relatives in China, some of the immigrants returned to China to fight the Japanese, while established entrepreneurs sent economic aid or military equipment to China. After the Japanese took Singapore in 1942, the Kempeitai tracked down many the Chinese who aided the Chinese war effort against Japan. However, the Kempeitai's Sook Ching Operation was simply a massacre designed to drive fear into the local populace, so the Kempeitai simply picked out people based on accounts of masked informers, which in many cases are false accounts based on personal vendettas. There were also active anti-Japanese resistance during the war, such as Force 136, headed by Lim Bo Seng.

Race riots were common during the early post-war period, predominantly the period between self-governance and independence in 1965. One major riot took place during Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebrations, on 21 July 1964. There were records of high casualties (23 killed and 454 injured). There were evidences which pointed that the riot was politically motivated with hopes to oust the then incumbent Prime Minister (Lee Kuan Yew) and his cabinet, to prevent the ideology of a Malaysian Malaysia to spread north towards Peninsular Malaysia.

Variant Names
Chinese names:
(1) In Hokkien, Twa Poh meaning "big town" referring to Chinatown with more shops, in comparison to the name of North Bridge Road, Seoh Poh meaning "small town".
(2) In Hokkien, Gu-chhia chui toa be-chhia lo or in Cantonese Ngau-chhe-shui tai ma-lo both mean "The big horse (water-carriage) road in Kreta Ayer".
(3) In Hokkien, Chhat-bok koi or in Cantonese Chhat-muk kai both mean "Paint-wood street" i.e. Painter's street (refers to the part between the Police Court (Hong Lim Green today) and the Singapore River or Elgin Bridge; also the corner of North Canal Road, where numerous painters once lived).
(4) In Cantonese, Tai Ma Lo meaning "The great horse-way".

Tamil name: Kalapithi Kadei Sadakku meaning "Cawker's shop street".

Bras Basah Road (Chinese: 勿拉士巴沙路) is a one-way road in Singapore in the planning areas of Museum and Downtown Core. The road starts at the junction of Orchard Road and Handy Road, at the ERP gantry towards the Central Business District, and ends at the junction of Nicoll Highway and Raffles Boulevard which then becomes Raffles Boulevard. The road houses several landmarks including Raffles The Plaza, Raffles Hotel, Singapore Art Museum, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd and the Singapore Management University. A future MRT station will bear the same name, known as Bras Basah MRT Station on the Circle Line.
The road had two names in Jacksons' 1822 Plan of Singapore. Between North Bridge Road and Beach Road, it was called Church Street because of the presence of the Missionary Society chapel, which stood at the corner of North Bridge Road and Bras Basah Road. Between North Bridge Road and Selegie Hill, it was called Selegy Street. In the 1826 lease, the road was called Cross Road. Raffles suggested the name College Street, the most likely reason being Raffles Institution was located in the area. Built by convict labour, the road appears on GD Coleman's 1836 Map of Singapore as Beras Basah, beras means harvested rice with the husk removed in Malay. The road was so-called as in the early days wet rice was laid to dry here on the channels of the "fresh water stream" (now the Stamford Canal which has been mostly covered up). Another version is that before the area between Bras Basah Road and Stamford Road was filled in, tons of rice were brought by boats into the lagoon and spread to dry on the road. On one occasion, high tides wet the rice.

In the old days, the Chinese referred to the road by several names, including lau kha ku keng khau or "old mouth of the old jail", which is a reference to an old gaol between Stamford Road and Bras Basah Road, and kha ku means "fetters" in Hokkien. Another name was a reference to the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd located on this road which belonged the French mission, the name is he lan xi li bai tang or "beside the French church"; tek kok seng long or "the German pharmacy", referring to the building which stood at a corner. Another name included hai ki ang neo tua oh pi or "beside the seaside English big school", referring to Raffles Institution. In Chinese, it is known as hai gan hong mao da xue bian, or da shu guan bian (大书馆边), meaning beside the big school (RI). In Hakka, thong kwong sen kei, meaning "Thong Kwong Sen Street" after a Hakka-owned tailoring establishment on the road.

Serangoon Road was first identified as a bridle path in 1821, and by 1822 it had reached the present Woodsville Corner. A road was proposed in 1822 and by 1827 the road reached the Serangoon River.
It is difficult to say what the word Serangoon actually means. The etymology of the word is uncertain. The most plausible view holds that it was derived from a small marsh bird, the burong ranggong, which was common in the swamps of the Serangoon River (formerly the Rangon River). It had a black back, white breast, long, sharp bill, grey crest, long neck and unwebbed feet.
On early maps of Singapore, the name of the area is called Seranggong. Sa is short for satu, or "one", in Malay. An alternative derivation is offered by Haji Sidek, an amateur etymologist interested in Malay place names, who speculates that the name Serangoon is derived from the Malay words di serang dengan gong, which means "to attack with gongs and drums". According to Haji Sidek, people used to go to Benut in Johore through the Serangoon area and had to use gongs to frighten off wild animals and snakes which used to roam the jungle covered area. Serang dengan gong gradually became Serangoon over the years.
Siddique and Puru Shotam, however, argue that such as derivation meant that the name developed after the road, which is inconsistent with the fact that the term ranggong predates the development of the road.
In the 1828 Franklin and Jackson's Plan of Singapore, there are three references to Rangung: Tanjong "Rangung", the River "Rangung" and the Island "Rangung". In Coleman's 1836 Map of Singapore, the names Tanjong Rangon and Rangon River can already be found. Rangong in Malay means "warped or shrunken", as of the plane of a wall, roof or decking. It is evident that the road cut from Selegi was named by the early references to "Rangung" in the north-east of the island — one road linking the swamp bird area of ranggong — hence "Serangoon".
For the Chinese, the road is called hou gang lu(後港路) or ow kang, meaning "back of the port road", signifying that one could go to the back of the port in Kallang.

The northern tip of Serangoon Road is known as nan sheng hua yuen pien (南?花園邊), or "fringe of garden in the south", which referred to the Chinese vegetable gardens in the Bendemeer area. This general area was also termed mang chai chiao (feet of the jackfruit) because of the many jackfruit trees which grew there. The Hokkien Chinese name for Serangoon Road was au kang in, meaning "back creek". The Chinese refer to Serangoon Gardens as ang sali.
The main occupants of the area were, however, the Indian community. Indians congregated here from 1826 to work in the brick kilns and cattle industries situated here. The kilns were discontinued in 1860 and the cattle sheds were removed by the municipality in 1936. The area, however, remains predominantly Indian and today is known as "Little India", the locus of Singapore Indian retailing, everyday culture and festivities.
The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple on Serangoon Road built more than a century ago went under rebuilding for three years (1984-1987) costing S$2.2 million. Consecration ceremony of the new temple took place on 8 February 1987

princess לינדה הודית the Beloved @ 12:08 PM

Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Biggest Mistake By Freelancers

from ArticleCity by Kathleen Poole

When you first begin your freelance career whether as a writer, photographer, web designer, graphic artist or whatever you have to face the ultimate challenge: getting clients.

So you scour all the marketing books and Internet articles, and you talk with others who have gone before you to see if they have a secret.

Then, one day, you take the plunge. You begin to market your freelance business. You come to realize that if you don’t aggressively market, you are going to get nowhere fast. And that’s not why you became a freelancer. You became a freelancer because you wanted to call your own shots and you believed you could make more money working for yourself than for someone else.

If you are diligent and determined, your marketing efforts soon begin to pay off. You land a couple of clients. One of them, in fact, may be a big one. It’s a large company with tons of work for you to do and plenty of money to give you in return. Best of all, you’ve managed to impress them.

Welcome to the gravy train!

Well, not so fast. It is extremely tempting to climb onto this gravy train and go along for the ride as long as it will take you. But “putting all your eggs in one basket,” or devoting most of your freelance work to just one client, will end in disaster sooner or later.

While you are so busy with your big client, you tend to curtail or even stop marketing, so no one else ever learns about you. You eschew smaller clients and projects because you don’t have the time and you can make a lot more money with your big client.

Worst of all, the day will come (I promise) that your gravy train will derail. The company will be swallowed up by some bigger, impersonal corporation that doesn’t know you and doesn’t care. Your job will become so important that the company will decide it needs a full-timer instead of a freelancer. Or your job will become obsolete as the company moves in a new direction. The contact people you have so carefully cultivated over time will gradually move on to other jobs, so you will have no one on your side. Or, heaven forbid, you will make an egregious mistake that just cannot be forgiven and you will be shown the door.

I know this from firsthand experience. For more than 12 years I road the gravy train of a company that handed me thousands of dollars every month. Then things began to change. The company is no longer operating, and my contacts have all departed for parts unknown.

Too many freelancers make the mistake of allowing a large percentage of their income to come from one source. If one client supplies more than 20 percent of your revenue on a consistent basis, you need to find more clients and other sources of revenue as soon as possible.

I’ve also known people who worked full-time and then decided to freelance almost exclusively for their former employer! Same mistake. Don’t let familiarity doom your bottom line. Always be on the lookout for new clients.

(One caveat: In the very beginning of your freelance career, you may have only one or two clients to start, so they will, of course, contribute a large percentage of your income. But after about six months, you really need to have multiple clients and many baskets full of all those golden eggs.)

In a previous article, I mentioned that the Number One mistake freelancers make is turning self-employment into an excuse for self-indulgence. Having one big, lucrative client is a surefire way to fall into the trap of self-indulgence. Self-indulgence leads to all kinds of excuses for not working. And when you’re a non-working freelancer, you are a broke freelancer.

While it’s okay and quite wonderful!–to have a big, lucrative client, don’t let that client dominate your time or make you financially dependent on him or her for your livelihood. Unless, of course, you’d rather quit freelancing and go back to work in a cubicle with half-hour lunch breaks, constant pressure, few if any chances, a dismal destiny, little prospect for advancing in your field, and no chance to make more money no matter how hard you work.

( http://www.freelancezone.com.sg/blog/?p=8#more-8 )

princess לינדה הודית the Beloved @ 6:52 PM

Sunday, March 1, 2009

A pretty interesting article

& it definitely ain't tabloid.

princess לינדה הודית the Beloved @ 9:58 AM