Latest news with #ChineseNewYear
The Star
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Widower visits Barbie Hsu's grave every day
KOREAN DJ Koo Jun-yup is still mourning the passing of his wife, actress and singer Barbie Hsu, China Press reported. He was seen visiting her grave every day, come rain or shine, in New Taipei. One fan who visited the cemetery to place flowers on Hsu's gravestone spotted Koo sitting there alone. 'I saw a man sitting in the middle of the cemetery. As I got closer, I saw that it was him,' the fan said. In a photo uploaded by the fan, Koo is seen wearing a black tank top and baseball cap as he stares at Hsu's gravestone. When the fan moved closer, Koo smiled and thanked them for coming. The photo later went viral, with many Internet users calling Koo 'the most devoted man on earth' and some saying that it moved them to tears. 'I hope he can recover from his heartache someday,' one netizen wrote. It was reported that Hsu was married to Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei, but they divorced in November 2021 after 10 years of marriage. Just four months after the divorce, Hsu shocked the public by marrying Koo, whom she had dated some two decades prior. However, only three years after their marriage, Hsu died of pneumonia on Feb 2 this year during her Chinese New Year vacation with Koo in Japan. > A woman in China's Shanxi province sparked a discussion on domestic violence after she killed her boyfriend by smashing his head into a wall, Sin Chew Daily reported. The woman, known only as Juan, had told the man, Qiang, that she wanted to break up, the Shanxi Higher People's Court heard. In a bid to salvage the relationship, Qiang began banging his head against the wall until it bled to garner Juan's sympathy. Juan then grabbed Qiang's hair and slammed his head against the wall repeatedly before he collapsed. Qiang succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. The court found Juan guilty of assault and sentenced her to 11 years in prison. The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Chinese cuisine to warm the soul this winter
A bowl of steamed dumplings is served during Chinese New Year. Photo: 123rf The cold winter months are an ideal time to prepare warm, restorative dishes that can fortify the soul. A range of ingredients are believed to rejuvenate the body, according to Chinese culinary tradition. Meat features prominently in such dishes, but there are usually plenty of delectable vegetarian options available as well as majestic hot pots. "No banquet is complete without chicken," according to an age-old Cantonese proverb, and so it's perhaps not surprising that poultry features prominently in many Chinese winter dishes. Hakka pepper chicken in pig's stomach can almost be described as a soulful pot of intensity. In this dish, a whole chicken is carefully wrapped inside a cleaned pig's stomach and slowly simmered with white peppercorns, ginger, goji berries and other herbs. The result is a creamy, milky broth bursting with aroma, with tender strips of chicken and chewy tripe that warms from within. Turning to a mainstay of Macanese cuisine, Portuguese chicken isn't what it sounds like. It's a dish that is born of Portuguese colonial influence but is distinctly local, blending coconut milk, curry, turmeric and baked potatoes in a sauce that turns pan-fried chicken golden with red hues. Aromatic and subtly spicy, the dish can be described as a showstopper. From the Tibetan Plateau comes stone pot chicken , a specialty from the Lulang grasslands in China's Tibet Autonomous Region. In this dish, highland chicken is simmered with matsutake mushrooms, ginseng root and goji berries in a hand-carved stone pot filled with alpine spring water. The stone pot's heat retention properties give the ingredients an earthy, herbal taste. A fusion of cultures: New Zealand lamb turned into classic Chinese-style BBQ skewers. Photo: Ruth Kuo According to latest Stats NZ data, an estimated 23.6 million sheep are registered on farms nationwide - roughly 4.5 animals per person. In short, one could say there's plenty of lamb to go around. In traditional Chinese medicine, lamb is classified as a "yang" ingredient - ideal for expelling cold and replenishing energy. Taiwanese mutton hotpot is a dish that uses mountain goat simmered with medicinal herbs such as angelica root and red dates. Tofu skin, daikon, napa cabbage and enoki mushrooms are then added to create a bubbling cauldron that fills the body with warmth. Meanwhile, lamb offal soup can typically be found in Chinese provinces such Shaanxi, Ningxia and Henan. The dish is renowned for its depth of flavour, with various lamb offal cooked in a peppery broth, completed with handfuls of coriander and liberal dashes of white pepper and served with flat noodles or vermicelli. A more delicate expression comes from Ningxia province in the form of steamed lamb with rice powder . Finely sliced young lamb is marinated, coated in seasoned ground rice and steamed until meltingly soft. With its rich flavor and nourishing qualities, beef takes center stage in many Chinese winter dishes. Sichuan boiled beef is not for the faint of heart and yet is perfect fare for winter warriors. Thin slices of beef are flash-boiled in a bubbling broth of chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and bean paste - a fiery, numbing experience that sends blood rushing to one's extremities. Meanwhile, a simpler potato-and-beef stew from northeastern China echoes Hungarian goulash. This dish is chunky, wholesome and perfect for sharing on a cold winter night. Black pepper beef, seared and clay-baked to sizzling perfection, is served at a Hong Kong cafe in Auckland. Photo: Ruth Kuo Few things say "winter" like gathering around a bubbling hot pot. A Chongqing/Sichuan-style beef tallow hot pot is a red inferno of beef tallow, chili, peppercorns and beef bone broth. Packed with lamb or beef, tofu, seafood and vegetables, the soup almost takes on a life of its own. Winter evenings in Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province typically feature a Cantonese hot pot , with a broth that includes adaptogenic herbs such as codonopsis root, Chinese yam and astragalus, or sweet combinations of sugar cane, water chestnuts and honey dates. The hot pot is filled with indulgent ingredients such as abalone, oysters, crab, handmade beef balls, minced shrimp, tender San Huang (Three Yellows) chicken or thinly sliced beef and lamb. The dipping sauces are just as diverse, reflecting the flavors of the southern coast - fish sauce, satay, soy sauce with sliced green chili rings all make an appearance. The traditional Beijing-style copper hot pot is believed to date back to Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. The traditional setup of this dish calls for a charcoal fire and a copper pot, which heats quickly and evenly. Hand-cut paper-thin slices of lamb are then swished through a light broth, often flavored with ginger and scallions, allowing the meat's freshness to shine. The classic dipping sauce for this dish combines sesame paste with chive flower sauce, fermented bean curd and chili oil. Served alongside napa cabbage, tofu, glass noodles and ideally a bottle of Erguotou (a distilled northern Chinese alcoholic beverage), this age-old ritual remains a beloved way to fend off the bitterly cold northern wind. A hot pot offers diners countless options. Photo: AFP/Wang Quanchao For a softer approach to winter nourishment, Buddhist vegetarian cuisine offers comfort and balance. Luo han zhai is a classic temple dish made with 18 different plant-based ingredients. Traditionally, it features a harmonious mix of three mushroom varieties, six kinds of fungus and nine types of bamboo shoots - including shiitake, wood ear, silver ear, and winter and asparagus bamboo shoots. In home kitchens, other versions may include such ingredients as morels, lotus seeds, snow peas and cellophane noodles, delivering in a vibrant, refreshing, and well-balanced dish. Another vegetarian favourite is four happiness kao fu , a beloved Shanghainese Chinese New Year staple. The main ingredient - soft, spongy baked wheat gluten - soaks up the savoury-sweet braising liquid and is paired with ingredients such as enoki mushrooms, black fungus, winter bamboo shoots and peanuts. Meanwhile, kung pao king oyster mushrooms is a vegetarian dish that salutes the globally popular kung pao chicken. Diced king oyster mushrooms are stir-fried with dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns and peanuts. The result? A dish that is silky, chewy, crispy, spicy, tangy and a touch sweet - proof that authentic comfort food doesn't need to rely on meat. Classic Cantonese and local New Zealand dishes are served at a seafood restaurant in Rotorua. Photo: Ruth Kuo Few dishes capture the soul of winter street food like claypot rice with cured meats - a dish that is universally adored in communities stretching from Hong Kong and Macau to Southeast Asia. Cooked to order in a clay pot, the rice soaks up the rich, savoury oils of Cantonese sausage, bacon or dried duck. The rice at the bottom of the clay pot almost caramelises in a crunchy crust that has a smoky taste. Add a few stalks of blanched greens on the side and you have a soul-warming winter treat. Yunnan guoqiao mixian ("crossing the bridge" rice noodles) is a dish that features a fragrant, steaming broth that has been simmered for hours with old chicken and pork bones until clear and rich, with a golden layer of chicken fat deliberately added to lock in the heat. Thinly sliced meat, crisp vegetables and silky rice noodles are then immersed in the broth until cooked. The broth is kept above 70 degrees Celsius, allowing the soup and ingredients to blend together gently. Rice noodles are then added to accentuate the chicken's essence. Last, but not least, there are dumplings - a quintessential winter comfort food in northern China. Whether filled with chives and pork, onion and beef, napa cabbage and shrimp, or shiitake and chicken, they are dropped into bubbling water until tender and bursting with steam. Whether handmade and enjoyed with family around a kitchen table or bought from a roadside vendor in a swirl of steam, dumplings create a special kind of togetherness on a cold winter's day.
Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Straits Times
Man scammed 10 victims on Carousell over exercise clothes, misappropriated his hairdresser's money
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Malaysian national Ong Kok Mun admitted to five offences, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, drug charges and assisting others to retain their benefits from criminal conduct. SINGAPORE – A man scammed 10 victims on Carousell into handing him over $900 in 2024 thinking that they were buying exercise clothes from him. Malaysian national Ong Kok Mun, 39, also misappropriated about $1,800 of his hairdresser's money that same year. On July 29, Ong admitted to five offences, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, drug charges and assisting others to retain their benefits from criminal conduct. Nine other cheating charges and one drug-related offence will be taken into consideration for his sentencing on July 31. The court heard that Ong, a former delivery man, lost his job in February 2024. He then purportedly bought exercise garments in bulk from Shopee and resold them on Carousell. Between Feb 3 and Feb 14 that year, 10 people paid Ong a total of $920 for the clothes. But he cut off contact after getting the money and did not deliver the apparel to them. One victim paid him $155 for four sport bras and two pairs of shorts from Lululemon, but never received the items. Ong later admitted that he had used the money to pay for his personal expenses and accommodation at a hotel after his supply of exercise clothes ran out. Ong also misappropriated money from people he k new personally, such as a hairdresser of whom he had been a regular customer for many years. In January 2024, he told the hairdresser – a fellow 39-year-old Malaysian – that he had unused credits in his Shopback account. The hairdresser asked Ong if he could help him buy some Chinese New Year hampers at a discount using those credits. Ong then got the hairdresser to transfer $1,812 to his bank account, but did not buy the hampers nor return the money. Court documents did not state what he used the money for. Ong has not made restitution to any of his victims. During his unemployment period, Ong's former gang member offered him a job with a criminal syndicate. He would look for people who were willing to open and relinquish their bank accounts, which would then be used to receive money from scam victims. Ong received about $1,000 in commission for each bank account. Between March 10 and April 1, 2024, he referred at least 18 bank accounts to the syndicate. Six of these accounts received $422,999 in scam proceeds from 49 victims. Ong was arrested on April 3, 2024. The police searched his room at the Darlene Hotel in Geylang and found methamphetamine, which he kept for personal consumption. He admitted that he had started abusing the drug almost every day since June 2023 due to stress. Court documents showed that Ong was previously admitted to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre and jailed for drug consumption. Mr Edwin Ho of the Public Defender's Office, who represented Ong, said his client's involvement with the criminal syndicate was driven by financial desperation. 'He promises that this will be his last brush with the law,' added Mr Ho.
Sinar Daily
4 days ago
- Business
- Sinar Daily
Family recipe builds muruku brand with global appeal
It uses natural ingredients, with no artificial colouring and entirely free from eggs, anchovies, or any animal-based products, making it ideal for those following a vegetarian diet. 26 Jul 2025 01:02pm Idris Alias, 67, and his wife, Fatimah Ishak, 63, from Guar Perahu, here, started their small home-based business in 1984 after she inherited a muruku recipe from her mother-in-law. Photo by Bernama BUKIT MERTAJAM - Armed with a cherished family recipe, a husband-and-wife duo turned their humble beginnings into a thriving muruku business, attracting customers from both Malaysia and abroad. Idris Alias, 67, and his wife, Fatimah Ishak, 63, from Guar Perahu, here, started their small home-based business in 1984 after she inherited a muruku recipe from her mother-in-law. "I was seven months pregnant at the time, so we only made small batches of the crunchy snack. We had very little capital to start with. But I gave it a go, taking orders from friends. "From those early days making muruku at home, we managed to grow the business under the brand name 'Muruku Bonda'. Nine years ago, we opened a shop in Kubang Semang, funded by profits we steadily reinvested,' Fatimah told Bernama. Idris Alias, 67, and his wife, Fatimah Ishak, 63, from Guar Perahu, here, started their small home-based business in 1984 after she inherited a muruku recipe from her mother-in-law. Photo by Bernama She said that Muruku Bonda uses natural ingredients, with no artificial colouring and entirely free from eggs, anchovies, or any animal-based products, making it ideal for those following a vegetarian diet. Interestingly, over 85 per cent of their customers are from the Chinese community, making Chinese New Year their peak sales period. "We even received orders from Taiwan at one point, but had to turn them down because the shipping costs were too high. Still, the customer flew over themselves and bought in bulk to take home,' she added. Currently, the couple operates with just two frying machines -- usually only one runs on regular days, producing around 150 kilogrammes (kg) of muruku daily, increasing to 200kg during festive periods. Idris shared that their son and daughter-in-law now help run the family business. One of their main challenges, he explained, is limited operating space, which makes it difficult to meet growing demand. They even had to decline an offer to stock Muruku Bonda in a major convenience store chain. Nonetheless, the couple remain determined to expand into a larger facility in the future, with hopes of passing the business down to their only child. "My advice to young entrepreneurs is to understand your product and your customers, and to have patience. That is vital in the business world. "Most importantly, as Muslims, we must remember to give charity and pay zakat. That's the key to lasting blessings. Not just in wealth, but also in health,' Idris said. - BERNAMA More Like This
Geek Tyrant
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
While LILO & STITCH Hit $1 Billion, NE ZHA 2 Is the Real Box Office King of 2025 and Hollywood Should Pay Attention — GeekTyrant
As you may have heard, Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch movie just joined the billion-dollar club, making it the first Motion Picture Association release of 2025 to hit that milestone. It's a major win for Disney, especially after a rough year of costly misfires. But, while Stitch is soaking up the spotlight, the truth is this film wasn't first across the line. That honor belongs to Ne Zha 2 , a Chinese animated sequel that didn't just cross $1 billion, it obliterated records and now sits at more than $2.2 billion, almost entirely from China alone. This didn't happen overnight. The first Ne Zha was a cultural phenomenon in 2019, earning over $726 million worldwide and becoming the second highest-grossing non-English language film ever, behind The Battle at Lake Changjin 's $902 million. Its domestic run was even more impressive: $719 million in China, breaking the record for the biggest animated hit in a single market, a record previously held by Incredibles 2 in North America with $608 million. That set the stage for a sequel with sky-high expectations, and Ne Zha 2 it crushed them. Released on January 29, 2025, during Chinese New Year, the film broke records instantly. It pulled in over 700 million yuan (about $96 million) on opening day, then became the fastest film in Chinese history to pass the 10 billion yuan ($1.38 billion) mark, doing so in just seven days. Today, Ne Zha 2 has earned an astonishing 15.44 billion yuan, or roughly $2.13 billion, making it the highest-grossing movie ever in a single country. For perspective, that's more than double what Star Wars: The Force Awakens made in North America. Globally, it's now the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time, topping Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens and sitting behind only Titanic , Avatar: The Way of Water, Endgame , and Avatar . It's also the only non-American, non-English language film in that elite top ten. In the animation space, its dominance is even clearer. With $2.215 billion worldwide, Ne Zha 2 is now the highest-grossing animated film in history, far surpassing Disney's previous record holder, The Lion King (2019), at $1.66 billion. That's a $550 million gap, bigger than the total global gross of many Hollywood animated hits. What makes Ne Zha 2 's success even more striking is its profitability. Reportedly made for around $80 million, the movie pulled off an incredible 27-to-1 return on investment. Compare that to Avengers: Endgame , which made $2.79 billion on a $356 million budget, which is a ratio of less than 8-to-1. Meanwhile, Hollywood continues pumping out $200 million blockbusters like The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman that need $700 million just to break even. If Ne Zha 2 had stopped at $500 million, it still would have been a huge financial success. This is the real wake-up call: blockbuster filmmaking doesn't have to mean runaway budgets. Ne Zha 2 proves that audiences care more about story and cultural resonance than inflated VFX costs and endless reshoots. Ne Zha 2 had a budget of $80 million, which is far less than what Disney and Pixar spend on their animated films. Another lesson here is global market dynamics. China used to be Hollywood's safety net, the market that pushed tentpoles past the billion-dollar mark. Now, Chinese audiences are pouring money into homegrown stories that reflect their culture. Hollywood's old strategy of adding token representation and hoping for an easy box office boost is outdated. If studios want to win back international audiences, they need real cross-cultural storytelling and a smarter approach to budgets. For Disney, Lilo & Stitch 's billion-dollar run is a huge relief after a brutal year of failures. Marvel's Captain America: Brave New World ($415 million) and Thunderbolts ($381.9 million) underperformed, Snow White tanked at $205 million against a massive budget, and Pixar's Elio couldn't crack $150 million worldwide. Those losses make Stitch's success a rare bright spot in an otherwise bleak financial picture. Disney and the rest of Hollywood can't keep playing the same game. They need tighter budgets, stronger storytelling, and projects that can thrive beyond the U.S. market without relying on brand nostalgia. Lilo & Stitch is still in theaters, while the English-language dub of Ne Zha 2 hits U.S. theaters on August 22. Considering the global momentum, its reign is far from over.
