Yu Sheng - the Symbol of Abundance, Prosperity and Vigor

This week I returned to Singapore for a few days to review some work. It was like returning home and although I had only been away for a couple of months I quickly blended into the familar surroundings. Singapore is much cleaner, less hectic and more friendly than Hong Kong and it is obvious straightaway.

I like the way the city is divided into cultural districts and I wandered around Little India, Bugis and City area near Raffles. The airport is quiet after the Chinese New Year but like everywhere else around the world they are feeling the pinch as passenger numbers drop and those that do travel are not spending anywhere near as much cash.

I met up with colleagues who have become very good friends and visited a restaurant in the airport called 'The Soup Restaurant'. Inside it is decorated in an old traditional style with bamboo walls, round tables and low stools that look drums. It was easy to forget we were in the airport and I must have passed the place a hundred times before without going in. The restaurant style is based on days gone by when red and blue hatted womenfolk worked as labourers in the rebuilding of Singapore. They were known as Samsui and they were frugal, dogged and hard working. They originated from mainland China and moved to Singapore to earn money to send back to their families. There are overtones here with the Filipino domestic workers. Their favourite dish was chicken served with a ginger sauce and cucumber wrapped in a lettuce leaf. Today the dish is served on a huge plate with the chicken and cucumber beautifully arranged around the centre piece of ginger sauce. It is a very tactile dish and can be a bit messy, but it is delicious.

The Chinese New Year seemed to be lingering in Singapore as we ordered a traditional dish called Yu Sheng which is eaten around the second week after the New Year day. It consists of some twenty seven ingredients but predominantly raw salmon, shredded carrot and turnip, with a mixture of oils, spices and seeds. There is also pepper, Chinese crackers, limes and a hint of plum sauce. It is brought to the table on a large plate and the colourful display demanded respect and conversation as we told by the waitress how this dish is supposed to bring good luck, fortune and health. The idea is that the people eating the dish should pick up their chopsticks and mix the dish in a frenzy of laughter whilst shouting loud wishes for good luck, health and prosperity. The higher you toss the food the stronger the wishes become and the louder you shout the greater your chances of achieving your wishes. It is great because you can make a mess, make a noise and make friends with everybody else in the restaurant as they watch and share your amusement and desires. The odds that the wishes will come true are better than those for winning the lottery jackpot! The taste was amazing and even though it was just an appetiser I could have finished another plate.

But the best bit was that the next day we did it all over again in the office. What a fantastic spontaneous time we had. About twenty of us joined in and created a great atmosphere where for a few moments we were joined together in a great Chinese tradition where we were all equal and created spirit and harmony. I know that has a hint of a Chinese cliche, but it was true. It was also something we could learn from.

Sadly I returned to the hard faced competitive city of Hong Kong where the spirit is wandering about and doesn't know how to spin its web to bring people together like its cousin in the south.

Yu Sheng