What Goes Under the Sun

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Chanting the name of Amita Buddha
2008-04-07 18:03:00
According to a recourse by Gautama Buddha , one of the Buddhas who made a vow to receive us to his Buddha land called the Western Realm of Supreme Happiness was Amita Buddha. There are three conditions for us to go there after death, namely have faith in what he has vowed, believe that Amita Buddha exists and chant the name of Amita Buddha daily as many times as possible. Besides being able to be with Amita Buddha after death, chanting Amita Buddha will render our bodies strong and healthy. According to the CD that I obtained and mentioned in my earlier post, there was one man whose leg had to be amputated to save his life suffered from bleeding all the time. The hospital told his family to take him home and get ready for funeral. However, the man was advised to chant the name of Amita Buddha. After a few days’ doing so, bleeding stopped miraculously. Those who chant the name of Amita Buddha faithfully and sincerely sometimes will be able to smell fragrance and see illumi...

How to use 'raise' correctly.
2008-04-07 00:34:00
Look at the following sentences. Sentence 1 The teacher said, 'Raise up your hand if you know the answer to this question.' The above sentence is wrong because 'raise' means 'lift up' and the use of 'up' after raise' is redundant here. Sentence 2 The brave single mother raised up her two children all by herself. As 'raised' in the above sentence means 'brought up', this sentence is Wrong because the use of 'up' is redundant here.

The difference between ‘stop’ followed by infinitives and gerunds
2008-04-05 18:34:00
Look at the following sentences.1 I stopped to buy newspapers from the shop. [‘stop’ followed by infinitive ‘to buy’]2 I stopped buying newspapers from the shop.[‘stop’ followed by gerund ‘buying’]The above two sentences are different in meanings.In sentence 1, it means ‘ I stopped ( my car) and went into the shop to buy newspapers.’ whereas sentence 2 carries the meaning of ‘I did not want to buy newspapers from the shop anymore and so I stopped my action of doing so.’See whether you can explain the meanings of the following pairs of sentences.1 a) John stopped to smoke. b) John stopped smoking.2 a) She stopped to exercise in the garden. b) She stopped exercising in the garden.3 a) I stopped to talk to him. b) I stopped talking to him.
More About: Difference

How I converted video files into mp3.
2008-04-04 18:09:00
I obtained a free set of ten VCD’s about how chanting the name of Amita Buddha enables people to go to the Western World where Amita Buddha is . Many accounts of those who practiced this form of Buddhism really passed away peacefully to join Amita Buddha in His realm in Western World are narrated. They are so interesting that I want to listen to all of them. As I am quite busy with my work and can’t afford to spend so much listening to them at home, I decided to extract the audio files in mp3 format so that I can fit all the ten video files into a CD which I can play with my car’s CD player with capability of playing mp3 files. First I searched through the Internet and found this file , a free video-to-mp3-converter. It is really very easy to use. After installing it, I started to run it. There are only two boxes for you to enter the location of your source file and that of your output mp3 file. Since mine is a VCD, I clicked ‘Browse’ and navigate to Drive G and cl...
More About: Video , Files

How to treat a minor burn instantly
2008-04-03 18:09:00
When you are not careful, the chances are you hand may get scalded when you pour hot water from the kettle into a cup or some other container. What do you do? Do you let running water bathe the scalded hand? Here is a method to return minor burn such as scalding. Cut the tip of aloe vera. Apply the juice over the scalded part of your hand. The burning sensation will go off after some time and the burn will heal in a day or two. Hence start planting some aloe vera plants for such use.
More About: Treat , Minor , Burn

How to use 'bear', 'bore', 'born' and 'borne' correctly
2008-04-02 18:01:00
The word ‘bear’ as a verb means to produce, to tolerate, to carry, etc.Examples of its use in sentences are as follows:1 The tree will begin to bear fruit after three months.2 I couldn’t bear the noise there and moved elsewhere to study.3 Devotees will bear kavadis on Thaipusam Day.The past tense of ‘bear’ is ‘bore’.An example of its usage in a sentence is: The boy bore resemblance to his father when young but not now.The past participle of ‘bear’ is ‘born’ and ‘borne’. Note their usage in the following sentences.1 A boy was born on board the plane and the mother was attended by a doctor.2 The bag borne by the boy was so heavy that he staggered every now and then.
More About: Bear

Qing Ming Jie
2008-04-01 18:29:00
Qing Ming Jie or Cheng Beng in Hokkien is a time for showing respect to the departed. For this year it falls on 4th April as this year is a leap year. For a normal year it falls on 5th April. 10 days before and after this date, descendents of the dead will go the graves to do some cleaning up and pray there. Usually grass will grow all over the graves after a year's lapse and they will do weeding to make them clean and look tidy again before praying and burning paper money there. The purpose of Qing Ming is to remember our late parents or relatives. One way of doing this is going to the graves to do some service - weeding and cleaning up as well as praying there. Qing Ming Jie has become part of the Chinese culture here.

Questions Tags
2008-03-31 18:30:00
The question tags used are determined by the subject, verb and tense of a question.The following sentences will make these clear to you:Example 1: He comes here every day, doesn’t he?Example 2: She came here yesterday, didn’t she?Example 3: They will come here every day, won’t they?Example 4: Susan can spell well, can’t she?Example 5: It is cheap, isn’t it?Example 6: John didn’t work there, did he?Example 7: She won’t be coming, will she?Example 8: You don’t like it, do you?Example 9: Christian doesn’t play badminton, does she?Example 10: It isn’t my idea, is it?
More About: Questions , Tags

Meaningful gifts
2008-03-30 18:19:00
A lady doctor who passed away in France had her organs donated to those who needed them for transplants as her wish before her death is indeed a selfless deed. More people should emulate her in so doing. Dr Tan Bee Hooi from Malaysia underwent an operation related to arteriovenous malformation in her brains at Foundation Rothchild Hospital in Paris, France but succumbed to death on last Wednesday owing to complications. Her corneas, heart, kidneys and liver were harvested for patients waiting for transplants in France and other European countries.
More About: Gifts , Meaningful

How to reduce stress
2008-03-29 17:06:00
In modern day's hectic life, many city folk suffer from stress which invariably leads to hypertension. I know of one schoolmate who takes ten pills a day. These are for reducing hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol and calming down or reducing stress. To me, reducing stress can be done without any medication. Here are some of the ways you may use to reduce stress. 1 Meditate for 11 minutes per day. Eleven is considered 'fullness'. Hence meditating for eleven minutes should be sufficient to calm oneself. 2 Forget your enemies every night you go to sleep. Theoretically you will have no enemies the next day to worry about since you have forgotten them the night before. 3 Read light articles and humorous stories in between your busy schedule to give yourself time to have a good laugh. 4 Be positive-minded and optimistic. Always expect things to go right and with this mental magnetism radiating from you, things will usually go smoothly as planned. ...
More About: Stress , Reduce

My first visit to a physiotherapist's clinic
2008-03-28 17:12:00
Yesterday my right arm became too painful to bear. Earlier massage by the Chinese chiropractor did not work. At 10.00 am, I was at a sports physiotherapist's clinic to seek treatment. As this was my first visit, the lady physiotherapist who attended to me spent quite some time diagnosing the condition of my elbow. After pressing certain painful points she confirmed her diagnosis. According to her, I had a condition known as tennis elbow. She told me that the tendon at my right elbow had inflammation and swollen. That explains the pain I experienced when I tried to lift things. Then she told me that it would take quite some time to heal. The first thing she did was to attach four suction rubber cups between my right elbow and sent mild current through them to my arm. There was vibration and some tickling sensation. This lasted for 15 minutes. Then a device she used sent ultrasound to the area around my elbow. The physiotherapist told me that the sound would induce the gr...
More About: Visit

'Chase' needs no prepositon after it
2008-03-27 17:02:00
Starting today, police personnel on beat duty will take on a new look with uniforms made of flame-resistant cloth. The lightweight fabric gives police personnel more flexibility – enabling them to chase after criminals or engage in hand-to-hand combat. Accessories include a gadget belt, baton, pepper spray, a set of handcuffs, walkie-talkie and semi-automatic gun. To complete the look are a beret and boots. Unlike the old uniforms, where badges are pinned, the insignias form part of the outfit. The above two paragraphs about the new look of the uniform of the police force in Malaysia which I quoted from a local newspaper contains a common mistake – the use of ‘after’ after the verb ‘chase’. It is wrong usage because ‘chase’ means ‘run after’. Hence the preposition ‘after’ would be redundant after the word ‘chase’.Look at the following sentences to know the correct usage of 'chase' visually:1 The policeman chased after the snatch-thief. [w...
More About: Chase

About Siau Ching
2008-03-26 17:23:00
In my earlier post, I talked about Sam Sung, a tourist guide from in China. I am going to tell you an efficient tour leader of our group. She is Siau Ching from Penang, my hometown. I could see her efficiency when she settled our checking in at the airport, especially the luggage. Though of small build she could drag the luggage effortly. As for the sitting arrangement on the plane, she took pains to pair us and group all those in a family together. Hence it was a pleasant journey with the one you knew seated next to you. She was also very professional when it came to the itineraries. If a place could not be visited she would arrange for an alternative site for sight-seeing. As for morning call, she would ring us if we needed her to do so. We would not be left stranded should we leave the group for a while, as she was very good at head counting. The group would not leave without the presence of every body. Usually Sam Sung Sam led the tour group and Siau Ching would...

About Sam Sung
2008-03-25 17:07:00
Sam Sung and Samsung are two different entities. The former is the name of a tour guide whereas the latter is a Korean brand. Sam Sung was waiting with a piece of cloth bearing his name on it at the airport when we reached Beijing. I was with a tour group from Penang then. Siau Ching, our tour leader went forward to meet him. It seemed that he was assigned to take us on a tour of Beijing. Sam Sung spoke Mandarin with a Beijing accent. It took us quite some time to get used to his Mandarin and to understand what he was trying to say. He was very well-versed in Chinese history, so before reaching a tourist spot, he would rattled on about its history. Later, I had a chance to talk to him. From our conversation, I realised that unemployment is quite bad among graduates like him. Hence he ended up being a tour guide. He is the only child in his family as the policy of China is to have only a child in a family so as to avoid population explosion. Sam Sung is still single...

How to use 'Most of the + nouns'
2008-03-24 17:31:00
‘Most of the + nouns’ can be followed by singular verbs or plural ones, depending on which nouns are used. a) If the nouns are countable, the plural verbs are used. e.g. Most of the books sold in the bookshop are cheap. Most of the boys learn how to spell well. b) If the nouns are uncountable, then singular verbs are used. e.g. Most of the water in the area tastes salty. Most of the petrol sold in this country is imported.

How to use 'a little' and 'a few' correctly
2008-03-23 17:07:00
In English, ‘a little’ is used in front of uncountable nouns such as money, water, oil, time,etc. e.g. a) There is a little water left in my glass. b) I need a little more time to finish my assignment. c) If you give a little thought to what you want to do, you will be able to do it better. d) We spent only a little money per day as we do not earn much. e) They need a little help from us. On the other hand, ‘a few’ is placed in front of countable nouns such as books, cars, pens, etc. e.g. a) A few boys are still playing in the field. b) I went to see a few friends who lived there. c) She has just enough money to buy a few books only. d) There are a few things which I would like to tell you. e) Here are a few tips on how to make your computer run faster.

The importance of interacting with others
2008-03-22 17:24:00
Man cannot live alone. Somehow or other he has to interact with others. Personally I find that interacting is important in the course of our work. As a teacher, I need to interact with my pupils to understand their weaknesses in the subject that I teach so that I can plan my lessons according to their level so that they can fully grasp the contents of the lessons taught. If teachers are willing to interact with pupils, the classroom atmosphere will be less tense but more lively. We need not confine ourselves to subject matter only as the class can discuss matters that interest everybody for five or ten minutes to add variety to the lesson of the day to avoid boredom. Interaction among colleagues is very important too. How can we work with people in the same office without uttering a word to the one sitting next to you. Mutual understanding can be fostered through two-day communication. In this way, less friction will occur in the workplace. At home too, family members ne...

How to write a sentence in different ways
2008-03-21 17:02:00
We can write a certain sentence in different ways by replacing words which bear the same meaning. Example 1 She chanced to meet her friend a few days ago. Sentence s with the same meaning are as follows: A) She ran into her friend a few days ago. B) She bumped into her friend a few days ago. C) She met her friend by chance a few days ago. d) She ran into her friend the other day. e) She bumped into her friend the other day. f) She met her friend by chance the other day. Example 2 Money matters a lot as we need it to buy things and get services from others. We can express the above sentence in the following ways: A) Money matters a lot for we need it to buy things and get services from others. b) Money matters a lot as we need it to purchase things and get services from others. c) Money matters a lot for we need it to buy things and obtain services from others. d) Money matters a lot for we need it to buy things and get services from other people. ...
More About: Write

Words that act as nouns and verbs
2008-03-20 17:08:00
There are words in English that belong to two Parts of Speech, that is nouns and verbs. By the way, Parts of Speech refer to eight categories of words, namely nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections. Examples of such words are as follows: Example 1: race The race will be held tomorrow. [noun] My race is Chinese.[noun] They usually race to the bus station so as not to miss the bus.[verb] Example 2: shower I had a shower when I reached home. [noun] Modern parents usually shower their children with love. [verb] Example 3: house My house is by the sea. [noun] The new building will house all the artifacts in our country. [verb] Example 4: present I gave her a present on her birthday. [noun] The principal will present prizes to the winners. [verb] Example 5: hunger The beggar had no more energy to move forward because of hunger. [noun] As they hunger for knowledge, they find that the Internet is the best...
More About: Words

How to form verbs from adjectives
2008-03-19 17:11:00
In my earlier post, I discussed how nouns could be formed from adjectives. In today's blog, I will talk about the formation of verbs from adjectives. Verbs can be formed from adjectives by: 1 adding 'en' e.g. hard -->harden soft -->soften weak -- >weaken broad -->broaden smooth -- > smoothen less -- > lessen rich -->enrich large-->enlarge 2 adding 'ise' e.g. real --> realise legal-->legalise 3 adding 'ify' e.g. false -->falsify null -->nullify 4 changing its spelling. e.g. long -- > lengthen strong -- > strengthen
More About: Form

Words with same spelling but pronounced differently.
2008-03-18 17:14:00
There are certain words in English that are pronounced differently with different meanings. Four examples of these are 'row', 'refuse', ‘lead’ and ‘minute’. 1 'refuse' is pronounced as 're fius' and 'rare fius'. When it is pronounced as 'refuse', it means ' to say that you will not do or accept something'. e.g. They refuse to help their selfish neighbour. When 'rare fius' is the pronunciation of 'refuse', it means 'rubbish'. e.g. The residents there do not dispose of their refuse properly. 2 'row' has two pronunciations, that is 'row' as in 'arrow' and 'row' as in 'rowdy'. In the former pronunciation, it means ' a line of things or people'. e.g I sat in the eighth row when I was watching the movie. When the pronunciation is the latter, it means 'quarrel'. e.g. They had a row just now over very trivial things. 3 ‘lead’ can be pronounced as ‘lid’ or ‘led’. ...
More About: Words , Spelling

The use of adjectives as plural nouns
2008-03-17 17:08:00
In English, adjectives can sometimes be used to denote plural nouns. This can be done by adding 'the' in front of them. The following are some of these examples: 1 The elderly = old people 2 The poor = poor people 3 The rich = rich people 4 The underprivileged = less fortunate people 5 The young = youngsters 6 The talented = talented people 7 The handicapped = handicapped people 8 The blind = blind people 9 The dead = dead people
More About: Plural

The formation of nouns from adjectives
2008-03-16 17:03:00
Besides nouns that exist on their own, we can form nouns from other parts of speech such as adjectives. The use of adjectives and their noun forms help to add variety in our essays. The formation of nouns from adjectives can be done by: a) adding 'ness' e.g. fair --> fairness good ---> goodness thick --> thickness b) adding 'ness' after - y + i e.g. happy -->happiness ready --> readiness c) adding 'th' and minus 'e' e.g. true ---> truth wide --> width d) changing its spelling + 'th' e.g. long --> length strong --> strength broad --> breadth e) adding ‘y’ or ‘ty’ e.g. difficult --> difficulty royal --> royalty f) changing their spelling e.g. high -->height g) adding ‘ship’ e.g. hard --> hardship

How to use 'bored' and 'boring' correctly
2008-03-15 17:07:00
The adjective ‘bored’ means ‘feeling tired and unhappy because something is not interesting or because you have nothing to do. On the other hand, the adjective ‘boring’ bears the meaning of ‘not interesting or exciting’. ‘bored’ is used: a) after ‘feel’ Example: I felt bored yesterday because I had nothing to do. b) before ‘with’ or ‘of’ Example: I was getting bored of listening to the same song, ‘boring’ is used: a) before a noun. Example: It was a boring movie and I nearly felt asleep. b) after a noun Example: I found the show boring.
More About: Bored , Boring

How to apply CPR on yourself during a heart attack
2008-03-14 17:05:00
How to apply CPR on yourself during a heart attack I received an email written in Chinese regarding the above matter. As I think it is very useful in saving lives, I will translate it here for readers. Here it goes: Suppose the time is 5.00 p.m. and you are driving home all alone after a hard day’s work. Somehow or other you feel nervous and uncomfortable. Suddenly you suffer acute chest pain which spreads to your limbs and lower jaw but the nearest hospital is 5 kilometres away and you doubt whether you can make it there. You have learnt how to apply CPR (Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation) on others but you have not learnt how to do it on yourself to save your own life. When alone, how do you apply CPR ? If your heart cannot beat normally and you feel as if you are going to faint, you will have about 10 seconds before you lose you consciousness. You have to use the precious 10 seconds to save yourself. Don’t panic. This is what you must do. 1 ...
More About: Heart , Heart Attack , Attack

How to emphasize something that you have done in English
2008-03-13 17:18:00
If you want to emphasize that you really did something in the past, use ‘did’ in front of the verb which describes what you have done.Example 1I did come for the meeting. John can testify that I was present because he was with me at the meeting.Example 2I did pay the subscription but you forgot to issue me the receipt.Example 3I did score a distinction in English when I sat for the School Certificate exam. If you want the proof, I can show you the certificate.

The use of 'to' as an infinitive and preposition
2008-03-12 17:09:00
In my earlier post, 'to' is used as an infinitive. For example, 'to' in the following sentence is an infinitive: He came to visit me when I was ill. I am going to discuss the use of 'to' as a preposition in this post. As I mentioned in my post very much earlier, a preposition can be followed by a noun/noun phrase, a pronoun or an ing-verb. The examples below should make this point clear: Example 1 My grandmother looks after my sister when my mother is at work. ['my sister' behind the preposition 'after' is a noun phrase and 'work' after the preposition ‘at’ is a noun.] Example 2 The police are still after him. [The pronoun 'him' is used after the preposition 'after'] Example 3 They kept on trying until they succeeded. [The word after the preposition 'on' is an ing-verb or a gerund.] Now look at how 'to' is used as a preposition through the following examples: Example 1 Diligence is the key to success. [The noun 'success...

Infinitives
2008-03-11 17:01:00
Infinitives are verbs in their basic forms and they are usually placed after 'to'. In the sentence 'I want to go there.', 'go' is an infinitive. You can also see infinitives after 'do', 'does', 'did',' will', 'should', 'would', 'must', 'can', 'could', 'don't', 'doesn't', 'won't', 'shouldn't', 'wouldn't', 'can't, 'couldn't', and 'mustn't'. Examples 1 I do take care of my aged parents. 2 I did come here yesterday but you were not around. 3 She will take up a nursing course. 4 You should learn a foreign language. 5 He would sit here all day when he was free. 6 They must adapt themselves to the new environment. 7 You can have my book. 8 He could run ten miles when he was young. 9 We don't have the necessary tools to dismantle this machine. 10 The reckless driver didn't stop his car when he knocked down a pedestrian. 11 I won't help you unless you promise to work hard. 12 You shouldn't vandalise...

How to enable task manager
2008-03-10 17:20:00
In my earlier post, I shared my knowledge of enabling registry editor in Windows with readers. Today, I would to tell you how to enable task manager in WinXp. If you press Ctrl, Shift and Delete keys together, the task manager will come out for us to shut down the program we don't want to run. As has happened to me a few times, the message 'Task manager has been disabled by adminstrator' will appear instead and we can't use it. When this happens, execute the following steps to enable the task manager again. Click Start, then click RunType regedit and click OK.Browse to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionPoliciessystemIn the right pane, look for the value: DisableTaskMgrRight click DisableTaskMgr and select Delete. (When prompted with "Are you sure you want to delete this value", select Yes.Close the Registry by choosing File | Exit Now, if you press Ctrl, Shift and Delete simultaneously, the task...
More About: Manager , Task Manager

How to enable registry editor
2008-03-09 17:02:00
Sometimes, your system may be changed by certain programmes that you have installed. The disabling of the registry editor is very common. To enable the registry editor again, do the following. 1 Go to Start and click Run. 2 Type the following exactly and press OK. REG add HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersio nPoliciesSystem /v DisableRegistry Tools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f To be doubly sure, highlight the above and right click your mouse to copy and paste it in the box in Run. Now, go to Start and click Run, then type 'regedit' without the quotes and you should be able to edit the registry of your Windows again.
More About: Editor