Posts

Showing posts from March, 2009

On the Birthdate of the Little Nyonya

Image
Little Nyonya (小娘惹) is one of the very fine Chinese language drama produced by MediaCorp Singapore in the past few decades. Its average audience measurement of about 1 million over the one month it was broadcast is a direct evidence of the quality and popularity of the drama. Because it was suppose to be a serious drama, some people are taking this drama very seriously. One of the "loophole" mentioned in Wikipedia concerns Yamamoto Yueniang (山本月娘)'s birthdate. It is claimed that: "Yueniang's age was also subjected to some inconsistencies. When Juxiang sought an old man's help in writing her daughter's time of birth, the man wrote "甲子年八月十五出生” which indicates a date in 1924. Yueniang was said to be 70 years old in present day, but she would be 84 years old if she was born in 1924.[5] Too, she stated that 1942 is the time where the Japanese occupied Singapore and she was eight (meaning she was born in 1934)." This claim, however, as pointe