Rigel Kent

The following paragraph is taken from Lew (2025). 1 馬六甲王朝時期，對華船採取禮遇政策，給予華船免稅優惠，僅以習慣性贈送價值5%之貨物即可，吸引了不少華船到來。葡萄牙文獻記載16世紀初，中國每年皆採購來自馬六甲至少十艘商船的胡椒，每年約有八至十艘的華船到來馬六甲。1511年，阿布奎 (Afonso de Albuquerque) 親征馬六甲時，即見五艘華船停泊在馬六甲港口，阿布奎並且與他們交談甚歡。這可謂是地理大發現以來，中西的第一次非官方接觸，這種接觸不在中國，亦不在西方，反而在馬六甲，正反映了15至16世紀初馬六甲海峽的重要性。 (安煥然 1998:291) 2 There are a couple of small issues with Lew's treatment. It is true that during the earlier Malay administration, duties were not paid in money but in the form of gifts. However, the exact rate of these tribute-like payments is not consistent throughout the trade history. Lew's number is one of the two numerical example given by Pires, i.e. \(\frac{15}{300}\) ad valorem or 15 cruzados levied on every 300 cruzados's worth of merchandise). Moreover, as noted by Pires, the gifts presented by Chinese merchants were greater than those from all other regions, and the collection was further amplified by the sheer...

Medical care is not an automatic entitlement. A harsh truth to remember is that a physickian 1 is not our mammary custodian and thus owes us zero inherent obligation to provide care. Medical care is a privilege bartered through the movement of electrons that ultimately deplete the resources in our digital ledger. Or, if we are fortunate, the monetary vacuum created by the extrinsic care provider is filled with liquid piped from a communal pool shared by a group of individuals unrelated to us. A visit to a physickian is usually prompted by a biochemical or mechanical insult to our body. While it is natural for us to hope for rapid neutralization of these unwanted insults, this expectation is often unrealistic and unfair to the physickian. A more reasonable outlook is to recognize that the clinical evaluation—along with subsequent prescriptions and management plan—may not immediately, or even fully, resolve the ...

(霓紅光聚焦，楊華清站於舞台一側，眼神探索) 旁白 (慢): 楊華清凝視著窗 透視進那晶格般的點陣 (夢嬢緩緩走向他，牽引動作優雅) 夢嬢(柔聲): 我打開門 輕撫著他的手 領他走上樓 (霓紅光轉弱，背景變化為二氧化錳晶體般投影) 旁白 (低迴): 那是一方幽玄 而整潔的粉紅色部屋 (雙手輕握胸前，作準備崩解之勢) 楊華清 (微微激動): 我 . . . 我感受到她體內的點陣秩序 . . . (乾冰或輕煙自舞台升起) (半分鐘後，舞台中央光線變白，象徵轉化) 氣息之聲 (氣音、四面響起) 旁白 (漸強): 在她的體內 楊華清迅速分解 . . . 釋放出含氧的氣息 . . . 化作蒸騰沸湧的水 . . . 夢嬢 (沉穩、無悲喜): 我的身心依舊堅定如初 結構絲毫未損 (夢嬢緩緩轉身，穩步走下舞台一側) 旁白 (收束): 夢嬢緩步下樓 靜候下一個楊華清 (舞台燈緩緩熄滅，只留微光照向空窗) 楊華清 is phonetic cousin of 過氧化氫 hydrogen peroxide, \({\rm H_2O_2}\), a clear liquid in room tempera...

In 1851, Sylvester told us that his word for an oblong array of numbers was inspired by a biblical passage. . . . I have in previous papers defined a matrix as a rectangular array of terms, out of which different systems of determinants may be engendered, as from the womb of a common parent; these cognate determinants being by no means isolated in their relations to one another, but subject to certain simple laws of mutual dependence and simultaneous deperition . . . The word is originally a reference to the reproductive organ of oviparous animals. And it was first used by William Tyndale (b. 1494, d. 1536) in his English Bible (1526). As yt is written in the lawe of the Lorde: every man chylde that fyrst openeth the matrix shalbe called holy to the lorde Tyndale left the Greek word in Luke 2:23 untranslated, since the word μήτραν (mētran) in the Greek text is simply ...

At an Eid al-Fitr (1302 AH) feast in 1885, Raja Idris delivered a speech marking the 10th anniversary of British-style administration in Perak. The Malay prince expressed his full support for the system, stating his desire for it to continue and declaring he wished for no other. Raja Idris's affirmation stood in stark contrast to a dark episode that had unfolded exactly a decade earlier, on the third day of Eid al-Fitr (1292 AH). On that day—Tuesday, 2 November 1875—Mr. James Wheeler Woodford Birch (b. 1826, d. 1875), was assassinated. The following day, a search party was dispatched to recover his remains. Four days later, on 6 November, the body of the British Resident was finally discovered in Bandar Bharu. According to Jenkins, the body bore seven wounds and had been tied to a tree, but Birch's feet were visibly missing. Birch's boss in Singapore, W...