Brunei celebrates ocean week with fishermen's day event
The fishermen were also briefed on sea safety by Brunei's Marine and Port Authority and preparedness in facing emergencies.
There was also an awareness talk on the control of mangrove crabs and lobsters by Brunei's Fisheries Department, boat safety measures, and business guidance to obtain financing to develop their economic activities and enhance competitiveness.
Fishermen are vital to Brunei's coastal identity, playing a key role in food security, livelihoods, and traditional knowledge. The event aimed to empower them with tools, training, and support, aligning with sustainable development goals.
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Joel Bellassen speaks during an interview with Xinhua at the World Sinology Center of Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2025. – Xinhua photo BEIJING (July 9): Wearing a traditional Tang jacket, complemented by a tie with exquisite Chinese calligraphy, Joel Bellassen doesn't just speak Chinese fluently — he lives and breathes the language. For decades, the Frenchman has spent his life learning, teaching, and promoting the Chinese language, making it part of his identity. All this began with his keen interest in the characters of the language, which he first encountered while passing by some Chinese restaurants. 'Chinese characters are not just a tool,' he told Xinhua. 'They are the DNA of Chinese culture.' Bellassen was France's first General Inspector of Chinese Language at the Ministry of National Education and led the development of the first-ever comprehensive Chinese language curriculum, which is currently in use across France. Last week, Bellassen returned to Beijing for an academic tour organized by the World Sinology Center at Beijing Language and Culture University — his alma mater, where he deepened his Chinese studies after completing his undergraduate degree in the Chinese language in Paris. In 1969, the 19-year-old Bellassen chose to major in Chinese at Universit Paris 8. This was an unusual choice in France at the time, given the limited career prospects associated with the language. 'It was a challenge,' he recalled. 'What fascinated me was that I was learning something no one else dared to do.' Before long, he was hooked. He began tracing characters and teaching his classmates as soon as he learned new words. They even nicknamed him 'the Chinese.' For Bellassen, distance always meant opportunity. 'From the 1970s until now, I've visited China hundreds of times,' he said. 'Each visit has deepened my understanding of Chinese culture. The more I learn, the more I realize how inseparable Chinese characters are from China's cultural identity.' This understanding grew even deeper during his visit to the Yin Ruins in Anyang, central China's Henan Province, this April. There, he saw the oracle bone inscriptions, which retained evidence of the Chinese written language from 3,000 years ago. First discovered in 1899, oracle bone inscriptions are among the world's four ancient characters and have been included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. 'It felt like a pilgrimage,' Bellassen said, reflecting on the profound cultural roots of these ancient symbols. 'For me, Chinese characters are more than just words; they are cultural memories that help explain what seems impossible to translate.' In his view, Chinese characters even possess a poetic quality. 'I love ancient Chinese poetry and four-character idioms,' Bellassen said. 'They encapsulate profound philosophical ideas in just a few characters.' One of Bellassen's most treasured possessions is a tie patterned with the brushwork of 14th-century Chinese calligrapher Zhao Mengfu. A gift from a Chinese friend, it has accompanied him on countless academic journeys. 'The characters themselves have an aesthetic beauty,' he said, adding that he has practiced writing his favorite Chinese character, 'wo,' meaning 'I,' for years. Bellassen believes learning to write Chinese offers unique cognitive benefits, especially for young children. 'Writing characters helps develop motor coordination, spatial awareness, and a sense of organization,' he explained. 'Each stroke matters; each one has to find its place. It's a distinct way of training both the mind and the hand.' After returning to France in 1975 from a two-year exchange program in Beijing, Bellassen dedicated the next five decades to bringing Chinese language education to classrooms in France. 'A Key to Chinese Speech and Writing,' compiled by him, has become one of the most widely used Chinese textbooks in France. 'China has undergone rapid modernization over the past half-century, but what's remarkable is how many cultural practices have endured,' he said. One artistic behavior stunned him: in a Shanghai park, he saw a man using a large brush, dipped in water, to write calligraphy on the ground — known as 'dishu' in Chinese. The characters usually disappear as the water dries. 'This is a uniquely Chinese cultural phenomenon,' he said. 'It reflects the deep cultural essence of China.' His love for Chinese culture extends far beyond language. He fell for Chinese food — shrimp dumplings and chicken feet from Cantonese cuisine remain his favorites. 'Both Chinese and French pay considerable attention to food,' he observed. Bellassen has long hoped that more people in his own country will get to know the Chinese culture, especially the beauty of Chinese characters. 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Brunei celebrates ocean week with fishermen's day event
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Malaysia Sun
a day ago
- Malaysia Sun
Survivors of wartime sexual slavery still await justice
"Justice begins with the admission of wrongdoing. You cannot deny what happened to the Lolas. It is important for the Filipino people, and for the world, to remember, because only through remembrance can we prevent such atrocities from happening again." by Xinhua writer Nie Xiaoyang MANILA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- As the rain subsided over Mapanique, a quiet village nestled in the rice fields of Candaba in Pampanga province, the Philippines, the air seemed to still carry the dust of the 1940s. On the morning of July 6, 10 elderly women gathered in a small courtyard under a makeshift canopy. The youngest was 92, the oldest 96. They are survivors, Filipina comfort women who endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of Japanese invaders during World War II. Though more than 80 years have passed, tears streamed down the faces of several women as they recalled the trauma they had long carried in silence. When they learned that among the visitors were descendants of Filipino-Chinese guerrilla fighters who resisted the Japanese occupation, one of the women quietly said, "Thank you for remembering." At the gathering, the survivors sang a haunting ballad written especially for them, "Please Let the Heart of Grandmother Be Healed." One line stood out with brutal clarity, "We were suffocating, longing to die. Our bodies and souls were torn apart." These were not poetic metaphors, but painful truths, they had lived through some of the darkest chapters of human suffering. On November 23, 1944, Japanese forces raided Mapanique, accusing villagers of aiding guerrilla fighters. The village was sealed off. Men were rounded up, tortured, or killed. Homes were burned to the ground. Young women were dragged away and taken to the now notorious Bahay na Pula ("Red House") in neighboring Bulacan province, where they were subjected to systemic rape and enslavement. The atrocity is scarcely mentioned in textbooks, but its scars remain etched into the bodies and memories of the survivors. Virginia Lacsa-Suarez, a leading Filipino human rights lawyer who has long championed the cause of the Malaya Lolas, as the survivors are known, has been a tireless advocate for official recognition and reparations. "These women have waited for over 80 years," Suarez said, "Not a single word of apology, not even a recognition of wrongdoing has come from the Japanese government. That silence is a second wound, one deeper than the first." Marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Suarez said, "Justice begins with the admission of wrongdoing. You cannot deny what happened to the Lolas. It is important for the Filipino people, and for the world, to remember, because only through remembrance can we prevent such atrocities from happening again." As the women sat beneath the simple shelter, their voices continued to linger in the air, "Give us justice. Acknowledge the pain we endured." It was not just a song. It was a decades-long cry for truth. The issue of comfort women has drawn international attention over the years from Korea, China, and across Southeast Asia, expressed in different languages at different places, but echoing the same cries of anguish. Yet today, even as the world commemorates 80 years since fascism's defeat, there are still those who try to diminish, distort, or deny what happened. As Suarez reminded us, "We always say history repeats itself. But history only repeats itself when we forget." The women under the canopy were outwardly calm, sitting there with quiet dignity. But within them burns a resolve, shaped by sorrow and memory. They do not know how many more years they have left to wait.
