A Business Graduate's Random Blog on History and Gossip

Wound Care Malaysia Facebook Page I've had a long-time interest in maggot therapy for wound treatment. I do have some diabetic relatives and I'm afraid, sooner or later, I may have to deal with foot ulcers. This page came from Malaysia and I'm not surprised at the diabetic rates in Malaysia. Some time ago, I was writing a business article where I discussed the Malaysian-Filipino sweet tooth demographic . It's no surprise that Malaysians have that sweet tooth predisposition. It's no surprise that diabetes is high in Malaysia too . Diabetes can lead to serious foot ulcers and these can lead to amputations. A revival in maggot therapy in Malaysia I ran into this article written by Sabrina Noor on maggot therapy . A certain female doctor named Dr. Nazni Wasi Ahmad from Malaysia managed to help bring back a treatment considered obsolete. During the war, medical maggots were used to help heal wounds faster. Now, it's really something to think about how modern technolo

I'm trying to find some other Taiwanese aborigine songs. I think this is a song by the Amis tribe or the sea people. I believe the Amis are descended from the seafaring Indonesians and Malaysians. The song's aboriginal song and melody are rather enchanting. Maybe, an Ifugao or an Igorot scholar would be able to decode this wonderful song. If only the Philippines would show more respect to the indigenous tribes. It's a sad fact that Ifugaos would need to go to Taiwan to learn their weaving culture (read here ). These natives (who I believe are Malay and Indos) get more appreciation than the Filipino indigenous people.

Here's another indigenous musical instrument from Taiwan. It's called the Truku mouth harp. It's very similar to the Filipino jaw harp called the kubing which is also seen below... Below is a demonstration of the kubing. The concepts are very similar.   Right now, I feel the urge to go to Museo Subgo! 

In the quest to study Filipino ancestral heritage, one may point to Taiwan's natives. What can't be ignored are the Indonesians and Malaysians. This dance resembles to the dances from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).  The dance patterns are similar yet different to the Pangalay in Mindanao. The more I seek to understand Filipino culture's development--I feel that Tealive should invest next in the Bangsamoro regions. The Bangsamoro region might be the next best bet for a Malaysian tea company after all. 

This is another fun tribal dance video. I guess my obsession with Taiwanese milk tea (and the tea leaves are grown from Mt. Alishan) got me into this. Also, the tea brand Tealive (which is a Malaysian brand) got me more interested in this video.  Using Google translate, the song title "部落情懷" (Bùluò qínghuái) means "Tribal Feelings". It's a good thing to have Google translate these days especially when one is trying to learn the Chinese language. 

Here's another of the Amis culture in Taiwan. This is almost a sight that one can behold among the aborigines in Nueva Ecija or Baguio. Just looking at the resemblance between the Taiwanese natives and Filipino natives makes me think, "Filipino culture isn't too unique."  With my stand that the Taiwanese natives are actually of Malay origin - I'm not surprised at the similarity here and there. 

While I was looking for Taiwanese tribal dances and Filipino tribal dances--I got this in my recommendations. I hardly knew anything about Indonesia then I got introduced to this cool old song. There are words similar to that found in Mindanao. After all, the language here is the Sinama language. Once again, I'm convinced that Dayang Dayang's origins will be much harder to find. I wrote about the curious case of Dayang Dayang . If I'm not wrong, the popularized version of Dayang Dayang is written in the Sinama language. Some people from the Bangsamoro claim that the song is theirs. Others claim that it's from Indonesia or Malaysia. Since I'm no linguist, I really can't really figure things out. The traditional outfits of Indonesia and Malaysia really match that of the Muslim regions of the Philippines.  It's not surprising that Tealive has opened in Indonesia as well . Culturally, Indonesia and Malaysia are very alike aside from being Muslim countries. Hopef

It's often a mistake for people to think that Double Ten is Taiwanese independence day. Actually, it was  December 7, 1949 , which was when Taipei became the capital of Taiwan. Instead, the real history of Double Ten can be  From the Taiwanese Community Center , we can read this interesting tidbit about Double Ten and why it still matters for Taiwan: So what is this holiday all about? October 10th is Taiwan National Day, but it is not Taiwan’s birthday.  Instead, it commemorates October 10, 1911, which was the start of an event called the Wuchang Uprising in China. This uprising led to the Xinhai Revolution which brought about the fall of the Qing (Ching) Dynasty, the end of the Chinese dynasties, and the founding of the Republic of China in 1912 .  At this time, Taiwan had been under the rule of the Empire of Japan since 1895, and i t was not until the end of World War Two in 1945 that Japan was forced to relinquish control of the island to the Republic of China . Meanwhile, back

There are many versions of the song "Gāo Shān Qīng" (高山青) which literally means "High Green Mountain". The Taiwan Panorama website also shares this detail of the anthem of Mt. Alishan : Though the Tsou don't actually live within the Alishan Forest Recreation Area, the CFDO had little choice but to build a cultural scene for Alishan on the basis of the old song Gao Shan Qing to satisfy visitors' imagined expectations of Alishan . The Tsou folk singing and dancing had stopped during the recent tourism downturn, but the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration held tryouts in 2008, for which the winning troupe won the opportunity to perform at the Alishan Forest Recreation Area entrance. "Tall green mountains, deep blue waters; the girls of Alishan are lovely as the waters; the men of Alishan are strong as the mountains...": Gao Shan Qing has pretty much become the anthem of Alishan. Gao Shan Qing was the theme song for the 1950 film Happenings in

I may not be going to Taiwan or the Mountain Province any time soon. However, I'm still fascinated by the performances done by both groups. It's no surprise that the DNA tests done would reveal common ancestry between Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, and the ethnic groups in Taiwan. The words sound to be very similar to an Ifugao song. Similar yet different. The dances of the Taiwanese tribes in Taiwan share similaritites with the other ethnic groups in Asia. Above is an Ifugao dance demonstration.

It may no longer be Buwan ng Wika. Too bad I wasn't able to go yet to Museo Sugbo before the event ended. This is a video I found on YouTube with some DNA test results. It's no surprise that the DNA test result of the Ami people is similar to Indonesians, Malaysians, and Filipinos. Yes, I just mentioned Filipinos before some of my countrymen try to brag about their so-called "Filipino uniqueness".  An Inquirer article years ago talked about the possible links . Here's an excerpt I shared from a previous article that I wrote : TAIPEI—In communities of the indigenous Amis tribe across Taiwan,  locals say lima for five, pito for seven and mata for eye, just like Filipinos . In southern Taiwan’s Alishan mountain,  the Tsou tribe calls the community’s meeting hut a kuba, strikingly similar in design to the Philippines’ kubo . Whether in language, architecture or way of life, links among indigenous peoples of the Philippines and Taiwan are undeniable, with  both sides t