Precious Stones - coz you can't buy them!
























The above two are taken during the last Dongzhi celebration. It has a wonderful bouncy texture hopefully justifed by the photo. More importantly, our families gathered to enjoy the hand-rolled Tang Yuans!

Today I am going to talk about Precious Stones by Ajahn Brahm. Pardon me for quoting them frequently, oh well blame it on American Idol. Hee - thats my in-between advertisement time activity. I read a book - some stories I can't help but wana share.


At a famous U.S. business school some years ago, a professor delivered an extraordinary lecture on social economics to his graduating class. Without explaining what he was doing, the professor carefully placed a glass jar on his desk. Then, in view of his students, he brought out a bag full of stones and placed them one by one in the jar, until no more would go in. He asked his students, "Is the jar full?"

"Yes," they replied.

The professor smiled. From beneath the desk, the professor produced a second bag, this one full of gravel. He then managed to shake the smaller stones into the spaces between the bigger stones in the jar. A second time, he asked his students, "Is the jar full?"

"No," they answered. They were on to him by now.

They were correct, of course, for the professor produced a bag of fine sand. He managed to coax much of the sand into the spaces between the stones and the gravel within the jar. Again he asked, "Is the jar full?"

"Probably not, Professor, knowing you," the students replied.

Smiling at their answer, the professor brought out a small jug of water, which he poured into the jar full of stones, gravel and sand. When no more water would fit in the jar, he put down the jug and looked at his class.

"So, what does this teach you?" he asked his students.

"That no matter how busy your schedule," offered one of the students, "you can always fit something more in!" It was a famous business school, after all.

"No!" thundered the professor emphatically. "What it shows is that if you want to get the big stones in, you have to put them in first."

It was a lesson in priorities.

So what are the "big stones" in your "jar"? What is most important to fit into your life? Please ensure that you schedule in the "precious stones" first, or you'll never get around to them, to fit them into your day.

Tang Yuan 汤圆

This year's Dong Zhi 冬至 celebration was different. During the weekend, my in-laws invited my family over for dinner and tang yuan. What was also different was I had to start rolling the tang yuan since 1pm in the afternoon. I was rolling it together with Por Por, Sumini and Sri. They were teaching me how to roll so that it is Really Round...and also the symbolic meaning behind rolling (besides eating it..yum!) the balls.

Brown Sugar wrapped in each dang yuan

To make this, you will need glutinous rice flour. Well, Sri and Sumini both prepared the dough, the white and the pink respectively. The glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water till it "feels right". Sorry I don't know the recipe here, I mainly participated in the more fun bit, which was filling it with brown sugar in the middle, and rolling it into a ball.

Eating dang yuan in a must for the Dong Zhi celebration. This year, the festival falls on 21 December, Sunday. It is also known as the Winter Solstice Festival.

In modern times, many Chinese, especially Singaporeans, have probably stopped celebrating this occasion.

It is supposed to symbolize unity in a family. I ate 18 balls that evening!

Hopefully this rekindles your memory of having eaten dang yuan with your older generation. It is definitely easier to buy the frozen ones from Supermarket, but nothing beats gathering around a huge tray, chatting about the significance of this day, and rolling it for your family!