= Day (before 6 p.m.) = Evening (after 6 p.m.) = Bow tie colour = Ladies = Gentlemen
80-564: Yue Hwa Building ( Chinese : 裕华大厦 ; pinyin : Yùhuá dàshà ) is a historic building located at the junction of Eu Tong Sen Street and Upper Cross Street in Chinatown , Singapore , next to Chinatown MRT station . Built by Swan and Maclaren in 1927, it was then the tallest building in Chinatown and was known as Nam Tin Building ( 南天大厦 ), owned by Lum Chang Holdings. The building housed
160-674: A kebaya , a traditional kind of blouse, along with batik . In the Philippines , variations of the Baro't saya adapted to the white wedding tradition are considered to be wedding attire for women, along with the barong tagalog for men. Various tribes and Muslim Filipinos don other forms of traditional dress during their respective ceremonies. The indigenous peoples of the Americas have varying traditions related to weddings and thus wedding dresses. A Hopi bride traditionally had her garments woven by
240-454: A Kurdish bride who used to be married before would wear pink. Today, many Kurds associate red wedding dresses with impoverished Kurdish rural society and it is no longer commonly worn. A Japanese wedding usually involves a traditional pure white kimono for the formal ceremony, symbolizing purity and maidenhood. The bride may change into a red kimono for the events after the ceremony for good luck. The Javanese people of Indonesia wear
320-511: A boutique hotel with shops and entertainment outlets for rich Chinese immigrants , the Great Southern Hotel was considered as the "Raffles Hotel of Chinatown". Each room had its own ensuite shower and toilet, and was given a roomy feeling by the 4m high ceiling and cast iron casement windows. The latter let in far more light than the wooden windows commonly found on shophouses in the-now Kreta Ayer Conservation Area , which were largely in
400-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓ ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏ ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of
480-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst
560-402: A diverse array of traditions and cultural practices, each shaped by the social, religious, and economic contexts of their time. In Western cultures, white wedding gowns have symbolized purity and grace since the 19th century, whereas Eastern cultures often feature elaborate, colorful garments imbued with symbolic meanings unique to each region. Weddings performed during and immediately following
640-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as
720-556: A major shopping hub for customers who found it fashionable to patronise the building's shops, outlets and cabarets . Chinese operas used to be staged at the building as an occasional attraction. The Southern Cabaret, based in the Diamond Dragon Dance Palace on the fifth floor, was of particular extravagance, as this article in The Straits Times describes it: "Dragon pillars studded with cut glass… constructed under
800-599: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as
880-568: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),
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#1732852778336960-560: A robe of turkey feathers. Her face was painted with white, red, and yellow clay. The tribes of Northern California (which include the Klamath , the Modoc , and the Yurok ) had a traditional bridal dress woven in symbolic colors: white for the east, blue for the south, yellow (orange) for the west; and black for the north. Turquoise and silver jewelry were worn by both the bride and the groom in addition to
1040-490: A symbolic gesture of "thanks" and appreciation, to those who have raised the bride and groom (such as grandparents and uncles) and those who will continue to be there to help the bride and groom in the future. Thus out of respect for the elders, wedding banquets are usually done formally and traditionally. Red saris , lehengas , and salwar kameez are traditional garment options for brides in Indian cultures. The fabric of choice
1120-610: A total of S$ 100 million to set up its first store selling Chinese products in Singapore. For its conservation and restoration work, the Yue Hwa Building won URA's Architectural Heritage Award in 1997. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during
1200-555: A white gown trimmed with Honiton lace . Illustrations of the wedding were widely published, and many brides opted for white in accordance with the Queen's choice. Although white was later assumed to symbolize virginity, it was originally blue that represented purity, piety, and fidelity, and was associated with the Virgin Mary . Despite the rise in popularity of white wedding dresses, brides continued to follow contemporary fashion trends. In
1280-605: A year ago. In 1993, Lum Chang Holdings sold the building at a price of S$ 25 million to Yu Kwok Chun, who was the head of a Hong Kong-based multinational corporation with its flagship department store, Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium . The company, set up by Yu's father in 1959, is a global corporation of 35 companies involved in investments , travel and general trading . Yue Hwa's three department stores in Hong Kong are popular with both Hong Kongers and tourists . Besides agricultural produce from various provinces of China ,
1360-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌 'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊ 'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,
1440-475: Is also traditionally silk, regardless of garment type. Over time, color options and fabric choices for Indian brides have expanded. Today fabrics like crepe, Georgette, charmeuse, and satin are used, and colors have been expanded to include gold, pink, orange, maroon, brown, and yellow as well. Traditionally, a Kurdish first-time bride would wear a red dress for her wedding to symbolize the postcoital bleeding she will experience when she loses her virginity while
1520-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with
1600-809: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at
1680-609: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c. 100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to
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#17328527783361760-468: Is thus possible that this building in Singapore, a colonial port, has a name in homage of this turn of events. Besides the hotel, Lum Chang Holdings also leased out the building to several tenants who operated shops and other businesses. The L-shaped ground floor was partitioned for 8 of these shops. People commonly referred to the entire Nam Tin building as the Great Southern Hotel when the hotel subsequently became very popular. The Nam Tin Building became
1840-540: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,
1920-555: The Dauphin of France , because it was her favorite color, although white was then the color of mourning for French queens. This was not a widespread trend, however: prior to the Victorian era , a bride was married in any color, black being popular in Finland . White became a popular option in 1840, after the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , when Victoria wore
2000-492: The Middle Ages were often more than a personal union between two individuals. They frequently symbolized a union between families, businesses, or even nations. These ceremonies were driven more by political considerations than romantic love, particularly among the nobility and the higher social classes. Brides were expected to dress in a way that reflected the status of their families, representing more than just themselves during
2080-525: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Wedding dress A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. Wedding dresses hold a significant place in fashion, symbolizing personal expression, and cultural traditions and societal values. In Western culture,
2160-456: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across
2240-476: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3
2320-508: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of
2400-502: The 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of
2480-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components
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2560-421: The Great Southern Hotel was the first Chinese hotel to have a lift. The original design accommodated offices on the first storey, the hotel on the second and third storeys, a restaurant on the fifth storey, and a tea house on the roof terrace as well as a cabaret. The restaurant on the fourth floor was later converted into the owner's office. The whole of the fifth floor was occupied by a then-well-known cabaret,
2640-544: The Southern Cabaret. Shops and entertainment outlets, including a Hainanese kopitiam , were situated on the ground floor. The architectural firm engaged for the S$ 25 million restoration project was O.D. Architects of Bukit Pasoh Road . In accordance with URA's conservation guidelines for Nam Tin Building, the architects preserved the building's roof-top garden and balconies facing Eu Tong Sen Street. The interior of
2720-514: The Transitional and Art Deco styles. Celebrities, artists, and merchants enjoyed fine food, opium , and liquor at the Great Southern Hotel, which had novel Western pleasures, such as a disco ball specially imported from the USA. The allure of Western goods and traditions even extended to weddings held at the hotel. A prolific Chinese writer, Wu Sijing, held her 17-table wedding banquet there in 1952, and
2800-612: The Victorian era. Since the mid-20th century, white has been the dominant color for Western wedding dresses, though "wedding white" includes shades such as eggshell , ecru , and ivory . However, white is not the universal color of wedding dresses. In Mexico, for example, red is a popular color. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the color white is used as a symbol of purity, innocence, and cleanliness, particularly in religious ceremonies , including weddings. For weddings in
2880-497: The area that Eu Tong Sen street was colloquially known as 南天前, or, "In front of Nam Tin". The pre-eminence of the Great Southern Hotel as an entertainment destination did not last. In 1956, the Cathay Organization bought the adjacent Majestic Theatre and transformed it into an attraction that drew film stars from Hong Kong. Changing entertainment preferences, a depressed economy, and socio-political unrest also contributed to
2960-462: The bride's social standing and indicated the extent of the family's wealth to wedding guests. The first documented instance of a royal bride wearing a white wedding dress was that of Philippa of England . She wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with squirrel and ermine in 1406, when she married Eric of Pomerania . Similarly, Mary, Queen of Scots , wore a white wedding dress in 1559 when she married her first husband, Francis ,
3040-482: The building from 1994 to 1995. The Nam Tin building was then converted into the Yue Hwa Chinese Products department store, and was renamed Yue Hwa Building. The department store was opened on 9 October 1996, and sells a range of traditional Chinese products including herbs , medicines , porcelain , furniture , arts and crafts , garments and textiles . Being one of the tallest buildings in Singapore in
3120-479: The building vacated their businesses after the building was sold, and were each paid a compensation sum. As the 999-year leasehold building has been gazetted by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for architectural conservation , the new owner was asked to preserve the building's façade . There were, however, no similar restrictions on its interiors. Renovation works were carried out on
3200-549: The building were removed, and branding of the building became more nondescript. The red hotel signage on the corner arch of the ground floor also faded; with the lack of maintenance, they were barely visible by 1988. The shops at the ground floor also changed with the clientele. While shopping there was once seen as fashionable, stalls selling common electrical appliances now took up most of the ground floor frontage. The rooftop balcony and loggia visibly fell into disuse, with half-collapsed banners that advertised events that had passed by
3280-422: The building were revamped to accommodate an open layout suitable for a department store. Non-structural interior walls were torn down. A new atrium was created by constructing a wall on the second storey, and could be used as an exhibition hall . A four-storey high waterfall was built at the back of the building, which has a new three-storey extension. A stained glass skylight was used as an interface to join
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3360-412: The ceremony. Brides from wealthy families often wore rich colors and exclusive fabrics, wearing bold colors and layers of furs, velvet , and silk . The attire of the bride was a testament to the wealth and social standing of her family. Brides from lower social strata wore their best church dress on their wedding day. The amount and the price of material a wedding dress contained was a direct reflection of
3440-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between
3520-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant
3600-465: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from
3680-448: The decline of Chinese opera and dances at the hotel. The popularity of Chinese opera declined throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and by 1959, even famous wayang theatres just one block down the street, such as Heng Seng Peng and Heng Wai Sun were closed ( People's Park Complex was built over that spot). "Taxi dancers", so-named because these dancers-for-hire would hang around cabarets like waiting taxis, were also falling out of fashion with
3760-470: The early 1900s, clothing included a lot of decorations, such as lace or frills. This was also adopted in wedding dresses, where decorative frills and lace were common. For example, in the 1920s, they were typically short in the front with a longer train in the back and were worn with cloche -style wedding veils . This tendency to follow current fashions continued until the late 1960s, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs reminiscent of
3840-586: The early 20th century, the Great Southern Hotel was an important landmark of Chinatown. Designed by Swan and Maclaren, the architectural style of the Nam Tin Building was that of the Modern Movement . The building was designed to be strictly functional . The grey-coloured façade of the Great Southern Hotel seemed to consist only of the bare essentials, with ordinary designs like strong horizontal lines with angular arches and simple cornices . The building
3920-472: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see
4000-616: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over
4080-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including
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#17328527783364160-515: The focal point of many suicide attempts in its early days, until the tall Singapore Improvement Trust flats at Upper Pickering Street were built. Owned by Lum Chang Holdings, the building housing Great Southern Hotel was called "Nam Tin" in Cantonese , meaning "southern sky". This choice of name is curious because the Chinese's discovery of the sky around the southern celestial was relatively recent, when Xu Guangqi interpreted European star charts. It
4240-465: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility
4320-503: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during
4400-404: The groom and any men in the village who wished to participate. The garments consisted of a large belt, two all-white wedding robes, a white wedding robe with red stripes at the top and bottom, white buckskin leggings and moccasins, a string for tying the hair, and a reed mat in which to wrap the outfit. This outfit also served as a shroud, since these garments would be necessary for the trip through
4480-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d. 782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what
4560-565: The interior, won the building the Architectural Heritage Award by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 1997. Also known as Nam Tin Hotel, the Great Southern Hotel in Singapore's Chinatown was built by Swan and Maclaren in 1927. Started as a boutique hotel , it was the tallest building in Chinatown when it was completed. It was also the first Chinese hotel in Singapore with a lift . Its height also gave it an unfortunate reputation as
4640-491: The introduction of rock ’n’ roll at dance clubs, a genre of music that was then becoming increasingly popular with youths. By the 1960s, these dances were the most popular form of entertainment for Singaporean youth, and the hotel's cabaret took a backseat. Nam Tin’s façade reflected this decline. Through the 1960s to 1980s, the large red "Southern Cabaret" signage that adorned the Eu Tong Sen Street-facing side of
4720-459: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d. 208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,
4800-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,
4880-421: The old and new parts of the building. New escalators and lifts were added to serve all six floors of the building. As a result, total floor space was increased from 3,700 to 4,600 square metres (39,800 to 49,500 square feet), with 4,650 square metres (50,000 square feet) of retail space created for use by the store. Together with the acquisition of the Nam Tin Building in 1993, Yue Hwa Chinese Products invested
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#17328527783364960-742: The prevailing styles of their time. In more recent decades, minimalist and modern designs have gained popularity, emphasizing simplicity and personal expression. Wedding dresses continue to adapt to contemporary fashion trends while retaining elements of tradition, offering a wide range of styles that allow brides to express their individuality. In the early 21st century, many wedding dresses were sleeveless and strapless . Other brides preferred styles with sleeves, higher necklines, and covered backs. The latest wedding dress designs, as of 2024, feature drop-waist silhouettes, convertible gowns, intricate crystal embellishments, tulle, and gowns that display vintage charm. The history of wedding dresses encompasses
5040-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted
5120-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on
5200-404: The red traditional garment for their formal wedding banquets. Traditionally, the father of the bride is responsible for the wedding banquet hosted on the bride's side and the alcohol (specifically called "xi-jiu," confusingly the same as what the wedding banquet itself is called) consumed during both banquets. While the wedding itself is often based on the couple's choices, the wedding banquets are
5280-476: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted
5360-461: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊
5440-445: The six-storey Great Southern Hotel (the first Chinese hotel with a lift), along with a few shops and cabarets that were popular among Chinese travellers. In 1993, Lum Chang Holdings sold the building to Hong Kong businessman Yu Kwok Chun, who converted it to the first Yue Hwa Chinese Products department store in Singapore in 1994. The renovation process, which conserved the exterior while adding features such as an atrium and waterfall to
5520-515: The stores also sell jade carvings, handicrafts , antiques and medical products such as ginseng , antlers and cordyceps . In February 1994, the Great Southern Hotel ended its operations from the building as the hotel faced increasing competition in the hospitality industry. At the time of its closure, the hotel was operating only 40 rooms that were equipped with a double-bed and a ceiling fan, catering mainly to budget travellers from Malaysia and Indonesia . The other seven existing tenants of
5600-553: The supervision of Miss Leong Sai Chan, former Shanghai movie star, the cabaret is an imitation of China's famed Peking palace. Beautifully coloured carvings of birds and animals of Chinese mythology decorate the walls of cabaret." Operated by the Cantonese , the Great Southern Hotel catered more to Chinese travellers, including celebrities from Hong Kong and China . This was unlike the upmarket hotels like Raffles Hotel , Goodwood Park Hotel and Adelphi Hotel which then accommodated mainly Europeans and English-speaking visitors. As
5680-503: The temple, white clothing is also worn by all participants during the ceremony, both men and women, to symbolize unity and equality before God. The brides are instructed to wear white dresses that are modest in design and fabric and free of elaborate decoration. Many wedding dresses in China , India , Bangladesh , and Pakistan are red; the traditional Indian color representing good luck and auspiciousness . Vietnamese wedding dresses (in
5760-488: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to
5840-817: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes
5920-435: The traditional form of áo tấc the ancient Ao dai ) were dark blue. Today, many women choose other colors besides red. In modern mainland Chinese weddings, the bride may wear Western dresses of any color and a traditional costume for the wedding tea ceremony . In modern Taiwanese weddings, the bride generally picks red (following Chinese tradition) or white (more Western) silk for the wedding gown material, but most will wear
6000-461: The underworld. A Pueblo bride wore a cotton garment tied above the right shoulder, secured with a belt around the waist. In the traditions of the Delaware , a bride wore a knee-length skirt of deerskin and a band of wampum beads around her forehead. Except for fine beads or shell necklaces, the body was bare from the waist up. If it was a winter wedding, she wore deerskin leggings and moccasins and
6080-516: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of
6160-638: The wedding dress is most commonly white, a fashion made popular by Queen Victoria when she married in 1840. In Eastern cultures, brides often choose red to symbolize auspiciousness . These wedding dresses often represent a blend of heritage and contemporary trends, making them a pivotal aspect of bridal fashion and a reflection of evolving style in society. Wedding dress fashion has evolved significantly, shaped by shifts in aesthetic preferences, technological advancements, and broader cultural trends. Historically, bridal attire featured elaborate designs with structured silhouettes and intricate detailing, reflecting
6240-461: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by
6320-452: Was fitted with steel frame windows, with metal railings and grills, which were considered fashionable in the 1930s. The loggia on the uppermost floor was a little lighter in colour with the use of cast iron balustrades and brackets , and there was extensive use of green glass. The building was one of the first in Singapore to be built as an integral structure of reinforced concrete slab and beam with infill brick wall. At six storeys,
6400-432: Was photographed in a white bridal dress , with her husband in a white suit and bowtie . This choice of dress would have been most unusual amongst mainland Chinese due to the nationalistic influence of Mao-era China, highlighting Singapore's confluence between Eastern and Western cultures, of which the hotel was at the forefront. Both in decor, and activities. The building and its tenants were such an anchoring presence in
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