Big Frog Jumping on the Road

I was invited to a free 2-day conference that apparently cost more than RM2,000 of which I have agreed to attend, until I gave it more thought this morning.

A Cantonese proverb came to mind: gam dai go gap la choei gai tiu, literally translated to--is there ever a big frog jumping about on the road. It simply means--there is no free lunch.

With that, I sent an email to cancel.

I then came across this very interesting art piece created by a 阿塗(Ah To), who is a graphic designer and part-time cartoonist concerned about the survival of Cantonese in Canton and Hong Kong. He published a painting called "The Great Canton and Hong Kong Proverbs” in Hong Kong independent media “Passion Times“. The painting contains illustrations of 81 Cantonese proverbs. Apparently, he imitated a Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel, who in 1599 created the oil painting “Netherlandish Proverbs” that illustrated Dutch proverbs to propagate Dutch culture.


(Click to enlarge)

I have found several interesting proverbs that I know in the painting, and will be learning many more. Refer here if you would like to check them out.

Do you see the big frog?

pearlie