RM5 vase once belonged to a Chinese emperor

A BRITISH man was stunned that the vase he bought from a thrift shop for £1 (RM5) was worth more than £80,000 (RM413,424) as it once belonged to a Chinese emperor, Oriental Daily reported.

The 20cm vase bore two iron-red seals that read “Emperor Qianlong’s own mark”, meaning that it was commissioned by the emperor himself.

Experts at Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers in Essex, Britain, date the vase back to the Qing Dynasty.

Sworders’ Asian art department head Li Yexue said the owner tried to sell the vase on eBay but was flooded with messages and bids.

He decided to take it down and get it professionally valued.

“The vendor had picked out the vase in a charity shop because he liked the look of it.

“He put it on eBay with a low starting price and saw a lot of interest.

“He then took it off eBay and brought it in to us for a look.

“He was very excited when we explained its importance,” said Li.

The vase will go on sale at an auction on Nov 8.

> A “talking” biscuit with an eerie likeness to a human face caused a stir among social media users on Thursday, China Press reported.

In a video uploaded by Malaysian Facebook user Markonah Sudin, the biscuit, when fried in oil, produced mumbling sounds like those made by a toddler learning to speak.

The video got over 920 reactions and was shared over 3,815 times.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.