Complied by FAZLEENA AZIZ, BEH YUEN HUI and R. ARAVINTHAN
IT was a question which has confounded many. How do you translate a Taoist incantation heard in Ne Zha 2, which has become the highest-grossing animated film from China?
The answer came after its premiere last Thursday in Malaysia with Nanyang Siang Pau reporting that the line ji ji ru lv ling was translated as “pantas dan bangkit” (quick, arise).
The movie, which is about a demon child raised by humans, was adapted from Chinese mythology.
Since its release in China on Jan 29, Ne Zha 2 has surpassed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, breaking into the top five at the global box office, grossing 15.2bil yuan (RM9.34bil).
Its success has prompted much discussion about the ways to translate the “complicated” phrases, poems and characters featured in the movie.
“How do we translate the richness of Chinese culture into English without losing its essence?” a university dean asked in an article in China Daily.
> A post about a male celebrity losing lost 1.03bil yuan (RM620mil) at a casino in Macau, has been debunked as fake news, Chinese dailies reported.
The truth emerged when Chinese police arrested a 36-year-old man, identified only as Xu, who admitted that he had used AI to generate the “story”.
Apparently, Xu had fabricated the article to draw traffic to his social media account.
In the post, which began circulating on March 10, Xu also alleged that the celebrity had mortgaged three of his luxury homes and a private jet.
It led to netizens speculating that the “celebrity” could be Taiwanese singer Jay Chou, Chinese actors Huang Xiaoming, Chen Daoming or comedian Zhao Benshan.
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.
