THE FUTURE IS IN CONSTANT MOTION

About three or four years ago, there was a Korean drama series that captured the imagination of many people in Malaysia and many countries in Asia. That show was Da Jang Geum or Jewel of the Palace. It was actually a historical drama based on a real story of a spunky and brilliant woman named Jang Geum who went on to become one of the finest cooks in the palace and eventually the first woman royal physician. That was and still is one series for the whole family that I consider educational as well as very entertaining.

There is now another historical Korean drama that is showing on Astro's Wah Lai Toi and it is called "Song of the Prince" or Sodong's Song". Basically the story is about a spunky and brilliant commoner named Sodong who could be likened to the male version of Jang Geum. Both characters faced obstacles in marrying their loved ones. Jang Geum could not marry as was the rule of palace maidens. Sodong and his love was divided by the fact that he was a commoner and she a princess. In Jewel of the Palace, Jang Geum's forte cooking and medicine whereas Sodong was a brilliant technician and strategist. He was also skilled in martial arts and also had knowledge of medicine. The difference between the two is that in actuality Sodong was of royal blood and through all the trials and tribulations, he manages to get the girl and also ascend the throne, becoming King Mu, the 30th king of Paekche. To read more about the drama, please click here.

By now you might be wondering why the title of this post is "The future is in constant motion" instead of something related to the "Song of the Prince". Am I right? Well, I blogged about this show after I watched last night's episode whereby Sodong provided one of the ministers with a strategy to counter the demands of the envoys from a bigger and more powerful country. The envoys had blamed the minister for the death of their ambassador and had demanded that either the minister go back with them to their country as hostage or surrender an important mine of the country. After his strategy had worked, Sodong's rival asked him how he managed to come up with the solution. To that, Sodong answered that he had to thank his rival for presenting him with a book containing a story about a criminal in one of the countries in ancient Europe. The convicted man was supposed to be slain with the other criminals on a certain date but on the day of the sentence he had dared to make a deal with the king. He said that he would be able to make the favourite horse of the king fly within a year. Hearing this, he had a stay of sentence for a year. One of the officials then asked him why he was so bold as to come up with such a claim. To which the man answered, "Many things can happen in one year. Who knows, the horse might die. Or it is the king who might pass away. Or it is I who might die within that time. Or the horse might really be able to fly after a year. You see anything can happen in a year". How true and how smart the man was, don't you agree?