I spotted the little yellow flowers with beautiful scent in dad’s container garden the other day. I immediately knelt down, dug through the vines to get a better look at them. I then spent some time trying to get a good shot of the blooms before I asked what it was. Dad said, “This is 夜来香 (ye lai xiang)!”

I googled and found its proper name as Telosma Cordata, as well as its common names Tonkin Jasmine and Chinese Violet to name a few. Its name in Chinese however, is the one that really stands out. 夜来香 (ye lai xiang) means “fragrance comes at night”, and it describes the flower’s characteristics implicitly, requiring no further explanation. With such a name, one can deduce that the delightful and captivating fragrance of these unassuming yellow flowers is the strongest at night.

What is truly impressive about 夜来香 (ye lai xiang), at least to me personally, is not how beautiful the name sounds but a song of the same name brought to mind the instant 夜来香 (ye lai xiang) is mentioned. It is a very famous song among the Chinese, I don’t mean the Malaysian Chinese but the Chinese the world over! The song was written not in recent years, but in 1944, way before I was or even my parents were born! It is still being recognised by many today, most of them probably can sing along, having memorised almost every word of the lyrics.

It was a lovely song then, and in my humble opinion, remains just as mesmerising in the 21st century. It was written and composed by the famous composer of his time 黎錦光 (Li Jin Guang), sung famous by Chinese-born Japanese actress/singer 李香蘭 (Li Xiang Lan)/山口淑子 (Yamaguchi Yoshiko). Though it was well-received at the time, its popularity was short-lived as it was banned subsequently by China, citing “spiritual pollution” during the Japanese invasion in World War II. The song was later re-interpreted by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng) in the 80’s who gave a new lease of life to a song written 4 decades before that.

I have tried to translate the lyrics from Chinese to English, but I do not think I have done justice to the song. The essence of the simple and yet beautifully poetic Chinese words, which evokes the intoxicating scent of the night jasmine and the alluring night scene, is difficult to capture in English, just as the melody is hard to convey in words.

那南風吹來清涼
The southern breeze is refreshingly cool
那夜鶯啼聲輕唱
The nightingale sings softly
月下的花兒都入夢
All the flowers in the moonlight have fallen asleep
只有那夜來香
Only the night jasmine
吐露著芬芳
Releasing beautiful fragrance

我愛這夜色茫茫
I love this dark and misty night
也愛這夜鶯歌唱
And also the nightingale’s singing
更愛那花一般的夢
I love the flower-like dream even more
擁抱著夜來香
I embrace the night jasmine
聞著夜來香
I smell the night jasmine

夜來香
Night jasmine
我為妳歌唱
I sing for you
夜來香
Night jasmine
我為妳思量
I think of you
啊~啊,我為妳歌唱
Ahhh, I sing for you
我為妳思量
I think of you

我愛這夜色茫茫
I love this dark and misty night
也愛這夜鶯歌唱
And also the nightingale’s singing
更愛那花一般的夢
I love the flower-like dream even more
擁抱著夜來香
I embrace the night jasmine
聞著夜來香
I smell the night jasmine

夜來香
Night jasmine
夜來香
Night jasmine
夜來香
Night jasmine

the humble “fragrance comes at night” – 夜來香