Some men and women know not the word 'forgiveness'. Neither do they know about living the present and looking forward to the future. As a result they cannot forget a slight or an injury caused by someone. They would mull over the incident for weeks, months and years, thinking of the deed until the thoughts become toxic and poison their mind, unbalancing it until it no longer can think properly and correctly what ought or ought not to be done. With that toxic fermenting in the mind, the idea of revenge will certainly surface.
And that was what I read in the Star newspaper today about a woman who took revenge on her dead ex-hubby fifteen years after divorcing him.
Apparently, the woman must have felt cheated or by her husband for she divorced him. The hurt must have been great for the act of him in no way assuage the woman's anger with the husband.
The anger could have seethe even more when the divorced husband married again. And it boiled over with the opportunity for revenge when her ex-husband passed away. Of course, she could not hurt him anymore. But that did not prevent her from seeking satisfaction by causing mischief to the husband's present wife and her family, hoping to embarrass them. She posted posters informing others that justice has been served with his death. According to the Star, this was what China Press reported.
According to the report, even her son was not allowed to attend the funeral of her ex-husband. Nevertheless, he did attend and the woman was so angry with the son for that that he kicked him out of the house.
To make sure that her own son was to be punished and could not enter the house anymore, she even went to the extent of changing all the locks in her house.
Let us learn from this episode that there are those who would keep in their hearts forever all the slights and injury caused themBeware of the fact that there is danger of embarrassment or pain from some of the wrongs that we may have caused. So, harm not lest we be harmed. Hurt not lest we be hurt in turn.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Information and communication are important for understanding.
This friend has much interest in aquaculture landscaping. In aquaculture landscaping, plants, rocks and hard wood able to withstand rot in water are used to beautify an aquarium. To ensure there is no opportunity for mosquito larvae to thrive, two or three small fish like the neon tetra and guppies are put into the aquarium.
Such an enthusiast as this friend is always on the lookout for beautiful and rare water plants, suitable beautiful rocks and wood to use for attaching plants as well as decorating the aquarium. So it was that one day this friend happened upon a piece of mahogany wood which attracted his attention with its shape and texture. It was a beautiful piece of wood and he was so happy to part with thirty ringgit in exchange for it. He took it back with great delight for having been fortunate enough to chance upon it before another enthusiast did. For him it was a good buy.
He took it home and left it on the table in the hall. When his parents asked about it, he quickly passed it off as just a nice piece of wood he found somewhere. He knew his parents would disapprove of spending thirty ringgit on a piece of wood. Believing that his parents need not know of the price and thus possibly make complains about his purchase, he decided to keep the price a secret.
The hand-phone rang and some friends wanted to meet him outside. He joined them and spent a good number of hours in their good company. By the time they separated it was late in the evening. So, he returned and went looking for his piece of wood but it could not be found. Unable to find it, he gave up the search and approached his father to enquire about it.
“Oh, you mean that piece of wood you brought back this afternoon. Come. I’ll show you how useful it is,” the father happily told his son.
“What do you mean? Where is it?” He followed his father into the garden where he saw some orchid plants tied to some pieces of wood.
“Look! I have cut the piece up for these three orchid plants. The pieces of wood are just right for my orchids. Next time you see such pieces of wood, do bring more of them back.” The father was so proud of being able to display his orchids on such beautiful pieces of wood. The poor guy could not say anything. How was he to blame his father when he never let on that that piece of wood which he brought back was expensive? Would it be right of him to dampen his father’s joy when he did not inform him that he intended to use it for his aquaculture? He knew he had lost something good but it had also taught him a lesson.
From that day onwards, in everything he does, he informs his parents and those around him. He realises that that is the only way to avoid misunderstanding and possible losses.
Monday, June 28, 2010
A Paradise On Earth for some.
Do you know that Fraser’s Hill is not just a birds’ paradise. It is a paradise in many ways. First there is the wonderful sufficiently cool air which does not cause us to sweat at all although we may ramble throughout the day all over the hill top. However, it is not so cold that you need to wear thick clothing. In fact, during my stay, I wore just a T-shirt and slacks. So, it is so comfortable, not too cold and no sweat to bother with.
Next comes the fauna and flora. When it comes to the fauna, of course we did not have time to look for them. But you would not believe it or am I ignorant enough to be surprised at the sight of a chipmunk with its three dark stripes on its body on top of Fraser’s Hill. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to photograph it. And there was the stick insect, certainly so slow that this old guy could be fast enough to take a few shots at it. There were squirrels too but that is something most of us would consider too common. Anyway it is definitely too fast to photograph easily. With the dense forests everywhere I believe there must be very much more if I am given the time to slowly explore the place.
Haa! When it is flora that you are interested in, there is so much to offer. There are so many beautiful plants and flowers and some wild orchids too, with at least two of them so miniature that I found them so cute. Let’s have a look at some of the plants and flowers which I have photographed. Some of them are so beautiful there were some people who could not resist taking some home. The following photographs are better than me are telling about the many beauties that abound some of the places up that hill.
Talking about places, we just had a little time to wander around and one of those places was Alan’s Water where there were pedal-boats for people to exercise their legs as they went around a scenic lake. Then, there’s the waterfall where the sound of tumbling waters was so relaxing to our souls. Let's have a look.
There are other places that ought to be visited, something I look forward to on my next trip there. Well, see you there then.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Alcohol can be therapeutic.
If there is control, alcohol can be therapeutic.
There was once a teacher whom I have known as a quiet, friendly and helpful person. I had always found him ever ready to help. With his ready smile, he was so approachable. He went about his work with a discipline few have. As such, he was well respected by fellow teachers and his students.
Yet, each night I found him at a quiet coffee-shop, all by himself, drinking his beer. For hours he would be there slowly sipping beer from his glass, calmly looking nowhere. Usually he was left alone to finish his drinks as it was a well-known fact that he only wished to be left alone. Then, late at night, he would go to his bicycle and cycle home to sleep. That was his routine, day after day, seven days a week.
There was never any violence or wrong deeds by this teacher. Even in his old age, he was found to be one of the most congenial person his friends and relatives had ever known. From my knowledge of him, he was one of those very disciplined, self-controlled people, an exemplary human.
You see, he had this unhappiness in his family, a best forgotten episode in his life. And due to that, he stayed out of his home in the evenings, went for his drink, nursed it the whole evening and allowed his mind to cool down before he tiredly returned home to his bed to awake the next morning refreshed enough to carry on with his life. Thus, in his drink he found a solution to his problems, problems that could have a lesser man boil over into rage and some dastardly vengence that could have brought some kind of undesirable consequences.
Perhaps this story has nothing to do with the therapeutic effect on circulation, heat and sluggishness of the blood stream and the heart or the heart-beneficial effects of resveratrol found in red wine made from red grapes. However, it did help one man retain his characteristic coolness and calmness to carry on with his life as well as he could. In that way alcohol did help him and therefore it can be said to have been therapeutic.
Nonetheless, I would not recommend anyone to imbibing alcohol unless it is found to be essential to his well-being for it has been found to be difficult to prevent from overtaking one's control and has been more problematic than therapeutic.
There was once a teacher whom I have known as a quiet, friendly and helpful person. I had always found him ever ready to help. With his ready smile, he was so approachable. He went about his work with a discipline few have. As such, he was well respected by fellow teachers and his students.
Yet, each night I found him at a quiet coffee-shop, all by himself, drinking his beer. For hours he would be there slowly sipping beer from his glass, calmly looking nowhere. Usually he was left alone to finish his drinks as it was a well-known fact that he only wished to be left alone. Then, late at night, he would go to his bicycle and cycle home to sleep. That was his routine, day after day, seven days a week.
There was never any violence or wrong deeds by this teacher. Even in his old age, he was found to be one of the most congenial person his friends and relatives had ever known. From my knowledge of him, he was one of those very disciplined, self-controlled people, an exemplary human.
You see, he had this unhappiness in his family, a best forgotten episode in his life. And due to that, he stayed out of his home in the evenings, went for his drink, nursed it the whole evening and allowed his mind to cool down before he tiredly returned home to his bed to awake the next morning refreshed enough to carry on with his life. Thus, in his drink he found a solution to his problems, problems that could have a lesser man boil over into rage and some dastardly vengence that could have brought some kind of undesirable consequences.
Perhaps this story has nothing to do with the therapeutic effect on circulation, heat and sluggishness of the blood stream and the heart or the heart-beneficial effects of resveratrol found in red wine made from red grapes. However, it did help one man retain his characteristic coolness and calmness to carry on with his life as well as he could. In that way alcohol did help him and therefore it can be said to have been therapeutic.
Nonetheless, I would not recommend anyone to imbibing alcohol unless it is found to be essential to his well-being for it has been found to be difficult to prevent from overtaking one's control and has been more problematic than therapeutic.
Are we in control where alcohol is concerned?
More than a week ago, I read in the news about a frightened housewife having to flee half-naked from her home after her drunken husband splashed acid on her, burning her clothes from the waist down. The acid had burnt the lower part of her body while her husband suffered injuries to his stomach, chest and right hand.
That was the fate of a woman for marrying a drinking husband who cannot control his drink. In terror she had to run out of her own house with her lower body exposed. Well, to be safe, do not have a man who cannot control his drink. A man who allows his drink to control him will always be either in danger or causing danger, sometimes even to the ones he loves. Nobody is safe as his mind and emotions are overtaken by intoxication.
Do you know that even for a person who can drink, a few glasses of alcoholic drinks can destabilise a person? Once, I was out with an old friend and we joined others in a gathering of ex-schoolmates, the old Frees (Ex-students of Penang Free School), for dinner. The friend was one of those who took a few drinks. As he was used to alcoholic drinks and a disciplined person who knows when to stop, I did not say anything although he was the driver and I was his passenger. From all external appearances, he was very stable, walked steadily to the car, talked calmly and was coherent in his conversation with me. He started the car and drove it without any indication of impairment until he reached his apartment. Then, as he tried to park his car, he discovered that he could not manage to park it properly, placing the car at a slight angle and a little too far out from the kerb. He drove in and out of that parking lot a number of times before he could have the car inside the allotted space. Even that friend realised it was the drinks which had affected his judgement. He told me he just could not get it done accurately so many times despite knowing that he had not parked properly inside the slot. He added that he normally parked his car at one go. That was how confident he was with his skill in handling the car.
If a guy with such control and discipline over himself can be destabilised by just a few drinks, what more with people who cannot control their drinks or themselves. When alcohol is in control of a person, he/she could commit deeds which may cause him much regret later when it is too late to undo the wrongs.
The above story about the drunk hurting his own wife is not the first story I have read or know about about drunks. However, there are people who drink and find it to be more therapeutic than harmful. That I will tell you another day as it is quite a long story.
Well, when I was young I did drink a little just for the fun of it but I was lucky to see with my own eyes the effect of alcohol on the liver which I have written about in an earlier posting. Thank God for that! He is certainly watching over me although it may be from a distance though I do not belong to any particular religion. Well, I do believe in Him and that is what counts the most. Don't you think so?
Okay, back to alcohol and its effect on us. Like everything else, I believe there must be moderation in everything we do or take. In small quantities and for those without allergies, it can be therapeutic as researchers are discovering. However, having control is important and since alcoholic drinks can cloud our mind, always be careful. If we have no control over it, the best thing to do would be to stay away from it.
That was the fate of a woman for marrying a drinking husband who cannot control his drink. In terror she had to run out of her own house with her lower body exposed. Well, to be safe, do not have a man who cannot control his drink. A man who allows his drink to control him will always be either in danger or causing danger, sometimes even to the ones he loves. Nobody is safe as his mind and emotions are overtaken by intoxication.
Do you know that even for a person who can drink, a few glasses of alcoholic drinks can destabilise a person? Once, I was out with an old friend and we joined others in a gathering of ex-schoolmates, the old Frees (Ex-students of Penang Free School), for dinner. The friend was one of those who took a few drinks. As he was used to alcoholic drinks and a disciplined person who knows when to stop, I did not say anything although he was the driver and I was his passenger. From all external appearances, he was very stable, walked steadily to the car, talked calmly and was coherent in his conversation with me. He started the car and drove it without any indication of impairment until he reached his apartment. Then, as he tried to park his car, he discovered that he could not manage to park it properly, placing the car at a slight angle and a little too far out from the kerb. He drove in and out of that parking lot a number of times before he could have the car inside the allotted space. Even that friend realised it was the drinks which had affected his judgement. He told me he just could not get it done accurately so many times despite knowing that he had not parked properly inside the slot. He added that he normally parked his car at one go. That was how confident he was with his skill in handling the car.
If a guy with such control and discipline over himself can be destabilised by just a few drinks, what more with people who cannot control their drinks or themselves. When alcohol is in control of a person, he/she could commit deeds which may cause him much regret later when it is too late to undo the wrongs.
The above story about the drunk hurting his own wife is not the first story I have read or know about about drunks. However, there are people who drink and find it to be more therapeutic than harmful. That I will tell you another day as it is quite a long story.
Well, when I was young I did drink a little just for the fun of it but I was lucky to see with my own eyes the effect of alcohol on the liver which I have written about in an earlier posting. Thank God for that! He is certainly watching over me although it may be from a distance though I do not belong to any particular religion. Well, I do believe in Him and that is what counts the most. Don't you think so?
Okay, back to alcohol and its effect on us. Like everything else, I believe there must be moderation in everything we do or take. In small quantities and for those without allergies, it can be therapeutic as researchers are discovering. However, having control is important and since alcoholic drinks can cloud our mind, always be careful. If we have no control over it, the best thing to do would be to stay away from it.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Try to understand before criticising.
Instead of criticizing, we ought to try and understand the feelings of others. Without the sometimes sad, disappointing and frustrated experiences that some people had, can a critic be able to understand the feelings and pain those people could have gone through. Can he claim to understand the feelings of those people?
Yet, on Thursday, 24 June 2010, I read a letter in a newspaper in which a Malaysian Chinese who had lived in Russia where he studied for many years for many years criticized other Malaysians for not loving Malaysia by laughing and making a remark at a man who was wearing a T-shirt imprinted with the words ‘Saya Cinta Malaysia’ which means ‘I love Malaysia’.
Of course, the man wearing that T-shirt ought not to be laughed at for that was just an open declaration for the love of his country. Everyone of us should love our country and I believe almost all of us do. For those who claim they don’t, we have to ask them the reason before any criticism is made. Do they have a good reason for their statements? Perhaps, they do. If we are open minded enough to try and understand such people, we may even come to sympathise with them.
Perhaps, those people who claim they do not love their country could have been confused and had mixed up the government of the day with their country. What I am saying is that those people were born in a certain place and since their parents, siblings, relative and friends are there, that’s where home is. Good or bad, that’s where they belong. They feel comfortable being there. Then when they grow up, they realise certain things, things other than the people and the surroundings they know. They found their country being ruled in a certain way. Born in a certain country, brought up playing with their friends, studying with their friends, living with their friends, helping each other, they would expect to be treated the same as those friends by the government. Then the day came when they pass their examinations at secondary school level and discover that only certain friends, most with not as good results as them, were given the privilege of being given entrance to certain privileged colleges to study for just a year with almost certainty of qualifying for tertiary education while they had to go for two years of upper secondary schooling which is so much more difficult. Why is there a difference? As a good number of their friends who were given the special privilege were even richer or better off than them, of course, it can be expected that they would feel that that was unfair. Can we blame them for feeling thus?
Then, when they managed to get excellent results, they did not get their country’s scholarship to study overseas although others more privileged friends who had not as good results, who even come from financially better families who did not exactly need those scholarships were given such financial aid to further their education. Would not such students feel frustrated at losing an opportunity which they merited? Should they be expected to love a government which had not considered them equal to other citizens although they were born and bred in the same country with no other country they call their own?
Even for tertiary education in their own country, it is not the best students who qualify for a place. The citizens are divided into certain categories with a certain community given more places.
Again, when it comes to jobs, with the exception of jobs in the private sector perhaps, jobs are given out again based on communities. When it comes to promotions, that happened too. (I have a brother-in law who quit the RMAF, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, from a job he loved because each year he watched younger staff with the same qualifications ascend the promotion ladder faster than him, overtaking him easily. ) Despite doing all that, the government of the day expects every citizen to be grateful to the government for some of the ‘crumbs’ given, usually just before or during elections.
Now if, like the Malaysian Chinese who criticised the others for not loving the country, someone who has his parents financial support to study anywhere he wishes, then the person does not feel or know the same pain, disappointment and frustration that the poor Malaysian Chinese or Indians would feel under such circumstances. (I know for I have personally comforted such a tearful person and felt his pain as he told me of his great disappointment at not being able to go for tertiary education despite his excellent results. Those who have not known such disappointment and pain might not be able to understand what I have written, perhaps.) Could such a person whose whole life-time would never be as good as it ought to be, be expected to be grateful for having all his dreams dashed by a government’s policy? If you were him, think how you would feel. (Sometimes we cannot fathom certain things unless and until we get into the shoes of those people. After all such things do not happen to us and certainly not the Malaysian Chinese who could not understand those people who ridiculed the guy who wore a T-shirt with the words ‘I love Malaysia’.
Poverty has no barriers. It exists in every race or community. A country which wishes to assist the really poor to give them a better chance at life should draw up policies to help all poor citizens regardless of race. When the policies are drawn up dividing all citizens into communities, many of the poor do not actually get the assistance. Even for the targeted community, time has proved that those who benefited from such a policy are not the truly helpless poor but the well-to-do and those well connected with the people who walk the corridors of power.
Thus, those who criticise ought to find out what has transpired, understand the situation properly, know the experiences and feelings of those unfortunate people before reaching a conclusion to base on whatever criticism the person wishes to make. Certainly, it takes some effort and an open mind to appreciate properly other people’s feeling and thoughts.
Yet, on Thursday, 24 June 2010, I read a letter in a newspaper in which a Malaysian Chinese who had lived in Russia where he studied for many years for many years criticized other Malaysians for not loving Malaysia by laughing and making a remark at a man who was wearing a T-shirt imprinted with the words ‘Saya Cinta Malaysia’ which means ‘I love Malaysia’.
Of course, the man wearing that T-shirt ought not to be laughed at for that was just an open declaration for the love of his country. Everyone of us should love our country and I believe almost all of us do. For those who claim they don’t, we have to ask them the reason before any criticism is made. Do they have a good reason for their statements? Perhaps, they do. If we are open minded enough to try and understand such people, we may even come to sympathise with them.
Perhaps, those people who claim they do not love their country could have been confused and had mixed up the government of the day with their country. What I am saying is that those people were born in a certain place and since their parents, siblings, relative and friends are there, that’s where home is. Good or bad, that’s where they belong. They feel comfortable being there. Then when they grow up, they realise certain things, things other than the people and the surroundings they know. They found their country being ruled in a certain way. Born in a certain country, brought up playing with their friends, studying with their friends, living with their friends, helping each other, they would expect to be treated the same as those friends by the government. Then the day came when they pass their examinations at secondary school level and discover that only certain friends, most with not as good results as them, were given the privilege of being given entrance to certain privileged colleges to study for just a year with almost certainty of qualifying for tertiary education while they had to go for two years of upper secondary schooling which is so much more difficult. Why is there a difference? As a good number of their friends who were given the special privilege were even richer or better off than them, of course, it can be expected that they would feel that that was unfair. Can we blame them for feeling thus?
Then, when they managed to get excellent results, they did not get their country’s scholarship to study overseas although others more privileged friends who had not as good results, who even come from financially better families who did not exactly need those scholarships were given such financial aid to further their education. Would not such students feel frustrated at losing an opportunity which they merited? Should they be expected to love a government which had not considered them equal to other citizens although they were born and bred in the same country with no other country they call their own?
Even for tertiary education in their own country, it is not the best students who qualify for a place. The citizens are divided into certain categories with a certain community given more places.
Again, when it comes to jobs, with the exception of jobs in the private sector perhaps, jobs are given out again based on communities. When it comes to promotions, that happened too. (I have a brother-in law who quit the RMAF, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, from a job he loved because each year he watched younger staff with the same qualifications ascend the promotion ladder faster than him, overtaking him easily. ) Despite doing all that, the government of the day expects every citizen to be grateful to the government for some of the ‘crumbs’ given, usually just before or during elections.
Now if, like the Malaysian Chinese who criticised the others for not loving the country, someone who has his parents financial support to study anywhere he wishes, then the person does not feel or know the same pain, disappointment and frustration that the poor Malaysian Chinese or Indians would feel under such circumstances. (I know for I have personally comforted such a tearful person and felt his pain as he told me of his great disappointment at not being able to go for tertiary education despite his excellent results. Those who have not known such disappointment and pain might not be able to understand what I have written, perhaps.) Could such a person whose whole life-time would never be as good as it ought to be, be expected to be grateful for having all his dreams dashed by a government’s policy? If you were him, think how you would feel. (Sometimes we cannot fathom certain things unless and until we get into the shoes of those people. After all such things do not happen to us and certainly not the Malaysian Chinese who could not understand those people who ridiculed the guy who wore a T-shirt with the words ‘I love Malaysia’.
Poverty has no barriers. It exists in every race or community. A country which wishes to assist the really poor to give them a better chance at life should draw up policies to help all poor citizens regardless of race. When the policies are drawn up dividing all citizens into communities, many of the poor do not actually get the assistance. Even for the targeted community, time has proved that those who benefited from such a policy are not the truly helpless poor but the well-to-do and those well connected with the people who walk the corridors of power.
Thus, those who criticise ought to find out what has transpired, understand the situation properly, know the experiences and feelings of those unfortunate people before reaching a conclusion to base on whatever criticism the person wishes to make. Certainly, it takes some effort and an open mind to appreciate properly other people’s feeling and thoughts.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Stopping child diarrhea.
Below is a method to overcome diarrhea. It came to me from a friend through my email. Since Emeritus Professor Wong Hock Boon who passed away on 28 December 2008 was one of the most prominent pediatrician in Singapore and the method comes from him, it certainly deserves our attention. Furthermore, he was well recognised internationally as an outstanding pediatrician.
However, I wish to inform that Professor Wong was a pediatrician and had treated children and babies with diarrhea. There was no mention of the treatment for adults although I believe there should be no harm as in diarrhea for adults, re-hydration is the most important step in countering the problem and rice water certainly contains lots of liquids.
In 1980, Professor Wong was awarded the Guinness Award for Scientific Achievement, and in 1985 the “most outstanding pediatrician Asia” award from APPSEAR (Association of Pediatric Societies of the South East Asian Region).
Emeritus Professor Wong has tackle childhood malnutrition and infantile diarrhoeal diseases vigorously through the promotion of breastfeeding, aiming to improve the health status of children in the region.
The use of rice-water for oral re-hydration in the management of acute gastroenteritis was pioneered by Professor Wong, and this led to a new and highly cost-effective approach to diarrhea diseases in the developing world.
Although re-hydration is the most immediate and vital aspect of the management of diarrhea, the giving of energy in some form of food is necessary. Many people think it is necessary to starve children with diarrhoea and merely give them water. This is dangerous as starving can start off malnutrition, or worsen it, by weakening the affected child's immunity.
Professor Wong Hock Boon has been using rice water to rehydrate babies for several years. If the babies are bottle-fed, rice water is given exclusively for the first 24 hours of treatment while breastfeeding can continue as normal. Professor Wong have found that many babies who have not responded to other rehydration solutions respond well to rice water. If diarrhea starts again with the re-introduction of milk, extra rice water is given with additional rice porridge. Older babies are sometimes given only rice porridge.
According to research, starch-like sugars tend to draw less fluid out of the body and into the gut compared with a similar amount of simple sugar such as glucose. Some babies with diarrhea can digest starch more easily than simple sugars.
*****************************
QUICKEST WAY TO STOP CHILD DIARRHEA
by: A Singaporean
When someone gets diarrhea, sometimes the solution is so easy, we wonder why anyone has to suffer.
Of all the ingredients here, the most potent is Rice, but not in the usual form we eat it in, and neither would rice porridge work too well.
The secret is in rice water.
Mother boiled some rice in lots of water and went to their hotel with two 1.5L bottles of rice water. To my surprise, it worked, and they were even able to go out for dinner the next day. Both were exclaiming how the rice water did the trick of making them well again.
I was discussing this some years back with Kim Ng, the ex-matron of KK Hospital. She said, yes, that is what Professor Wong Hock Boon, the notable pediatrician teaches. I was shocked and made some comment how could he? It was common knowledge so what had he to do with it?
Many months later, I regretted laughing at it. Dr Christina Shanta Emmanuel, who is the CEO of which group I have forgotten, either National Health Group or Polyclinics, regarded me seriously when I brought up the topic like it was good fun. She said that Prof Wong Hock Boon had presented a paper on it at some conference after he had done clinical trials.
Then his results were published in the Lancet, the Medical Journal all doctors read. In fact, said Shanta, he was credited for saving the lives of 2 million African babies by this method.
I am impressed.
It is rice water and not rice, that does the trick. I have found it effective again and again.
THE EXACT RECIPE
You take a handful of rice and boil it in a large saucepan with lots of water.
Like three or four large glasses. Then you cool that and drink the water.
If you are in a hurry to relieve the ailing person, take the saucepan off the fire and dunk it in a frying pan or basin of cool water with ice cubes if necessary. This gives the patient a chance to drink the rice water sooner and cure himself or herself sooner.
When drinking the rice water, make sure there is lots of it. You have to tell the patient that enough water must go in to line your guts from throat to other end, all 10 to 12 metres of it. If you take rice, it stays in the stomach.
If you take broth, some of it may go into the small intestine.
But if you take rice water, it will carry rice grains to every inch of your small and large intestine to the end where the problem is.
How does it work? Even Prof Wong Hock Boon doesn't know. Read the article by going to this site:
http://rehydrate.org/dd/dd06.htm#page2
It is good to pass on the news to everyone you know because the complaint is so common and people suffer unnecessarily. You would be doing your friends a great favour to relieve them of their misery when the occasion arises.
However, I wish to inform that Professor Wong was a pediatrician and had treated children and babies with diarrhea. There was no mention of the treatment for adults although I believe there should be no harm as in diarrhea for adults, re-hydration is the most important step in countering the problem and rice water certainly contains lots of liquids.
In 1980, Professor Wong was awarded the Guinness Award for Scientific Achievement, and in 1985 the “most outstanding pediatrician Asia” award from APPSEAR (Association of Pediatric Societies of the South East Asian Region).
Emeritus Professor Wong has tackle childhood malnutrition and infantile diarrhoeal diseases vigorously through the promotion of breastfeeding, aiming to improve the health status of children in the region.
The use of rice-water for oral re-hydration in the management of acute gastroenteritis was pioneered by Professor Wong, and this led to a new and highly cost-effective approach to diarrhea diseases in the developing world.
Although re-hydration is the most immediate and vital aspect of the management of diarrhea, the giving of energy in some form of food is necessary. Many people think it is necessary to starve children with diarrhoea and merely give them water. This is dangerous as starving can start off malnutrition, or worsen it, by weakening the affected child's immunity.
Professor Wong Hock Boon has been using rice water to rehydrate babies for several years. If the babies are bottle-fed, rice water is given exclusively for the first 24 hours of treatment while breastfeeding can continue as normal. Professor Wong have found that many babies who have not responded to other rehydration solutions respond well to rice water. If diarrhea starts again with the re-introduction of milk, extra rice water is given with additional rice porridge. Older babies are sometimes given only rice porridge.
According to research, starch-like sugars tend to draw less fluid out of the body and into the gut compared with a similar amount of simple sugar such as glucose. Some babies with diarrhea can digest starch more easily than simple sugars.
*****************************
QUICKEST WAY TO STOP CHILD DIARRHEA
by: A Singaporean
When someone gets diarrhea, sometimes the solution is so easy, we wonder why anyone has to suffer.
Of all the ingredients here, the most potent is Rice, but not in the usual form we eat it in, and neither would rice porridge work too well.
The secret is in rice water.
Mother boiled some rice in lots of water and went to their hotel with two 1.5L bottles of rice water. To my surprise, it worked, and they were even able to go out for dinner the next day. Both were exclaiming how the rice water did the trick of making them well again.
I was discussing this some years back with Kim Ng, the ex-matron of KK Hospital. She said, yes, that is what Professor Wong Hock Boon, the notable pediatrician teaches. I was shocked and made some comment how could he? It was common knowledge so what had he to do with it?
Many months later, I regretted laughing at it. Dr Christina Shanta Emmanuel, who is the CEO of which group I have forgotten, either National Health Group or Polyclinics, regarded me seriously when I brought up the topic like it was good fun. She said that Prof Wong Hock Boon had presented a paper on it at some conference after he had done clinical trials.
Then his results were published in the Lancet, the Medical Journal all doctors read. In fact, said Shanta, he was credited for saving the lives of 2 million African babies by this method.
I am impressed.
It is rice water and not rice, that does the trick. I have found it effective again and again.
THE EXACT RECIPE
You take a handful of rice and boil it in a large saucepan with lots of water.
Like three or four large glasses. Then you cool that and drink the water.
If you are in a hurry to relieve the ailing person, take the saucepan off the fire and dunk it in a frying pan or basin of cool water with ice cubes if necessary. This gives the patient a chance to drink the rice water sooner and cure himself or herself sooner.
When drinking the rice water, make sure there is lots of it. You have to tell the patient that enough water must go in to line your guts from throat to other end, all 10 to 12 metres of it. If you take rice, it stays in the stomach.
If you take broth, some of it may go into the small intestine.
But if you take rice water, it will carry rice grains to every inch of your small and large intestine to the end where the problem is.
How does it work? Even Prof Wong Hock Boon doesn't know. Read the article by going to this site:
http://rehydrate.org/dd/dd06.htm#page2
It is good to pass on the news to everyone you know because the complaint is so common and people suffer unnecessarily. You would be doing your friends a great favour to relieve them of their misery when the occasion arises.
Fraser’s Hill International Bird Race.
Below are some of the coloured photographs of birds seen at the Bird Interpretive Centre in Fraser's Hill.
All good things must come to an end and below is the closing ceremony at which the writer's novice team, the Hawk Eagle, was placed fourth with a consolation prize.
The first bird race in Fraser’s Hill began in 1988. In that year there were only five teams taking part in the race. Since then, each year, usually in June, the competition was held with an increasing number of teams. This year, there were more than thirty teams with birders from not just Malaysia but also Japan, China, Indonesia, Britain, Singapore and Korea. The teams were divided into two categories, novice and advanced. As a first-timer to Fraser’s Hill and the bird race, my team, Hawk Eagle was registered as a novice team.
As real novice, there is so much to learn. First, there were so many unfamiliar birds. That morning on the 19th of June, after being fascinated by the attractive songs of those beautiful birds which visited the trees just outside the balcony of our room at Jelai Resort, we took tastily cooked chicken rice, the best Malay-cooked chicken rice I have ever tasted, cooked by the wife of the resort’s manager before venturing forth to register and learn as much as we could about the birds and their names. Fortunately, we brought along some books on birds. Then, at the newly opened Bird Interpretive Centre, we found other books which we looked through. After that we went through the information given together with the pictures of the birds.
Another problem we encountered was the insufficiently powered binoculars we took along. We found out that to progress to the advanced category or join the bird race next year, we would need to upgrade our equipment. Another understanding we became aware of was that even when two binoculars have the same power, one could be of a better quality than another, as a result of which one is so much clearer than another.
Not being experienced at searching for birds in the forest with the binoculars, at the beginning I could only see the leaves and the branches but no birds through the binoculars although with my naked eyes I had seen them on a particular branch before putting the binoculars to my eyes. Things just look different and are hard to spot when looking through the binoculars. However, that is temporary and after a short while the eyes get accustomed to the binoculars and the mind and the eyes adjust to the sights being drawn closer to us. Thus progress was slow initially with merely four birds identified by three thirty in the afternoon. By seven in the evening we had been able to identify nine of them with two lost as a result of not finding pictures of them in the books. Do you know that males and females of the same species can look so different with their different colours? No identification means no names to attach to what we saw. So, no record could be made of them.
At about five in the evening in the evening, we met a reporter from the Berita Harian who took photographs of us in action. Then, we discovered that his home-town, Lembah Bujang, was near to our place of residence. All of us were so happy to discover that we came from the same state.
The competition was a 24-hour bird identification event with night-time still a period of bird searching but the novice was not expected to go into the darkness and hunt for owls and other night birds, are they? So, the three tired novice in my team went for dinner, had a rest and a bath before calling it a day.
The next morning, we started at the resort, still in our pajamas, binoculars ready to see the bird, the reference books to seek its name and the notebook to record it, stating the place and the time. Even at the breakfast table, our eyes were ever so vigilant for the birds in the trees and forest nearby. Even if someone had accidentally spooned some coconut-fragrant rice into his nose, no one else would have noticed, for all eyes were on the birds. The poor chef must have shaken her head a good number of times as her customers were more interested in those feathered friends than in her delicious food. But then, how can anyone blame the birders?
Then it was another trip by car to a birding area where we parked our car halfway to the Jerlau Waterfall as we heard so many bird songs in that area. You will be surprised at how close those birds can come to us. In Fraser’s Hill, it is obvious that the birds have no fear of humans. And for once I noted one little bird, the blue nuthatch, hopping down the vertical tree trunk and then up again; so lively was its movement it held my attention to the second before it flew off. It was an eye-opener for me. There is still so much to see and learn; so much more to experience.
Later, we did go to the Jerlau Waterfall but there were not as many birds there. Then at twelve noon, we headed back to pass up our recording for, according to the rules, a bird recording would be deleted for each minute we were late in passing it up to the organizers. The record of our sightings must be handed in by twelve-thirty.
After that we went for lunch and waited for the results during the closing ceremony. There were some special prizes. Then, when the novice results came, we were told five groups would get prizes. The fifth group had nine identifications made. When we heard that, our hopes were raised as we have made twenty-one identifications. Then we found that we were in fourth place with nineteen identifications. After the joy of being photographed with our prize by the journalists we thought of the number of identifications which was not in accordance with our list. Why nineteen and not twenty-one? Gradually, we found out that the magpie robin ought to be entered as oriental magpie robin and the Javanese sparrow is not an endemic or local bird. So, those two bird were deducted from our list.
Looking at the positive side, it was not too bad for a novice with such poor knowledge of birds to get a prize, even though it was a consolation prize. We received books, pens, notebooks, badges and cards as prizes. Well, they will come in useful for our next International Bird Race in 2011.
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