Health involves exercise, rest and diet

I lost a friend a week ago and it was not because he was not health conscious. This friend knew he had to exercise to keep physically fit. He would cycle long distances, sometimes into a neighbouring country to enjoy the scenes and improve his health.

Once, about three or four years ago, he invited me to partner him in a canoe race along the Merbok River with the competition ending at Pantai Merderka (Merdeka Beach).For me it was the first time I had ever paddled anything in a river and, knowing that, he got us involved in taking a boat from Pantai Merdeka to the starting point about five days before the competition. That was exhilarating but extremely tiring. Fortunately, our muscles recovered sufficiently to find us ready to the race.

This friend likes to travel around on his bicycle and it was good exercise for him. His stamina was good. His rest was usually enough, being able to sleep soundly through the night each day. However, he forgot about limiting the amount of certain foods in his diet until it was a little bit too late. His diet consists of too much fata and oils and this lead to high blood pressure. It was only when he discovered that his cholesterol level and blood pressure were too high that he decided to eat less fats and oils and take oats for breakfast.

Unfortunately, his arteries were already narrowing and one morning, while he was driving somewhere, someone honed loudly as a car overtook his and that caused a heart-attack from which he lost his life.

Perhaps, if he had looked into his diet earlier, he could be alive today. Whatever it is, let us check ourselves and confirm we have enough exercise, rest and a healthy diet so that we may move into our future with greater assurance of good health.Let us give good health first priority.

Of course, there is hope for brain injured children

A few days ago, I wrote about having hope where some doctors said there were none. I was talking about brain injured children. Somehow I got interested in brain injury and the kind of help available to such children. Down's children is fairly commonly seen. There are children with hyperactive brains and there are those who are mentally retarded. As a teacher I have seen some of them in schools. As for brain damaged, autistic cerebral-palsied and brain-damaged children we seldom see them but that is not to say that they do not exist.

Having gone through some of the books, watched the you-tube videos and read about the well known people involved in neuroplasticity, I know there is hope for brain injured children and adults, no matter the cause. In my previous posting I have written about Glenn Doman and his Institute For The Achievement Of Human Potential which developed the therapies for brain injured children through their understanding of the cause of the limitations of brain injured children and the stages of development of the human child. Besides Doman, there is Anat Baniel who had worked with Feldenkrais and developed a method for getting the brain to register movements to overcome limitations imposed by brain injuries. Her book 'Kids Beyond Limits' is very informative on the techniques she uses. Her success in this field has been well known to many who needed her assistance.

Feldenkrain himself had trained practitioners to help such brain injured children too. To know what such practitioners do, go to you-tube where you can see movements they use to assist the children.

Besides Anat Baneil, there are many other practitioners trained by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. One of the practitioners I frequently visit on you-tube is Jeremy Kriauss whose method is clear and interesting to viewers. His explanations on his approach, The Jeremy Kriauss Approach, is very clear on how he achieves the aims he desires.

For further information on neuroplasticity, two excellent books by Norman Doidge are Brain's Way of Healing and The Brain That Changes Itself. They contain information that can lead you not only to solutions for brain injured children but also for well childrens greater development and adultswith brain problems such as stroke and possibly prevention of Alzhemer's.

Well, hope the above information can be of help to someone..

And there is always hope

.

A few years ago, someone told me the brain cannot replace the cells and neurons that have died due to some kind of injury, be it from birth or some other external traumatic forces. Why can other parts of the body be repaired naturally and not the brain? As someone who is growing older each day, I was suddenly curious about this as I know aging people can develop brain problems such as slowly and gradually forgetting things. Now that started me on reading up on the matter. Unfortunately, there was nothing in our libraries or even the local bookstores with such a subject available. Then, the point in my destiny came and I read somewhere about The Institute of Human Potential. I sent them a letter and the beautiful thing was, they replied to my queries with pamphlets. There was a booklet which revealed their work. Parents accompanied their little brain-injured child to the Institute so that they could learn what to do each day to overcome the problem faced by their beloved children.

A few years later, I bought the book 'What to do about your brain-injured child' by Glenn Doman, the founder of The Institute For The Achievement of Human Potential from the Popular Bookstore. I learned from the book and knew there is always hope for people with brain in jury.

Then, one day I was told by the 'Longevitology' group to which I participate in that a brain injured child need the help of two volunteers. I gladly offered my assistance as I could see that my destiny beakons.

The next day, when I reached the eight month old baby's residence, the mother told us, actually 'Chang Sen Sue' or Longevitology was not their first choice. But then, nobody seem to be able to offer any help, especially those people in the medical profession. When I heard that I told her what I knew of the Institute For the Development of Human Potiential. That evening she went to the internet and found that this particular institute was holding a course in Singapore. She immediately contacted them and the next morning found her at the course and allowed entry despite the fact that she had missed one day of the course. Yes, she had been successful in her pleas for permission to attend with the understanding that she must go through the first day of that course at a future date at another location.

The mother had finally found hope for her child. Before this, doctors had told her the child will always be unable to do everything a normal child can no matter what treatment is applied.

And with hope, lots of patience, universal qi from Longevitology and the right movements, the child has slowly but gradually improved. The parents, their relatives, friends and myself are obviously delighted with the development of the baby. There is certainly hope, hope of one day having this little girl running towards us for a hug.

When fear rules

Fear!
That can help us avoid doing the things which can hurt us.
However, it can also sometimes prevents us from doing what is right.
And that is not the only consequence of experiencing fear. Remember that most of us are parents and as parents we are the examples which our children will follow. Our children will inherit the very same thoughts and attitudes towards things they face in life.

Now, where do the above thoughts emerge from? Well, in Malaysia today, the citizens have to be careful with what they utter in public, write on paper or on face-book. If the authorities were to deem what has been said or written as insulting to the government, the Islamic religion or one of our many rulers, the author of such material can be facing the sedition act.

So, it is not uncommon these days to not say what they see,  hear or know or believe in, for a statement of fact can be construed as seditious as long as certain people's feelings have been claimed to be hurt. So what kind of situation has arisen as a result of this? Perhaps, it is best illustrated by a comment from one of the readers from Malaysiakini, a news portal. Below is the copied comment with my comment given within brackets:
    
The comment: Remember the story of a young boy who shouted, "The emperor is not wearing any clothes"?

All the members of the court said the emperor’s clothes were the finest they had seen. The public agreed with the courtesans. (Why? Because all of them were afraid of disagreeing with the emperor. They fear the consequences of telling the truth!)

The emperor was fooled into believing the flattery of his inner circle. (And so, the emperor thought he was majestically right in his lovely invisible clothes when in actual fact he was totally naked.) Only the innocent boy really saw what everybody said they did not see. Sometimes real life is like that. (How true it is!)

It was only yesterday that someone told me her female neighbour was so stupidly courageous as to throw an old worn-out Malaysian flag into a dustbin. In a most horrified expression, she asked me to imagined what could possibly happened if somebody were to see it and report to the authorities. Oh, my God, imagine the trouble she could have got herself into, the lady cried.

Upon hearing this, I asked her what could be wrong with throwing away what is no longer useable. It obviously is the right thing for her neighbour to do. So, I asked her if she were the one with such a flag, how would she dispose of it.

"Oh, no!" she replied. If I were her, I would stealthily burn it when I am absolutely sure no one is around. I wouldn't want to get myself into trouble even though the flag ought to be replaced with a new one." she exclaimed. That is the kind of fear that may have got a good grip on Malaysians. 

"Not only that! Soon after that, another person came; wanted the stick holding the flag and so, ripped off the flag to be able to take only the stick home," she continued.

So, I asked her what was wrong with that. The guy wanted the stick but not the worn out flag. Certainly, he had to remove the flag from the stick.

"Ripping the Malaysian flag?" She put on a horrified face and stood rooted to the spot with some kind of fear in her expression.

Imagine such unwarranted fear even when there is no disrespect shown or felt for an object; even when it is doing the necessary.

Is such fear healthy? Maybe good for members of the Malaysian society to avoid being charged with sedition, but when society becomes so easily fearful over such small matters, there is certainly something wrong somewhere.

There are Muslims who do accept God's most intelligent animal.

It is heartening to read in the Malay Mail Online this morning of the acceptance of a dog by a Muslim cab driver.
Below is part of the report on Mohd. Kamil, the cab driver.

Mohd Kamil said he was not afraid of dogs as his mother once told him to help a stray dog that lay in the middle of the road after being hit by a car.

“It started in 2010 when I was sending mum to the airport for Umrah and then she saw a dog lying on the road helpless.

“She suggested that we help and I carried the dog to the side of the road and contacted the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,” he said.

His view on dogs changed since then.

“Muslim passengers need not worry because I cover my seats with newspapers and clean it with a lint remover once the dog and its owner get off,” he said. 

“I was initially worried what the community will say if they found out. So I kept quiet about what I did. But I believe there is nothing wrong to help those in need.”

Mohd Kamil said there was no policy stating a taxi driver cannot carry animals. He had even consulted other Muslim taxi drivers regarding this matter. 

Land Public Transport Commission chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar previously said there should not be a problem allowing guide dogs to assist the disabled in using public transportation, as well as in public places.

“Most of the other Muslim taxi drivers I talked to were also receptive to ferrying animals including dogs but they rarely talk about it fearing negative reaction from the community,” Mohd Kamil said.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/hop-on-board-doggie-says-cabbie#sthash.BKXS1HWa.dpuf

Without a doubt, the dog is one of the most intelligent animals, if not the most intelligent, created by God. As such, I have always felt so sad to see so many Muslim children throw things at them. Such ill-treatment from God-fearing children ought not to have happened. 

When it comes to this animal, it is one that we should care for for its loyalty, unconditional love and assistance towards mankind. I write through experience with this animal as i have reared them and in return it has given me so much love, happiness and feeling of security in my home.

Even the police in a country like Malaysia where Muslim form the majority of the citizens use dogs to help them to track criminals and smell out drugs. In doing so, they indirectly acknowledge the well-known intelligence of dogs. 

I have known of a Muslim teacher who have dogs in his plantation to look after it and from the way he talks about them, he obviously appreciated their presence.

I may have been wrongly informed but according to what i do know, dogs ought not to be ill-treated as all animals (Even pigs which I have written about elsewhere in this blog in which I reproduced with permission what a Muslim scholar said about them when people condemned a university student for holding one of them.) are the beloved creation of God. All followers of God have to admit that God is all powerful and having only creatures He wishes to have in this world is certainly within His power. Only atheists have the right to deny the power of God. 

I was also told, correctly or not, that a law was once passed to disallow the touching of the dog due to rabies, the mad dog disease which was prevalent at that period of time. However, rabies is no longer a problem during the 21st century and therefore such fear and dislike of the dog, one of God's most wonderful creatures, should no longer exist. 

Furthermore, where is the need to dislike dogs when it is said that what have to done after contact with the dog is to wash the hands a number of times.

So, it is so good to wake up to the fact that a Muslim cab driven can accept dogs in his cab when it is necessary to have them accompany their responsibilities to various destinations. Not only that! Sometimes the wisdom of ordinary people is so much greater than those who hold higher positions in society. In them, I see the greatness and blessings of God.

 

 

Mohd Kamil said he was not afraid of dogs as his mother once told him to help a stray dog that lay in the middle of the road after being hit by a car.
“It started in 2010 when I was sending mum to the airport for Umrah and then she saw a dog lying on the road helpless.
“She suggested that we help and I carried the dog to the side of the road and contacted the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,” he said.
His view on dogs changed since then.
“Muslim passengers need not worry because I cover my seats with newspapers and clean it with a lint remover once the dog and its owner get off,” he said.
“I was initially worried what the community will say if they found out. So I kept quiet about what I did. But I believe there is nothing wrong to help those in need.”
Mohd Kamil said there was no policy stating a taxi driver cannot carry animals. He had even consulted other Muslim taxi drivers regarding this matter.
Land Public Transport Commission chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar previously said there should not be a problem allowing guide dogs to assist the disabled in using public transportation, as well as in public places.
“Most of the other Muslim taxi drivers I talked to were also receptive to ferrying animals including dogs but they rarely talk about it fearing negative reaction from the community,” Mohd Kamil said.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/hop-on-board-doggie-says-cabbie#sthash.BKXS1HWa.dpuf

Truth, wisdom and the learned men of the law.

Below is an article from the Malaysian Insider which I have read a few times and yet was unable to understand how the other four judges could not agree with the views of the three judges given in support of the church's application to have its case heard in the Federal court.

If the views given in the article are true, I wonder where I have failed to fathom the four other judges' wisdom in not granting the application to be heard. (Before going further, i would like to state that I am not a follower of any religion but a monotheist, a believer of the existence of God. So, I am not interested in which religion emerging as the winner of any case.)

So, I have saved the views of those three judges so that I could conveniently return to them to see if a sudden enlightenment before I return to the Kingdom of God could help me see the brilliance of the four other judges and have me become a more wiser man. 

However, I cannot help but notice that there is so much truth in what the three judges below have said.

So, please read on and if, by chance, you see the precious gems of wisdom that I have missed, you will be doing me a favour if I can be enlightened, thank you.

What the 3 dissenting judges said about ‘Allah’ appeal

The Malaysian Insider – Tue, Jun 24, 2014

 

The Federal Court yesterday dismissed the Catholic Church's leave application to appeal the "Allah" ban in the Herald. Four of the seven-member bench ruled that the Court of Appeal was right in banning the word. Three judges, however, ruled in the Church's favour. The Malaysian Insider captured the essence of these dissenting voices. Report by V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum
There was a serious issue to be decided when the home minister banned the word "Allah" in the Herald.
While the Court of Appeal had ruled that it was the home minister's discretion to ban the word, Malanjum said this was an issue which only the Federal Court could decide.
He also pointed out that the Herald had been in circulation for 14 years before the ban was enforced by the home minister.
"There was also no evidence of prejudice to public order during that period and that the use of the word was also not prohibited in other publications like the Alkitab and the Sikh holy book.
"As such, the church has satisfied the requirements under Section 96 (a) and (b) of the Courts of Judicature Act to be granted leave to appeal.
"It deserves to be reemphasised that another factor that needs to be given serious consideration is the degree of public importance of legal issues raised by the applicant (the church).”
He said although the case only involved the Bahasa Malaysia section of the Herald, yet the Court of Appeal ruling seemed to sanction a sweeping, general prohibition against the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims in all forms, on all occasions.
"Most of the groups affected, such as the Sikh community, were not parties in this case."
Federal Court judge Datuk Zainun Ali
Zainun, who took the position that the Catholic Church ought to be given leave to appeal over the Allah row, criticised three lower court judges for exceeding their authority.
She said the Court of Appeal judges should have confined themselves strictly to legal issues since the correctness, or otherwise, of religious practices was beyond the competence of judges of fact and law.
"The answers which were met with rebuttal in the Court of Appeal are clearly non-justiciable because they are neither questions of law or facts capable of proof in a court of law by admissible evidence," she said.
Zainun said the judicial method was equipped to deal with only hard facts.
"A secular court such as ours is ill-equipped to determine the veracity, accuracy or even sincerity of subjective religious beliefs about doctrine and practices.
"Such disputes were certainly outside the recognised perimeters of judicial competence.
"More so, when the alleged historical 'facts' were based on affidavit evidence and the Internet which were unverified and, therefore, inadmissible.
"Plausibility should not be mistaken for veracity," she added.
Zainun said this was a fit and proper case for leave to be granted for public advantage and to put things in the proper perspective.
"The voice of reason should prevail and all parties must exercise restraint and uphold the tenets of their respective religious beliefs and exercise tolerance.
"It is imperative that the precious goodwill that all races and religious denominations possess be brought to the negotiating table and the matter resolved amicably.”
Federal Court judge Tan Sri Jeffrey Tan Kok Hwa
"This was a clear application where leave could not be refused as all the requirements had been met.
"There should not be a rush to judge the issues and their merits which in the instant case have yet to be canvassed and argued," Tan said.
Tan said the constitutional questions should be answered by the Federal Court.
"They are too grave to be answered by any other," he added.
Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, who led the seven-man bench, said the President of Court of Appeal Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar agreed that the leave should not be granted to the Catholic Church.
They dismissed the church's application for appeal, citing that the Court of Appeal was right in its decision to ban the word in the Catholic weekly, Herald. – June 24, 2014.

A falling lift. Will this help?

Trapped In Lift?    

What could you do if such an incident did happen to you? Of course, and most fortunately, such occurrences seldom come into our lives. Nevertheless, it does not mean that it can never happen. Therefore, isn't it good to know what can be done at such a frightening moment if it ever takes place? Well, recently, I received an email from a friend in which was related such a happening. So, just for a little useful information, please read on:

  

This happened to a friend.
"One day, while in a lift, it suddenly broke down and it began falling from level 13 at a fast speed. Fortunately, I remembered having watched a TV program that taught me that the occupants of the lift must quickly press all the buttons for all the levels. Finally, the lift stopped at the 5th level." (What a huge relief!)

Important things to remember:
When you are facing life and death situations, whatever decisions or actions you make will determine the outcome  of the situation. Your survival will be at stake.
If you are caught in a lift breakdown, the first thought that comes to mind may be 'just wait to die'... 
But after reading some instructions below, the result can definitely be more positive, should such an unexpected event occur. 
 
First - Quickly press all the buttons for all the different levels of the lift. 
When the emergency electricity supply is activated, it will stop the lift from falling further. 
 
Second - Hold on tight to the handle (if there is any).... It is to support your position and 

prevent you from falling or getting hurt should you lose your balance. 
 
Third - Lean your back and head against the lift wall keeping your back in a straight line. 

Leaning against the wall is to use it as a support for your back/spine as protection. 
 
Fourth - Bend your knees Your ligament is a flexible, connective tissue. Thus, there is better hope of getting less severe fractures resulting from the impact.

Well, I must admit I have no experience with such happenings and, therefore, am unable to vouch for the above mentioned advice. Hopefully, an expert on the matter, can make comments on it and help make the necessary changes.