Happy Eid

It was officially announced that, Malaysia will be celebrating Eid on Wednesday ie. October 1,2008. I'll be going back to my village around noon and the driving will take some 5 hours. I can assure you that the journey is everything but smooth.

Most probably, i can't do any postings during my stay in the village. Never the less i'll try to secure a connection.

For all my friends out there.....happy Eid ul fitri

Home bound

Home bound aka balik kampung is a must for those living far away from the home village or home town. As Sibu is the melting pot for the various races of the central zone, festive season means that Sibu becomes the focal point for those who wishes to celebrate in their respective village.


This is "Kapit Wharf" where express boats plying downstream Rejang River berths. These folks were waiting for express boats plying the Sibu-Daro route. These boats regular service starts at 0730hrs and the last boat will leave at about 1530hrs.


For those who does not wish to be seated in a crowded boat, speed boat services is also available. But this service is usually rendered as contract, meaning that you have to contract one trip and it's non stop trip.


Express boat service is by the hour, it's cheap but it's a stage journey. Express boat operators have to abide to strict rules laid out by the authorities. All passenger must be seated inside and heavy penalty will be imposed on the operator if found to be carrying excess passenger.

Air Quality Index

• "Good" The AQI value for your community is between 0 and 50. Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
  
  
• "Moderate" The AQI for your community is between 51 and 100. Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people. For example, people who are unusually sensitive to ozone may experience respiratory symptoms.
  
  
• "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" When AQI values are between 101 and 150, members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. This means they are likely to be affected at lower levels than the general public. For example, people with lung disease are at greater risk from exposure to ozone, while people with either lung disease or heart disease are at greater risk from exposure to particle pollution. The general public is not likely to be affected when the AQI is in this range.
  
  
• "Unhealthy" Everyone may begin to experience health effects when AQI values are between 151 and 200. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
  
  
• "Very Unhealthy" AQI values between 201 and 300 trigger a health alert, meaning everyone may experience more serious health effects.
  
  
• "Hazardous" AQI values over 300 trigger health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.

This is what Sibu actually looks like today.


It's almost misty, warm with little or almost no breeze.

Haze

The weather was hot and dry with the moonson months just round the corner. With this favorable conditions only occurring within a short window of time, farmers need to burn their fields so that they could plant hill paddy. Slash and burn farming is a common practice for hill paddy farmers.


With thick smoke from these open burning, and almost calm weather, the effects brought up by the sun was very spectacular and very beautiful to see.

Even though, the sun is still up, the surrounding was misty but warm.

James Matthew Hoover

The memorial.

The man, the wife and the location.


The timeline.

The achievements.

Widow's Oil

It begins tragically: her husband, an unknown prophet, has died and left her with debt, and the creditor is threatening to take her two sons as slaves. So she cries out to Elisha, God's representative. How will God handle this tragedy to one of his own? How much is she prepared to hope for?

Elisha asks her what she has in her house. Much like Jesus asked the disciples what they had to contribute to lunch for five thousand families. Or God asking Moses what he had in his hand. What she had was next to nothing. But rather than starting from scratch, God chose to use what she had. What do you have? It's never nothing, at least in my experience. To claim nothing is an insult to God's provision thus far and is a cop-out, an attempt to absolve yourself from any responsibility to be involved in the process of bringing about God's blessing. And that would be to cheat yourself out of the incredible privilege of being used by Him to accomplish His purpose. What do you have that God can use?

What she had was oil. Specifically, "a little oil." Not black gold, Texas tea, a bubblin' crude, but rather olive oil, used for cooking. A common household item, fairly inexpensive but essential. In other words, nothing special. What do you have? Nothing special, and not much of that.

Go and ask for empty containers. And not a few. Here comes the question: How much are you prepared to hope for? This, by the way, is incredibly similar in theme to king Jehoash and hitting the ground with the arrows (2 Kings 13), which is the passage God gave me back in about February to teach me to ask big in faith. How much are you prepared to hope for?

She expressed a need. Elisha asked her what she had. She had nothing but a little oil. Now Elisha tells her to go ask her neighbors for empty containers, and not just a few. Then he says to go inside and shut the door and pour oil into all the empty jars. The time for asking is over. How much are you prepared to hope for?

Of course, it's physically impossible for one small container of oil to fill many empty jars. God is not concerned with that impossibility any more than he is with walking on water or making a donkey talk. How much are you prepared to ask for?

When the last of the jars was full, the oil ran out. No way she guessed just right. God was not going to keep pouring out blessing beyond what she was prepared to hope for. I wonder if at that moment she wished she'd asked a few more people, gone down a few more streets, gone to the doors of people she didn't want to deal with, so that she could have had more oil. I wonder how the neighbors felt about buying oil in containers they had loaned to this woman. I wonder if her creditor was disappointed that she was able to pay?

What do you have? How much are you prepared to hope for? Jesus said a lot of things like, "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened," "Ask anything in my name, and I will do it." Abundantly, immeasurably beyond all we could ask or even think. God's not going to run out. How much are you prepared to hope for?

100

If the World Were a Village of 100 People

If we could reduce the world’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific

51 would be male, 49 would be female

82 would be non-white; 18 white

67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian

80 would live in substandard housing

67 would be unable to read

50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation

33 would be without access to a safe water supply

39 would lack access to improved sanitation

24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do
have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)

7 people would have access to the Internet

1 would have a college education

1 would have HIV

2 would be near birth; 1 near death

5 would control 32% of the entire world’s wealth; all 5 would be US citizens

33 would be receiving --and attempting to live on-- only 3% of the income of “the village”

Have a nice day.....part 1

To: YOU

Date: TODAY

From: GOD

Subject: YOURSELF

Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.

I love you.

P.S. And, remember...

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do)box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Have a nice day.....part 2

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose?

Be thankful. There are those who didn't livelong enough to get the opportunity.

Should you decide to send this to a friend; Thank you.

You may have touched their life in ways you will never know!

Now, you have a nice day.

God

Impetigo

This morning, i got a call from one Dr.Wong, informing that he has seen a few patients having impetigo, involving a family. This is something uncommon.

This is the view of the longhouse. Even though it was only about 30 kilometers away, the journey takes about an hour. The road condition was not so good and most of it was dirt road.



Hand


Foot of the patient.


The child was under care of the elder sister and so was the other sibling, both were diagnosed to have the same disease. Upon further investigation, it was found out that the elder sister has dermatological condition and is still under medication.



Further investigation reveals that, 6 other children of the long house was also infected.

A present from CMA

Cinta Milo Ais, thanks for the "star'. The thoughts will always cherish, even when the body perished.

I missed you

I missed you a lot. This is the first time, for almost a year, that i left you, for more than half a month. When i am in this discomfort zone, you are the only one that are so close to me. With your help, i free my self, my thought....

Half a month was a long period, my journey was far and tiring, but never my thoughts of you.
Now that i am back, my days with you are those that i am looking forward to.

Eye in the sky

Pic was taken on Monday, ‎8 ‎September, ‎2008, ‏‎12:54:40 PM with Nikon Coolpix L3

Bukit Aup: The Legend

A quick guide to Bukit Aup Jubilee Park

Bukit Aup: Miring Hut

This is the hut where the iban does the miring ceremony. The chickens and eggs, besides being eaten as food, are compulsory offering items in the Iban's "Miring" or traditional offering and thanksgiving ceremony.



The hole in the middle of the hut is for pouring tuak which is meant for the "gods".

Aerial view of how the "piring" is being arranged. Hole in the middle is for pouring tuak or sometimes coins or other valuable.

Bukit Aup: Tower

This is the highest point of Bukit Aup. It was at this very point that the tomb of the iban warriors were said to be. A tower was erected to mark the site.




At the base of the tower, an altar was made. This is for the believers to make their offerings. It was said that most of them have their wishes come true.


When this pic was taken, a few families have just made their offerings. But at times, some one might have misused this facility.....

Bukit Aup: Naga Bari Pool

This is how the present Naga Bari Pool looks like. Those plants were lotus and even thought, the pond looks unkempt, the water is clear and cool.

Bukit Aup: Canteen

This canteen is situated at the foot of Bukit Aup over a pond. This pond was previously was a quarry. It was left unattended for quite some time and was a popular picnic spot for the locals. As they developed Bukit Aup, a canteen was constructed over the disused quarry.



Actually, there was nothing special about this Canteen. What is underneath this Canteen that attract visitors. Various marine species dwells this pond. One of them is fish.......various types.



The fish here are rather "tame". On seeing visitors walking by the footpath, they'll surface an lined themselves.


The scene is so amazing.......just imagine, how will the fish reacts if you throw in "fish pellets" in the school. BTW, visitors are free to feed the fish, but the fish food must be bought from the Canteen.

Bukit Aup Jubilee Park

Taman Jubli Bukit Aup located less than 12 km from Sibu Town.Its nationally acclaimed park carved out of a mining pool has won awards after awards at the national level. It features an Iban burial ground, recreational facilities and suspension bridge and is among the favourite spots for locals to unwind. In its vicinity are also a few Iban longhouses where inhabitants happily welcome you to sample their way of life in a natural setting.

Bukit Aup is considered a scared place by the indigenous people of Borneo especially among the Dayaks. According to them, their ancestor descended from Bukit Aup and this would also be the place where they will do in their after life.

Naga Bari, a beautiful Iban Princess, was once regarded as the guardian of Bukit Aup. Her beauty enchanted the local folks. At the mid slope of Bukit Aup was once a stream that flowed into a scared pool, still remains to this day. If you are lucky, you may see Naga Bari bathing in the pool in the early morning. This Naga Bari pool is believed to help any couple wishing to conceive (bear a child).

There were once six tombs at the top of Bukit Aup. The tombs were believe to belong to some Iban warriors. Those warriors, together with Naga Bari, had been protecting the community of the area in the early days. However, the tombs have since been removed to a nearby longhouse during the development of Jubilee Park.

Bukit Aup is associated with good spirit. Some Iban will come here and perform some rituals during the harvest festival. They perform the thanks-giving ritual of “miring” with offerings being made to Naga Bari. Bukit Aup is widely recognized all over Borneo for its mystical power for good fortune and health. Blessed are those who set foot in Bukit Aup.

Bukit Aup also hosts the yearly Bukit Aup Run and recently The 2nd Borneo International Tattoo Convention 2007 .

Stem Cell

What Are Stem Cells?

Stem cells are the body’s “master” cells because they create all other tissues, organs and systems in the body.

The stem cells found in cord blood are the building blocks of your blood and immune system and most readily reproduce into:

Red Blood Cells - which carry oxygen to all the cells in the body.
White Blood Cells – which fight infection.
Platelets – which aid in clotting in the event of injury.

The ability of cord blood stem cells to differentiate, or change into other types of cells in the body is a new discovery that holds significant promise for many individuals.

First and Largest Stem Cell Banking and Therapeutics Company in Malaysia

StemLife is the first stem cell banking and therapeutics company in Malaysia. Established in 2001 with blessings from the Malaysian Government, StemLife was awarded the prestigious MSC status in 2002, BioNexus Status in 2007 and on 17 October 2006 the company went for listing on the MESDAQ. As of 2008, StemLife is a fully licensed cord blood banking facility under the Private Healthcare Services & Facilities Act (PHFS Act), 1998, under the Ministry of Health Malaysia.

StemLife is proud to be the first cord blood banking company in Malaysia to provide umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells for bone marrow transplantation in paediatric leukemia and adult stem cells for use in treatment of blood-related disorders, heart disease, foot ulcers and sports and trauma injuries. A founding member of the Asia Pacific Cord Blood Bank Consortium, an active participant in R&D projects, and with close collaborations with over 150 leading hospitals and over 450 renown specialists, StemLife is ranked as one of the largest and most reputable stem cell companies in South East Asia.

Horizon

Business at Ramadan Bazaar has started. Stall owners starts their day as early as 2.00pm and closed at about 7.00pm. The peak hours is usually between 5.00-6.00pm. During this time, finding a parking lot is really a headache. BTW, there are many more places where you can buy foods,drinks and goodies for the breaking of fasting but this is the biggest and busiest.


Today the weather is not encouraging , raining almost every evening since the starts of fasting.
Never the less, life has to go on..........we need to get to the horizon.