Woman behind Agnicraft’s success BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » thesundaypost - New 2 Borneo |
- Woman behind Agnicraft’s success
- Sing along with Bintulu Buskers
- Chilling reminder of Holocaust
- Words of healing from a bereaved mother
- What’s ‘new’ in the natural world
- Miscarriage
| Woman behind Agnicraft’s success Posted: 30 Nov 2013 11:38 AM PST by Chang Yi. Posted on December 1, 2013, Sunday IBAN businesswoman Agnes (Nani) Jelian started out as a Pasar Tani vendor, selling vegetables, sourced from various outlying areas in Miri, and native souvenirs collected from her travelling days more than 20 years ago. When their children were still young, spritely Agnes, whose parents are town people, would travel with her husband, Jetli Jelian, to his hometown in Kanowit, especially during Gawai, to visit longhouse relatives and pay their respects to his elderly parents and relatives. From this early experience, she made contacts with suppliers and learned about indigenous arts and crafts from some of the best craftspeople. Since young, she has dreamt of getting into business and has, indeed, succeeded in her quest by becoming one of the first Iban businesswoman to buy a shop in Miri. Her shop called Agnicraft at Saberkas Mews is a pleasant and central business place between Lutong and Miri. And her business is strongly supported by her Shell retiree husband whose present office is located above the shop. Like most business people from the other communities, she also has to bring up her twins while managing her shop which is a stone's throw from her house. Agnicraft is native souvenir shop – not a small stall or part of a shop but rather the full ground floor of a shop lot. To foreign tourists, the shop is akin to Ali Baba's Cave – full of Sarawak souvenirs and jungle-related products such carvings, beads, baskets, mats and silverware. It's really a "you name it, she has it" kind of shop and one of the longest standing kedai (shop) for Iban and other native crafts in Miri, if not Sarawak. Her business is supported by Shell, Carigali and other big corporations as a source for souvenirs, corporate gifts and festive decors based on native themes. She has been a one-woman-show over the past 20 years. Craft exhibitions and fairs In 2004, Agnes was among several Malaysian women, representing the country at a Geneva Craft Exhibition to showcase Sarawak beads. As an accomplished bead craft designer and maker of bead necklaces and meriak empang, she is very proud of Sarawak cultural beads and costumes. And during an overseas assignment such the Geneva Craft Exhibition, she has to be very well prepared and careful with the items she brings with her. Being independent is a great asset for her. At the Geneva Craft Exhibition, she manned the Sarawak booth with her beadworks and costumes, attracting many visitors and buyers. She also made many friends and is grateful to Kraftangan Malaysia for choosing her to be part of the delegation. Her husband has always been a strong supporter behind the scene. On February 14, 2007, she represented Sarawak in a craft fair in Perth. She was selected to showcase her beads, costumes and baskets. For this special duty tour, she was accompanied by her husband. She has also been to Kuala Lumpur for craft fairs regularly in the last 20 years and is grateful for all the opportunities to hold Sarawak cultural exhibitions. It has been a concerted effort with Kraftangan Malaysia to help Sarawakians and Sabahans exhibit their handicrafts, especially beadworks, at annual exhibitions around Malaysia and craft fairs the world over. Without this kind of support, bead designers and makers, especially from the rural areas, now have the opportunities to travel the world and showcase their works. In this way, Kraftangan Malaysia is helping to promote Sarawak beads, handicrafts and indigenous costumes. "All this foreign exposure has given me the encouragement to work harder and become more independent," she said. Steady supply line Agnes has put in a lot of work establishing a steady supply line from the Baram and as far away as Saratok and Lubok Antu. For her, public relations (PR) is important to ensure she gets her supplies and delivers to her customers on time. Sound management by the couple of their retirement funds also helps stand them in good financial stead. Helping friends to learn about Iban culture is one of Agnes' greatest passions. Recently, she arranged for a group of women to learn how to make traditional Iban cakes at a longhouse. The group spent a very worthwhile afternoon learning from a very skillful elder. Agnes pointed out that while she would be "most happy" to arrange similar food and cooking tours in future, there were constraints such as time factor and shortage of experts. Interestingly, outside Agnicraft, on the five-foot way, is a table with chairs for friends to gather for morning chit chats, and coffee from the halal coffee shop, one shop lot away. Sometimes, friends would come by and even prepare their vegetables (peeling, cutting and skinning) for cooking at her table. A lively conversation usually follows at such an almost longhouse-like setting. Furthermore, Agnes' friends use her table most mornings for a sisters' group beading party, making meriak empang or Iban bead collars. Most of these women are so skilled that they can make one collar every three weeks. A meriak empang sells around RM300 and is a life-time investment. A doting mother traditionally prepares a meriak empang for her daughter before she reaches puberty. Beads and fellowship A friendly passer-by Jennifer from Kuching remarked: "What a nice way of using the five-foot way! These ladies are really enjoying their traditional beading works – and fellowship at the same time." Bead collars are worn by younger Iban women during festive seasons and important social occasions. An Iban ceremony is not complete without these beautiful collars, worn by not only the womenfolk but even young girls two or three years old. "Sometimes, we do find some families owning more than 10 pieces of meriak empang. Most Iban women have one for life and they can choose their colours – usually red as the base colour. "Sometimes, a mother will make one for a daughter when she is growing up to become a dara (young lady)," Jennifer explained. In the past, Iban women were bare-breasted and the meriak empang covered their upper body from the breast up. "Our ancient ladies were not shy about exposure of their breasts as it was very much part of the culture then. But today, perhaps to catch up with the rest of the world, the late Temenggong Tra Zenhder had put a stop to this practice of Iban women baring their breasts in public," commented an Iban friend on condition of anonymity. Stringing beads One of the most saleable items in Agnes' shop is meriak empang which is an ornate piece of art, according to a local writer. Although Agnes gets her supplies from good beaders around Miri, she also chooses some from people she knows who make them as a hobby. And today, she makes her own as well. Young and older women – and even young men with an interest in beading – will sit on the floor, stringing beads. At Agnicraft, the women place containers (with different beads inside) around Agnes' table. They follow a special pattern of their choice. Agnes encourages her friends to do the beading together at her shop as her "small contribution to keeping the tradition of Iban beading alive." Like a scarf, meriak empang enhances the overall dressing of an Iban maiden. However, Agnes has raised concerns the younger generation have lost interest in beadwork because being more affluent, they can buy off the peg items such as necklaces, head gears and especially meriak empang. She suggested some of the youths should even consider pursuing courses on beading in universities as far as China. According to a friend, some students in Yunnan, China, have been doing degree courses – up to Masters' level – on beads and material culture and will continue to further research on them after graduation. Many of these scholars work in museums or for art galleries. Agnes agreed the younger generation should pay attention to learning about Iban culture at institutes of higher learning. The Sarawak Museum has a good section dedicated to beads – which will be useful for research purposes. An elderly woman recalled: "Many years ago, some primary school teachers used to teach needlework, including beadwork. But this seems to have been lost in the course of our rapid development." Indeed, Agnicraft is more than just a shop. It's a gathering place for cultural discourse – an informal community centre of sorts, if one may say so.  To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.  |
| Sing along with Bintulu Buskers Posted: 30 Nov 2013 11:33 AM PST IT seems the Bintulu Buskers are in good company. A number of celebrities have also busked at some point in their careers, including Bon Jovi, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney and even Benjamin Franklin. Busking is the act of performing in public places, usually for gratuities, but it is also done for charity and other deserving causes. Street performance was the most common form of self- employment for itinerant artistes before the advent of recording and personal electronics. Continuing this practice of antiquity among entertainers who ply their musical talent in the streets are a growing group of musicians in Bintulu styling themselves as the Bintulu Buskers. Led by Marus Kamaruddin with the support of a bunch of "faithful companions," the group started out in 2006 by performing at food outlets in town. "We got together mainly because of our passion for music as amateur street performers," Marus recalled. The initial response to their act was mixed. Fans praised them for their talents while sceptics thought they were simply beggars. The group took the kudos and barbs in their stride and soon caught the public eye. Invitations to perform at grander functions followed and their first show as entertainers was at a wedding. The Bintulu Buskers play all types of music genres. The most popular is keroncong, an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of a ukulele-like instrument after which the genre is named. The audience can also request any songs they like. Dubbed a "street musician community" in Bintulu, the group had few members at first but are now slowly reclaiming the town with almost 20 active members joining weekly sessions. "Ten of them are frequently taken to busk either in Bintulu and other nearby towns," Marus said. According to him, the group also seek to add colours to weekend recreation for the people in the fast industrialising Division. The musical instruments used are more to acoustics such as flute, guitar, cajon, percussion and those that can use the portable battery-powered amp plug-in which fits easily into street performances. The Bintulu Buskers are not just street performers but have also taken part in musical contests. Their best record, so far, is entering the final of the Grand Finale Clash of The Band 2011, organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry at the Amphitheatre, Reservoir Park, in Kuching. Marus said the group had also been selected for the final audition of Band50 RTM Champions at the P Ramlee Auditorium in Kuching on Dec 7 but had to pull out due to work commitments of some members. But they are happy to have represented buskers from Sarawak in the Langkawi Buskers Festival 2013 on Nov 2 and 3 at the invitation of the Malaysian Buskers Club. "For the first time, we played alongside other Malaysian buskers and a few artistes from neighbouring countries," he added. On his "sweet memories" as a busker, Marus said the smiles and applause after each show were usually enough to make his day. Any bad memories? "Yes, it was when we were involved in a road accident while travelling from Bintulu to Kuching for our annual busking tour. But because we were very passionate about our show, we were still able to continue with our journey and get to perform at the Kuching Waterfront," he remembered. Marus said after busking with other local and peninsular groups, he found they were not so different from his own, adding that basically, all were doing the same thing – entertaining people in a public place with more of less the same musical instruments. He reckoned busking was still considered a relatively new event even though street per-formance has long been part of the Malaysian scene. He noted most buskers from peninsular Malaysia made street performance a career but not the Bintulu Buskers who have steady jobs and busk for the love of it. "What's different about us is that we are eager to entertain the public without being too demanding. We can hold a mini concert anytime, anywhere without having to wait for a concert or gig which is usually held once or only a few times a year. "We prefer organising our activities on weekends because we regard it as spending our leisure with the public and their families." On overseas buskers, especially from Europe, Marus said they were mostly professionals and on par with the recording artistes there. To further develop their talents, he urged members of the Bintulu Buskers to become a "volunteer crew" at gigs. He also encouraged them to take an interest in musical, social and community programmes as well as in joining competitions. "We always encourage young people to join our busking sessions because we know there are many talented people out there playing music but are just shy to share their talents in public." On cutting an album, he said, so far, there was no such plan although they used to sing cover songs which were uploaded to YouTube. Marus revealed the group was also doing charity through public-spirited busking events in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, corporate bodies and relevant government agencies. "For me, I have set up a reading space for used books known as Buku Jalanan Bintulu (Bintulu Street Books) corner near our busking pitch. "I hope more people will understand the busking concept and make the Bintulu Buskers not just a busking group for a day or two but for all time. "Some friends are wondering why we can still come up with lots of activities when we have our own careers to consider. I believe sincerity and passion in organising activities is the key to our success," he said. The Bintulu Buskers 12 active members are Marus Kamaruddin (Barangkali Marus Kamaruddin) – leader, vocalist, plays all kinds of music instruments, flute being his favourite; Hazzika Ariffin (Zika) – bass player; Muhammad Akmal Liew @ Charles Liew Tze Kwang (Akmal) – vocalist and acoustic guitarist; Fareez Hamzah (es) acoustic guitarist; Mohd Hashim (Acim)– key acoustic guitarist; Affendi Junaidi (Pendi) – cajon and tambourine drummer; Nasuki Malim (Ucu) percussion player; Muslim Amir (Muslim) percussion player; Adi Herman (Adi) bass player and vocalist; Ahmad Dzulfadli Hamdan (Lee) – lead vocalist; Gazelina Mark (Gaze) – vocalist and Wenna – vocalist. The Bintulu Buskers perform at the Bintulu Promenade and Pantai Temasya Tanjung Batu Bintulu every Saturday and Sunday from 4pm to 6pm. To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names. |
| Chilling reminder of Holocaust Posted: 30 Nov 2013 11:29 AM PST by Antonia Chiam, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 1, 2013, Sunday IT was a rainy autumn afternoon when the coach bus entered into Oswiecim, some 311km from the Polish capital of Warsaw. The bus was heading towards the town's most notorious landmark. We were entering Auschwitz Concentration Camp and as the bus pulled in at the main reception building, I felt a deep sense of gloom. The rain did not help to lighten the mood. I had the sudden urge to skip the tour but one could not possibly be in Poland without visiting this place of historic significance, which is also a Unesco World Heritage Site. It was impossible to miss the largest network of concentration and extermination camps ever built and operated by the Nazis during the Second World War. With visitors' procedures quickly done, each participant in the guided walking tour was equipped with a headset. We tuned the receivers to our designated guide to test the earphones. Her voice piped through loud and clear and soon we were on our way. Outside, the rain had not stopped and people were using umbrellas and raincoats. It was somewhat cumbersome to hold an umbrella, my DSLR camera and trying to keep the earphones in place. The guide took us to the entrance of the main camp — Auschwitz I. Above the gate was the slogan Arbeit Macht Frei (work sets one free). I thought the slogan was sheer irony. It was saddening too, as those who were deported to Auschwitz could not possibly have known it was a journey of no return. The compound of the camp has rows of red-brick buildings, each served different purposes during the war. Our guide led our small group into Block 4. It contains the general exhibition on Extermination. There were documents, photographs and posters showing how the deportation into Auschwitz started and what happened when the prisoners reached their destination. Even though the facts of Auschwitz are well-known and available via books and the Internet, hearing them in our guide's voice was a sombre experience. She was a really good narrator because I could imagine the monstrous scenes that took place as we were guided through the exhibition. In the same block, there was a glass display case. It was filled with bales of human hair. According to our guide, the hair was cut from the heads of victims after they were killed with Zyklon-B, the infamous cyanide-based pesticide used in the Nazi gas chambers. The hair was then sent to factories to make into various products. It was sickening to learn that the huge amount of hair displayed in this room was only a small segment recovered after the liberation of the camp. Looking at what were once human locks, I could feel a shiver that had nothing to do with the chilly late afternoon. It was certainly an unforgettable sight. The next block that we went to was Block 5 with exhibits devoted to the Material Proofs of Crimes. There are rooms after rooms of glass display cases, containing personal belongings of victims. It was overwhelming to see the mountains of shoes in one display case and the mountains of artificial legs and crutches in another. It was a fast-fading afternoon but our tour had yet to conclude. It was nearly dark when we were in Block 11, the former detention ward within Auschwitz I. Prisoners who supposedly committed serious offences against the Third Reich were brought here. Just outside the block was the Black Wall where the offenders faced a firing squad. The guide led us down to the basement where former prison cells, starvation cells and standing cells are located. The first trial use of Zyklon-B took place in these prison cells. Prisoners were shoved into the cells and gassed. Each of the wooden cell doors has a peephole and out of curiosity, I tried peeping into a cell. I saw only darkness. Then I remembered that the cells are in the basement and I gave myself a mental kick for that oversight. Being preoccupied with that, I failed to notice that the group had moved ahead. I only realised it when my headset could no longer pick up the voice of the guide. There were scratchy noises over the receiver, which I blamed on the rain outside. I caught up with the group in the former standing cells which were reconstructed for tourist viewing. Up to four prisoners were forced to crawl into a cell through a tiny door and forced to stand up the whole night as there was no room for lying or sitting down. In the morning, they were taken out for a day of hard labour. There was a slight stench in the air, the indelible stench of fear and death, in the stifling basement that had witnessed too much inhumanity. Quietly, we left the building. It was already dark outside and the street lamps were on, casting eerie shadows on the pavements. However, we had one more stop, which was the crematorium with its adjoining gas chamber. According to our guide, this was the first crematorium that operated in Auschwitz I from 1940 until 1943. The largest room in this building was used as the first gas chamber in 1941 but after the establishment of two bigger gas chambers in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the mass murders of prisoners shifted there. The building was adapted into an air raid shelter in 1944. It is worth noting that the building had been reconstructed after the war and the layout is a little different from the original. In fact, there is a long standing debate going on about the morality of post-war reconstruction efforts at the site but that is a different story altogether. We were ushered through the original front door, the same door that prisoners once entered and never made it out. I had instant goosebumps the moment I stepped in. The first room we saw was the gas chamber where unsuspecting victims thought they were being prepared for a disinfection shower. On the ceiling were holes where Zyklon-B gas pellets were released into the chamber. In concentrated amounts, death was almost instant. In insufficient amounts, death was slow and torturous. We were shown the cremation ovens in the next room. At a glance, they looked like pizza ovens. Chagrined by the inappropriate comparison, I reminded myself that thousands of dead bodies had been incinerated here. The mental image that followed the self-reminder nauseated me. I did not want to stay in the building any longer and made my way towards the exit, which was where we entered. Our tour of Auschwitz I concluded as we made our way towards the main reception building. It was already closing hour. Walking past the blocks of buildings, I noticed how quiet it was. These buildings served a gruesome past and had witnessed atrocities committed by human beings on fellow human beings for some misguided socio-political ideology. Auschwitz, in all its Holocaust gloom, must never be forgotten by the world. It is a chilling but necessary reminder of an evil that must never occur again, although looking at what is happening around the world today, humans clearly have not learnt from history. It may not be a very pleasant programme to include into one's holiday itinerary but a visit to Auschwitz will be a very worthwhile experience. Also, those keen to make the trip should not be deterred by the fact that Auschwitz is listed among the world's most haunted places. To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names. |
| Words of healing from a bereaved mother Posted: 30 Nov 2013 11:28 AM PST by Jane Moh, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 1, 2013, Sunday A GRIEVING mother found solace in writing while trying to come to terms with the death of her newborn son. Her book – Diary Of A Bereaved Mother: Goodbye My Baby – has touched the lives of many mothers who have gone through the same agonising ordeal. It was the first written work of Sibu-born writer Ann Chin who produced it in 2010, specially as a birthday gift to her son Andrew who would have turned 21 that year had he lived. Andrew was Ann's third child whom she lost 55 days after birth. The book was a compilation of the letters she wrote during that traumatic period. "The initial manuscripts were written when I was in the hospital. Andrew was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and I sat there for 55 days, writing letters for families which I have kept till today," she said. Penned with such raw honesty, the book soon became a message of hope for mothers who have lost their babies. Ann, who now lives in New Zealand and teaches TESL (Teaching English As Second Language) in Auckland, has written many materials, including short stories and poetry. However, by her own admission, the amount of energy she spent writing them paled in comparison with that she spent writing the Diary of a Bereaved Mother. It was the most difficult to write, she remembered. The reason was not that it was her first ever book but rather that having to revisit that painful period was "just too overwhelming." "I actually sat on the documents for three days. The first and second day, I was too distraught and didn't do anything at all. The third day, I finally decided to revisit those times – and I cried. "But once I got through them – on the fourth day – I started writing," she said, adding that what made it easier for her to start the opening paragraph was that she had the letters in proper order. Four-part book The book is divided into four parts – her struggle during her 55 days in the hospital; the steps she took after going through the ordeal; poetry and advice to the people on dealing with bereavement. Ann worked hard and finished the book in just two months but there were times she found it difficult to continue. She recalled the distressing time where Andrew stopped breathing and turned black. The doctor told her he was dead. "He was dead for half the afternoon, then he was alive again. When he finally died, you knew that was the finale." Ann hoped the book could give words of healing to mothers who lost their babies – that they are not alone in dealing with such adversity. "People don't talk about this topic – not even in European countries. People still feel uncomfortable talking about it but mothers who have lost their babies want to talk about it," she said. With the success of the first book, she came up with her second – From China to Borneo and Beyond which describes the journey of her family, especially how her great grandfather came to Borneo from China about 100 years ago. It also tells of her childhood – growing up in Sibu with nine siblings and how they eventually separated and went on to live in different countries. Writing skills Ann said she and her siblings developed their skills in English writing at an early age. Her father, John Chan, a former divisional education officer, laid that foundation for them. "There were nine of us and because dad had so many children, he couldn't afford to take us for holidays. Every day, during the holidays, he would give us each a title for our composition. We all had to write our own stories and dad would correct them in the evening. "I think that was how he instilled the love of writing in our hearts and it made our English really good," she said. Ann got her first material published when she was in Form Two and she was paid five dollars for it. Since then, she has been writing all her life and many of her works can be found online. Unlike her first book whose only input was herself, her second contained contributions from her siblings. She started writing the manuscript in 2006. "When my father died in Kuching in 2006, I went back to Singapore and I couldn't sleep, so I started writing. I then wrote to my siblings and they said it was good. "We did like hundreds of emails. They encouraged me and offered me some recollections and reminiscences, so it was everybody contributing. That was the first manuscript," she recalled. The book was intended as her brother's 60th birthday gift. She explained the people in Sarawak, especially among the Chinese community, could relate to the book as it traces their roots and identities. "From China to Borneo and Beyond kindled a lot of interests in the state. I am very happy to hear a publisher is going to print a Chinese version of it." The third book After a long stint of short-story writing, Ann came out with the third book, a fiction novel – Mail Order Bride. The story, set in Auckland, New Zealand, touches on social issues such as teenage pregnancies, drugs, paedophile and the like. The book took two months to finish. Ann does not intend to make money out of her books, saying: "I consider all the attention I got from the newspapers and television as just a bonus." "My dream was to go places. Dad used to go to England – we always knew he went to England. We were taught if we wanted to go places, we got to work hard." Ann graduated with a bachelor's degree (economics) in Canada in 1975 and three years later (1978) went to Auckland for her second economics degree and a diploma in management. There, she met her husband and in 1990, the family moved to Singapore before shifting back in Auckland in 2006. Ann, who considers herself a "freedom writer," said she self-published all her books as she liked having the freedom to write what she wanted. Proof readers and professional editors were all the help she got. "I call myself a freedom writer because whatever I do, I am not bound by rules." Her advice to aspiring writers is to have "patience, plan, persistence, perseverance and imagination." "You got to have a plan and a target and try to follow them through. That's what I did," added Ann who is also a public speaker. She said she never wasted "any precious time" when writing her books and would usually spend more than eight hours a day putting her ideas into words. "When the inspiration comes, never try to ignore it. Instead, put your plan into work and write it down. Writing is all about passion but you have to be disciplined if you want to be a successful writer," she advised. To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names. |
| What’s ‘new’ in the natural world Posted: 30 Nov 2013 11:24 AM PST by Tom McLaughlin. Posted on December 1, 2013, Sunday Marine Water Mites A NEW species of marine water mite (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Pontarachnidae) was discovered in Brunei Bay by a team of researchers from the University of Montenegro and the University of Brunei Darussalam. Water mites are related to spiders and they have eight legs and a soft body. There are over 40 species of the marine mite located in Borneo waters; a low number and many more are expected to be found. Almost nothing is known about the life cycle. They are usually found amongst coral and embedded in seaweed (algae). They are microscopic to pinhead in size and sometimes you can see them as tiny dots scurrying along the beach between the high and low tide zone. Mycoheterotrophic plants Why did the fungi leave the party? Because they weren't mushrooms. "Borneo is one of the richest areas for mycoheterotrophic plants," stated the leader of a Japanese research team after discovering two new species: S betung-kerihunensis and S brevistyla genus Sciaphila Blume, Triuridaceae in the Betung Kerihun National Park, West Kalimantan. Mycotrophs (short for mycoheterotrophic) are plants which lack chlorophyll and are parasitic on fungus to obtain nutrients. They used to be called saprophytes. The fungus is usually attached to the roots. Rat study A survey of parasites on rats collected in Bukit Aup Jubilee Park, Sibu by a team led by A Madinah of the Department of Zoology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) found that three species of parasites – Ixodes granulatus, Laelaps nuttalli and Hoplopleura dissicula – are a potential health risk. Ixodes, a tick, is known to carry spotted fever, typhus and rickets. A mite – Laelaps nuttalli, carries foot and mouth disease, while Hoplopleura dissicula – a sucking louse – can carry plague. The research was reported in the Sept 2013 issue of the prestigious 'Journal of Bio Tropical Medicine'. Number of frog species declines by one Examination of museum specimens led by Annemarie Ohler of the National Museum of Natural History, Paris has discovered two Bornean frog specimens, Pyxicephalus khasianus and Rana laticeps are the same frog. The name Rana laticeps will be dropped because it was recorded in 1882 while Pyxicephalus was described in 1871. Both had been used interchangeably throughout the literature. First come, first served. Eight new jumping spiders There are now 22 species of Myrmarachne, the jumping spider who waves its front legs in the air to mimic the antenna of ants in Borneo. Eight new species, from Borneo, were recently made known to science by Takeshi Yamasaki of Kagoshima University and Abdul Hamid Ahmad of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). It is thought that the spiders prey on the ants, fooling them to believe they are also ants. The Malaysian Nature Society To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names. |
| Posted: 30 Nov 2013 11:01 AM PST by Christi Bear and Lisa Brock. Posted on December 1, 2013, Sunday MISCARRIAGE is defined as a pregnancy that ends before the 20th week, while the baby is still too young to survive outside the womb. Causes of miscarriage can include problems with the mother's uterus or placenta, or abnormalities in the baby's development. In most cases, the cause of miscarriage remains unknown. Medical supervision throughout pregnancy is key to a healthy birth. Additionally, there are certain symptoms that may be indicators for miscarriage; any pregnant woman who experiences these warning signs should consult a physician immediately:
The physical and emotional pains of miscarriage make a woman more dependent on family and friends. It's helpful if she and her support group know what to expect following a miscarriage. Physical effects include:
Emotional effects of miscarriage vary among women and often take longer to heal than their physical counterparts. It's common to experience extreme sadness, anger, guilt and anxiety about future pregnancies. There is no 'typical' time frame for emotional recovery; every woman experiences the grieving process in her own way and travels the road to healing at her own pace. While it's important to allow time and personal space for grieving, if the grief becomes too overwhelming — leading to a more serious episode of depression and despondency — it may be necessary to get professional help. Fathers, too, are profoundly affected by the loss of a child. Unfortunately, a common misconception regarding miscarriage and stillbirth is that only the mother is affected. Women often feel more freedom to cry and express their grief, whereas men tend to feel pressure to 'remain strong' and may busy themselves with work or other activities in an effort to deal with their grief. As men and women typically express their emotions and process their grief differently, it's important for both parents to communicate their feelings to one another, helping to avoid the added pain of misunderstandings. How does a woman who miscarries begin to heal from sadness and grief? Don't blame yourself. The most common reasons women miscarry are missing pieces of genetic information in the fertilised egg or improper implantation of the baby into the uterine lining. Women don't miscarry because they ate something they shouldn't have, or didn't take folic acid or get enough rest. Miscarriage is nature's way of making sure that when you do have a baby, it has the best chance for a healthy life. Though it may feel like it, it's not a punishment. Accept your grief. You may feel tired, depressed, anxious, isolated — there is a whole range of natural emotions. Your readjusting hormones can contribute to your painful feelings. Give yourself time to heal. And don't be surprised if the emotions continue to resurface. The death of a child is a tremendous loss no matter when in the child's life it occurs. Talk about your struggles. Tell your partner how you feel. Though he may express his emotions differently, he has experienced the same tragic loss you have and is suffering from many of the same feelings. Share the story with friends as you feel comfortable; you'll be surprised how many similar miscarriage stories you'll hear that you never knew about. And if you feel you need more help, ask your obstetrician about pregnancy loss groups in your area or consult a licensed therapist. Memorialise your child. Giving your child a name, holding a memorial service at home or writing the day it happened on your calendar are all ways you may choose to help deal with your grief in a tangible way. Don't be afraid to try again. Having a miscarriage doesn't mean you'll have another. In fact, your odds of having a miscarriage don't increase after you've had one; they're just the same as they were the first time around. Wait until you're emotionally ready to plan for another pregnancy, then consult your doctor to find out if your body has had enough time to heal. Most women who have lost a child due to miscarriage go on to experience healthy and happy pregnancies. To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names. |
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