Leaf shelter: Mummy orangutan protects baby from the rain
As everyone knows, getting caught in a summer shower can leave you a little under-prepared, with newspapers and briefcases often used to cover heads.
And life in the jungle is no different for this inventive orangutan mother and her child in the rainforest of Tanjung Puting National Park in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo.
Gathering foliage from the ground at the first sign of rain, the adult orangutan made an impromptu rain hat that coupled as an umbrella for her little one.
Adding extra protection from the heavy tropical rain the concerned mother tucked her unimpressed youngster as far under her arm as she could to shield her from the shower.
[source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002702/Orangutan-mother-invention-seeks-shelter-jungle-downpour.html]
"i'm waiting for dad"
It has come to JunEE. Another busy period where time is so retrained to update the website.
First we would like to express our deepest condolence to the loss of a great father, Mr Chan in the month of Fathers Day. Dear Jamie and Janic, it’s with profound sadness to hear that your father passed away. May your memories be your comfort.
When Murphy and I attended the wake of deceased Mr Chan, we had a good chat together with Jamie and Janic’s husband, Zhi-Wei. Of course the three of them have their own family now with children. So our conversation was mainly about family relationships.
They shared their experiences of being a husband and a father, on how to bring comfort to the ones they love. We also discussed on family issues in society such as the effect on moral development of children with single-parent family.
I really appreciate that they shared the challenges at times and satisfaction of being a father, and ways to build and maintain good relationship with their spouse. They showed the key of happinEEss: truth, honesty, understanding, and devotion.
Thanks to the three fathers for sharing their valuable experiences. June, happy Fathers Day!
May all beings be happy. Sharing some shots taken in Melaka:
man of the house
ritual
*
no trespassing
masked
vocal
flying safe
love (Cindy and Bear)
"i'll grow up"
bus journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
After we left Angkor temples, we took a 7-hour bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. I was leaning on the seat, looking at the scenes from the bus windows that I had never seen in real life. The extremely poor villages and living. The journey was eye-opening.
We traveled on a gravel road by bus. There were shacks built on wooden stilts off the ground beside the road we traveled, for clearing the floods of the next monsoon. These shacks mostly built facing the road, with the backyards used for agriculture.
We took a look daily life of the villagers on our way: most of the villagers farm the land or fish to obtain their food, and they live with minimal or without electricity, safe drinking water or any other support. So the place was totally dark at night, with only lights of vehicles on the road visible. What amazed us was the sardine like quality of transportation, vehicles such as motorbike, car or truck was overloaded with passengers or goods.
On the half of our journey, about 4-5pm in the afternoon, we stopped at a village for some fresh air. I don’t even know the name of the place, yet without wasting the few minutes I’d got, I quickly took some shots of the people living there. They seemed to us like strangers.
Most of us would never experience life like the Khmer villagers. Such living conditions gave us the impression of a poor and an unhappy life, many of the villagers however seemed contented and happy with their life: kids running wildly, women relaxing in hammocks, men having drinks and chit chat together. This situation reminded me of an old Chinese story:
When Chuang-Tzu (an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE) was talking with a friend about some fish in a pond.
He said, “Look at those minnows darting here and there. How free and pleasurable is the life of a fish.“
His friend pointed out to him, “You are not a fish – how do you know that their life is free and pleasurable?” – in other words, you aren’t a fish, and you are making an assumption about what kind of life a fish leads.
Chuang-Tzu retorted, “You’re not me. How do you know that I don’t know what makes a fish happy?” – in other words, you are also making an assumption about what I know or don’t know.
Our mind creates our world, thus contentment is the key to happiness. We have to consider ourselves always to be very fortunate to have what we have now in our life and learn to appreciate them.
The 7-hour journey in fact broadened our mind. We then continued to Phnom Penh.
May all beings be happy. Sharing some shots I took when we stopped for a short break:
road signs
villagers
Khmer father and child
food stall
my friend, Zam (left) and a Khmer boy
on hammock
lollipop, melt in mouth
my friend, Amy (left) and the villagers
adorable Khmer kid
sharing the candy
smile?
Handout picture taken on June 2, 2011 shows a Greenpeace activist posing for a photo on a 3D artwork representing an organic farm, at the Museum of Siam in Bangkok. Thailand´s rice masterplan recently outlined a policy aimed at keeping Thai rice free of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). (image from Athit Perawongmetha/AFP/Getty Images)
Greenpeace today celebrated Thailand’s Rice Masterplan for keeping Thai rice free of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). The GE-free rice policy, a key strategy in the Thai Rice Masterplan, protects Thailand’s thousands-year old rice heritage from the inherent risks posed by genetically-engineered (GE) crops.
For the occasion, Greenpeace unveiled a gigantic eco-friendly 3D artwork of an organic farm, an illustration of healthy, ecological farming, at Museum of Siam, Bangkok. The event comes ahead of the National Rice and Farmers Day on June 5th to celebrate the pride of Thai rice tradition and wisdom of Thai farmers who can produce safe food without the need of GE.
“The Thai government’s strategy to keep rice production GE-free is an acknowledgement embedded in government policy that genetically-engineered (GE) crops are unnecessary and a risk to a sustainable future for farming. This is a victory for rice farmers and consumers because it affirms the commitment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to keep rice farming sustainable and rice crops free of environmental and health risks associated with GE crops,” said Natwipha Ewasakul, Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
“Greenpeace supports this strategy and we are happy to assist the government keep rice GE-free from now on. We also welcome government commitment to keep this GE-free policy beyond 2011,” she added.
The current Thai Rice Masterplan conceived by the MoAC covers the enforcement period of 2007-2011. The plan committed to strengthening the nation’s rice production while promoting farmers’ livelihoods and consumer confidence. Keeping Thai rice GMO-free means that Thailand maintains its global leadership in rice production.
Greenpeace maintains that GMOs threaten the future and biodiversity of rice in Thailand, and will make farming, and farmers, dependent on agricultural inputs exclusively owned by giant multinational corporations who control GMO technologies.
The huge 3D artwork presented by Greenpeace today during the festivities stands for the millions people around the world who aspire for a sustainable and secure future of food. It was first launched in December 2010 front of the European Commission in Brussels, to accompany a signature petition by 1 million people clamouring for GE-free farming. The petition, organized together with Avaaz [1] is an unprecedented EU-wide citizens’ initiative aimed at the European Commission calling for safe food and stopping genetically modified crops in the EU. The artwork is an ecological farm symbolizing the future of agriculture with no GMO crops, surrounded by the 1 million names.
“The policy asserts how the need for agriculture that is good for the planet and people is important to our country and our economy. But it’s not just Thailand who stands to benefit from such a bold move. Consumers around the world know that they can trust Thai rice. These 1 million people know that GMO crops are bad for food and farming and this demand is shared by people in Thailand,” said Natwipha.
Greenpeace and the Thai Farmer’s Network also organized a Thai rice exhibition which traces the history and tradition of Thai rice, Thai rice varieties and the profound relationship between Thai people and their staple diet. The exhibition also highlights the threats and dangers of GMOs.
The 3D art work and the Thai farmer network’s exhibit will be open to the public from 2 to 5 June 2011. Meanwhile, Greenpeace’s exhibition on Thai Rice and GE-free farming will be open from 2 to 30 June at Museum of Siam, 10.00 am – 6.00 pm (daily, except Mondays).
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
[source: http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/Press-Centre/Press-Releases/Thai-GE-free-Rice/]
Prewedding - Tong Poh-Ling and Goh Seng-Chin
Congratulation to Tong Poh-Ling (Pohling) and Goh Seng-Chin (Goh) who just got married early this month!
Last month before the two tied the knot, photographers like Kenn-Wai, Fred, Angel Wee, Hanne, Andrew Gan, Angela Gan and I decided to give Pohling and Goh a special gift. We would like to present them a prewedding album in which photos shot and compiled by us.
Each of the guys has their unique style in shooting. Thus I was excited that I could join the session together because it was a good opportunity to learn them. We met out for a discussion as always before the shooting, planned a two-day sessions and selected a few venues in Melaka for making the photo album. Each would need to contribute a few shots and teamwork makes the dream work.
That morning, Pohling looked absolutely fabulous and Goh was just charming. We were all geared up. Although I spent half a day with the beautiful couples and fun-loving photographers, we enjoyed the session together so much. As for the outcome, I was fascinated by the way all of them worked and how they produced their images. There were so much things that I learned from the guys.
Thank you guys for the wonderful time and happy married life to Pohling and Goh. I hope you hold each other close in best or bad times and have trust and faith all the way.
May all beings be happy. Sharing some of my shots of Pohling and Goh’s prewedding:
About CJ
Hi! I am CJ, blogger of Juesatta and photographer of CJ Photography.
I love and enjoy photography, thus make me a lifestyle wedding photojournalist and portrait photographer based in Melaka, a lovely town full of history and characters in Malaysia.
Wedding is the sweetest thing of one’s life because it celebrates love, therefore I have always been passionate for capturing beautiful, natural and romantic wedding day images of moments for couples to be cherished a lifetime.
Drop me an email cj@cjfen.com and will be great to hear from you!