CJ, Author at juesatta (CJ Photography)

Jun 16

Visiting to three homes

By CJ Involvement, Photography

George and Cindy at the Handicapped and Mentally Disabled Children Centre Melaka

Last Sunday, Kok-Liang, Tracy, Ah-Seong, Cindy and I went to the Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng old folks home, Rumah Budak Laki-Laki Tun Abdul Aziz (boys home), and Handicapped and Mentally Disabled Children Centre Melaka in Bukit Baru. First we went to the old folks home and donated the adult diapers and blankets which we bought the day before. We didn’t spend much time after at the centre then we drove to the boys’ home in Durian Daun in the hope that we could understand more of the centre.

We were welcomed by the centre’s assistant community welfare officer, Miss Nor Aziah Binti Rahaman. Most of the boys were away for a trip to Kedah. So we could only have a short chat with Miss Nor Aziah. We came to understand that the centre which consists of 50 boys from poor families is fully funded by government. Basically, the financial support is sufficient to cover the boys’ daily living costs including accommodation and study environment, clothing, meals, daily necessities and pocket money. In short the centre does not require much donation from the public.

After leaving the boys home, Kok-Liang thought it would be worthwhile to bring us to go the handicapped and mentally disabled children centre. This would also be the first time for Ah-Seong, Cindy and Tracy to visit this centre. When we arrived, we were greeted by Amy, a kind-hearted senior nurse who has been working there for years, and she took us for a tour of the home.

I was happy as I met the toddler with Down syndrome again whom I mentioned in my previous post. Amy told me the boy had just had a heart surgery not long ago and he was in good and healthy condition. Amy told us he was naughty and active as he was always trying to escape from the baby bed. Nevertheless, the boy stood by the wooden crib when he saw us and felt excited and happy.

Amy then introduced George, a six year-old autistic child who was left there by his parents. The boy was lonely and sitting at the couch by himself. When Cindy saw the cute little boy, she spontaneously sat beside her and started chatting with him. He didn’t speak at all but he seemed attracted to Cindy’s mobile phone. He grabbed and toyed with the phone. And George was really a smart boy as he could hum the song he listened once of Cindy’s phone.

It was sad to learn about George’s background, and he seemed very sad and depressed when we were leaving the centre which made us feel even more heart-broken especially Cindy. After we left the centre, I asked Cindy how she felt of her first experience of the handicapped and mentally disabled children center, she replied with silent tears. I could tell she has a compassionate heart towards the less fortunate ones especially George.

We felt really lucky and contented after visiting the three homes. This certainly would not be our last trip, we have decided to do another visit shortly to the centres. And I felt really pleased and inspired when Amy told us that some students from the Multimedia University would always visit in group to the centre and volunteer to help cleaning the centre and take care of the patients. I hope that we could do the same meaningful thing.

The Handicapped and Mentally Disabled Children Centre Melaka in Bukit Baru is a public funded welfare centre and requires plenty of support from the public to maintain the centre. We sincerely hope that readers of this post could pay a visit or donate something to the centre. I’ll post up a list soon of what the centre requires.

Thanks to my fellow friends for your company and support. May all beings be happy. Some photos I took after the jump:

Jun 15

[News] “SpongeBob” helps boy save friend from drowning

By CJ Rambling

SpongeBob Squarepants saves the day! (web image)

An 8-year-old New Jersey boy saved his 5-year-old neighbor from drowning last weekend with a technique he says he learned from the Nickelodeon cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

Andrew Gentile was struggling in a manmade lake in Washington Township. He’d been playing in a shallow area, but wandered into deeper water. His mother, Shirley, tried to help, but she panicked herself when she lost her footing in the six-foot deep water.

That’s when Reese Ronceray remembered the strokes from a scene in the episode “SpongeGaurd on Duty,” and came to the rescue. He told “Early Show” co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez he ran and jumped into the water.

Reese said he grabbed Andrew around the shoulders and started paddling.

“I started swimming to shore, but before I grabbed him we just plopped and (went) under the water.”

Rodriguez said, “That must have been scary.”

Reese replied, “Very.”

He said, “I just kept (moving my arms) up all the way to the surface.”

Rodriguez asked, “You were just using one arm and holding him with the other?”

Reese added, “And two legs.”

Rodriguez asked Andrew, “What do you say to your friend for saving your life?”

Reese told his friend, “Thank you.”

Andrew responded, “You’re welcome.”

Reese added, “His mom was like, ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.'”

Reese’s mom, Anne, said she’s “so proud” of her son.

Jun 14

Meeting Yih-Shyang in Melaka

By CJ Beautiful Melaka, Photography

Yih-Shyang (left) and the sunset of Melaka

I received a surprise phone call weeks ago from an old friend, Yih-Shyang from Ipoh. Being my ex-college mate and also my long lost friend, Yih-Shyang got my contact number from my friend, then called me and wished I could be his guide in Melaka.

Since the day we knew each other in college, he always wanted to visit Melaka and promised to come. Nine years of hearing that, finally he came alone from Kuala Lumpur all the way down to Melaka town to meet me and to spend the rest of the day touring around Melaka. I just got to know he is into photography.

Yih-Shyang was getting an angle of a stair in Limau-limau Cafe

It was Monday, the next day after the 50mm shooting with photonians, I was a little bit too sick to do another shooting in Jonker Street again, rather I became a photographer’s photograper, which I took the photos of Yih-Shyang’s most of the time, and helped him to snap his photos with his Nikon D90.

We spent the whole day around Melaka town and enjoyed the local cuisine such as Chaozhou porridge, Chendol, Nyonya zongzi, Nyonya dinner, and others. It was a feeding frenzy with a guy with big appetite like Yih-Shyang. Too, we went to some famous tourist spots such as Cheng Hoon Teng temple, Clock Tower and The Stadhuys of the Dutch Square Area, Melaka River, and Eye of Malaysia to do our shooting.

That evening before we went for a dinner of delicious Nyonya cuisine, I brought Yih-Shyang to the Eye of Malaysia and did some shooting of Melaka’s amazing sunset. Unfortunately, there was where the battery of my camera went flat before the sun touched the horizon. We however continued to shoot with Yih-Shyang’s camera of the sunset and night views of Melaka. There I learned something of a Nikon’s camera.

After the night shooting, we waved goodbye to each other and Yih-Shyang headed back to Kuala Lumpur. It was a wonderful day to catch up with an old friend, and toured around Melaka which made me feel like a tourist myself in my hometown. Thanks to Yih-Shyang for contacting me and inviting me.

Below are some of the shots I took:

Jun 11

[jaf] visiting to old folks home and boys home on coming sunday 11/6/2010

By CJ Involvement

juesatta awakening foundation logo (draft)

Yet again, Kok-Liang asked me to arrange another trip to the old folks home, Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng this Sunday (13/6/2010) together with a boys home, Rumah Budak Laki-Laki Tun Abdul Aziz in Durian Daun, Melaka. Therefore we are organising a short trip to these homes on Sunday and hope our fellow friends could join us.

There is a balance of RM 89.50 of donation we collected from the last trip to Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng, and will used to purchase adult diapers and donate to the old folks home this Sunday, which are used by folks who have otherwise normal lives.

What’s more, we are also collecting old clothing, unwanted toys, books, stationary and etc. for children who are below age of 18 and donate to the boys’ home, Rumah Budak Laki-Laki Tun Abdul Aziz on this Sunday. Spare us some of your old and unwanted goods otherwise your time and join us for this meaning day. We sincerely hope that you will find this a worthy event to support.

Jun 10

被活体取胆黑熊的自由之路、数千头熊等待救助

By CJ Compassion

左起：腾讯公益“善待动物尊重生命”系列节目主持人董伟、著名节目主持人赵忠祥、成都黑熊救护中心总经理张小海、《新周刊》资深调查记者潘滨

2010年5月19日，腾讯公益“善待动物尊重生命”系列访谈第一场在腾讯网演播室举行，著名节目主持人赵忠祥、成都黑熊救护中心总经理张小海、《新周刊》资深调查记者潘滨等做客腾讯，谈“被活体取胆黑熊的自由之路”。以下为嘉宾主要观点和访谈实录：

嘉宾精彩语录：

赵忠祥：你们救了一些熊，有一些照片，包括铁背心，小的铁笼子，看了以后真是惨不忍睹，人有的时候会觉得毛骨悚然，因为人是一个非常智慧的动物，会换位思考，如果我们遭到这样的对待的时候，那就四个字“生不如死”。

张小海：我们帮助黑熊不是因为黑熊是野生动物，不是因为黑熊濒危，也不一定是因为黑熊受苦，而是因为我们人对待动物的方式太残酷了。我还是希望每一个人都能够反思一下自己对待动物的态度。不管你是爱动物，还是不爱动物，不管你和动物有没有感情，想想自己的行为是不是自己能接受。

潘滨：我觉得地方政府在看待熊胆经济上的态度有差别，有些地方政府还是比较好的，是禁止养熊，但有些好像不太倡导这种绿色GDP，而是觉得这种血腥GDP是有作用的，觉得这个东西能够给当地带来税收，所以背后这个推动作用也不可忽视。

数千头熊等待救助（组图）：

取胆黑熊常常被关在与身体大小相同的铁笼中动弹不得，这样的囚禁有时长达二十多年

很多黑熊有严重的刻板行为，开始噬咬铁栏杆。刻板行为严重时，甚至噬咬自己的前掌

由于常年的营养不良，取胆熊骨瘦如柴脱毛严重。长期异物的刺激，腹部长出结节

兽医对情况最糟的黑熊最先进行救治

记者目击抽胆汁的经历：

“就抽这个吧！”老板娘指着一只瘦弱的小熊说。小熊似乎没有什么精神，中年男子手里拿着一舀子的糖水给小熊喝，小熊可爱地伸出大舌头不停地喝着糖水。这时老板娘正在用药棉不停地擦着手中那根钢针。记者看到这个针中间是空的，一侧有个眼儿，老板娘俯下身子钻进“熊牢”下面，当钢针插入小熊体内的一刹那，小熊停止了吮吸，然后抬起头，一动不动地望着记者，那眼神中充满了无助与惶恐。这时，中年男子将糖水送到熊的嘴边。虽然笼子下面老板娘没有停止操作，但是小熊又开始吮吸糖水——是疼痛已经在糖水的甜蜜中消失了？或者是因为长期被抽取胆汁它已经变得麻木了？

小熊有糖水喝，并没有引起“伙伴们”的羡慕——记者发现，当糖水送到小熊嘴边时，几个伙伴都把目光投向小熊，但是当老板娘钻到“熊牢”下面时，“伙伴们”都转过了“身”，然后在笼子的一角蜷缩成一团。

这时，在“熊牢”底下的老板娘反复操作了几次，钻了出来，“不行呀！刚刚吃完饭肯定抽不出来了。”针从小熊体内拔出来了，糖水立即停止了供应，小熊又一动不动地看着眼前的人，随后哀鸣起来，让人觉得很伤感。。。。。。

在亚洲有超过10,000头黑熊被囚禁在养熊场狭窄的铁笼内，被人以残忍的方法抽取胆汁用于传统医药。在很多亚洲国家，人们把导管插入黑熊腹内，或实施所谓的先进”无管引流法”。熊被关在窄小的笼内，以便抽取胆汁。植入导管或”无管引流”的外科手术既残酷又不卫生，许多熊因此丧命。而如此得来的熊胆只用来治疗头痛、痔疮等小病小痛。那些侥幸存活的黑熊则被困在狭窄的铁笼里，无法伸展四肢，每天饱受抽取胆汁的痛苦。

[source: http://gongyi.qq.com/a/20100519/000034.htm
http://gongyi.qq.com/a/20100517/000095_7.htm
http://gongyi.qq.com/a/20100427/000145_1.htm]

Jun 08

Mom’s Nyonya zongzi

By CJ Beautiful Melaka, Photography

my loving mom was wrapping the fillings to zongzi

Zongzi is traditionally eaten during the Duanwu Festival, falling on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. It has a long history dating back thousands of years. During Duan Wu Festival which has been held annually for more than 2000 years, many traditional customs and activities are practiced on the specified day by the Chinese people. Among these customs are dragon boat racing and eating zongzi.

fillings then wrapped to tetrahedral shape and ready to be boiled

Many legends circulate around the festival including eating zongzi, but the most common explanation given derives from the tale of Qu Yuan, a poet and also a patriot from the Zhou dynasty (1045 BC – 256 BC). During the seven warring states period of Zhou dynasty before Qin Dynastay, Qu Yuan was a minister in the State of Chu and did much to assist the ruler in governing the state. He was however banished from the kingdom by his ruler for treason as he opposed an alliance between the Chu and their rival state of Qin. During the days of his exile, Qu Yuan wrote many famous poems until he ended his life in great despair and distress by drowning in the river upon learning that the State of Chu had been defeated by Qin.

On hearing of Qu Yuan’s death, the local villagers who were extremely fond of Qu Yuan, were in great distress. Fishermen searched for his body by sailing their boats down the river, furiosly beating the drums onboard and other people threw zongzi into the river to keep away fish and evil spirits from destroying Qu Yuan’s body. Later, many people imitated these acts to show their respect for this great patriotic poet and this practice continues today and eating of zongzi is no exception.

Zongzi is made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, then are cooked by steaming or boiling. There is no set fillings as it varies from province to province, though the most commonly used for this steamed delicacy are egg, beans, dates, sweet potato, walnuts, mushrooms, pork, or a combination of all of the above. Wrapping up the zongzi is sometimes a closely guarded family secret.

basic components of Nyonya zongzi: white glutinous rice, blue glutinous rice, and seasoned pork

In Melaka where Baba and Nyonya were orginated from, there is an unique type of zongzi called Nyonya zongzi. This Nyonya version features the intricate flavor depths of typical Nyonya cuisine with a hint of sweet, salty and spicy. Its recipe is also vary from Nyonya’s family to family. Despite the recipe of Nyonya zongzi is closely guarded by family, the most significant character of Melaka’s Nyonya zongzi is the blue colored glutinous rice stuffed inside.

Days before the coming Duan Wu Festival, my mom wrapped up Nyonya zongzi according to my granny’s recipe, due to popular requests from relatives and friends. Among the ingredients used were glutinous rice, seasoned pork, sugared white gourd, chestnut, natural blue coloring from flowers and others. Making of zongzi is not complicated but very time-consuming in preparing the ingredients, including soaking the rice overnight, mincing the pork and season to taste, finely chop sugared white gourd and chestnut, and last but not least, wrapping up all the ingredients with bamboo leaves. It took my mom’s two days with the help of my dad and sisters to prepare about a hundred of zongzi.

final product: delicious Nyonya zongzi

Most of the zongzi made by my mom were given to friends and relatives and I was lucky to have some. Special thanks to my mom, dad and sisters for the hard work and I really loved this yummy Chinese delicacy. Wishing everyone a happy Duanwu Festival.

CJ