Happy Mother's Day (Khmer mother and daughter, shot in Cambodia)

Your arms were always open when I needed a hug. Your heart understood when I needed a friend. Your gentle eyes were stern when I needed a lesson. Your strength and love has guided me and gave me wings to fly.

To all mom, a Happy Mother’s day. Big thanks for all your unfailing sacrifices and the unconditional love you’ve been giving us!

五月的康乃馨，没有雍容华贵的姿态，没有浓香四溢的味道，只是平平淡淡的样子，就如日夜操劳、毫无怨言的母亲。

祝全天下妈妈,母亲节快乐!

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Murder most fowl: The seagull successfully securing a first course

A murderous seagull that gobbled up a duckling got more than it bargained for when it returned for another helping.

It swooped on the ducklings as they swam with their parents in Herbert Park, Dublin, last week.

But the mother duck, who initially had eleven ducklings in tow, finally forced the gull away by aggressively flapping her wings.

Photographer Paul Hughes said: ‘I was taking pictures in the park and saw this gull watching the young family.

‘This is the time of year ducks raise their young, so predatory birds like gulls are always on the look out for an easy meal.

‘The gull was waiting for one of the ducklings to stray from the group and when it finally spotted one it swooped in for the kill.

‘The gull was able to grab hold of a duckling in its beak.

‘But when it came back for a second helping mum was ready and fought the gull away until it had to turn tail and fly off.

‘The chick ducked under the water. There was a lot of quacking and squawking going on.

‘It was a stressful moment for the mother, but in the end she saved her family.’

Foiled: The seagull scoops the chick out of the water, but drops it when the mother swoops in

In a flap: The angry mother proved she was no sitting duck and chased the attacker away

Brave: The fearless mother is not deterred by the seagull's size advantage

Taking flight: The seagull is in no mood to hang around

Happy family: The ducklings with their protective mother

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特列宁·晃子《请照顾我女儿》

晃子已於2008年2月25日离开人世，走时只有36岁，那一年尤莉亚只有2岁，今年已6岁。

晃子是在2006年诞下精灵可爱的尤莉亚。但命运捉弄她，一边迎接新生命，一边却要面对自己生命的终结。

万般不捨也不能改变命运，她將对女儿的无限牵掛化成文字，写成了“遗书”《请照顾我女儿》，这本书日前更翻译成中文版。

纵然化疗令身体虚弱的晃子连提笔的力气也没有，她仍竭力口述录音，將生命里各种课题――朋友、吵架、恋爱、金钱等娓娓道来，要教女儿人生智慧，教她如何做一个女生。

口述录音教女儿生命课题

晃子在每段录音，都充满元气地跟尤莉亚说早安，每句话都充满关爱和思念，她把握一分一秒向女儿做最后告別，希望留下这书作女儿的礼物。这份礼物，母爱满泻。

晃子希望女儿將来读起妈妈留给自己的书，知道妈妈的爱及面对的痛苦抉择。

晃子在怀女儿时腰痛得厉害，初时以为是普通孕痛，到一天痛得无法走路，才发现脊髓有恶性肿瘤。於是，在保住自己还是孩子之间，她面对痛苦选择。因为分娩后才治疗將有生命危险，但她最终选择保住孩子。

晃子死前的遗愿，就是希望读者看了她的书后可以写信给尤莉亚，照顾尤莉亚，给尤莉亚力量成长。

妈妈想用各种方式，陪伴未来的你……

写给我的亲亲尤莉宝贝，妈妈要用笔写下给你的话，用声音录下对你的叮嚀，妈妈的生命已经接近终点，但妈妈想用各种方式，陪伴未来的你……妈妈每天看你一天天的长大，你的笑容像天使一样，脸蛋像花儿般灿烂，但妈妈的生命却一天天的削减，在病房独自面对孤独与恐惧，有甚么办法可以让时间走慢一点，陪在你的身边久一点？如果你看了这本书，能够知道妈妈在甚么样的心情生下你，时时刻刻为你？想写下这些话，那么妈妈就感到非常非常幸福了……

2月6日妈妈剖腹生下你

妈妈从2005年秋天开始生病。那年夏天，妈妈才怀了你，所以发现时，你还在妈妈子宫里……10月之后，腰突然很痛……医生都说“你是孕妇”，既不为我做检查，也不做任何治疗，只说“等你生完孩子再治疗……”

进入12月后……双腿开始发麻，排尿困难，走路都开始有问题……医生说脊髓出现肿瘤，要马上动手术切除，妈妈嚇坏了！

因为在怀孕状態下不能接受癌症治疗，如果以妈妈的治疗为优先，就必须让你早產，这代表你无法像普通的小宝一样出生的可能性很高……然后，妈妈向爸爸保证，一定会带给他一个健康小宝贝。妈妈问爸爸：“Do you really want this baby？”爸爸哭著说：“Yes，对不起，I want both。”

2月6日妈妈剖腹生下你。

尽可能和喜欢的人在一起，好好享受人生！

尤莉亚，你是女生，所以我相信你不至於和別人打架，但可能会常常和別人吵架，和爸爸，还有朋友……人不是单独活在世界上，必须和很多人產生交集。一样米养百样人，当然可能遇到合得来或是合不来的人，在和这些人相处的过程中，难免会发生爭执。

吵架不是坏事，但更重要的是，吵架后要言归於好。和好的秘诀在於“隔一夜”……隔了一夜，双方心情平静下来后，就可以冷静思考。

活在人世，要尽可能和喜欢的人在一起，好好享受人生！

要记住，绝对不能先有后婚

在瞭解对方的心意之前，整天都提心吊胆，心神不寧，对方的一举手、一投足都会让人的心情跟著一喜一忧（笑）。学生时代有很多时间，也有很多对象，可以谈很多恋爱，和同学一起分享恋爱的点滴也很有趣。

再长大一点之后，就要展开一场寻找人生伴侣的漫长恋爱旅程……这时候的恋爱和以前那种只要不喜欢，马上就分手的恋爱方式不同，可以花更长的时间观察对方。

不要忘记“即使再亲密，也要注意应有的礼节……”

每个女生都希望有朝一日可以和喜欢的人结婚……尤莉亚，要记住，绝对不能先有后婚。

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mother deliberates from the top of the river bank whilst the cub calls for help and hangs on tight (photo by Jean-Francois Largot)

Clinging on for dear life to the side of a vertical cliff, the tiny lion cub cries out pitifully for help.

His mother arrives at the edge of the precipice with three other lionesses and a male. The females start to clamber down together but turn back daunted by the sheer drop.

Eventually one single factor determines which of them will risk her life to save the youngster – motherly love.

as the cub loses his grip he's snatched by the scruff of the neck! (photo by Jean-Francois Largot)

Slowly, agonisingly, the big cat edges her way down towards her terrified son, using her powerful claws to grip the crumbling cliff side.

One slip from her and both animals could end up dead at the bottom of the ravine.

Just as the exhausted cub seems about to fall, his mother circles beneath him and he is snatched up in her jaws.

and she beats a powerful and hasty retreat up to safety (photo by Jean-Francois Largot)

She then begins the equally perilous journey back to the top. Minutes later, they arrive and she gives the frightened creature a consoling lick on the head.

motherly love: The mother gives her son a lick to say that all is well in the pride following the drama (photo by Jean-Francois Largot)

The dramatic rescue, captured by wildlife photographer Jean-Francois Largot, was played out in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve.

Despite the presence of wardens to deter poachers, day-to-day life for the lions is not without its dangers … as the cub learned the hard way.

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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.

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empty nest syndrome (cartoon by John McPherson)

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil today urged children to make more time for their parents to avoid them from suffering the Empty Nest syndrome.

The Women, Family and Community Development Minister said children should stop giving parents excuses such as a busy schedule as it may cause them sadness, a sense of loss and loneliness.

She said mothers and fathers may grapple with the syndrome following sadness and depression after their children leave home to start a new life in studies, work or marriage.

According to Shahrizat, a study by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) found that 41 per cent of parents aged above 60 suffered from loneliness.

Speaking to reporters after launching the “Kasihnya Ibu” exhibition in conjunction with the national-level Mother’s Day celebrations at the National Art Gallery, near here, she said the percentage is expected to rise should nothing be done to rectify the situation.

“Don’t use busy schedules as a reason, it is a child’s responsibility to care for and protect their aged parents,” she said.

In line with the Mother’s Day theme of “Sentiasa Ada” (Always There), she said although technology helps to keep family members connected it cannot replace a person”s actual presence.

Also present at the exhibition was the Prime Minister’s mother, Tun Rahah Mohd Noah, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Senator Heng Seai Kie and National Art Gallery director-general, Datuk Mohd Yusof Ahmad.

In conjunction with Mother’s Day, the ministry is also providing free health screenings to mothers at 56 LPPKN Nursejahtera clinics until May 15.

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in the centre; from left, mother and Peah-Ching

Towards the end of year 2010, Peah-Ching, partner of Stephen Tang was preparing hampers for sale just before Chinese New Year 2011. She was hoping to help the underprivileged group before the festival season so she approached Chris Lee Ching-Yong, the Special Officer for the Chief Minister of Johor and seek for his advice.

Chris who is active in charity, told Peah-Ching to help a rehabilitation centre for handicapped children in Muar, where Peah-Ching’s hometown is. It’s Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti Maharani (in Malay, Maharani Community-based Rehabilitation Centre). Chris then told her, the centre requires support and attention of the public to maintain its service for the community. Although the centre is supported by the state government, donation of the public could help the centre to provide better study environment and improve the living of the children.

one of the children waiting for the parents to pick up

Chris suggested to Peah-Ching that each of the hamper she sells, she could donate RM5 in helping the children. She would like to know more about the centre so invited me to visit the centre together. After 40 minutes drive from Melaka, I arrived in Muar and met up with Peah-Ching and her lovely mother. Together we travelled to the centre which is not far from her house.

Providing special education to mostly dyslexic children and some with autism, the centre currently supports 54 students. We were welcome by one of the assistants, Ms. Nardia and briefed about the daily function of the centre. From what we were told, the children do not stay overnight at the centre however spend half of the day to attend classes. During weekdays, parents would send their children in the morning to the centre and pick them up in the afternoon. They will have a meal in the morning.  

After doing some reading online, I came to understand that parents play a big role in helping their children. Parents usually start to panic after their children fail miserably in Year One or Two as a result of their inability to read. In fact, children with dyslexia need to be taught to read using techniques that are different from those used to teach normal kids. Maharani Community-based Rehabilitation Centre is one of the centres to provide special education to enable dyslexic children to become more successful. It’s also best that parents could sit in during the classes so that they could pick up too the correct techniques to coach their children at home.

It was rather a short trip as the children had gone home when we arrived. We didn’t manage to see how the classes are carrying out regrettably, but we are hoping to visit the centre again in the morning to understand more about the centre and the children.

Hopefully all the children are well and happy. May all beings be happy.

classroom

the students

contact details

dolls of animal

"I love you daddy"

signboard - Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti Maharani

main entrance with Peah-Ching and mother

centre is in Taman Muar

In addition, I have seen the hampers wrapped by Peah-Ching after we went to centre. They are really nice and presentable. If you are getting hampers for your friends or family and do charity at the same time, feel free to browse Peah-Ching’s hampers flyers for great deals. Click to enlarge and download:

basket hamper flyer

pyramid hamper flyer

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the Ling's family: Cynthia, little Chern, and Mark

Congratulation to the proud parents, Mark and Cynthia for their newborn baby, Khim-Chern. Hope the both of you be loving parents. Do your best. Enjoy your baby!

Last week was the full month of little Chern from the Ling’s family. They celebrated by throwing a party at the house of Cynthia’s parents in Lubok Cina. It took us 45 minutes drive from Melaka to the place.

Before this party, we paid a visit to the Ling’s family a week before the party. Kok-Liang, Tracy, Wee-Peng, Meng-Hong, Patrick and I departed after our breakfast and travelled to Lubok Cina. Ever since Cynthia delivered the baby, we didn’t have the chance to visit the family. So it was thrilling of this trip.

When we arrived, Mark the new father was happily welcomed us and showed us around the house before bringing us to little Chern. Cynthia, the new mother was in the house, looking healthy and cheerful, expecting for our arrival. We just could not wait to step into the house and look at the baby. Little Chern was so tiny and cute. He was sleeping in the baby hammock. We didn’t want to interrupt his slumber so we had a chat with the parents for their new experience.

the fingers of father and son

Shortly during our chat, the baby woke up and cried. He was hungry. The moment came when the new father had to carry his responsibility to milk the baby. So Mark held little Chern in his arms just like what a mother would do and slowly placed teat into the baby’s mouth. The atmosphere was warm and quiet; everyone was watching at the father and son.

Mark feeding little Chern in his arms

Mark patiently feeding little Chern while the baby enjoyed the meal. After 20 minutes finished the milking, Mark held little Chern up on his tight, repeated gently patting on the baby’s back to bring him to burp. This would help little Chern to get rid of some of the air that he tends to swallow during feeding because not being burped frequently and too much swallowed air can lead to spitting up and gassiness.

Feeding a baby is an exciting experience for any new parent and Mark seemed to enjoy it. The process happened again during our second visit for the full month party. Mark became very experience after a month of practice.

During the second visit, many of us got to hold the baby the arms. After feeding, Cindy, Tracy, Lawrence and Cinda were so keen to hold little Chern and did that one after another’s turn. Some of them held baby for the first time, feeling excited yet anxious. Then the couples started to talk and play with the baby. Maybe, it is soon for us to see a new family of our friends.

Short after little Chern back to slumber land after milking, both visits ended in warm embraces and promises to visit again. It was a wonderful trip to Lubok Cina to see the Ling’s family and exciting experience to observe the parents taking care of little Chern.

Thanks for everyone for going on these trips together and spent a precious time together. We would like to congratulate and thank the Ling’s family for having a healthy and cute baby, inviting us to their house and sharing the experience with us. To Mark and Cynthia, may little Chern fill your life with sparkles and twinkles.

 May all beings be happy. Share some shots taken after the jump:

little Chern: ya dad?

in the baby hammock

Lawrence with Mark and little Chern while milking

little Chern: haaaa, yummy milk....

Mark patting the back of little Chern after feeding

Cindy happily holding little Chern in her arms

Tracy pampering little Chern

little Chern: hey dude, what say you?

Cinda and Yi-Xian having good time with little Chern

in the arms

Cindy and Argen with little Chern

little Chern: zzZzz... comzz, comezz...againzzzz....

the happy Ling's family

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The chimpanzees continue to provide care for their deceased infants. (Credit: Oxford University, Dora Biro)

Recently at Discovery News we told you how chimpanzees confront death. They do so in ways that are very similar to our behavior toward dying friends and relatives.

On the surface, it might at first seem that chimpanzee mothers break from those noted similarities. When their offspring die as infants, the mothers will continue to carry and groom the dead bodies until the mothers are able to gradually let go of them. By that time, the infant’s body has usually mummified.

The behavior likely mirrors, at least to some extent, the biophysical reaction of human mothers when they too lose young sons or daughters. Right after birth, the mother’s body is hormonally, and in many other ways, ready to care for the infant. Even after a baby dies, the physical connection can take time to adjust. This isn’t even taking into account the emotional bond.

Chimpanzees go through this adjustment period in a very literal way, by continuing to provide care for their deceased infants.

Chimpanzee infant's mummified body shortly after it was released by its mother (Credit: Tatyana Humle)

I recently interviewed University of Oxford zoologist Dora Biro, who witnessed the chimpanzee behavior in the forests surrounding Bossou, Guinea. We often cannot include all of this information in our stories and video segments, so I’d like to share her comments with you now.

JV: Is it possible that the mothers did not fully understand their offspring were dead?

Biro: Yes – this is one of the key questions that our observations raise, I think. It’s probably fair to say that it’s very difficult to make a claim either way (ie. clearly for or clearly against their understanding that the infants were dead).  As observers in the field, we only have access to behavior, not to internal mental states – which makes it very difficult to speculate on the real extent of the chimp’s understanding. They did certainly seem to understand that the infants were immobile and unable to cling by themselves (clinging is something that all chimp infants, even newborns, are very good at – the mother usually does not have to support them at all during travel) – this is why they had to come up with special ways of carrying the bodies that we don’t see with normal live infants (although as the Current Biology paper mentions, mothers of disabled infants also adjust their way of carrying to accommodate the needs of the infant). But as for whether they understood from the start that this meant that the infants were dead, that they would never come back to life again – or whether they gradually, with time, came to understand it – or even whether they never fully understood… is extremely hard to say.

JV: Although the letting go period was gradual, was there a point, do you think, where the mothers did clearly realize that their infants had died? If so, when did that happen?

Biro: No, I don’t think we can clearly pinpoint such a time. Having said that, we did not actually observe the exact moment of death in the case of either infant, so do not know how the mothers reacted at the time (and it’s possible that we would have seen some specific reaction, perhaps distress, anger, or fear, that would have indicated that they grasped, at that point, the transition between life and death).

Chimpanzees go through this adjustment period in a very literal way, by continuing to provide care for their deceased infants. (Credit: Tatyana Humle)

JV: It’s interesting that the infant “bodies’ intense smell and highly unusual appearance” didn’t repel the other chimps. If a healthy chimp smells or looks abnormal, due to an accident, illness or something else, do the chimps usually still accept that individual, if he or she was formerly in their troop? It sounds like mothers will accept handicapped infants, but I’m wondering about behavior towards previously healthy individuals who have changed. Among my cats, for example, if one has a surgical procedure and smells like medicine, the other cats will become aggressive and then stay far away.

Biro: Interesting question. I think in the case of your cats, the very “unnatural” (for them maybe “human”) smell of the medicine may be what scares them off. Among wild chimps, injuries and illnesses are quite common (unlike a surgical procedure in cats) so they will encounter such individuals often, and these individuals do not get ostracized. For example, we’ve seen a young chimp cradling his injured, bleeding finger – in that case too, the responses of other group members basically amounted to curiosity rather than any form of aggression or avoidance.

JV: How do you think this chimp behavior mirrors human behavior towards deceased infants?

Biro: This is a really hard (and sensitive) question. Certainly in humans the loss of loved ones is an immensely painful experience, and the loss of a child perhaps almost inconceivably so. (This is why i am slightly wary of direct comparisons). We can likely assume an emotional response in the chimpanzee mothers too as a result of the loss of their infants, but obviously the carrying of the infants’ remains is not something that happens in humans. At the same time, we probably experience feelings of a “refusal to let go” even if we don’t act on it in the same way as these mothers did. And yet, we might hold on to objects that remind us of the deceased person instead – we feel simply unable to throw them away, often for long periods after death – and these can be extremely emotive for us.

Another important point, important comparison, is perhaps in terms of the extremely strong mother-infant bond that exists in chimpanzees. Chimp newborns, much like humans, are completely helpless, and need full-time care from the mother. This is why chimp mothers (and humans too) have been shaped by natural selection to be very protective of their infants – to look after them, defend them, feed them, protect them at all times. The prolonged carrying may then be a by-product of this extremely strong bond – the same force that keeps the mother looking after the infant while it is alive can persist even beyond the infant’s lifetime.

Chimpanzee mother climbs a tree for food, with her mummified infant's body still in tow (Credit: Tatyana Humle)

JV: How might studies such as yours shed light on human behavior and attitudes toward death?

Biro: This is also an interesting question, and of course there are good evolutionary reasons why – if we want to understand the evolutionary origins of our own perception of death – we need to look first to our closest relatives.

JV: What else would you like our readers to know about your recent findings?

Biro: Perhaps something about conservation – the community we studied is extremely small, but it is one of the longest-running chimpanzee field sites in Africa, and has over the years contributed with a lot of interesting observations to our knowledge of wild chimpanzee behavior. Such communities are therefore extremely precious. The disease that killed these infants (as well as three other community members – in total, over a quarter of this small population) possibly originated in humans, and had a huge impact on the group in terms of its numbers and future survival.

Analysis by Jennifer Viegas
Tue Apr 27, 2010 10:49 AM ET
[source: http://news.discovery.com/animals/chimpanzee-mothers-carry-their-mummified-dead-infants.html]

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Baba Pongteh by Jason

When we speak of Nyonya dishes we are first to think of Nyonya Pongteh. It is basically chicken (ayam in Malay) or pork (babi in Malay) or both, with potatoes and mushroom braised in soybean paste.

If you google for Pongteh recipe on the web, there are heaps of result coming out. However, I tried a few web recipes and did not get the taste expected. The real Pongteh is always made by the authentic Baba (refers to male) and Nyonya (refers to female) folks.

2 months ago, Jason’s mother invited my mother and me to their place and to learn how to cook Pongteh and also for a lunch together. Jason’s mom was guiding and supervising us. Jason was interested in learning too so he did the cooking most of the time while I was helping him to prepare the ingredients.

What I could remember is, about 300g-500g of pork was cooked in water (to remove the strong taste of pork), cooled and cut into pieces. Another 300g-500g of chicken was cut. Ratio 1:1 of shallots and garlic were peeled and chopped, then fried with oil. A few table spoons of Cow brand soybean paste were added to the wok followed by the pork and chicken. Then the Pongteh was fried until we got a strong flavour and the gravy was thick. After that, a bit of water was added and salt, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce were added to taste.

I didn’t take down any notes of the Pongteh we learned to cook; rather I enjoyed eating than cooking. And regrettably I didn’t take any shot of the final product of Pongteh because I couldn’t wait to eat when it was served. It was really delicious. Besides Pongteh, there were other Nyonya dishes cooked by Jason’s mother. They tasted not so different from those I had in Nyonya restaurants, yet as yummy.

Thanks to Jason and his mother for inviting us to their place and teaching me how to cook Pongteh. I would call the Pongteh I had at Jason’s place, the Baba Pongteh, as Jason the Baba cooked it. Below are some of the shots I took while I had time:

Jason was taking cooking notes from his mother

Everthing was ready to go

Frying shallots and garlics

Pork was cooked in water and left aside after cutting

Jason kept on frying

Ta-dah! It was almost done

'Finalising' the Pongteh

Share some shots of other items I took at Jason’s place:

Homemade keropok ikan (fish crackers in Malay)

Another view of the keropok ikan

福 (luck in Chinese, read as "fu") on the wall

Chinese teapot and cups set

English tea cups on the shelf

An expensive ingredient, buah keluak used for Nyonya cuisine

An old water tank with the Chinese character of 福 (luck)

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