Christmas 2008 Decoration

It was a great and totally new experience to be almost fully involved in the Christmas decoration in church. We worked until after 12am for most of the days. But I really glad and thankful, especially to OS that I have learned a lot regarding decoration stuff. I think pictures speak more that words, below are some of the decoration that we have for our Christmas.

18 Dec and 19 Dec -
I suppose there were 2 days instead of one day. Without earlier notice, I suddenly involved in the wedding decoration as well. It was for Wei Hong and Dorothy's wedding. Although it was really exhausting, however we managed to get the things done before the wedding. Fortunately the setting of the chairs, tables and lighting outside the field were not done by me. If not, I have no idea what will happen...

Below are the names of the flowers that I have learned:



I think this is a very precious experience for me to expose in this totally new "industry". But I would say all the decoration matters were really much challenging than what I have tought before. Because to do decoration is like PKL (Pao Ka Liao) which involves stage, flowers, lightings, painting, "cushioning", setting, creativity, wood cutting.... During the decoration, it really consumed my physical and mental strength. If you do not believe, please get yourself engaged in next year's decoration.

Words for OS: Please take care of your health. For long term, this kind of overloaded working hour and conditions really deteriorate your health (and mine as well). Better planning and timing, and also have committed helpers or even workers would definitely help to improve this kind of situation.

2008 for China - 4 big events

1) March - Tibetan monks demonstration
2) May (512) - Sichuan earthquake
3) August (080808)- Olympic
4) September - The world financial crisis

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7795109.stm, 28 Dec 2008

Flowers

Carnation

Anthurium

Eustoma

Brassica

Baby breath

Sweet William

Monstera

Very Clever Pics

UK Unemployment

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7787280.stm, 18 Dec 2008

(Newspaper) Ford, GM, Chrysler

Source: The Star, 15 Dec 2008

Obesity 'controlled by the brain'

Seven new gene variants discovered by scientists suggest strongly that obesity is largely a mind problem.

The findings suggest the brain plays the dominant role in controlling appetite, and that obesity cannot easily be blamed on metabolic flaws.

Two international studies, published in Nature Genetics, examined samples from thousands of people for the tiniest genetic changes.

Many of the seven key variants seem to be active in the brain.

This cannot be the explanation for the current epidemic of obesity since these genes have been present for centuries and the obesity epidemic is a relatively new phenomenon

Professor Peter Weissberg
British Heart Foundation


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This suggests that the brain's impact on appetite and eating behaviour may be more important that any genetic variation which alters the body's ability to lay down or burn up fat.

All seven variants were picked up by a study led by Icelandic company deCODE Genetics, while six of the seven were also identified in a second, independent study by an international team dubbed the Giant consortium.

In both cases the researchers scrutinised DNA samples from thousands of people to assess the impact of tiny changes.

Each of the variants identified had a small impact on obesity, but a person carrying all of them was typically around 1.5kg - 2kg heavier than average.

It is estimated that as much as 70% of the variation in body mass index - a measure of obesity based on height and weight - is down to genetics, rather than environmental factors.

Researcher Dr Kari Stefansson, of deCODE Genetics said: "This suggests that as we work to develop better means of combating obesity, we need to focus on the regulation of appetite at least as much as on the metabolic factors of how the body uses and stores energy."

Major step forward

Dr Alan Guttmacher, of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, said the research was a major step forward in understanding how the human body regulates weight.

However, Professor Peter Weissberg, of the at the British Heart Foundation, expressed caution.

He said: "This research adds to the growing body of evidence that some people are more at risk of becoming obese because of their genes.

"It suggests that some people may be less able than others to resist the temptation to overeat because of their genetic background and it might start to explain why some people have no problem keeping their weight down whilst others struggle.

"However, this cannot be the explanation for the current epidemic of obesity since these genes have been present for centuries and the obesity epidemic is a relatively new phenomenon."

Almost one in four people in the UK is now classified as obese, and expert predict the proportion will continue to rise sharply.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7783088.stm, 15 Dec 2008

Assisted suicide film stokes debate in Britain (Euthanasia)

Source: The Sun, 12 Dec 2008

Classifications of euthanasia
1) Euthanasia by consent
a)with consent (voluntary euthanasia)
b)without consent (involuntary euthanasia)-third party makes decision for another person incapable of doing so

2) Euthanasia by means
a)passive euthanasia-withholding(hold back) of common treatments
b)non-active euthanasia- withdrawing of life support
c)active euthanasia-use of lethal substances or forces to kill

3) Assisted suicide=active, voluntary euthanasia

Can kissing make you go deaf?

A Chinese woman reportedly lost the hearing in one ear while kissing her boyfriend, but is it really possible to burst your ear drum snogging?

Earlier this week, China Daily carried a story taken from a local newspaper that it offered as a cautionary tale on the dangers of kissing.

The woman in Zhuhai in Guangdong province had lost the hearing in her left hear while kissing her boyfriend.

Andrew McCombe, consultant ENT surgeon at Frimley park hospital and spokesman for ENT UK, said it was likely that if the woman's ear drum had been burst by kissing, she was either already suffering from an infection or had some previous weakening. THE ANSWER
Kissing could in theory burst your eardrum if you have problems, with your Eustachian tube, or a previously perforated ear drum, but it's extremely unlikely


Chinese girl gets 'kiss of deaf'

"If you had a previous perforation of your ear drum, if you had a scar, that would burst more easily. You may only need five or six pounds [extra] pressure per square inch. A normal healthy eardrum is pretty tough.

"She may have had a previous perforation with a thin fragile scar. I don't expect she had completely normal ears."

The theoretical avenue to a kiss-induced burst, would be that the boyfriend was reducing the pressure in the mouth by sucking and that this suddenly lowered the pressure in the middle ear, via the Eustachian tube.

This would mean that the normal atmospheric pressure on the outside of the ear drum would no longer be matched by equal pressure on the other side.

A healthy eardrum in a well person would be extremely robust in the face of changes of pressure of this magnitude.
WHO, WHAT, WHY?

A regular feature in the BBC News Magazine - aiming to answer some of the questions behind the headlines

"If you had normal ear drums you would need to be kissing like a Dyson hoover," says Mr McCombe.

Dr Rudrapathy Palaniappan, a consultant audiological physician at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, agreed that perforating a healthy ear drum under such circumstances was extremely unlikely.

But someone with ear problems might just risk a perforation.

"It is possible," he says.

One scenario that might explain the Zhuhai case was if the woman was suffering a rare condition called patulous Eustachian tube, a disorder of the passage that opens to equalise the pressure between the inside of the ear and the outside world.

"The Eustachian tube doesn't open and close as it normally does. Instead it's open most of the time," says Dr Palaniappan.

"If you apply negative pressure to its extreme like aggressive kissing then it's possible that the ear drum can be sucked inwards."

Both Mr McCombe and Dr Palaniappan stressed that they had never encountered a kissing-induced ear drum perforation.

About three-quarters of all perforated ear drum cases involve children with acute ear infections, Mr McCombe said.

The remainder of cases also include people who are slapped or punched hard, which can cause a sudden pressure wave if the opening of the ear is completely covered. Explosion victims can also suffer perforated ear drums.

Despite the high pressure encountered by divers, they did not make up a significant proportion of cases as they avoided going out with a cold or other infection.

Souce: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7777191.stm, 12 Dec 2008

One in five US teens has had 'tech sex': study

One in five US teens has sent nude or partially clothed images of themselves to someone by email or mobile phone and twice as many have sent sexually suggestive electronic messages, a poll showed Wednesday.

And American youngsters aged 13-19 are having tech-sex despite a majority of them saying it could have "serious negative consequences" on them, the survey commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (NCTUP) showed.

More than half of the 1,280 teens and young adults up to age 26 who took part in the online poll, conducted in September and October, said they had received a sexually suggestive message from someone else -- and one in five said they had shared the racy message with a third person.

Eight in 10 teens said they would be concerned about sending a sexy image of themselves or racy message because they "might regret it later," while nearly 70 percent said they were worried it could "disappoint family."

Where teen tech-sex gives real rise to concern among adults, said NCTUP, is that more than one-third of teens (38 percent) say exchanging sexy content makes dating or physical sex with others more likely, and three in 10 say those who exchange sexually suggestive content are "expected to hook up."

"That so many young people say technology is encouraging an even more casual, hook-up culture is reason for concern, given the high rates of teen and unplanned pregnancy in the United States," said Marisa Nightingale, senior advisor to NCTUP.

Although teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States have dropped by one-third since the 1990s, they remain high compared to other developed countries and carry high costs to the teens involved, their children and society, NCPTUP said in a report published last year.

"The US birth rate of 41 per 1,000 in 2004 was much higher than Canada's 14 (in 2003), England and Wales' 27 (the highest rate in Western Europe), Japan's six and the Netherlands' five (the lowest rate in Western Europe)," said NCTUP's "Emerging Answers" report, published in November 2007.

More than 30 percent of girls in the United States become pregnant before they reach age 20, and many become pregnant a second time before their 20th birthday, according to NCTUP.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, nearly half of all 15- to 19-year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once.

Source: http://news.my.msn.com/sci-tech/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1832530

Hostile reception pushes Bostwanian students to the brink of suicide

PETALING JAYA: Students from Botswana feel they are being unfairly treated in Malaysia and many are so stressed out that they even resort to suicide.

Some even have to put up with racial slurs and insults on a daily basis.

Thembani Eliot Ncube, 19, and Mamie Baleseng, 17, who are students at a private higher education institution, claim Malaysians don’t seem to want to mix with them.


Still adapting: Ncube (left) and Baleseng find it hard mixing with Malaysians who they feel could be biased against Africans.

“Perhaps they associate us with crime because of a few African students but this should not be the case. It can make some of us depressed,” said Ncube, who is studying electrical engineering.

A 19-year-old design student, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed his friends had been arrested because they were carrying photocopies of their passports and visas instead of the original documents.

Two female students, who also declined to be named, said that male students were more likely to face hostility compared to their female peers.

First-year student, Tebogo Lamaona, 20, said he was told that Malaysia was a friendly country, but his experience so far had been different.

“I have to put up with racist slurs and insults every day,” he claimed.

Botswana’s Education Minister Jacob Nkate is currently in Kuala Lumpur to meet with students from his country studying here to find out more about Botswanian students who had committed suicide here.

He is accompanied by the High Commissioner of the Republic of Botswana based in Beijing, Naomi E. Majinda, and the education attache Shiayana Kalane.

The delegation will be in Malaysia for a few days to gather feedback and make their assessments of the situation here.

According to a report in an African news portal, four Botswanian students had died in Malaysia this year in car accidents while two fell from the balconies of their apartments after drinking alcohol.

Ncube said he was happy to learn that Nkate was in the country so they could voice their concerns.

On the report, he said people should not think that all Botswanian students in Malaysia had suicidal tendencies.

Baleseng, who is doing her foundation studies, said the problem could stem from the mental state and motivation of some students.

“My friends and I are only interested in doing well in studies but some students may have come to Malaysia to ‘escape’ from their problems back home,” she said.

She said some may resort to drinking or suicide if things got worse.

Study-wise, both Ncube and Baleseng who have been in Malaysia for three months, said adapting to the local environment was not a problem.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung advised any international student having problems to speak to representatives from their institutions.

“The students can also approach us through the ministry’s Student Affairs Division,” he said.

There are currently about 7,000 African students in Malaysian higher education institutions.

Dr Hou had previously held dialogues with student representatives from China and Indonesia as part of the ministry’s move to have open interaction with international students.

“There are plans to meet students of other nationalities soon,” he said.

Source: The Star, 11 Dec 2008

Hostile reception pushes Bostwanian students to the brink of suicide

PETALING JAYA: Students from Botswana feel they are being unfairly treated in Malaysia and many are so stressed out that they even resort to suicide.

Some even have to put up with racial slurs and insults on a daily basis.

Thembani Eliot Ncube, 19, and Mamie Baleseng, 17, who are students at a private higher education institution, claim Malaysians don’t seem to want to mix with them.


Still adapting: Ncube (left) and Baleseng find it hard mixing with Malaysians who they feel could be biased against Africans.

“Perhaps they associate us with crime because of a few African students but this should not be the case. It can make some of us depressed,” said Ncube, who is studying electrical engineering.

A 19-year-old design student, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed his friends had been arrested because they were carrying photocopies of their passports and visas instead of the original documents.

Two female students, who also declined to be named, said that male students were more likely to face hostility compared to their female peers.

First-year student, Tebogo Lamaona, 20, said he was told that Malaysia was a friendly country, but his experience so far had been different.

“I have to put up with racist slurs and insults every day,” he claimed.

Botswana’s Education Minister Jacob Nkate is currently in Kuala Lumpur to meet with students from his country studying here to find out more about Botswanian students who had committed suicide here.

He is accompanied by the High Commissioner of the Republic of Botswana based in Beijing, Naomi E. Majinda, and the education attache Shiayana Kalane.

The delegation will be in Malaysia for a few days to gather feedback and make their assessments of the situation here.

According to a report in an African news portal, four Botswanian students had died in Malaysia this year in car accidents while two fell from the balconies of their apartments after drinking alcohol.

Ncube said he was happy to learn that Nkate was in the country so they could voice their concerns.

On the report, he said people should not think that all Botswanian students in Malaysia had suicidal tendencies.

Baleseng, who is doing her foundation studies, said the problem could stem from the mental state and motivation of some students.

“My friends and I are only interested in doing well in studies but some students may have come to Malaysia to ‘escape’ from their problems back home,” she said.

She said some may resort to drinking or suicide if things got worse.

Study-wise, both Ncube and Baleseng who have been in Malaysia for three months, said adapting to the local environment was not a problem.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung advised any international student having problems to speak to representatives from their institutions.

“The students can also approach us through the ministry’s Student Affairs Division,” he said.

There are currently about 7,000 African students in Malaysian higher education institutions.

Dr Hou had previously held dialogues with student representatives from China and Indonesia as part of the ministry’s move to have open interaction with international students.

“There are plans to meet students of other nationalities soon,” he said.

Source: The Star, 11 Dec 2008

What a coincidence!!!