Aedes Fogging

Dengue fever has been on the rise recently. Hot weather in the day and rain in the evening have led to the increase of dengue fever cases in Subang Jaya township. Our area councillor, Mr. Rajiv, has given updates on the number of cases reported in his blog.

Dengue virus is spread by the bite of infected female Aedes mosquitoes and there is no vaccine or treatment. Aedes mosquitoes breed in clear water. During raining season, water puddle or accumulated water in can, bottle or flower tray can become possible breeding ground for vector Aedes mosquitoes. Thus, it is important to ensure there's no such water catchment containers being left around.

Dengue fever occurs widely in the tropic. The disease manifests as fever of sudden onset associated with headache, muscle and joint pains and rash. A hemorrhagic rash of characteristically bright red pinpoint spots. The classic dengue fever lasts about two to seven days. The blood platelet count of a dengue fever patient will drop below 100,000 platelets per mm³ and if it drops significantly to below 20,000 platelets per mm³, a blood platelet transfusion will be required.

In our township, when anyone has a fever that doesn't go off after 3 days, doctor will immediately do a blood test to check for sign of dengue fever, i.e. platelet drop. Upon confirmation, the patient would immediately be admitted to hospital. The dengue fever case will be reported to town council and public health department. A fogging team will be deployed the soonest possible to the street where the patient live to conduct fogging of insecticide. Sometimes inspection will be carried out. Efforts are being made by community groups to clean up our housing area and parks to remove cans, bottles, old tyres that may become water catchment for Aedes mosquitoes to breed.

A fogging had taken place recently on our street. Being a former dengue fever patient, I welcome this fogging exercise. I hope it will terminate all the Aedes mosquitoes in our area. A second bite by this mosquito will be fatal for a former patient. It can lead to more complication.

Durian Durian

We enjoyed this durian after our trip to Broga Hill. We stopped by a Chinese Temple and outside the temple there were some fruit vendors. One of the ladies kept asking us to try her durian. Eventually we gave in to this tempting fruit. It's YUMMY!!!

For durian lover out there, how about doing charity and at the same time you are able to enjoy a buffet of durian? The Charity Durian Festival III event is back.

Five tonnes of durian will make their way to Subang Parade on Sunday, July 4th together with mangosteens and rambutans to delight shoppers who will get a chance to dig into the King of Fruits while chipping in for a good cause. Durian lovers can purchase RM20 coupons and enjoy durians for 1 hour. There will be 4 hourly durian-eating sessions to pick from.

Proceeds from the event will be channelled to the Children’s Wish Society of Malaysia, a national charity based in Subang Jaya which fulfils the wishes of children who are stricken with terminal illnesses across the country. This innovative idea was spearheaded by Subang Parade and SJ Echo (Subang Jaya’s community paper) and it is now in its 3rd year running.

The schedule for The Charity Durian Festival III is as follows:

Schedule for the day
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11:30am – 12:30pm: Registration

12.30pm – 1.00pm: Arrival of VIP’s

1:00pm – 2:00pm: Opening Ceremony, Speeches from VIP’s and corporate sponsors, Launch Gimmick

2.00pm – 3.00pm: Session 1 (Sold-out)

3.00pm – 3:20pm: Clean-up

3:20pm – 4:20pm: Session 2

4:20pm – 4:40pm: Clean-up

4:40pm – 5:40pm: Session 3

5:40pm – 6:00pm: Clean-up

6:00pm – 7:00pm: Session 4

7.30pm: End

Football Frenzy

Everyone is talking about football these days. It has been a week since the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa started. Even for a non-football fan like me, I can't resist following some of the matches shown live on the cable TV. The excitement is catching up with everyone everywhere. Even the kids are not spared.

Last Sunday during the MPSJ 10km Run, we witness these children playing in a football tournament organized by our council. Even though this may be just a council tournament, but these kids were serious. Watching them, you can see their dedication to the game.

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Sharing with you the video for Waving Flag by Somali-Canadian artist K'naan & Lebanese performance artist and spokesperson for Coke Middle East, Nancy Ajram. This video is part of Coca Cola's 2010 FIFA World Cup marketing campaign that is "inspired by the joyous dance celebrations familiar to Africa."

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Wavin' Flag lycirs performed by K'naan

When I get older, they'll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.

[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
But Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say

[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that's what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.


But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day,
It's not far away, but for now we say,

[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)

[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag,
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag

Reaching Up

Reaching high up on Broga Hills ~ these tall lallang.

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Did you watch the match between Argentina & South Korea? Wasn't that an exciting game? It's already one week since the World Cup matches started. How many matches have you watch? Which team do you think will go into Final?

A Bloom At the Rice Field

Caught this bright bloom (I think it's a Zinnia) at the temple next to a rice field in Sekinchan. Beautiful, isn't it?

Going All Out

Caught this guy (I assume he is a reporter from a local press) climbed the pillar of the MPSJ gate in order to capture a good shots of the MPSJ 10km Run participants starting their race on last Sunday. I love the expressions of the guy on the pillar and the other guy who was astounded to see him doing the stunt. I heard a loud crash coming from that direction awhile later. If I am not mistaken, the whole pillar collapsed. That's the case with enthusiastic photographers who would go all out just to get the winning shot! I salute them for their dedication to their trade or in some cases, interest/hobby.

Looking Out

This little sculpture of a mythical being perched high on a pagoda of a temple was looking out towards the rice field spread beyond the horizon in Sekinchan. Probably it is looking out for the paddy growers to ensure that they have good harvests years after years.

MPSJ 10km Run 2010

For a sleepyhead like me, it is a rare chance to find me awake at wee hour of the morning on a weekend. Today is an exception.

My alarm went off at 5.45am to wake me up for the MPSJ 10km Run. I have signed up to join the 7km run with some neighbours. Although I didn't finish the run within the 45-mins given, I felt good that I spent my Sunday healthily!! My legs are now aching from all the running and climbing that I did this weekend.

Broga Hills

Woke up at 3.30am today to join my photography friends from the USJ.com forum. Had our breakfast at McD. Surprisingly there was quite a number of people at McD...all because of World Cup!! McD provides plasma TV with big screen for the entertainment of football fans. It took us 45mins to reach Semenyih where we were to conquer the very popular Broga Hills. It was in total darkness when we arrived at 5.30am. Surprisingly there were soooo many hikers! It was like bus loads of people. All fear and trepidation of hiking an unfamiliar hill in total darkness were gone with the presence of the chatty hikers.

Here's a peek of what the view above Broga Hills is like! Nice? Ha ha...my legs are aching. I am a bit disoriented due to lack of sleep. But it was all worthwhile. I am looking forward to going back there for a few more good shots to share here!

It will be another active day for me tomorrow. New Straits Times Press together with MPSJ will be organizing a 10km Run event. I have signed up for the 7km run and need to be up and ready by 6.15am. Another healthy day to look forward to! So wish all of you a weekend as active of mine too! Enjoy a good weekend!

Orchids from Rawang

We visited the United Malaysian Orchid nursery in Rawang today. Managed to get some beautiful macro shots of the orchids. It took us almost 40 mins to reach Rawang. This is a nursery that I used to frequent when it was in Glenmarie. Since it moved 5 years ago, this is the first time that I visited it. I enjoyed going to this nursery as the supervisor, Ah Meng, who has lotsa knowledge in growing orchids, is always very generous in sharing his knowledge and patient to answer questions that we have on how we can grow our orchids to bloom gloriously and in abundance. Here's one beautiful shot of the orchid there that I am glad to share with all of you!!

By the way, I saw the Opening Ceremony of World Cup that was aired live from Johannesburg. It was an interesting sharing of culture by the South Africans. I can see the proud beaming faces of fellow South Africans who performed for their country during the opening event. The shows put on really open up my eyes on the colourful cultures of this country and I hope one day I would be able to visit it! All the best in the hosting of World Cup 2010!

Seck Kia Eenh's Wesak Float

Apologies for my long absence from posting. My desktop has suffered a serious invasion of Win32 HEUR virus after it was re-formatted. I made the mistake of forgetting to re-install the anti-virus protection software. That mistake has cost me a lot ~ in terms of downtime on using my pc and the corruption of my mobile hardisk where my photo files are kept. I have just re-formatted my PC today and running a scan with Kapersky software. As of the current status, over 3000 photo files have been infected by this virus. I am praying hard that the photo files will be ok after the virus is removed. Hope you all learn a lesson from my mistake and never do what I did ~ forget to install anti-virus software!!!

As many of my photos are not accessible, I will post what I can access to share with all of you. This is a photo of Seck Kia Eenh Temple's float during the recent Wesak procession in Melaka. Seck Kia Eenh Temple is celebrating its 90th Anniversary this year, thus the figure 90 can be seen on the float. Devotees wore white attires that signify purity during the procession.

By the way, World Cup Opening Ceremony will be aired live from South Africa at 2am. I intend to stay up to watch it. Any of you doing the same? How's the World Cup fever going at your city? Severely high, high, mild fever? Or cool, no fever at all???