Christian the Lion

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Christian The Lion - A True Story.

Christian was separated from his parents at an early age and put up for sale in a London department store. Christian's parents were zoo lions, the father came from the Rotterdam zoo and the mother from Jerusalem, and they lived at the Ilfracombe zoo. When they had cubs, the zoo sold them, and two cubs went to the department store.

Two men, Anthony Bourke and John Rendall, found him there and immediately fell in love with him and determined to buy him. They scraped together the money and brought the little lion home when he was only a few weeks old. They named him Christian.

Tony and John dedicated themselves to giving Christian the best life they could, and the bond that developed between them is a joy to behold. Christian was a remarkable lion, obviously very intelligent and loving, and gentle to everyone, both human and animal.

As he grew, Christian began to need bigger facilities than Tony and John could provide. Thanks to a chance meeting with Bill Travers (who had starred in the movie Born Free), they hit upon the idea of sending Christian to Africa to live as a wild lion.

Bill Travers contacted George Adamson to set up the project, and came up with the idea of making a documentary movie of it all, to fund the project. Christian is an absolute joy to watch in this movie. The love he shows, his intelligence, his joie de vie, are beautiful. All the color pictures here are from the movie.

The first step when Christian arrived at George's compound, was to introduce him to Boy, a lion who had been in the movie Born Free and who George had already sent "back" to the wild, without losing his relationship with him.

Christian and Boy eventually became best friends, and within a year Christian was living as a wild lion.

When that year had passed, Tony and John came to Africa to see Christian. After a year of struggle, tragedies, and life with a pride of lions in the wild, the relationship Christian felt with Tony and John was as strong as it had always been. In fact, Christian's wonderful relationship with Tony and John caused the other lions in the pride to accept and be at peace with them as well.

A bridge existed, and it withstood the separation and the learning of a new way to live. Christian was another lion of two worlds. Ace and John saw Christian again, the last time was in 1974 when Christian was twice as large as he was in the movie, and had cubs of his own.

Adapted from: http://www.kimbawlion.com/christian.htm

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I was really touched when i first watched this video. It enlightened me about the communication and bonds that can develop between human and all living creatures. Besides domestic pets such as dogs and cats, animals from the wild are also able to convey their affection to humans through various non-verbal cues.

The fact that Christian the lion still remember his owners after living in the wild for several years, showed that animals too, have humanistic qualities (love, friendship, gratefulness, etc.).

This incredible development of relationship speaks of love, having no boundaries, stretching beyond mere human beings.

Unlike humans, i feel that animals are way more affectionate creatures and often display their true emotions. Human beings on the other hand, often put on a facade before others.

"...we are not much different in fact to many other forms of animal life;and it is because of subtle human conditioning-- not the actual facts --that we are raised to believe there is a wide gap between what is human and what is animal."
--Gareth Patterson, Last of the Free (1994)

Monkey Business

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeSQ5Rv7eH8&feature=related

I saw this recently on the news and found it really amusing!

Monkeys, like humans are able to understand language and communicate with humans. Perhaps the reason behind this, is that monkeys are the evolution of humans and have adopted some humanistic qualities.

What makes this so interesting is that although they are merely monkeys, they are still able to comprehend the japanese language and serve the customers with drinks and hot towels in the restaurant!!

Communication does not only involve humans. All living creatures are able to communicate with one another and i believe that there are no boundaries to communication. In this case, there is non-verbal communication depicted through the kinesics(study of body movement) and physical appearance of monkeys. The monkey is assigned to do human tasks (serving) and through its affect dispays(display of emotions) and body language, the japanese customers are able to readily accept this novel idea and develop a liking for its adorable behaviour. What's more is that the monkeys are dressed in uniforms which creates a very fun appearance.

The monkeys are not perceived as pets in this unique restaurant, customers are able relate with these clever creatures and treat them as part of a family. If i were to visit Japan, i would definitely take a trip down to this special place!

Matchmake My Daughter

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/374355/1/.html

80 parents turn up for first matchmaking session at Hong Lim Park

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong first mooted the idea in his National Day Rally Chinese speech. And now, for the first time in Singapore, dating agency Clique Wise has organised a matchmaking session, aimed solely at the parents.

The usually quiet Hong Lim Park was bustling with activity, as over 80 eager parents turned up for the matchmaking party.

They may be camera-shy, but when it comes to finding a spouse for their child, they are anything but coy.

One parent said: "A girl normally is very shy, and more cautious than a boy. And so the parents should make the first move and you know, nudge her along."

When asked whether their daughter knew of their presence there, another parent said: "I told her, and she didn't react, just gave her silent consent."

So it's the daughters, it seems, who need help the most. And these parents certainly came prepared - exchanging personal information such as job and educational histories, contact details, and photographs.

Most have children who are degree-holders in their mid-20s and 30s.

Organisers say the response had gone beyond their own expectations, and they are planning to hold more of such events in the future. - CNA/de

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In this modern era, the idea of matchmaking is gradually diminishing. However, the rising number of matchmaking firms in Singapore, indicates that there is still a high demand for it.

Today, matchmaking firms have taken a different approach towards attracting its customers. Scheduled activities would not end just in a single day. The entire service stretches to a few weeks or even a month, where they plan various bonding and interactive activities between potential candidates. This exciting experience has attracted many single men and women, even those in their 20s.

I believe that Knapp's Model of Interpersonal Relationship can be applied in present matchmaking services. The first 5 stages of Knapp's Model include - initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating and bonding. Matchmaking activities serve as a platform for individuals to form social relationships, to meet new people rather than merely searching for "Mr Right".

In this article, the matchmaking event was aimed to attract parents who wanted to find suitable mates for their children. Personally, it would be deemed acceptable only when parents had the consent of their children before joining this event. Otherwise, i would think that it is extremely annoying. I believe women or men these days, have the right and freedom to choose their own partners and parents also have become more open on such issues. In our modern society, it would be rather ridiculous to stereotype women as "shy", as women have become more independent and are are confident to speak up. Therefore, i find this quite skeptical as it would not be an effective way of helping singles find true love.

Tainted Milk? Blame Who?

Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080924/tts-china-food-safety-child-a73cdd6.html

The China milk scandal have alerted all countries to divert attention to the quality of all export products from China. In the aim to enhance the nutritional value of milk, the dairy firm, Sanlu Group, added the industrial chemical melamine, which is normally used to make plastics. Instead of improving protein levels through this "improved" milk formula, many children had developed kidney stones which can cause death.

In China alone, a total of 53,000 children have been sick and the figures are still increasing despite stringent measures on food safety after 2 children died. The death toll today marks a total of 4, and it prompted a host of nations to ban, or at least scrutinise Chinese dairy imports, further tarnishing the "Made in China" label.

Public anger was only directed to the second and third tier officials, mainly communist officials in various provinces. This was partly due to the fact that when Sanlu received complaints of sick children, these provincial officials delayed referring the matter to higher authorities for over a month after Sanlu told them about the problem in Aug 2. It was obvious that the chinese government did not want to disclose it internatonally because it would mean negative publicity in the period of the Oympics.

Personally, i find that this was a rather selfish act. The fact that the Oympics clashed with this incident negatively, puts the chinese government in a great dilenma, to disclose it or not. The decision they made was not a very considerate one. They saved the nation from negative publicity, only at the expense of its people. Now that the situation has worsened, their initial objective was also unfortunately backfired. Not only does China's children suffer, the nation also faces a crisis in maintaining its market reputation.

Another aspect of this issue is globalisation. With globalisation, we are able to get access to more goods and services produced around the world. At first thought, we would think that this seems rather beneficial. However, through this incident, i realised that globalisation gives rise to grave disadvantages too. It aids in the spread of harmful effects very quickly and in this case, tainted milk has affected everyone internationally in one way or another.

Babies and children are the most innocent ones who are affected by this scandal. Due to this, mothers start to breastfeed or even hire nannies, instead of relying on any milk products.

I believe majority of us would often think twice before buying products made in China for safety reasons after what had happened.

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To be honest, I'm one of the "victims" of this incident. My family and i have been snacking on "House of Potato" biscuits for quite some time and recently, found out that it could also cause danger, through the news!!!!!!!!! We were all shocked upon the notice, so i think it is very very important to check the safety of our food before we consume anything.

(Thank God only 30 packets of "House of Potato" a day,can cause serious problems.)

Anyway, here is a list of food items to take note in Singapore:

Dutch Lady banana flavoured milk

Dutch Lady honeydew flavoured milk

Silang - House of Steamed Potato - potato biscuits

Puffed Rice Rolls - butter corn flavour

Puffed Rice Rolls - cheese flavour

Yi Li Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection

Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk

White Rabbit Creamy Candy

Spray Paint Art

Source: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/741114/spray_paint_art_1/

This is a video on spray paint art. This fascinating and unique form of art is usually performed on streets, in metropolitan cities. The paintings often create surreal landscapes of planets, comets, pyramids, cities and nature scenes, mainly on posterboard.

This incredible artform utilizes mininal tools such as aerosol spray paint and scrap materials like unwanted newspapers, magazines and cardboard that are readily available. What's more is that it merely takes less than 15minutes to complete an art piece. An important aspect in the art is the music that often accompanies the performance. This inspires the artist and is an integral part of the experience for the spectator.

This video allowed me to view art in a different perspective. I always thought that 'artistic' people are the only ones able to appreciate art. However, after watching this video, i realised that it opened my eyes to the wonders of art. The special 3-D effect that the spectacular art pieces create is what captivated me most.

I believe art and music are forms of non-verbal communication. Music is a universal language that is an important aspect in our lives. In this video, music plays as a key factor in 'communicating' with the artist to help develop ideas. Music is also cleverly used to draw audiences to his performance and add to its entertainment value.

I Love The World

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

This commercial is from Discovery Channel. It mainly portrays our love for the world through the various characters that each of us play in our daily lives.

I find this particular commercial very appealing because the message that it is trying to convey is simple and is able to bring people together. The song (Boom De Yah Dah!) that accompanies this commercial has a very catchy tune and is easy to follow. I believe this is the reason why it was stuck in my head for quite some time even after a day. I feel that this commercial pulls people together because it emphasizes on acheiving logos, pathos and ethos. People can relate well to this light-hearted commercial because it involves the world.

In my opinion, a successful commercial is one that can effectively put across its message through simple means and one that lives a strong impression on its receiver. I would consider this commercial as one of them.

Besides being effective, this commercial also promotes Discovery Channel. The people in the commercial are hosts of different shows in the channel. Thus, it enables people who have watched their shows, to relate better to the commercial. Furthermore, the commercial depicts different parts of the world which are rarely seen and can only be introduced to others through Discovery Channel.

Boom de yah dah!!

Two-headed Baby Dies

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1049626/Two-headed-baby-dies-family-home-poor-hospital.html

A baby with two heads has died because his parents could not afford to pay for his medical care.

The boy, named Kiron, was born on Monday to a 22-year-old mother in the Bangladesh town of Keshobpur. When word spread, a huge crowd of at least 150,000 people surrounded the hospital hoping to see him.

Doctors said they could raise the money to take him 100 miles to the capital Dhaka, but warned there would be ongoing medical costs.
Kiron's poverty-stricken parents said they could not afford further treatment, and against the advice of doctors, took him home to their village near Keshobpur.
There the child, who at first seemed healthy, developed a fever and died.

Privately, doctors said it would have been a miserable life for Kiron had he overcome his initial medical problems.
'Perhaps it was God's will that he passed away,' said one.
'We wanted to refer him to a hospital in Dhaka but the family was so poor that they could not afford to take him there, so they took him home where he died,' paediatrician K S Alam told the AFP news agency.

Officials feared that unless the baby was moved from the clinic in Bangladesh, where he was born, to a more secure hospital, the crowd would force their way in to gaze at the amazing sight.
If that happened, it was feared, mother and baby would be crushed.

In the past, babies born with physical abnormalities have been viewed in countries such as Bangladesh and India as living gods.
Kiron was born in a caesarean operation on Monday, weighing just over 12lb, in Keshobpur, 100 miles from the capital, Dhaka.
Newspaper Samakal said many well-wishers had left money for the baby's family.

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The fact that baby Kiron died because his poverty-stricken parents could not afford the substantial amount of medical bills, made this is a very tragic incident. He was not given a chance to live.

Personally, I would rather baby Kiron not live. Indeed, it is inhumane to have such a thought, but I believe that if he were to have an opportunity to receive medical help, life would be miserable for him. The immense pain and suffering that he has to go through would not end in just one hospital visit. It would stay with him as long as he gets to live. In such a situation, not only does Kiron suffer, his parents and closed ones would have to bear with the pain, looking at him fighting through such an ordeal. Kiron’s parents would also need to devote a lot of time and effort in taking care of him as there may be multiple health implications that would arise. Besides, financial difficulties would pose as a constant issue that his parents have to struggle with. Ultimately, they have to seek medical help from countries with more advanced medical facilities which are unavailable in Bangladesh. This would then increase the burden for them. Furthermore, when Kiron grows up, he may not able to live like a normal boy. The search for society to accept him as a normal human being would be an arduous task.

However, I am confident that Kiron’s parents have not regretted giving birth to him. Although, they only get to spend a few days with him, the moments that they share together would stay within them for a lifetime.

Another interesting issue in this article is the cultural differences that many societies have. Kiron, being a baby with a physical abnormality is being worshipped by the Bangladeshis as a living God and the center of attention. Yet, in Asian societies, instead of being amazed by babies with abnormalities, they would often avoid discussing about such issues and have a compassionate view towards them. This greatly shows how each society views certain issues in a different manner.