Parents Engagement

Chee Swee Ngoh & Leong Yeow Nyean

Engagement Ceremony
at the Perak Chinese Amateur Dramatic Association Building

Father, Mother and Grandmother (L - R)

A Rising Tennis Star

Leong Yeow Nyean receiving his Tennis Trophy
from Mrs Wong Weng Choon. Mr. Wong seated on the right

Leong Yeow Nyean with his team

Tennis and Billiard at Ipoh YMCA

The Doctor

This large framed poster hangs above the examination couch in my clinic.  It was a gift from Dato Teh Siew Eng a close family friend.

"The Doctor" was painted by Sir Luke Fildes.

'Fildes himself said that he wanted 'to put on record the status of the doctor in our own time'. In his description of the picture he indicates that unlike the case of his own son, this one has a happy ending: 'At the cottage window the dawn begins to steal in - the dawn that is the critical time of all deadly illnesses - and with it the parents again take hope into their hearts, the mother hiding her face to escape giving vent to her emotion, the father laying his hand on the shoulder of his wife in encouragement of the first glimmerings of the joy which is to follow.'

The Gopeng Museum

Visited the Gopeng Museum last Saturday 21st September 2013.  The old double storey shop house was located rather easily.  If you are coming from Ipoh along Gopeng Road, just take the turning to the left before the police station and then another left turn to reach the main road in town where the museum is located.  

Gopeng town plan

History of Gopeng Town in pictures

A cute narrow staircase

Exit to the varendah on the left

Interesting door

Matching colour

The operators of the museum have put in a lot of effort into preserving the heritage of Gopeng town.  However, the museum should be more focused on the story it is trying to tell rather than placing all the unrelated exhibits under the same roof.  My sincere congratulations to the directors of the museum. 

Festival Mood @ CGMC

Great fun for the kids and parents at Canning Garden Methodist Church tonight.  I enjoyed it too.  Never too old to join in the fun.  Worship.  Moon cakes .... yummy, lanterns and all.



The children getting ready to play games

"Make a Big Circle" as big as the Moon!

1,2,3,4,5 ...6 .....

The roller lantern

E-Cigarettes are not approved by the FDA

E-cigarettes are now available in Malaysia.  Just 2 months ago a saleslady came to my clinic to promote them.   Above is a picture of the "cigarette" which even lights up when smoked.  I tried it cough ..... cough ...... cough!!!  Nope its not for me or my patients who are trying to quit smoking.  I shall continue to use NRT instead.

Below is an article is from Respiratory Care & Sleep Medicine on e-cigarettes.

"With the third and largest of the U.S. tobacco companies planning an e-cigarette product launch this fall, this next frontier for "Big Tobacco" provides renewed presence in a declining marketplace. It's also a potential gateway to new smokers, particularly among teens and in emerging/foreign markets, according to behavioral scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that provide inhaled doses of nicotine vapors and flavorings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 6% of adults have tried e-cigarettes, a number that has nearly doubled since 2010. Absent of tobacco, e-cigarettes have been promoted as a possible aid in getting people to stop smoking and thereby reducing their lung cancer risk.

However, MD Anderson cancer prevention experts Paul Cinciripini, PhD, director of the Tobacco Treatment Program, and Alexander Prokhorov, MD, PhD, head of the Tobacco Outreach Education Program, caution that more research is needed to understand the potential role of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation.

"Independent studies must rigorously investigate e-cigarettes, as there's considerable potential benefit in these products if they're regulated and their safety is ensured," said Cinciripini. "But promoting the e-cigarettes already on the shelves as 'safe' is misleading and, if looked at as a harmless alternative to cigarettes, could potentially lead to a new generation of smokers more likely to become tobacco dependent."

With the impending introduction of another e-cigarette, Prokhorov and Cinciripini urge consumers to know the following information.

• E-cigarettes are unregulated and there's little research on their safety or efficacy as smoking cessation tools. "These products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and this is concerning because it's impossible to know what you're really getting or if it's safe. In one analysis nicotine levels have been shown to vary widely among e-cigarette products," said Prokhorov. For now, he recommends that those looking to quit stick with approved devices, such as nicotine inhalers.
• Switching from tobacco to e-cigarettes could help smokers avoid approximately 6,000 chemicals, some of which are human carcinogens. "Reduced exposure to harmful chemicals warrants research of these products as a smoking cessation vehicle," said Cinciripini. "Unbiased studies, free from the ethical and legal challenges of 'Big Tobacco'-sponsored trials, are needed."
• Branded as "safer," available in a variety of colors and flavors and promoted by celebrities, e-cigarettes could be a hook for future smokers. "E-cigarettes are a novel way to introduce tobacco smoking to young people, and their potential 'gateway' role should be a concern for parents and health officials alike," added Prokhorov. "Once a young person gets acquainted with nicotine, it's more likely that they'll try other tobacco products. E-cigarettes are a promising growth area for the tobacco companies, allowing them to diversify their addictive and lethal products with a so-called "safe cigarette," said Prokhorov. "Unfortunately, there's no proof that e-cigarettes are risk-free."

Cinciripini has more than 30 years' experience conducting basic and clinical research in smoking cessation and nicotine psychopharmacology. Prokhorov is the principal architect of MD Anderson's ASPIRE program, a teen-focused website and, Tobacco Free Teens, a smartphone app - both are new approaches to keeping young people free from the grips of nicotine addiction.

Kinta Electric Distribution

Perak River Hydro Electric Power

Leong Sin Nam was also in the Kinta Electric Distribution Board of Directors. 

The article below is from  Ipoh Echo.  To read more please go to http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2013/02/01/recognising-perak-hydros-contribution-to-perak-2/

Chenderoh Dam on the Perak River

 

"The scope of work, costing GBP3.5 million saw the construction of the hydro-electric power generation plant across the Perak River where it joined the small tributary, Sungai Chenderoh. Called the Chenderoh Dam, construction work started in March 1927 and was completed in June 1930. It was officially opened by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Iskandar Shah and the British High Commissioner then, Sir Hugh Clifford.

Chenderoh Dam hydro power station had a 27,000kW hydro generating capacity and was linked to a steam-powered plant at Malim Nawar, 40km south, by a 66kVa transmission line. The purpose for Malim Nawar was three fold. Initially it would serve the consumers in Kinta while Chenderoh was being constructed. Subsequently it would act as a standby in case of breakdowns along the transmission lines and used as an auxiliary in times of drought at Chenderoh.
Work on Malim Nawar Steam Power Station (MNPS) began in 1927 and was commissioned a year later. MNPS carried power supply to 12 transformer sub-stations located throughout the Kinta Valley and provided mining consumers an uninterrupted power supply of variable capacities based on individual requirements throughout the year. Besides being a power station, Malim Nawar Station also had the capacity and capability to take on major repair jobs of the company’s electrical equipments.

In order to manage the distribution of power to domestic consumers and villages in the concession area, PRHEP created a subsidiary, Kinta Electric Distribution chaired by Colonel Cecil Rae and included a board consisting of Raja Chulan and Leong Sin Nam.

The office of PRHEP Company was located at Station Road, (Jalan Dato Maharajalela) currently a TNB branch office. In 1932, PRHEP purchased the Batu Gajah Power Station (BGPS) which was started earlier by the Malayan Tin Dredge Company for its own dredging operations. By 1935 after a financial restructuring, the company was free from debt and despite a downturn in the tin industry in 1937/38, paid out a healthy dividend of 7 cents in 1939. Indeed before WW2, PRHEP Company had the reputation of being “the largest hydro-electric project undertaken in the British Empire as well as being the single largest power producer in Southeast Asia”.
On a national level it contributed 55% of the total power produced in the Federation of Malaya. At state level its power supply grew from an initial coverage of 35 towns to over 60 towns and villages by the mid ‘50s."  ........  by James Gough