Miracles of Nature 自然界的奥妙

leppidio January 22nd, 2010

We have always been observing the dragon boat races held each year at the Teluk Bahang dam. The start of this year has been sad for Penangites and especially those families of the teacher and students of the dragon boat training mishap.

Chin Aik Siang, Jason Ch’ng , Goh Yi Zhang, Brendon Yeoh, Cheah Zi Jun, Wang Yong Xiang

If tears could build a stairway and heartache make a lane, we would walk to anywhere to be with you again.

In Memoriam To The Dragon Boat Mishap: Building Our Youth For The Future – Lim Guan Eng
Condolence – Angeline
To Fulfill His Wish – Father of Jason Ch’ng

Condolonces from various Dragon Boat Clubs from other countries:

24th January 2010

It’s very sad to have received the tragedy that happened in  Penang.
On behalf of the Japan Dragon Boat Association, we do wish to  express condolences to the victioms.

This happening proved how important  it is to abide by the water safety  regulations, otherwise dragon boat sport is  taken as a dangerous sport.

Best regards,

Makoto Shobu, Japan Dragon Boat Association

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24th January 2010

All at DragonBoat SA and the South Australian Dragon Boat Community offer their condolences for the sad loss of six young dragon boaters in Penang .

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims.

John Holland
President – DragonBoat South Australia.
Fierce, Fast & Furious

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18th January 2010

I am a dragon boat paddler, formerly of Darwin Australia, now residing in Brisbane.  I was born in Taiping, Perak.  I have paddled on many occasions at the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival.  I was there with my club at the Club Crew World Championships in 2008.  For a short time I was on the Board of the Australian Dragon Boat Federation.  Lim Chien Aun and I have known each other for many years through dragon boating.

It is with a heavy heart that we in Australia heard about the terrible tragedy with the Penang junior dragon boat paddlers.  Our prayers and thoughts are with all of you in the Penang dragon boat fraternity.  Our condolences to the families of the lost ones and the many young students who were so close to the tragedy.

Richard Lim
MBBS (Qld), FRACGP
Coorparoo, QLD

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20th January 2010

Sincerest condolences for the loss of these dragonboaters. Our thoughts are with you all. Powerblades DBR club Adelaide Australia

Andy Kelly MACMHN
Clinical Practice Consultant – Mental Health & Dementia
Royal District Nursing Service of SA

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19th January 2010

We write through tears of sadness as we learned of your terrible news from Penang. You must be shattered at the loss of so many young people from the Chung Ling High School together with their teacher and the dismay must be felt right across Malaysia.

Together we have watched the progress of Chung Ling High School over recent years. Jenny and I find young people like these inspirational. They always showed good manners, worked as a polished team and win, lose or draw, were always an asset to our sport and a credit to their families. To lose 5 young people with such potential and their teacher with so much to give is heart-breaking. We share with you our deepest sorrow.

It is incredible that an occasion which commences with such joy, hope and expectation can so suddenly turn to tragedy.

From all of us at Dragon Boats Victoria we extend our deepest sympathy to you, our PIDBF friends, Penang Forward and the family and friends of those from Chung Ling High School who we have lost.

We will keep you in our prayers.

Best wishes
Jenny and Jonathan Mayne
For the Board of Dragon Boats Victoria

Tags: dragon boat

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leppidio November 10th, 2009

Photo credits goes to:

http://www.pbb.com.my/

http://dreammakerphotos.com/blog/?p=535

Ride with CM Videos:

http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/17980/ride-with-cm.html

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leppidio September 26th, 2009

Ever ride a bicycle? Used to ride but haven’t been riding lately? Just went cycling last week?

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready in your suit and gear, coz’ you’re all invited for Ride With CM, a massive cycling event organised by the G Club, a group of recreational cyclists. Ride With CM is going to gather a bunch of cyclists and will start hitting the roads on 25th October 2009.

This bicycle riding event has 3 categories:

1. Family Rides - Difficulty: Easy & open for only 200 bicycle riders
   12 km from Town Hall Esplanade to Gurney Drive, then turn into Bagan Jermal and return.
2. Teluk Bahang Rides – Difficulty: Easy to Moderate & open for only 300 bicycle riders
   50 km ride from Town Hall Esplanade to Teluk Bahang roundabout and return.
3. Round Island Rides – Difficulty: Moderate to Challenging & open for only 500 bicycle riders
   80 km from Town Hall Esplanade proceed to Lebuhraya Jelutong passing through Bayan Lepas then Balik Pulau follow by heading to Teluk Bahang then Batu Ferringhi and return.

Why not register yourselves? This might be your only chance to ride your bicycle with our Chief Minister, YAB Lim Guan Eng and together with many other Penangites.

Online Registration at Howei (fastest option)

Registration at Penang Bicycle Shops

Download Registration Form

…………

And here’s everyone’s reward at the end of the journey…

A healthy and halal Curry Chicken set meal + Dessert !

Tags: bicycle, cycling, hobby

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AL June 15th, 2009

Mummy, look at my drawing...

Creativity and expressive!

The little ones from Starbright Kindergarten, Chai Leng Park & Simpang Ampat Centre putting out their love and passion on drawing at Penang Butterfly Farm’s Dine & Draw Session.

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leppidio June 13th, 2009

Have you ever catch a sight of a Rajah Brooke butterfly while sipping coffee? Finding a place to unwind for the weekend?

Those of you who might have visited us lately would have realised that our new Papilio Cafe is now open and you can have a meal or perhaps just coffee with butterflies fluttering beside you. Papilio Cafe being located inside of the Penang Butterfly Farm is a relaxing place for visitors or tourists to enjoy food yet a chance to observe nature. Local dishes such as Nasi Lemak or Chicken Rendang are served here as well.

Apart from enjoying our natural garden with butterflies, we offer great packages for kids & families as well such as Butterfly Birthday Bash (with a FREE mystery insect gift for the birthday child), Hand & Face Painting, Caterpillar Egg Hunt Game, The Wild Wild Guess Game (I like this game!), Insect Petting Session, Pebble Painting Workshop, Butterfly Release and many more! To make a booking, please call Ms Chong / Ms Kyra o4-885-1253.

Papilio Cafe is Now Open!

Tags: food in penang, nasi lemak, penang cafe, penang food, penang restaurant

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leppidio April 30th, 2009

I wonder if this could be an evolutionary process where a new biological species may arise. For more than over 20 years we have been around, our field lepidopterist claimed to have not seen this before. Look what we have found recently:

Can two different butterfly species mate with each other? What do you think?

These 2 species of butterfly have been found mating in our farm late evening yesterday. The male is a Cethosia cyane, while the female is the Parantica aspasia. Could this be just an accident in nature? Or can nature or its surrounding force the butterflies to change their behaviour? Possibly, studies have found that behavioural changes in plants and animals can occur as the environment changes. So how has the environment change? What else might be the cause for this?

4 hours later: I googled further into this and realised that speciation can occur in butterflies, and it has been simulated in laboratory before. Our senior lepidopterist also did confirm that this was possible previously through random pairings of  Heliconius butterflies, but limited to butterflies in the same genus.

Click here to read about the the speciation of a Heliconius hybrid. I can say that the butterflies in the genus of Heliconius are a truly advanced species. I might cover more about that at a later stage.

If you have anything to share about this, please feedback to us at our forum:
http://miraclesofnature.org/naturetalk/index.php/topic,370.0.html

Tags: butterfly mating, cross mating, cross species mating, speciation

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leppidio April 22nd, 2009

Yes, today is Earth Day 2009… Why are we watching Earth Day? If you live on Earth, you should know what to do to save the Earth.

Some facts to know about the climate change:

• Human activities are now adding about 7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere every year and this contributes to global warming.
• As the world grows warmer, diseases such as malaria are predicted to spread, due to the carriers of disease spreading out over a larger geographical area.
• As many as 15 to 37% of all wildlife species in some regions could be “committed to extinction” by 2050 years because of global climate change. Our butterflies will go extinct too.

You can also download a free Earth Day wallpaper from us:

Earth Day Wallpaper by MiraclesofNature.org

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AL February 26th, 2009

At 8.30PM on 28 MARCH 2009, 1000 cities and towns across the world will turn off their lights for ONE HOUR – sending a powerful global message that it’s possible to take action on global warming.

An initiative which started in Sydney in 2007 whereby lights were turn off for an hour, this noble gesture had spread across 370 cities and towns in more than 35 countries across 18 timezones, and the campaign shifted from a Sydney event to a global sustainability movement a year later. An estimated 50 to 100 million people around the world switched off their lights for Earth Hour in 2008, and global landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, Rome’s Coliseum, the Coke billboard in Times Square and Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai darkened for one hour.

In what we hope will be the world’s largest mass participation event, Earth Hour 2009 will be the culmination of one billion people around the globe, in more than 1000 cities from business, government and the community turning off lights, and sending a message to world leaders in the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009 that we need a commitment to actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the short and long term benefit of the planet.

It is our delight that Penang Butterfly Farm together with other major tourist attractions in Penang had the privilege to join hands and support this significant Earth Hour cause. For the first time ever, Penang will be supporting this effort with many interesting programs. Major shopping complexes, hotels, government state buildings and many other tourist attractions have pledged their support on 28 March 2009, 8.30pm to power down the electricity of their non-critical areas premises.

Prior to this, some organisations had taken up their own initiative to organise some interesting awareness programs such as Essay Competition, GREEN Performance and NO CAR DAY. Penang Butterfly Farm, having its role played in the nature and environment sustainability efforts will be distributing 100 Butterfly Host Plants to all invited guests during the official countdown day at Island Plaza, 8.30pm. These host plants are meant for greater propagation which in directly translates to more butterflies in our Earth. Having said this, butterflies which play an important role in pollination will interact with other animals, plants and the physical environment in the ecosystem. The effects of the global warming which had already begun will continue to deteriorate if the ignorance and selfishness of human beings toward Mother Nature sees no mercy and stop.

Earth Hour is simply a message of hope and action. Imagine what we can do if we act together. Already, through the extensive WWF International network, Earth Hour 2009 will be delivered in over 60 countries; the number growing is each day.

For the sake of our future generations and loved ones, pledge your support with us – Earth Hour 2009 today!

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leppidio December 12th, 2008

Have you seen the winners’ photographs of our Nature & Insect Conservation Photography Competition?

You may view them at the below page (forum):

Nature & Insect Conservation Photography Competition Winners

Don’t forget to join our discussion at the forum too!

Tags: inesct photography, nature photography, photo contest, photography competition, photography winners, winners, winning photographs

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leppidio September 4th, 2008

On Thursday, 28 August 2008, Singapore Changi Airport – the World’s Best Airport opened The World’s First Butterfly Garden In An Airport. Conceptualised by Butterfly House Consultancy Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Penang Butterfly Farm, the butterfly garden is designed to be a tropical nature retreat for passengers of Changi Airport Terminal 3’s Departure and Transit Mall to have a quick rest and relax from travelling. It is home to more than 1,000 free flying singapore butterflies, and close to 50 butterfly species native to Singapore and Malaysia were specifically selected to be bred in the butterfly garden.

The two-storey open-air enclosed garden is protected by a curved-shaped roof made out of high quality stainless steel mesh and unique glass windows, facing Changi Airport’s large airfield. It was designed in this manner to keep the butterflies in, maintaining exchange of wind and natural air which is vital to the survival of butterflies while maximising the butterflies’ flight activity.

Visitors walking inside this enclosure can view and enjoy the beautiful scenary of a waterfall which keeps the garden cool even at noon, and traversing a garden on timber walkway, the feeling being close to nature with exotic jungle plants and an unimaginable sight of colourful butterflies.

The media claimed that it is the most beautiful event that they had covered for Changi Airport. Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport who officially launched the butterfly garden, said:

“The Butterfly Garden is a unique attraction designed to complement Terminal 3’s nature theme and Singapore’s tropical garden image. Passengers will have a tranquil haven offering a respite from the stresses of traveling.”

The technical representative from Butterfly House Consultancy Sdn Bhd further advised that each plant has been carefully choosen for each butterfly species survival. In a garden like this, the butterflies are actually living in a “butterfly paradise” as they can easily find nectar and thrive in the abscence of predators, therefore they have longer life-span and naturally, very friendly to humans.

A stairway is to be found leading to the second level, where it brings visitors deeper into their imagination. As visitors watch closely on the leafs of plants on the balcony, creatures that are almost hidden emerge before one’s eyes causing a surprise. It seems the garden not only keeps butterflies alive, but alive with creatures of camouflage such as stick insects and leaf insects. The sight from the butterfly garden’s balcony is absolutely relaxing for its visitors; standing at the height of its waterfall, one can feel in awe with its beauty.

Related links:
Butterfly House Consultancy Website
Changi Airport Colours Website

Tags: airport butterfly garden, airport garden, changi airport, changi butterfly garden, changi t3, t3 butterfly garden

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