Astronaut launches parenting website

OU had kept tabs on every detail of Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor’s space exploration in October 2007, now Malaysians will have the chance to follow the national astronaut on a different but no less important journey – parenthood.

“I’ve always loved children,” said the country’s first astronaut orangkasawan, who will be a first-time father next month.

The 38-year-old Dr Sheikh Muszaphar was at the launch of the parenting portal www.parenthood.my at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur last week. With him was Datin Dr Halina Mohd Yunos, 30, whom he married last October.

Besides featuring their parenting journey, the portal also serves as a social networking forum that provides a platform and support group for new parents.

Firsttime parents: The couple at the launch of the portal last week.

It covers topics like baby’s health, pregnancy health, maternity tips and post-maternity do’s and don’ts.

The couple are also signed on as spokespersons for the website sponsored by CellSafe International, which specialises in stem cell banking.

“When we found out about the pregnancy, we were both very excited and grateful for the opportunity to raise a child together,” said Dr Halina.

As medical doctors, both of them are aware of stem cell banking through their work in hospitals, but they had difficulty identifying a suitable company, said Dr Sheikh Muszaphar.

“More awareness is needed for stem cell banking. In Taiwan, 50% of parents do it, but in Malaysia, it’s only 2%. People need to know. Stem cells can treat more than 70 types of diseases,” he added.

Lau Kin Wai, CellSafe founder and executive director, said the company had always been on the lookout for a Malaysian who could become CellSafe’s spokesperson.

When he found out that Dr Sheikh Muszaphar and his wife were expecting a child, and that both were doctors, he thought they were the perfect candidates.

'Space child' on the way!

By Noorsila Abd Majid

Malaysian astronaut Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al-Masrie and his wife, Datin Dr Halina Mohd Yunos are expecting their first child.

The angkasawan has posted the baby news on his official Dr Sheikh Muszaphar FanClub on Facebook.

"We are looking forward for this coming July
for the due of our tiny baby astronaut ....
Just sharing the good news .....," he writes.

His publicist, Dewi Safina further confirms the good news, "Dr Halina is exactly three months' pregnant," she says.

The photogenic doctors tied the knot on Oct 10 last year.

Published Jan 11 2011

Read more/More news on: http://www.dailychilli.com/news/

Credits to and source taken from: http://www.dailychilli.com/news/

Value of cordblood

What makes cord blood more usable than bone marrow?
First, cord blood stem cells are easily extracted, resulting in no risk or pain for the mother or baby. Alternatively, bone marrow collection is an invasive procedure and requires general anesthesia with its inherent risks. Also, cord blood stem cells have a high rate of engraftment, are more tolerant of HLA mismatches, result in a reduced rate of graft-versus-host disease and are rarely contaminated with latent viruses—which simply means that the body often accepts cord blood stem cells better than those from bone marrow. Plus, banked cord blood is readily accessible, allowing treatment to begin earlier if required, with no time wasted in the search and matching process required for publicly banked stem cells. And lastly, when you bank with Cryo-Cell, there is no cost to retrieve your baby’s stored stem cells if they are needed for transplant.

Are there other benefits to banking my newborn’s cord blood?
Yes, many. Often, matched stem cells, which are necessary for transplant, are difficult to obtain due to strict matching requirements. But cells taken from your newborn are a perfect match for your baby for his or her lifetime. For example, in the event your child contracts a disease, which must be treated with chemotherapy or radiation, there is a probability of a negative impact on the immune system. While an autologous (self) transplant may not be appropriate for every disease, there could be a benefit in using the preserved U-Cord® stem cells to bolster and repopulate your child’s blood and immune system as a result of complications from other treatments.

Additionally, your child’s cord blood stem cells have at least a one-in-four chance of matching a sibling. Using genetically related stem cells, which are free from the disease being treated, often results in successful transplants with fewer complications. Also, cord blood is ‘privileged’ or unexposed to most diseases. And what’s more, cord blood may have uses in the future well beyond stem cell transplants. New medical technology may utilize U-Cord stem cells to rebuild cardiac tissue, repair damage due to stroke or spinal cord injuries and reverse the effects of such diseases as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's. While the research is in its early stages, the possibilities are extremely promising. So by banking your child's U-Cord stem cells now, you increase his or her access to any of these technologies in the future.

Still not convinced of how stem cell banking can help your family?
While saving your child's U-Cord stem cells is an investment, it still costs less than many families spend on their child's nursery. Plus, storage fees after the first year are less than $3/week. And if that’s not enough, consider this: if you donate the cord blood to a public bank, be aware that the stem cells may not be available for your use in the future.

Process

Cord Blood has already saved thousands of lives. It has been used successfully in the treatment of over 70 life-threatening diseases. See how simple and painless the cord blood collection process is. Visit for more information http://parenthood.my/

Cord blood stem cell banking?

Before you try to understand the concept of cord blood stem cell banking, you must have a basic knowledge of what cord blood is and why is it so important?

Cord blood is also known as “placental blood” and refers to the blood that remains behind in the placenta and umbilical cord after a birth. This cord blood is an excellent source of stem cells.

Stem cells are the “fundamental” cells of a body from which all body cells are created. They are essential for immunity. These cells have the ability to differentiate into specialized cells of organs such as heart, lungs and liver and function accordingly. For obvious reasons, their potential in the field of medical science is huge.

They have been found to be useful in the treatment of diseases such as leukemia, type I diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

The best part is that stem cells can be harvested from this cord blood and preserved for future use.

Now that you know what cord blood cell is and why stem cells are so important, you can understand the concept and working of a stem cell bank better.

Cord blood collection is done in the first 10 minutes after the birth. The umbilical cord is cut and removed from the new-born baby and the blood is collected. This cord blood is a very rich source of stem cells.

75ml of cord blood is sufficient to produce enough stem cells for any future use. After the cord blood has been collected, it is sent to a lab where it is processed and cryopreserved. Some processing techniques separate the red blood cells while others don’t. For the cells to survive the cryogenic process, a cryopreservant must be added to the blood unit.

The blood unit is then cooled to a temperature of -90 degree Celsius. Next, it is kept in a liquid nitrogen tank that maintains a temperature of -196 degree Celsius.

Tests for viral diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C are performed on the blood before it is stored.

2 types of cord blood stem cell banks exist: Public and Private

You can donate cord blood to public banks, which is then given to anyone who needs it. Private Banks are more expensive in comparison to public banks.

You should also consider preserving the cord blood of your child for future medical requirements.

Malaysian Hottest Astronaut

MALAYSIA’S FIRST ASTRONAUT & WIFE LEND SUPPORT TO STEM CELL BANKING AWARENESS

Kuala Lumpur, 22 June 2011 – The casual but chic setting of an upmarket noodle bar in Bangsar was the ideal spot for the media gathering by Cellsafe International Group (“Cellsafe”) to launch its latest parenting and stem cell banking awareness campaign. Emceed by Xavier Mah, the informative media conference was attended by more than 50 members of the media and Malaysia’s very first astronaut – Datuk Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar (“Datuk Dr Sheikh”).

The orthopaedic surgeon-turned-astronaut attended the event with his wife Datin Dr. Halina Mohd Yunos (“Dr Halina”), who met our national hero spaceman at medical school. Today’s event sees the couple jointly promoting stem cell banking, a scientific cause they both firmly believe in.

Stem cell banking refers to the scientific practice of preserving a newborn baby’s umbilical cord blood in an extremely low temperature environment referred to as cryogenic preservation. A new born baby’s cord blood is rich with stem cells that can be utilised in the treatment of various diseases. Parents in the United States, the United Kingdom and Taiwan often capitalise on such facilities so that when required the stem cells are readily available for retrieval.

Stem cell banking or cryogenic preservation of stem cells is hence offered by specialist laboratories worldwide. Cellsafe is one such service provider in the region that has made its presence felt in Malaysia since 2007.

Mr. Lau Kin Wai, founder and executive director of Cellsafe gave the welcome speech at the event. “Many parents in Asia have now made informed decision to store their babies’ cord blood stem cells as a precautionary measure for the future. I see this practice as a bio-insurance that could one-day be as important as subscribing to a medical insurance” he explained. “We are a regional high-tech biotech venture that is able to provide non-controversial cord blood stem cell cryogenic preservation. Our lab in Malaysia offers high quality but yet affordable service to the Malaysian population. However, we find the awareness of stem cell banking is often very low outside of the major urban cities of Malaysia.”

This was followed by a testimonial by Datuk Dr Sheikh who also elaborated on his journey to parenthood: “When my wife was expecting, we prepared ourselves by reading parenting websites on the Internet. Incidentally, we came across the topic of stem cell banking that was immensely popular in the United States. Enquiring, we found out that many Malaysians are unaware of such services. We did our due diligence on a highly recommended company named Cellsafe and signed up immediately, throughout impressed by what they were offering. When approached by Cellsafe to help promote stem cell banking awareness, we gladly obliged.”

Dr Halina added “As parents, we think stem cell banking is a very good gift for our newborn. Hence, we want to champion the cause to promote its awareness. My husband when he came back from space was exposed to a host of technological advancements, yet he still tells me that he is humbled by the fact that there live saving discoveries at our doorstep yet awareness is still minimal.”

Datuk Dr Sheikh further elaborated that the flipside would require scouring the public stem cell banks in the region, likely the ones in Singapore or Taiwan. However this acquisition is costly and compatibility issues often arise due to DNA-profiling that might not always match.

In conjunction with the event, a new parenting website aptly named Parenthood.My was also launched. The website is a social networking forum that provides a discussion platform for young parents to form a community support group. In addition, there are plans for a panel of experts who will share their insights from time to time on the website. The website is sponsored by Cellsafe as part of its ongoing efforts to ease the transition for young adults into parenthood.

For more information, please log on cellsafegroup.com and Parenthood.my.

About CellSafe International Group

CellSafe International Group (“CellSafe”) is a regional biotechnology group that focuses on non-controversial stem cells technologies (i.e. from non-embryonic sources). CellSafe specializes mainly in the harvesting and cryogenic preservation of cord blood stem cells.

In Malaysia, CellSafe is a biotech service provider fully licensed by The Ministry of Health of the Government of Malaysia (MOH) to operate a stem cell bank and to provide cord blood stem cell cryogenic preservation services. CellSafe has also been awarded the Bionexus Status by the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation, the governmental agency in charge of developing the biotech industry of Malaysia . The Bionexus status allows CellSafe to enjoy a 10-year tax-free pioneer status and access to the R&D grants specifically set-up for the biotechnology sector.

CellSafe currently operates from Malaysia and Indonesia. They are planning to expand into other ASEAN countries in the near future.

CellSafe is staffed with well-qualified medical technologists and receive advice from experienced medical doctors and scientists. CellSafe is one of the fastest growing network of cord blood in Southeast Asia.

(Source taken from : (http://www.budiey.com/journey-to-parenthood-my-by-sheikh-muszaphar-dr-halina/)

Fairytales

You think fairy tales are only for girls? Here’s a hint – ask yourself who wrote them. I assure you, it wasn’t just the women. It’s the great male fantasy – all it takes is one dance to know that she’s the one. All it takes is the sound of her song from the tower, or a look at her sleeping face. And right away you know – this is the girl in your head, sleeping or dancing or singing in front of you. Yes, girls want their princes, but boys want their princesses just as much. And they don’t want a very long courtships. They want to know immediately.

Change is inevitable. It’s when that song you used to replay over and over again suddenly becomes a song that you can no longer stand listening to. When your inbox used to be filled with messages from that one person and you don’t even bother keeping in touch with them anymore since you’re much better off without each other. Your favorite shirt becomes so last year that you start to wonder why you liked it so much anyway. When the social networking site you used to log onto everyday is replaced by something better like Facebook. When you look at old photographs thinking of the reason you were friends with those people in the first place because they didn’t care about you as much as you thought they did.

We never take the time to realize that things are changing until it actually happens and until it’s too late to turn back to appreciate what we already had. Is it because it happened too fast for us to notice the change? Or too slow to even care that things were changing at all? It always seems to pass us by even when we’re waiting for it.

PS: So don’t think that things are going to stay the same forever, shit happens when you least expect it.

Malaysian in my definition.

There is no definite cut on what being a Malaysians means to me. In my opinion, it is a collective idea of the various things that happens in the life of all these people who regard themselves as Malaysians. To some people, being Malaysian may mean something that is on the surface – such as officially regarded as the permanent resident or holding the Malaysian passport. To me, it is a bundle of many things such as culture, thoughts, behavior, stereotyping. There is no borderline as to whether if it is a good or bad thing to be a Malaysian. If we only had one aspect of things to define what being Malaysian is, it would be a very bland topic to discuss what being a national of this country would be about.

Whenever a Malaysian is asked what the special thing is about Malaysia that sets it apart from other countries it will most probably be either of these two answers – the diverse culture, or the food. It is true, these are characteristics of our country – but is it really what sets us apart from other countries? What about countries like Singapore who also claims itself to have the exact same traits? Then again, we are going to talk about what makes me a Malaysian, rather than how Malaysia is special to me. It maybe a confusing cut line in between the two – but I know just what makes me feel like a Malaysian.

To be a Malaysian to me, is to face the difficulties of trying to overcome the harmony that we all claim that we have. The harmony, that is being projected on every brochure or promotional leaflet that introduces Malaysia. Sure, I want that harmony – and dream of that harmony. But, dealing with it and trying to make it work is another thing altogether. So, being a Malaysian to me, primarily – is to have to deal with coping with the image that we portray ourselves to be. It isn’t that Malaysia has been creating a false surface of what the country is; it’s just that there is no perfection when it comes to dealing with so many people. In other words, some may have achieved the agreement to not discriminate and see each other as equal – but there will still be some others who would not comply to the idea of being as ‘one’. Hence, as long as not all 100% of the population feels the determination and motivation to become ‘one’, a Malaysian would have to constantly struggle to achieve harmonization.

What is the problem then? Why are there still people who discriminate? Why are they still against national equality? Is it the government, or is it the people themselves? True that the country has promised the Bumiputera’s that they would have special rights as it was one of the conditions when Malaya wanted to merge countries. But, think again – that was back then. The people, who were living by then until now, might have still that hatred as they most probably could not adapt to such abrupt change in race population. Personally, I would understand them as nobody likes having to share things that you have always thought to be yours (in this case, the country) with others who you have no relations with. What about the younger generation? They have not been in the time when the country officially merged races from China and India. Why do they still feel the hate and develop the urge to discriminate. They say if you raise a pig with a group of cats, the pig would think of itself as a cat. That is because nobody would tell it that it was different. The situation is the same when I apply it to the younger generation of Malaysia now. If they weren’t told that they were different from the other races, or influenced in a way or the other – would they still think of insulting the other races and cultures? If they didn’t see themselves as different from the beginning, if not clearly stated by the elderlies, would we have a problem of harmonization still?

This brings me to the idea of how being a Malaysian to me, would mean to forget the fact that we are different. I can’t say how describing how Malaysia is special as “because we are all of different races” would help, because to me that is like reminding each other that we are different and will never be the same. True to say that we will always be of different roots – but should be seen as the same family. Just like how beans can have red bean, black beans or even green beans – but at the end of the day – they are all still beans. If I could do something about Malaysians and have the power to control the things that are being thought to the younger generation throughout the country, I would stop the parents from transferring their hate or prejudice that they may already have to their children. This is because just by them telling their children about their personal thoughts, it would somehow influence the children to have the same kind of thoughts. Some parents or elderly would have had no intentions of influencing the younger generation, but there is no doubt that if you keep feeding a child the same type of information from young – they would grow and act towards the type of information that has been fed to them throughout the years. If the father of a family constantly described how unhappy he was about how unfair racial equality would be as it would steal their initial rights as Bumiputera’s, then the child would naturally grow with that perspective and develop a hate for anything that has to do with racial equality.

This is because I believe that as a Malaysian, everybody deserves a chance to judge and decide on what they want to live by . I think it means giving and allowing chances and opportunities to everyone to decide or judge without any sort of manipulation. This is a country that offers a variety of many things, and because we do not have only one culture to adhere to – we should also be given variable ways to learn and accept these traditions and practices.

To be honest, I have grown up to adore Tun Dr. Mahathir not only because I think he has contributed to the country’s honor,  he was a person who had a voice. I will never know what his real intentions were from behind the curtains, but for all I know – to me, being a Malaysian means being able to harbor the courage of being able to speak. True, we are still forbidden from touching topics about sensitive remarks such as racial and cultural subject – but he was one of the politicians that had a voice in the country, even after his phase.

Also, as Malaysians it would mean to have more faith in our own country. This is because in contrary to what many would have thought about how people still believe we live in trees, these people who I met there actually knew about the developing infrastructures of our country. I think Malaysians have too little faith in our own country due to several factors – mainly the media. The media has been portraying many things that are not the facts, and this has naturally turned the backs of many citizens against the nature of the country. They think that Malaysia is a place of no hope. Hence, they are not willing to contribute much thinking that the work would not be appreciated as much as they expect it to be. This leads to the reason why Malaysia is lacking of capable individuals, as they have all chose to contribute to other countries. Many also say it’s because it is due to the low income here. What I am trying to point out is that, everything comes in a cycle. The contributing factor of the slow progressing income level of the country may even be because we are not developing as rapid as other countries, who are being assisted by talents who actually come from Malaysia.

Then again, the racial issue arises – as the Chinese or Indians may complain that their works will never be appreciated just because they are not Bumiputeras. I cannot justify if that applies to all industries, but to the other races who have been insisting that they will never be appreciated by the nation or even the governenment – think again. Datuk Lee Chong Wei, the country’s and word’s no.1 badminton player is Chinese and he is significantly being recognized by Malaysia. In my opinion, the true reason behind why everybody thinks the grass on the other side is always greener because everybody is encouraging each other that Malaysia doesn’t appreciate talent. Is that really the truth? Is it Malaysia, or is it you? Are you the one who isn’t contributing or showing enough due to your bias upon the country’s judgment towards you? Then again, I believe there is not wrong or right when it comes to opinions. It’s just that to me, I feel that we need to understand, give chances and have a little more faith in our own country and that’s what makes us a real Malaysian. To me, as long as you ARE good – you will be appreciated, somehow. Learn to appreciate and believe in yourself first, before doubting the ability of others to appreciate you.

In Korea, I did not need to say I was Chinese like how registration forms in Malaysia always reminds us of. Everywhere I went in Seoul, all I had to answer when being asked about my roots – I only had to say I was Malaysian. Not Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indian, Malaysian Malay or whatsoever. Just by saying that I was purely Malaysian without needing to state my race for the past year, I felt a strong sense of patriotism in me. I still remember how proud I was as a Malaysian in the country because I felt so close to home. After all that mentioning of how I belong to Malaysia to the rest of the people I met, I requested that my mom send over a top that said I LOVE MALAYSIA just in time for Merdeka Day.

On that day, I went over to the Malaysian embassy in Seoul just to celebrate it with my fellow Malaysians. There, I met all three races again. But there was a cast difference of meeting them here in Seoul and back in Malaysia. There, we felt like we were really one. Here, we felt like there was no need to distinguish ourselves. There, we felt like we were always going to be there for each other in this other country that we do not call our real homes. This made me realize that as long as we don’t keep digging into our roots and believe that we have always been one – we will still come together and live in harmony.

In conclusion, I think the most essential thing to me as to what makes me Malaysian is that it will always be important to give chances to one another, and to strive and find a way to overcome the struggles of trying to become a real harmonious country. We have not achieved it yet, and might never will – but the most important thing is that, we desire to at least try.

Aelita Andre

Aelita Andre’s art has been celebrated all over the world: From art galleries in Europe and Asia, to television specials in Australia and North America. She has been lauded in the press, and even received a special birthday phone call from the BBC. Next month, she will open her first solo show in New York City, at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child”

- Pablo Picasso -

PS: Oh, did I mention Aelita is only 4 years old now? Her work is incredible, isn’t it?

I'm home

another summer break signaling another year gone by – likely the most challenging one i’ve had yet in this small lifespan of mine. i’ve sadly lost so many things in the short course of this year, but thankfully a lot of time was spent dreaming. and yet more importantly i’m learning how difficult it is to put into practice any lessons learned. but more on those another time… it would be nice to take a small break from those thoughts for a while.I’m finally home for summer break, after a week or so tying up loose ends in NYC and another week spent on holiday with bff, where i slept away almost every hour of each day. 


as always it is great to be back but this time it feels different. i almost feel like my time spent in malaysia is on some kind of a quota, and it’s running out. that’s a silly thing to say, i know, because i could be here for good after graduation, but who knows if that’s for sure? yes, yes, we are in control of our own lives and we all should do what we want to do, but the question is when exactly do we do what we want to do?