A model life

Leonard Chua: A model life

By Joleen Lunjew jlunjew@thestar.com.my
Pictures by LEONARD CHUA & CHUA KOK HWA/The Star

Despite having his dreams dashed while in the prime of his life, Leonard Chua has come back stronger and is helping others to do the same.

Leonard Chua was the type of guy you loved to hate. He had everything a man in his prime dreamt off — good looks, great body and the glamorous life of a model. In fact, he was about to seal a RM5mil deal when he wrapped his car around a tree along the Federal Highway in October 2005. He was only 24.

“The accident took away everything,” says Chua, who fractured his neck and lower ribs, broke his right leg, crushed his left ankle and injured his bladder. He spent five months in the hospital, 1½ months of it in ICU where his heart stopped twice, the first time for 10 minutes.

The first five months was a living nightmare. In the first two months, Chua, who is paralysed from his upper chest down, couldn’t remember anything or anyone except for his immediate family. Besides the terrible pain, he had all sorts of lung infections and his legs and head developed bedsores. Suicidal thoughts played in his mind.

“Many times I wanted to pull out my respirator and end my suffering but the thought that I hadn’t fully done my duty as a son kept me alive. My parents were there for me, washing, feeding and taking care of me. They slept on my hospital room floor for the entire five months.

“I wondered if I would have done the same if it was my own son. Their unconditional love gave me determination to recover. I had to live and walk again, to thank everybody who had shed tears and cared for me. Oh, and I haven’t made my millions yet,” he jokes.

Chua may make light of his plight now but they were dark times. The cardiac arrest caused hypoxia and brain injury affected his speech. “I could only slur and make unintelligible sounds. It was very frustrating because I knew what I wanted to say in my mind but it wouldn’t come out in words. I could hear people laughing at me when I talked, which hurt,” he recalls.

Determined to speak properly again, Chua embarked on his own speech therapy. “I read aloud and spoke to the mirror every day. To cheer myself up, I told my reflection that I was lucky God didn’t take away my handsome face. At least I still had that,” he smiles.

Chua’s hard work paid off. He now speaks like any other person. He has been asked to emcee a charity event and has been invited to several talks to share his story. “Everyone said I did a good job as an emcee but they didn’t realise how much work I had to put in just to string a sentence together. The audiences at the Prudential talk rated me nine out of 10 and booked me for next year’s talk in June with a larger audience. That made me very proud and happy. I’ve always wanted to become a motivational speaker,” Chua says.

The extent of his injuries was such that doctors told him he was lucky to be able to move his hands for he wasn’t expected to have normal hand function.


“I couldn’t operate my handphone, much less write. I couldn’t even bring my arm up to press the lift button. I had to start from below zero, learning how to draw circles and straight lines before relearning my ABCs. I even forgot my signature and had to relearn it, only to forget it two days later. This continued for a year, which made me a very patient man. Today, I sign many cheques for my company and have fully regained all my hand functions,” he says.

Chua is so thankful of his progress that he visits SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) patients to share his story with them every time he goes to University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) for follow-ups. He remembers an encounter which he holds dear to his heart.

The patient was Alex, a 20-year-old paralysed from his neck down. Alex had been bedridden for three months and was breathing through a respirator because his diaphragm had stopped functioning.
“Alex couldn’t talk, move or do anything by himself. All he could do was stare at a picture of Jesus pasted on his wall. I shared my story with him and showed him what I was capable of doing today. I taught him some qigong breathing exercises and told him not to give up.

Two weeks later, when Chua was at the hospital gym doing physio, he heard that Alex was now able to breathe on his own and sit in a wheelchair. He immediately rushed to the ICU to see him. “Everybody was happy and excited for him. Alex could talk now. He turned to me and said, ‘Thank you, Leonard. If you did not visit me two weeks ago, I would still be lying down. I will never forget you, Leonard Chua.’ That was really the best moment of my life. That was when I knew I was here to make a difference. Alex gave me the inspiration to help others,” Chua explains.



Chua’s rehabilitation regimen includes working on his abdominal muscles.



Chua reckons everybody’s injury is different. If someone hasn’t recovered from the same injuries that you have, that doesn’t mean that you too will not recover. He says his doctors did not dare promise or confirm anything as spinal cord injuries are very complicated — incurable by medicine. Progress is usually determined by the patient’s will power to want to heal.

“Doctors told me of another man who suffered the same injuries but unlike me, he is still bedridden, not being able to eat or speak. I am very thankful to be where I am today as I am quite independent. I can transfer myself to my bed or car, put on my own clothes, eat, bathe, move around and go to the toilet myself,” says Chua proudly.

Happily, Chua was nominated as one of Cleo magazine’s most eligible bachelors early this year. Although he didn’t win the title, he was the magazine’s first disabled bachelor. He was also recently recruited back into the modelling world.


Chua now owns and runs Beyond Rehab Enterprise, a company that sells rehabilitation equipment, specifically tilt tables and hand cycles invented by his father for SCI (Spinal Cord Injury), stroke and brain-injured patients.

“There are no rehabilitation centres in Malacca,” he grumbles. “How can patients get better if they can only do rehabilitation at the hospital?” Chua’s company gives patients access to affordable rehabilitation and exercise at home. His versions of the tilt table, which lets patients stand by themselves, and the hand cycles are cheaper than those sold at the hospital.

“I exercise on these equipment every day. I also invented an exercise method which is effective in building abdominal muscles. I lift free weights to build my arm muscles. I also practise yoga and qigong to relax and improve my breathing.”

Chua’s ultimate aim is to open a fully-equipped rehabilitation centre in Malacca, and he is looking for a good Samaritan to realise this dream. “I hope someone will support me in building this centre. Not only will it be a worthwhile investment, he or she will have the satisfaction of reaching out and helping lots of people,” he says.

The world celebrated International Day for Persons with Disabilities yesterday but not many of us are aware of the plight of the disabled here in Malaysia. Not having easy access to rehabilitation is just one of many obstacles.

“I’ve seen many able-bodied people parking in handicap spaces, and nobody clamps their car. The handicap public toilets are always locked for some reason and there are no guards in sight to open them. Malacca doesn’t have handicap-friendly public transport and not all buildings, even in Kuala Lumpur, have access ramps. Even if they do, some of them are so poorly maintained that they are not friendly at all,” he points out.

Although his life has changed drastically, Chua strongly believes that everything happens for a reason.

“I know why God rejected me twice and kept me alive. He wants me to give hope to people. There is always hope when you don’t give up. Never be afraid to face challenges and know that every great achievement starts from the impossible. I will continue to work on my rehabilitation towards another miracle. I will walk again.”

Let’s pray he does.

o To learn more about Leonard Chua in his own words, visit his blog at http://www.leonardchua.blogspot.com/

Godskitchen

Saturday 4 December 2010

My last rave before I fly. That was Farshie's pursuasive argument and I'm glad she talked me into it. The event was Heineken's Thirst featuring Godskitchen, a worldwide electronic music event. These were the lineup.

Got there a bit late as DJ Chuckie, a 32 year old Dutch DJ of Surinamese descent, was playing. Great music from him, quite housy not like the rest which were too progressive hard to layan. Old skool siul.. Check it out.

What I love about the whole setup was the Godskitchen Boombox, a 16m wide, 8m high and 6m deep architectural monster. An "ultramodern edm showcase designed by Paris-based design collective Exyzt, famed for their structural art and design installations across Europe. Wowing crowds from Europe to South Africa to Australia and now KL, the Boombox is a high-concept performance zone that combines 3D graphics projection technology and real time video footage to create a uniquely immersive optical show.”

Visuals were so trippy. They even had KL's skyline flashing in an amazing display of lights and colours, all in full 3D. You could reach out to touch the images coming at you.

3D buildings

Podium dancers in the boombox

Trippy...

All in all, great night. Thank you Farshie, Azim, Rezuan, Ezra, Suzie, Rachel, Hans, Ariff, Max, Shakira, Kenny, Ovidia & Khang for a fantastic night out. Love you guys. xxxox

Terror in a decade

War on Terror

One thing I love about my job is that it exposes me to incredible experiences & knowledge that I would otherwise, not bother searching for. I had to compile a list of terrorist events that happened in the past decade (2001-2010) that I thought was interesting so I'll share it with you.

What I realised was that the significance of a terrorist event is not based on how many people died. Thousands of people die in Iraq & Pakistan by suicide bombers almost every other week but the world is not as concerned by say - the car bomb scare in New York middle this year where they closed the entire Times Square. There were no casualties.

Now why do you think that's so? Is it because suicide bombers are so common in those countries that it's 'just another suicide bombing'? Are their lives not as important because they don't have1st world citizenship? It's very sad that most are done in the name of religion, which is supposed to be about peace, love & forgiveness.

Anyway, here's what I've gathered. Hopefully we will learn something from these events so these victims would not have died in vain.

The turn of the 21st century brought one of the most significant campaigns combating terrorism the world has ever seen. It was when the terminology “War on Terror’ was coined by the United States of America, which shaped the way future matters concerning terrorism was handled. We take a look at the horrifying terrorist attacks that shook the world within the last decade.


Twin Tower crumbles

Sept 11, 2001 can be considered one of the most important events of the century which triggered a chain of events that later affected the lives of millions around the world.

When four planes were hijacked in which two crashed into New York’s World Trade Centre, one into Washington’s Pentagon and the other into a field in Pennsylvania, it shattered the lives of Americans who had till then been able to avoid these sort of attacks on civilians that are common in the Middle East.

Nearly 3000 people died that day, including rescue personnel, hijackers and everyone on board the planes. The United States responded with several aggressive military operations to destroy terrorist networks and the states supporting them including the invasion shortly after of Afghanistan to dispose the Taliban and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 to destroy ‘weapons of mass destructions’.

The horror of 9/11 was the beginning of a terrible chain of events

Tougher Security

Security became an immediate concern after the Sept 11 attacks resulting in long security checks for travellers all around the world. Banning of sharp items, removal of jackets, blets, shoes, laptops and electronic devices and body frisking became a common practice at airports. A complete ban of all liquids and gel was made after an alleged terrorist plot to blow up planes with flammable fluids was discovered in 2006. The ban was later revised to limiting passengers to liquids and gels not exceeding 100ml per container. These must be placed in a clear plastic bag not exceeding 1 litre in size.

US airports have recently installed full-image body scanners with the aim of having nearly 1,000 scanners nationwide by the end of next year. The use of “swabs,” or Explosive Trace Detection machines, has also been expanded where security agents can detect traces of explosives after a cotton swab is applied to hands or luggage.

Now wouldn't this be interesting

 
Afghanistan War

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 in search of Osama bin Laden and to oust the Taliban regime. The US Marines set up base in Kandahar after the Taliban retreated in December 2001. The Taliban forces have since regained strength and current US President Barack Obama announced in 2009 that the US military will deploy additional soldiers. The war is still ongoing.

And they are still 'helping'

Detainment without Trial

After the Sept 11 attacks, the Bush administration established a facility in 2002 in Cuba to detain suspected terrorists and prisoners of war from Afghanistan and later Iraq. The facility is known as Guantánamo Bay or Gitmo, a central prison for suspects considered unlawful enemy combatants in the war on terror.

The United States have been heavily critisised for detaining these prisoners without trial, ignoring the Geneva Conventions and not heeding international pressures to close down the facility. The Center for Constitutional Rights of New York published a first report in 2006 alleging physical, psychological, sexual, medical and religious torture and abuse of the prisoners. After taking office, President Obama pledged to close the facility within a year but his efforts have been met by resistence from several parties. Most of the prisoners have been released but the facility still remains standing.

Protestors calling for its closure

Bali in Shock

The first Bali bombings occured on 12 October 2002 when two bombs were detonated in and around popular nightclubs in the tourist district of Kuta. The attack, which left 202 people dead, came as a shock to many, especially Australians, who perceived Bali to be a safe place. Various members of Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah were convicted in relation to the bombings.

After rebuilding their tourist economy, Bali suffered another terrorist attack on 1 October 2005 when suicide bombers detonated a series of bombs at two sites - around the Jimbaran and Kuta area. At least 26 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured in the incident.

What's left of the Kuta nightclub in 2002 

Moscow Theatre Hostage

The Moscow theatre hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of a crowded Moscow theatre on 23 October 2002 by armed Chechens who claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement. They took 850 hostages and demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya and an end to the Second Chechen War.

The Russian Spetsnaz forces pumped an unknown chemical agent into the theatre two-and-a-half days into the siege before raiding it. The attackers and a few hostages were killed in the raid while most of the rest died from the toxic gas. The use of the gas was widely criticised as authorities refused to disclose its chemical contents which hampered life resuscitation efforts.

Hostages lay on the floor after the seige

Weapons of Mass Destruction

The United States and its allies invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003 to eradicate ‘weapons of mass destructions’ which they accused Iraq of possessing. The invasion led to an occupation and the eventual capture of President Saddam Hussein, who was later tried and executed by the new Iraqi goverment.

On 31 August 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama declared the end to the American combat in Iraq, withdrawing all but 50,000 troops who remained to train and work with current Iraqi security forces. US troops are scheduled to withdraw fully by the end of 2011.

Torture Scandals

After the Iraq invasion, US soldiers took control over the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003. The prison made international headlines when photographs of American military personel in uniform abusing and torturing Iraqi detainees became public in April 2004. The photographs revealed torture based largely on the sexual humiliation of the detainees. Seven soldiers were subsequently convicted in courts martial on dereliction of duty and assault and battery charges.

The US military formally transferred the prison to Iraqi authorities in September 2006. Iraq reopened Abu Ghraib under the new name of Baghdad Central Prison in 2009 after extensive renovations. The upgraded facilities and amenities include a hospital, rest and visiting rooms, water fountains, a freshly planted garden and a gym. The Iraqi justice ministry is trying to make it a model prison, allowing random inspection by the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations.

Naked Iraqi prisoners in the human pyramid 

Istanbul Bombings

Istanbul was targeted three times within this decade when bombs killed and injured many civilians in 2003, 2008 and 2010. The 15 and 20 November 2003 explosions killed 57 people, most of them Turkish Muslims. Turkey charged 74 people with involvement in the bombings.

On 27 July 2008, two bombs exploded along the busy shopping street in the Güngören district of Istanbul, killing 17 people, five of them children. Nine people were indicted in December 2008 over the bombings. Istanbul suffered another hit recently when a suicide bomber blew himself up beside a police vehicle in Taksim Square on 31 October 2010, wounding 32 people, including 15 policemen. The attack occurred as Istanbul was preparing to hold Republic Day parades to mark the 1923 founding of Turkey.

Istanbul after Nov 2003 bombings

Madrid Train Bombings

Ten explosions, originating from 13 rucksacks detonated by cell phones, occurred on 11 March 2004 on four commuter trains at the height of Madrid’s rush hour, killing 191 civilians and injuring over 1,800. The remaining three explosives were detonated by police in a controlled environment. The attack took place just three days before Spain's general elections.

Spanish courts convicted 14 Islamic militants for their roles in the Madrid bombings, along with four Spaniards, the latter for trafficking in explosives used in the attacks.

The aftermath

Beslan Massacre

On 1 September 2004, the first day of school, a group of armed Chechen Islamic separatist entered Middle School No 1 in Beslan, Russia, and took over 1,100 parents, teachers and students hostage. The hostage takers demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, the release of rebel detainees and the resignation of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Their demands were not met.

Russian security forces stormed the school on the third day of standoff which resulted in a chaotic gunfire battle and the collapse of several school buildings caused by bombs rigged by the separatists. At least 334 hostages were killed that day, most of them children who were shot from the back as they tried to flee the scene. The sole surviving attacker was found guilty of murder in 2006 but was spared the death penalty.

Young children lie dead after the gunbattle

London’s 7/7

Central London was struck with chaos on 7 July 2005 when four al-Qaeda associated suicide bombers detonated their bombs on London public transportation during the morning rush hour.

Three bombs exploded within fifty seconds of each other at Liverpool Street and Edgware Road stations and the other on a train traveling between King's Cross and Russell Square. The final explosion was around an hour later on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. 52 people died and 700 were injured.

52 died in London's attacks

Delhi Blasts

Three bombs exploded almost simultaneously at the marketplace of Paharganj, the middle-class shopping area of Sarojini Nagar and on a bus in southern Delhi in an attack on 29 October 2005, two days before the important Hindu festival of Diwali, killing 62 people.

The second bombing was on 13 September 2008 when five bombs exploded within a few minutes of each other at markets and localities around the capital on a busy weekend evening. More than 20 people were killed. The Indian Mujahideen Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks. Two weeks later, another bomb detonated on 27 September 2008 at the flower market in Mehrauli which killed three people, including a young boy.

This could be your mother/daughter/sister

Mumbai Attacks 2008

Ten commercial sites in India’s financial capital Mumbai, including luxury hotels and restaurants, were hit by a wave of terror attacks on 26 November 2008. Gunmen opened fire on civilians at the public spaces and seized a few of the places, holding several hostage. The attacks left 174 dead, most of them civilians, foreigners and international delegates.

Nine of the 10 young attackers from Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based Islamic militant organisation, were killed during the 60-hour siege. The surviving terrorist has been sentenced to death this year.

An old lady being led out of the station after the terrorist attacks

How about some stewed silkworm pupas

I'm on a mission to learn how to cook - heck, you never needed to learn here in Malaysia coz food's so cheap and so easily available - but I was kicking myself in New Zealand for not learning how to cook. Restaurant/cooked food there is damn expensive and spicy stuff is well, a bit of an effort to acquire.

So today I decided to be nice and try my first attempt at green curry chicken for my beloved wife & Edmund. Imagine my excitement when I saw that a new Korean grocery store had just opened near my fav friendly neighbourhood store Jaya Grocer in Damansara Perdana (by the way, Jaya Grocer in Jaya 33 has the most amazing mind-boggling variety of stuff on 1 shelf that I have EVER seen. SERIOUS. Didn't know there so that many types of flour available. The organic section is awesome too.)

Beondegi in a cup from Korean street vendors

Coming back to the Korean shop. I have been working on an article about the UN wanting to make insects as food to curb global warming & world hunger (cheaper to farm, less gas emission) so beondegi (stewed/boiled silkworm pupa), a Korean snack, was one of the stuff I was researching on. Here's the list of other insect snacks around the world. And this was what was published in The Star.

I entered the shop for a curious look around and headed towards the can food section in hope that they would be carrying this exotic tidbit. Imagine my excitement when I found it (I was practically jumping for joy inside but playing it cool outside.)

Took the can to the counter and saw this tall young korean-matsy mixed dude approaching so I asked him if he knew how to cook it. He spoke Korean to an older man and translated that all I have to do is open the can, pour the contents out and boil it for a few minutes till it's soft. Sounds simple enough.

My prized find

Like what you see inside?

Su & Edmund came late but nvm. So we opened the can and dumped the gross-looking contents in a pot and boiled the little critters (poor things, they never had a chance of flying free) till we thought they were soft. We poked it with a fork just to make sure.. it was still quite hard.. But as we were famished, we thought oh what the heck, we won't die.

Boiling till its soft

End product

The things looked like dried up roaches, but without the jutting legs. If you scrutinise it closely and turn it over, you can kinda see the moth's legs curled up in their pupa. Here's a closer shot of these buggers.


Its bottom. Can kinda see their legs.



All wrapped up

I took quite a while to put one in my mouth. Su was creeping me out with stories of the moths coming alive like cockroaches when I swallow it and it would start crawling up my throat. Bitch. She didn't help damn it. Edmund was more cool. He just looked at it and said oh ok.

After much hesitation, but I was determined to eat it - hey, I've gotten THIS far - I chucked one pupa in my mouth and chewed on it. The taste was totally unexpected. It had a fishy taste, maybe because it was soaked in salty liquid, much like ikan bilis but with a mushy beady texture, like cooked fish eggs. It wasn't too bad actually. If you can get over the initial concept and don't think about what it is. Prawn's are sea bugs anyway. I'm sure you'll eat it if your eyes were closed and LIKE the bloody thing.

Su is a major chicken. She tried one and that was it. Well, at least she tried. Edmund heaped it on his plate like nasi lemak's ikan bilis and being kiasu, I followed suit. Seriously, it wasn't that bad. We ended up finishing half of the tin. An accomplishment seeing that it was only the 2 of us eating it. Think it would make great beer snacks. Ta-paued the rest for Carolynn to try at home.

Oh, and the rest of my food was finished too. Not bad for a first try who never cooks. *pat pat on back* so proud of myself hahah. At least I'll have decent curry in NZ ;)

I cooked all this k!!

Su brought some peace offering from Mines (Edmund's workplace). Coffee cake with some delicious biscuits to go with all my fattening coffee liquor. Edmund took some arty shots of melting ice too.

Ice art

All in all, a very proud day indeed. If any of you are interested, the can of beondegi is priced at RM3.80 and is available at the Korean shop at The Tropics, Damansara Perdana. It's right at the entrance, you won't miss it. Happy sampling!

Hey, we eat insects

Eating creepy crawlies and grubs might be something straight out of Fear Factor for some but for locals in these countries, it’s just as common as your local fast food chain.

Australia

Abundant in southern New South Wales during summer, witchetty grubs, the small, white larvae of ghost moths, have been an essential part of the Aboriginal diet for centuries. The grubs are dug from the gum tree roots and are eaten live or barbecued. They are rich in protein and would make a nutritious source if you lost in the bush. Supermarkets even have them in soup tins.

It's scrumptius mate!

Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
Walk the markets of these countries and you will be greeted by street vendors selling an amazing variety of fried insects as snacks. These orders of insects are commonly found : odonata (damselflies and dragon flies), orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids), mantodea (mantids), isoptera (termites), hemiptera (water bugs, cicadas, backswimmers), lepidoptera (silkworm moths are popular), coleoptera (weevils, wood-boring beetles, diving beetles) and hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps). Some restaurants serve insects as part of their menu as well.

Crunch crunch

China
Chinese people are known to eat ‘anything that moves’ so finding locals delighting in insect snacks and delicacies shouldn’t come as a surprise. Just head to a local street markets such as the ones in Tianjin, Hangzhou, Canton or the Wangfujing Night Market in Beijing for a weird and wonderful array. Silkworm cocoons, cicada larvae, fried locusts, crickets and grasshoppers, and eight-legged critters such as scorpions, tarantulas and spiders are a common sight.

Market in Beijing

South Korea
Beondegi or silkworm pupae is a popular snack for South Koreans. They can be bought on the streets, served in bars or restaurants as appetizers or bought in a can from a Korean grocery and convenience stores. Beondegi can be eaten boiled, steamed, stewed or stir-fried.

Beondegi in a cup

Japan
The Japanese have been eating insects for centuries, especially aquatic insects which were an important source of protein. Restaurants in Tokyo and many parts of Japan still offer various insect-based dishes such as hachinoko (boiled bee larvae), Inago no Tsukudani (stewed grasshoppers or locusts in sweet soy sauce), zazamushi (aquatic insect larvae), semi (fried cicadas) and sangi (silkworm pupae. Known as beondegi in Korea).

Hachinoko. Kelantan has our local version. 

Columbia
Hormigas culonas, literally translates to “big-butt ants” in Spanish, is a priced delicacy in Columbia. These leaf-cutter ants are aptly named because of their large lower abdomen. Only the young queens and drones are harvested in the Santander region in spring after the rainy season when they surface to establish their own ant colonies. The ants are roasted and eaten as snacks, a favourite for moviegoers and as bar snacks. Termites and palm grubs are popular edible insects as well.

Big ass butts alright

Mexico
The agave worm, also known as the maguey worm, is the worm you find in tequila bottles. They are also eaten roasted, fried, cooked inside a tortilla or as part of a recipe for a meal. Chapulines or fried grasshoppers are a common snack which are also found commercially canned and sold in supermarkets and local grocery stores. Ants, rich in thiamine and riboflavin, are consumed both in egg form and as adults. Ant eggs, which are common in Mexican markets, are often cooked in butter and served in tacos. Ant larvae are canned and exported as gourmet food.

Here, have some chapulines

Africa

In Africa, many of the tribes eat insects such as termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars, palm weevil larvae, beetles, ants, and locusts. The wings of the termites are removed before roasting or fried and salt is added to taste. Guts of crickets and grasshoppers are removed before fried. Locusts are typically boiled and salted prior to eating. Another widely eaten insect is the westwood larvae, a caterpillar known as kanni. They are boiled and dried in the sun before eaten or used as an ingredient in vegetable soup. Another larvae, the palm weevil larva, is a large insect that is fleshy and grublike with a high fat content. They are collected from the trunks of palm trees and fried. An even larger insect, the compost beetle larvae, can be found in garbage, manure piles or swampy areas. The lower abdomen containing the guts is removed before being washed and fried. Some don’t eat it because they are taken from ‘dirty’ places.

Dirty buggers - compost beetle larvae

You can read the first part of the post here.
Published Star article here.

Grasshopper Big Macs anyone?

I was working on an article on entomophagy, the practise of eating insects, and I found the topic to be so interesting that I would like to share it with everyone.

Did you know that while it might not be appealing to some, human consumption of insects is actually quite common in some parts of the world?


Mmm yum

In Asia, Thais, Laotians and Cambodians think nothing of snacking on fried grasshoppers, crickets, locusts or water bugs, dragonflies boiled in coconut milk is a delicacy in Bali and hachinoko or boiled bee larvae is a traditional Japanese dish. Moviegoers in South America eat roasted ants instead of popcorn and it’s considered good luck if the agave worm in Mexican tequila bottles ends up in your glass. One man’s meat is certainly another man’s poison.

Due to people giving birth left, right and centre all over the world, food resources are getting more expensive and scarce. It is not surprising then that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is formally considering a policy paper to promote insects as food to the world. FAO held a conference in 2008 in Thailand on the theme "Forest Insects as Food: Humans Bite Back," to advocate for greater economic development of insects as food sources and will discuss the subject further in their upcoming 2013 world congress.

Professor Arnold van Huis

Dutch Professor Arnold van Huis, an entomologist at Wageningen University in Holland and the author of the UN paper, argues that bugs have high nutritional values, use less land and need less feed thus being cheaper to farm, and would produce far less greenhouse gas than current livestock. Health risks are also lower as being so biologically different from humans, insects are less subject to contagious diseases like the mad cow scare. Talk about an all-in-one solution to food security and global warming!

In an interview with Guardian, van Huis says that "The world population will grow from six billion now to nine billion by 2050 and we know people are consuming more meat. Twenty years ago the average was 20kg. It is now 50kg, and will be 80kg in 20 years. If we continue like this we will need another Earth."

In terms of combating global warming, the Professor’s latest research shows that farming insects such as locusts, crickets and meal worms emits 10 times less methane than livestock of cows, pigs, sheep and chicken. They also produce 300 times less nitrous oxide, also a warming gas, and much less ammonia, a pollutant produced by pig and poultry farming.

Being cold-blooded, insects don’t need to convert food energy into heat meaning that they need less food to grow. This makes farming insects a much sustainable alternative compared to farming livestock.


Farm me instead

FAO says that there are1,462 species of recorded edible insects with the most common coming from four main insect groups: beetles; ants, bees and wasps; grasshoppers and crickets; and moths and butterflies.

Some insects have as much protein as meat and fish. In dried form, insects have often twice the protein of fresh raw meat and fish, but usually not more than dried or grilled meat and fish. Some insects, especially in the larval stage, are also rich in fat and contain important vitamins and minerals.



Grasshopper BigMac

The arguments for eating insects sound very good on paper but would it take off in a world that has been softened by western cultural influences? Don’t hold your breath for ground grasshopper BigMacs with mashed crickets shaped as fries just yet but Malaysia does have a few places where creepy crawlies are part of its menu.

Kelantanese Teoh Yew Aun is also a frequent customer of a restaurant called 'Victoria Station' as it is located next to the train tracks in Tumpat serving fried bees. He says that "The first sensation you feel is the squishiness of the larvae before the crunchiness of the baby bees, much like goreng pisang batter. It’s hard to describe the taste. It’s very different because of the larvae but it tastes very good. Especially with beer.”

Entomophagy is also very common in various parts of East Malaysia where sago worms and other kinds of bugs are sold at local markets. I've tried live sago worms from Satok market in Kuching, Sarawak.

Eating the live sago worm at the RWMF 2009 Iban Longhouse 

Elizabeth Chan says that there are a few restaurants on the way to Tumpat that serves insects. They go to Bankok Restaurant, near the police station in Wakaf Baru, for fried bees. They also go to Ahan Thai at Pengkalan Kubur for fried bees & sago worms.

I guess the UN will have quite a lot of work cut out for them if they really want to implement this proposal successfully. I’m just thankful that normal food is still very much abundant in Malaysia. Now where’s the nearest Ramly burger stall?

I've also compiled a list of countries where eating bugs are as common as eating chips.



What more could go wrong?

29 Oct – 1 Nov

Road Trip #3 Taupo – Wellington

I’ve always been a believer of the law of attraction. Like attracts like and you make your day by how you begin it. Jump out of bed with joyous anticipation for the new day and a remarkable day you’ll have. Get up on the wrong side of bed? Well, the day can only get worse. Unfortunately, it was the wrong side of the bed that morning.

I should have known the signs. The day quickly degenerated from one issue to another. First was the parking. Wellington has weird parking systems and it is darn expensive to park in the city. We found this cheap Wilson parking that cost $3 to park till midnight and another $3 to park till the next eve. This stupid system didn’t allow us to pay for the next day so we had to walk back at midnight to put another $3 in.

After sorting out the parking, we headed into town for a cabaret show that promised a fun night out of performances, drinks and canapés that was supposed to start at 6pm. We hit the town in my best dress & heels to check out the entertainment scene. “Oh, the show guys aren’t here yet. Do come back at 7.30pm” says the staff at the adjoining café. 7.30pm? That’s 1 ½ hours away and I didn’t plan to kill time walking around wellington in my fancy high boots.



My Charles & Keith boots


My feet were killing me by that time and I was SUPER cranky. We turned up at the club at 7.30pm and handed our tickets only to find out that the show was cancelled 2 weeks ago! Wtf? But we just bought the tickets a few days back! The lady at the door kept arguing that it was impossible for us to purchase it but heck. I had the receipts. Told her we drove 5 hours to see the bloody show and all she can say is she’ll refund our tickets. She even had the cheek to say we could’t go for the replacement show coz it was double of what we paid. Boy were we royally pissed.

After walking off in a huff we decided to cool down with a couple of beers in an Irish pub. Bought the first round with no problems but for the second, this young waiter asked for my ID. He refused to accept my Press ID and driver’s license and said that if I couldn’t produce any evidence that I’m of legal age, I am not even allowed to be on the premises. Fine. I won’t buy then. Sent Jerry to buy the drinks.

As we were happily enjoying our drinks, this idiotic punk came up to our table and whined “I told your gf that she can’t even be here on the premises if she doesn’t have ID!” Well, we already paid for our food and it’s not even here yet. You refund our money then. “No, you have to leave.” Then call your manager. Just then the manager walked passed, gave the punk a look and said leave us alone. The manager was the one who served me the first time. He was nice enough to say sorry that his staff is extremely ‘vigilant and take their job seriously’. Hmph! It’s one thing if I’m a rowdy young drunk demanding for rounds but if we’re decent paying customers, wtf is your problem then? Thank you for the compliment but I don’t think I look THAT young. What a day. And we had to get up before midnight to pay for parking.


Weta Studios - where Sir Peter Jackson's visions become reality



My Precious...

The next day was much better and we spent it exploring Te Papa Museum and Weta Studios – home of The Lord of the Rings. They showed that amazing work that goes on behind the scnes. Makes you appreciate the skills, time, effort and money that go into entertaining us for a mere 2 hours. Was a pity we couldn’t meet up with Campbell though coz of his exams and we had to go off that eve.