An occasional paper about the current research related to Borneo
Two new philodendrons (Homalomineae Araceae) from Borneo have been made known to the western world. They are restricted to sandstones and forested karsts in the Sarawak area. Sing Yeng Wong of Unimas and Peter C. Boyce are the people who found them_____________________________________________________Vetty Ng in her essay on “Error Analysis in English in Kuching” states that vocabulary and singular-plural forms are the top mistakes made by students. It sounds like English teachers should push vocabulary and how to make plurals.____________________________________________________The Rhino population in Kalimantan is almost extinct. The usual problems are illegal logging and illegal hunting. I think we should illegally shoot the the loggers and ________________________________________________
Folk stories are created from strange events and are able to trigger excitement and curiosity. Two UNIMAS students, Nur Ezatull and Mary Fatimah have taken the book “Antolgi Enam Hikayat” and analysed it according to the theories of Jalaluddin and Kempson. __________________________________________________________”Ritual Dirges of the Iban Community in Sebuah District in Bintulu Sarawak” was recently published by the Hamdard Islamicus (of all places, Pakistan) Why it wasn’t published by the Sarawak Museum Journal is beyond me. The ceremony is called Sabak Buah The lead author was Mangai anak Tugau. The funeral dirges are described as having four parts. The spirit of the deceased is being guided by the chanter. (Tukang Sabak) The first stage is called mejam/nangam which is the dressing the deceased in nice clothes. The second stage Persiapan Sabak is where the spirit is made ready to be presented to the sebayan (world of the dead) The third stage is the presentation of the spirit to sebayan while the last stage is when the spirit is received by the sebayan. ___________________________________________________
A practice I thought had long been extinguished from the shores of the civilized world has reared its ugly in Malaysia. A paper published by Plos Medicine (https://doi.org/10 1371/journal. pmed.1003303) has revealed that 20% of Malaysian muslim doctors who answered a survey said they practice female genital mutilation despite the United Nations stating no health care professional should involve themselselves in this wicked act. The paper stated that muslim Doctors were not aware of the United Nations proclamation and many wanted the practice to continue. I had been told by older females in the kampong that when they were about five or six that that they were sent over in groups, given something to drink by a dukun and then she would nick the clitoris.I didn’t know doctors had taken over this ridiculous practice.
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